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So I promised I would talk about this. This is where things get tricky.
A lot of studies out there say that any calorie intake below 1,200 is dangerous and that you will gain weight instead of losing it because because you’re body is in starvation mode. This why MyFitnessPal will not allow you to set a calorie limit below 1,200.
But FitBit bases your calorie intake off of your age, sex, height, weight and resting metabolism. Therefore for someone like me, my FitBit says I get 650 calories a day and I have to exercise to eat more.
I’ve done a lot of research on this, and I really don’t have an answer as to why FitBit sets such a low calorie count if you’re trying to lose two pounds a week. I mean, I stated my theory above, but I’m just concerned. So I log my food in both apps, but tend toward MFP more on the calorie side of things.
Either way, both apps base their daily calorie estimates on you personally. You are asked your sex, age, height, weight, and daily activity level. They also factor in the weekly goal you want to meet, from not losing any weight to losing two pounds a week. From there the apps uses an algorithm to calculate what they think your calorie goal should be. FitBit tells you you’re good within 50 calories of what they’ve set for you. I assume MFP is the same way, I haven’t been able to find out for sure.
Regardless of which app you use, a key piece of the losing weight puzzle is nutrition. I’m not going to say diet, because that implies something you do short term. Eating the correct foods is a lifestyle change.
And a final word on this, once you reach your ideal weight, you tell the apps that you want to maintain your weight and they will use the algorithm to calculate a new daily calorie goal for you. This will work provided that you don’t DECREASE your activity level, if you do you’ll gain the weight back.
Good luck everyone! Remember, we’re in this fitness struggle together, the only person you have to be better than was the person you were yesterday.