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Post by monklady123 on May 28, 2015 17:04:51 GMT
I have always found Fitbit to be spectacularly unhelpful. Not sure why I'm trying again, except that this model comes in purple and I had a lot of Amazon credit...so here I am. But I cannot find a basic-for-dummies tutorial anywhere! growl... I'm trying to understand the whole "calorie deficit" thing and the "calories-in/calories-out" tab on the dashboard. Seems to me that the bar graph should show "calories in" = what I've eaten, and "calories out" = what I've expended in exercise and activity. So if my "calories out" bar is higher than the other one then that's good. But my graph thingy says "over" when I think it should say "under" and vice versa. Clearly I'm stupid.  I've posted on the Fitbit forums but in the past I've found them to be very unhelpful. In fact I swore I'd never buy another Fitbit, but here I am because this one got a good rating. sigh... And yes I've googled. All over the place. But I don't find a basic 101 tutorial. (but admittedly my google skills are lacking sometimes, at least according to my kids..  ) |
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Post by alittleintrepid on May 28, 2015 17:13:59 GMT
I have a Fitbit charge and will take a look at my dashboard for you. Are you using the app or just in your computer browser? (Not that it should make a difference, I just want to see what you're seeing)
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Post by bianca42 on May 28, 2015 17:21:00 GMT
I have the regular charge and not the HR, but mine is OVER or UNDER in what you are eating.
If I've logged less calories than I've expended, it shows UNDER....like a go-ahead to eat some more.
If I've logged more calories than I've expended, it shows OVER....like I've over-eaten.
I don't actually use it to log calories, so mine always says UNDER.
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Post by monklady123 on May 28, 2015 17:32:37 GMT
I have a Fitbit charge and will take a look at my dashboard for you. Are you using the app or just in your computer browser? (Not that it should make a difference, I just want to see what you're seeing) For the moment I'm just using the computer browser. Once I understand what I'm doing I'll try out the app. |
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Post by monklady123 on May 28, 2015 17:38:12 GMT
I have the regular charge and not the HR, but mine is OVER or UNDER in what you are eating. If I've logged less calories than I've expended, it shows UNDER....like a go-ahead to eat some more. If I've logged more calories than I've expended, it shows OVER....like I've over-eaten. I don't actually use it to log calories, so mine always says UNDER. And see, what you've just described makes perfect sense and it how I would think it ought to be. But I just went and looked at mine again. For yesterday -- when I had just set up the Fitbit in the afternoon -- if I click on the "quick view" drop down option when I hover on the calories in/calories out square on the dashboard, I see a bar graph that shows calories for what I ate as a smaller bar than calories I expended. But the circle dial-type thing above the graph shows the indicator in red and says "over". But why does it say "over" when clearly I ate fewer calories than I expended in exercise? And for today the bar graph of calories eaten is way higher than calories expended, which is logical because I haven't gotten much exercise today. But, when I hover over the red bar that indicates my calories eaten it says I've eaten over 2,000 calories. I went back to my food log and added up what my totals are and it's no where near that 2,000+ number. I am so confused. Why can't it just keep a simple graph for me and leave it at that?? ugh |
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Post by alittleintrepid on May 28, 2015 17:40:59 GMT
I'm returning to say that I can't help. I don't see any graph bar that changes when you log your food consumption....I'm only looking at the calories I've burned.
I don't normally log in Fitbit though..... If I log food, I do that it my fitness pal and have synched my Fitbit to that account......that clearly shows how many calories you have left based on your target intake, exercise, and food intake.
ETA....disregard this, I hadn't added the calories in vs. calories out tile to my dashboard. It has the number of calories consumed beside the fork symbol and the number of calories expended beside the flame symbol. Calories is lower so it says "under".
What at you describe doesn't make sense. I recommend using MFP....it is super-easy!
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Post by monklady123 on May 28, 2015 17:49:45 GMT
I'm returning to say that I can't help. I don't see any graph bar that changes when you log your food consumption....I'm only looking at the calories I've burned. I don't normally log in Fitbit though..... If I log food, I do that it my fitness pal and have synched my Fitbit to that account......that clearly shows how many calories you have left based on your target intake, exercise, and food intake. ETA....disregard this, I hadn't added the calories in vs. calories out tile to my dashboard. It has the number of calories consumed beside the fork symbol and the number of calories expended beside the flame symbol. Calories is lower so it says "under". What at you describe doesn't make sense. I recommend using MFP....it is super-easy! I think I will try My Fitness Pal. I know I have an account there but I never really used it. I'm going to go there in a few minutes and give it a try, it certainly can't be worse than the Fitbit site! -- Thanks.  |
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scorpeao
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,521
Location: NorCal USA
Jun 25, 2014 21:04:54 GMT
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Post by scorpeao on May 28, 2015 17:53:58 GMT
Mine does the same thing so I just ignore what it says for calories and use MFP. I also don't understand how it figures heart rate into the calorie burn. If I don't tell it I'm exercising it will deduct half the calories I burn. I've done a 10 mile run and it says I only burned 400 calories, but if I tell it I'm exercising it will give me close to 800. I wish Garmin could come out with one that didn't require a heart rate monitor.
