Fitbit stuff

[UncleWede]

Got one of these new-fangled gadgets for Father's day, and want a resource for talking about pros and cons on this device.

Pro: since I am entering as much info as I can (water, food consumed, extra exercise I can't track with it) I am paying extra attention to what I do, and why I do it. I selected a target of 180lbs, with the medium (500 calorie deficit) and it says I will get there by Oct. 22. Since Father's day, I have lost 3.1 lbs. I attribute a lot of that to the water intake.

I set a target of 128 oz of water, haven't quite reached that yet for any day, but definitely getting a lot more than I was before. Getting back into the habit of carrying a water bottle with me wherever I go, and sipping constantly.


Cons: Swimming for 45 mins really only burns 146 calories???? Yet I ride a bike for 3.9 miles over 16 mins and I burn 178?????

I can't wear the Blaze into the pool, or the shower.

Not sure the calories it says I am burning, are really being burned.

Drinking all that extra water, for two nights I starting getting HORRIBLE leg cramps at night. Now that I added magnesium and potassium pills to the nightly routine, haven't had them again.

[Verbiage]

Sounds like a rant!

[UncleWede]

I freaking had to google how to set the clock to 24hr. Couldn't tell what time it was without. Figure I can get some of you #whippersnappers to help me out direct.

[UncleWede]

Over the weekend, while I sat with the wife to watch a movie, FB says I was asleep. OK, it was Dory, but I never closed my eyes.

[kprocivic]

I bought my ex one, it seemed to work pretty well for what it was.

[UncleWede]

I've gone from 198 -> 193 since Father's Day because I keep entering my calories, and mostly because of the water intake. My 4 mile hike on Friday netted me 20,000 steps pretty early in the day.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

I've gone from 198 -> 193 since Father's Day because I keep entering my calories, and mostly because of the water intake. My 4 mile hike on Friday netted me 20,000 steps pretty early in the day.

That's awesome! Keep logging them and keep drinking that water!

It's really nice getting the extra calories form exercise. But try to only use up about 60% of the exercise calories.

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by Mr Tonka

That's awesome! Keep logging them and keep drinking that water!

It's really nice getting the extra calories form exercise. But try to only use up about 60% of the exercise calories.

I saw that dinner you listed after your ride.

And from an earlier discussion on water, you mentioned stopping 30 minutes in to pee. Is that the time Mrs. T jumps way out in front of you on the road?

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

I saw that dinner you listed after your ride.

And from an earlier discussion on water, you mentioned stopping 30 minutes in to pee. Is that the time Mrs. T jumps way out in front of you on the road?

In my defense i did burn about 1500 calories on that morning bike ride. My BMR to lose 1 pound a week is 1950 calories.

Meals yesterday:
My riding nutrition was 490 cal. Banana and energy bars.

Post ride lunch was 933 cal. Sausage, cheese, veggie 3 egg omelette and french toast. 2 slices and 1/4 cup of syrup.

The dinner you're talking about was 641 calories because i ditched the egg. Bacon cheese burger (bun less), potatoes, veggies

Snacks for the day (dessertS) was 892 calories. S'mores brownies, dark chocolate covered almonds, banana/apple sauce snack (for the potassium)

Leaving me with a 493 cal deficit, or about 35% of my burned calories uneaten. I went a little crazy with the desserts which cost me another 100 cal. But whatevs, still under the net calorie goal.

I only employ the 60% rule because there was a month where i only lost 2 pounds instead of the normal 4. After looking at the data, i found that month i was eating almost all of my burned calories where as the previous months, i was (inadvertently) only eating about 60% of my burned calories. Now i try to stick to that ratio.



No, she doesn't need me to take a bathroom break to jump way out in front of me. I've only been cycling for 6 months, she's been doing at a much higher level for 9 years. I suspect that within a year or so from now, i should be able to hang with her. 2 years from now i can start talking trash and letting her chase me.

I'm looking forward to returning the favor of setting a pace that wears her the hell out and then laughing about it afterwards.

[UncleWede]

This is one of the things I'm not sure I trust about the FB. I set it to 500 cals below so I can get to 180, and it says Oct. 22. I know those first few lbs were probably almost all from the water, it washing out quite a bit of "stuck" matter along the other canal.

But when I look at what it says I've burned for the day, I can't tell if that is right or not. So when I meet my 500 cal deficit, did I really drop off 500? I don't seem to really be making huge changes, but because I want to record it all I am trying very hard to stay away from the candy dishes that inconsiderate people leave about for the cookie monster to find.

