I think it's very high. I had my lifestyle level as "Seated work, some movement" but it was calculating my calories burned JUST in Basal + Lifestyle as 2500 or so. Which is ridiculous, from what I've read. Yes, I might burn 1000 calories during my work day, but a lot of that is basal metabolic stuff, so it's getting counted twice. So I did two things:
First, I switched my lifestyle to "Seated work" even though that's not really true. It makes the numbers a little closer to what seems reasonable.
Second, I sort of started ignoring the "Calories burned" numbers. I track my calories eaten, and tweak them as necessary based on my hunger/energy levels, and my rate of weight loss. I also track my activities, of course, but I do it by tracking how many miles I run, or how many minutes I spend weightlifting, etc. I just think of the two as separate things and keep adjusting to suit my goals.
I use that part of fit day just to keep track and make sure I have done my exercises for the day but I never worry about what I have burnt. I have heard the readings on all those sites are high so they might not mean much anyway. To me burning calories is different than tracking calories. I do not eat back what I burn off. I burn off to tone. I do not burn off so I can eat more.
I found fit day to be very easy to use. I think it is great because I only have to figure out the calorie count of meat loaf, for example once. Put it into fit day and then " CLICK" the next time and it is added. It does take a bit of time to set up. We took a whole weekend to add in everything we could think of. Every now and then I still have to add something but I don't find that difficult. I did find you want to use the amounts off the packages you take your food from or check many sites for amounts in fruit, for example. I do not find that fit day amounts are very accurate. I think it just depends on how much time you want to put into the tool ( fit day ) so it works for you.
Last edited by Shy Moment; 02-15-2008 at 07:11 PM.
I don't use it at all either. For me, it's completely ridiculous and not even close to reality (if I eat what FitDay says I can, even if I put it to "Sedentary" on activity, I gain).
I don't use it any more either. It is full of flaws and pitfalls. Not only does it confuse people into giving up calorie counting, it can discourage people enough for them to stop trying to lose weight. Just bad bad bad.
You can learn to use it but it's hard and dedicated work. And in the end all you really have to do is to do more than you were before. So it doesn't really matter how many calories you burn washing dishes or making photocopies, right?
I actually am a big FitDay fan. Most people are creatures of habit (at least I am) and tend to eat the same things most of the time. So, it's easy for me to add any foods that aren't in as custom foods, and entering my food doesn't take much time at all. I actually bought their version for the PC, and I like it better than the free version--it's even more customizable.
I also bought Fitday instead of using the free version and I am completely satisfied with it. I love it. It makes my calorie tracking very easy and convenient and it didn't take long to learn. I love the weight tracking feature and other things about it as well.
I don't go by what Fitday says I can eat and still lose weight. I do my own thing. I don't even really pay attention to their Calories Burned section to be honest though. In the end I figure if I keep my calories well below my BMR for the day with or without exercise then I'm good and that's what I try to stick by.
Edit: You can do a google search for BMR and the first link has a BMR Calculator. I'd provide a link but I can't link anything yet. Hehe, Maybe that one will help you. It's the one I used.
My BMR is a ton lower than fitday estimated to me. It said I would burn 2700 calories a day and that was set to bedbound or something. Then when I got my caltrac it estimated that I only burn 1700 a day and that fit better with my rate of loss I was seeing.
I love Fitday for the fact that it's free and I find it quite useful for tracking calories consumed. But the calories burned part is the pits. My advice is much like that above. Focus on calories consumed and the calories burned will take care of themselves.
I like fitday. I fiddlefarted around with the activity level until I felt it was somewhat accurate. It is a little high but I ignore what it says and put it where I like the numbers. I'm not actually that sedetary but I put it there because I feel its more accurate. I go by my average weight loss. 3500 cals per pound. I generally rate on ther about 3700 cals burned a day. My estimate is 10X250 2500+1000 for activities about bedrest= 3500 so its in the ball park.
I have customized the metabolism section in the PC version of Fitday. It is an accurate reflection of my actual activity level, and thus the charts/graphs are pretty close to reality. It shows a calorie restriction of 977 cals per day. I have averaged 1.92 lbs. lost per week since starting this journey. The math looks like - (977x7)/3500=1.95
Considering the complexity of actual weight loss, it is incredibly accurate.
The key is customizing the "my metabolism" section to reflect your true activity levels.
Counting
Since I don't pay that much attention to it but I do put everything in a day I checked mine last night. Shows I burn about 500 calories a day on the part you add things into. Well, since I lose 1 lb a week. That sounds about right doesn't it?
I just tried fitday for the first time tonight. I had to customize most of my food items. But, I think it will be a useful tool for me to occasionally track my calories. I do South Beach Diet, so counting calories isn't supposed to be necessary. I also found it useful to see the numbers and percents of protein, carbs and fats. This gives me feedback as to where I might be over or under on amounts. It seemed to take me a good hour to put in 1 day. I hope this is just because it was my first time using the site.
Skinny
We took a whole weekend ( off and on ) to set fit day up because I wanted the amounts in off of the things I eat or the combined amounts in for example my meatloaf. After that once in a while I have to add something but it is worth it. Fit days amounts aren't all that actuate. It is a great tool to keep track of percentages with.
question for fitday users