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Post by 3SugarBugs on May 28, 2015 17:59:03 GMT
I think I can help.  Or I hope! When you set up your Fitbit, you should have been asked about your weightloss goal (forgive, I can't remember the exact wording)...something to the effect of 1lb per week or 1.5lbs per week? If you picked 1.5lbs per week...you have to have a 750 a day calorie deficit (this is what mine is set at, so I can give an example). So in regards to the bar graph it works like this... If you log 1500 calories for today and your 'burn' (calories out) are only 1900, it will show you in the RED (over target). If you burned 2250, it would show you as GREEN (in the zone) and if you burned 3000, it would show you as YELLOW (under target). Keep in mind that this will change throughout the day as you log food and add in exercise, but it's a good reminder to be careful at dinner let's say, if you aren't going to log very many more steps or add in any exercise. After using it for about 14 days, you should be able to see the trend of what your normal range of "burn" is and then plan you caloric intake from there. I log everything in the Fitbit App and love it...just takes some getting used too! I also use the My Fitness Pal app but just because their database of foods is so much broader...so I'll go find nutrition information there and then plug in my calories to Fitbit. |
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Post by monklady123 on May 28, 2015 20:13:37 GMT
I think I can help. Or I hope! When you set up your Fitbit, you should have been asked about your weightloss goal (forgive, I can't remember the exact wording)...something to the effect of 1lb per week or 1.5lbs per week? If you picked 1.5lbs per week...you have to have a 750 a day calorie deficit (this is what mine is set at, so I can give an example). So in regards to the bar graph it works like this... If you log 1500 calories for today and your 'burn' (calories out) are only 1900, it will show you in the RED (over target). If you burned 2250, it would show you as GREEN (in the zone) and if you burned 3000, it would show you as YELLOW (under target). Keep in mind that this will change throughout the day as you log food and add in exercise, but it's a good reminder to be careful at dinner let's say, if you aren't going to log very many more steps or add in any exercise. After using it for about 14 days, you should be able to see the trend of what your normal range of "burn" is and then plan you caloric intake from there. I log everything in the Fitbit App and love it...just takes some getting used too! I also use the My Fitness Pal app but just because their database of foods is so much broader...so I'll go find nutrition information there and then plug in my calories to Fitbit. Omg omg omg -- that makes total sense!! You need to go apply for a job with Fitbit customer service! Or with their website writers! Seriously, why can't that just be written down somewhere? Woot! -- Off to look at my graphs again with all that in mind. Thanks SO MUCH!   |
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Post by 3SugarBugs on May 28, 2015 20:35:45 GMT
I think I can help. Or I hope! When you set up your Fitbit, you should have been asked about your weightloss goal (forgive, I can't remember the exact wording)...something to the effect of 1lb per week or 1.5lbs per week? If you picked 1.5lbs per week...you have to have a 750 a day calorie deficit (this is what mine is set at, so I can give an example). So in regards to the bar graph it works like this... If you log 1500 calories for today and your 'burn' (calories out) are only 1900, it will show you in the RED (over target). If you burned 2250, it would show you as GREEN (in the zone) and if you burned 3000, it would show you as YELLOW (under target). Keep in mind that this will change throughout the day as you log food and add in exercise, but it's a good reminder to be careful at dinner let's say, if you aren't going to log very many more steps or add in any exercise. After using it for about 14 days, you should be able to see the trend of what your normal range of "burn" is and then plan you caloric intake from there. I log everything in the Fitbit App and love it...just takes some getting used too! I also use the My Fitness Pal app but just because their database of foods is so much broader...so I'll go find nutrition information there and then plug in my calories to Fitbit. Omg omg omg -- that makes total sense!! You need to go apply for a job with Fitbit customer service! Or with their website writers! Seriously, why can't that just be written down somewhere? Woot! -- Off to look at my graphs again with all that in mind. Thanks SO MUCH! So happy to help! I think they need to add examples, because it's easy to forget what your "goal" is...and thus that you are aiming for a deficit, which is what the bar graph is trying to show...but really it could be made much more simple! |
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Post by monklady123 on May 28, 2015 20:54:51 GMT
Yes, and now I understand why the graph wasn't happy with me even with a -125 calories. It said "over" and I thought that was odd. But now I see that it means I'm "over" the 750 calorie mark which is where I need to be in order to lose the weight I want. lol Well I just went the long way around from my parents' house to the grocery store, and racked up a bunch of steps and even some flights of "stairs" due to Pittsburgh's steep geography. Only problem is that I was going to the store to buy ice cream! rofl. |
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breetheflea
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,381 
Location: PNW
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Post by breetheflea on May 28, 2015 20:59:26 GMT
How do you get stairs? I go up and down stairs everyday (2 story house) and mine has never said anything even when I went up and down 10 times on purpose. Maybe I have the wrong FitBit (flex)...
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Post by 3SugarBugs on May 28, 2015 21:01:19 GMT
How do you get stairs? I go up and down stairs everyday (2 story house) and mine has never said anything even when I went up and down 10 times on purpose. Maybe I have the wrong FitBit (flex)... Flex doesn't track stairs...unfortunately!  |
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Dalai Mama
Drama Llama
La Pea Boheme
Posts: 6,985
Jun 26, 2014 0:31:31 GMT
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Post by Dalai Mama on May 28, 2015 21:04:11 GMT
Well, since your question is answered, I'll just add that I bought a Fitbit charge hr yesterday too! My Fitbit one died the day before and I made it a whole day before I had to buy a new one. I' m going to check the hr monitor against my Polar F4 because I'm pretty sure the Fitbit short changed me on my workout this morning.  I've already walked 15,000 steps today, but mine are cancelled out by the Peking duck poutine I had for lunch. Worth every calorie! |
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)
Or I hope! When you set up your Fitbit, you should have been asked about your weightloss goal (forgive, I can't remember the exact wording)...something to the effect of 1lb per week or 1.5lbs per week? If you picked 1.5lbs per week...you have to have a 750 a day calorie deficit (this is what mine is set at, so I can give an example). So in regards to the bar graph it works like this...