[Mr Tonka]

I'm not familiar with how the Fitbit works. I use a fitbit scale, but that's about it. I use a garmin step counter and myfitnesspal food log. If you use myfitnesspal, it will calculate your BMR for you and you tell it if you want to lose .5 or 1 pound a week. Then it gives you your calorie goal based on the data you entered.

if you don't do that, you need to use a BMR calculator to get your caloric burn for being horizontal and turning oxygen into carbondixoide for 24 hours.

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/#result

Then use this method to get a good idea of what your calories need to be in order to maintain your current weight. If you want to lose a pound a week, subtract the 500cal per day. If you have a hard time with it, dial it back to .5 pounds a week and subtract 250cal per day. For some people, staying under the calorie goal keeps them motivated. (takes 3500 calorie deficit over a week or 500 calorie deficit each day to burn 1 pound of fat)

Harris Benedict Formula
To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:

If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

If nothing else, it's nice to do the math yourself to check up on what they determined your calorie goal should be.


You don't have to support your own weight in the pool, so calorie burn is going to be light.

While you're not supporting your own weight on the bike, your cardio system is taxed as much as it is when running.

When running our muscles are taxed the most, so much so that our cardio system can't keep up and our muscles run out of o2 and we have to slow to a walk to let it catch up.

If you jogged those same 3.9 miles your calorie burn would double that of the bike. Also, 4 min mile is on the high side of a leisure pace. Yesterday when i burned 1500 calories riding, the duration was 137 min. / by 16 min = 8.56. 1500cal / 8.56 = 175 cal.

I'd say your calorie burn rates are accurate enough. My calorie burn on the bike is measured by a power meter via expended watts. So it's pretty darn accurate. That said, i was averaging about 18mph or 3:18 min / mile. If it makes you feel better, take the calories they are reporting and multiply by .90 for a safer estimate but i think if you stick to only consuming 60% of your burned calories, you mitigate the possibility of over counting exercise calories all together.

I doubt you've lost weight from drinking more water. Remember that 16oz of water weighs 1 pound. So the more hydrated you are, the heavier you will weigh. If anything, maybe being so full of water has kept you from ingesting necessary calories.?.?.

I can see a direct correlation with my weight and hydration. Not sure how accurate of a scale you have, but mine is that Aria digital fitbit scale and i can weigh myself, go drink a 16oz bottle of water and i'll be 1 pound heavier if i weigh myself again right afterwards.

Are you weighing.... well.... naked? or at least in a very consistent manner? As in, get up, hit the head, strip down, weigh yourself; before getting water, coffee, bear claw, etc...? Some people obsess over their daily weight. I prefer to have a daily weight log and use a running 7 day average to judge results. You can look at my fitbit log and see just about 1 pound a week for almost a year now. It's pretty gratifying to see all that data.


Sorry is some of this is redundant, i'm not 100% sure how much research you've put into all this yet.

[UncleWede]

The Fitbit shows calories expended resting based on the numbers I input during setup. Then extra fitness stuff I do gets logged (if I remember) or I add it in after the fact. This calculation is where I am wondering. 18lbs goal, at 500 cal/day deficit = Oct. 22.

The weight loss via water is because of all the toxins that I am washing out, and some stuck fecal matter (I think) in addition to the appetite suppression.

I'm going to have to run some of those calcs to see if the FB is tracking close.

I'm not obsessed with the weight, I'm weighing myself every couple of days at the gym. Trying to wear about the same clothing, consideration given for how long/much it's been since I ate, and try to do it around the same time of day. Not positive how well calibrated the scale is there. I always zero it to see where the balance point is, and don't let things that seem WAY out get to me. Last week, I went in to swim. No matter how I zeroed, it showed me back at 198. Swam, losing only the wet trunks, and was back down to 193. No way I swam off 4 lbs. #nopeeinthepool

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

The Fitbit shows calories expended resting based on the numbers I input during setup. Then extra fitness stuff I do gets logged (if I remember) or I add it in after the fact. This calculation is where I am wondering. 18lbs goal, at 500 cal/day deficit = Oct. 22.

The weight loss via water is because of all the toxins that I am washing out, and some stuck fecal matter (I think) in addition to the appetite suppression.

I'm going to have to run some of those calcs to see if the FB is tracking close.

I'm not obsessed with the weight, I'm weighing myself every couple of days at the gym. Trying to wear about the same clothing, consideration given for how long/much it's been since I ate, and try to do it around the same time of day. Not positive how well calibrated the scale is there. I always zero it to see where the balance point is, and don't let things that seem WAY out get to me. Last week, I went in to swim. No matter how I zeroed, it showed me back at 198. Swam, losing only the wet trunks, and was back down to 193. No way I swam off 4 lbs. #nopeeinthepool

I don't know about the accuracy of your scale, but you might be surprised by how much you sweat when lap swimming. Especially for 45 min.

Try to cross reference your scale with a scale at the grocery store or something.

[UncleWede]

Tonight I did elyptical and while the calorie count between machine and FB were pretty close, both the machine and my fingers had my pulse at right around 150 after 30 minutes, the FB never went over 115.

45 minutes swimming I only cover 1000 yards, assuming pool is 25 long. I stop about every lap to breathe and get the condensation out of my goggles.

One other drawback with all the water is the profuse sweating. Wife is about to ban me from house for 30 minutes after exercise

[kprocivic]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

Tonight I did elyptical and while the calorie count between machine and FB were pretty close, both the machine and my fingers had my pulse at right around 150 after 30 minutes, the FB never went over 115.

45 minutes swimming I only cover 1000 yards, assuming pool is 25 long. I stop about every lap to breathe and get the condensation out of my goggles.

One other drawback with all the water is the profuse sweating. Wife is about to ban me from house for 30 minutes after exercise

banned from here for being to damn excited.

[Verbiage]

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

Tonight I did elyptical and while the calorie count between machine and FB were pretty close, both the machine and my fingers had my pulse at right around 150 after 30 minutes, the FB never went over 115.

45 minutes swimming I only cover 1000 yards, assuming pool is 25 long. I stop about every lap to breathe and get the condensation out of my goggles.

One other drawback with all the water is the profuse sweating. Wife is about to ban me from house for 30 minutes after exercise

I hate telling people with Fitbit HR products this, but they aren't very accurate for HR. The only really accurate way to get HR readings is with a chest strap. It pisses me off that companies advertise their wrist based HR products as accurate or even helpful.

1000 yds is nothing to sneeze at with regards to swimming. Good job!!

That's no draw back. Your body will resort to processing what it views as poison that it normally processes though your liver and kidneys through sweat. Sweating during exercise is great. A sign of good health and hydration. Just keep refiling the tank. Your body will adjust to the new hydration levels.

You'll soon find that you can feel when you're dehydrated. Some days i'll start feeling bad around lunch, maybe get a headache, or just feel a little run down. Then i'll realize i rushed out of the house without my first 20oz jumpstart of water.

I was talking to my mother about this yesterday as she is also seeing my wife's nutritionist. She was surprised that the nutritionist told her she only needed to drink 55oz to 60oz of water each day. I told her to ask her about the days she does any exercise. Her response was, the 55oz to 60oz of water each day was if she were sitting on the sofa watching TV all day at 72 degrees. That for every 30 min of walking, exercise, shopping, errand running, etc... that she needs to add another 16oz bottle of water. Now my mother is 76 years old, so obviously her Dr's orders will be different than ours. But you get the gist.

[UncleWede]

I kinda picked up swimming because that Phelps dude eats like 8000 calories a day AND sucks on a bong. . .

"Now my mother is 76 years old, so obviously her Dr's orders will be different than ours. But you get the gist." Yeah, she's a female, so there's that . . . #whippersnappers

It's a bit of a joke in the house now. When I'm done and all sweaty, I walk up to wife with my arms wide asking for a hug. 18 years and it still hasn't worked. If she walked up to me in like fashion, I'd lick the sweat right off her, opps, TMI?

[Mr Tonka]

Yes. TMI.

lol

[UncleWede]

dammit, LICK, not like the sweat off her. Stupid auto-correct doesn't correct what I mis-MEAN.

[Haywood]

I like my Fitbit HR charge, but I don't like it for the food diary. Use the MyFitnessPal app. More accurate and basically has like every piece of food. It does send the data to the Fitbit so it will log it there.

[UncleWede]

For food, if the item isn't right there, I just read the side panel and enter calories as a number directly. Sometimes I have to add each food item in a group because I can't find the whole thing. Like this morning I had a breakfast sandwich from the local coffee house. So I put in an English muffin, 3oz ham, slice of cheese, and an egg. I was over my target for the day as of 6:30 when I got it, but sitting around the office and drinking water I am back in the zone