Anyone using Fitday.com?

J

jackovi

New member
Hi - I've been using this site because it's free, but am something just doesn't sound right on it. Is anyone else using it? I'd like to discuss the calories couted there... apparently on most days I now eat 1000 to 1500 calories if I don't binge. My caloric need or use is 3000 to 3500. I am not hungry.. According to this, it seems that I am really not getting enough nutrients, and that worries me, because I dont want to loose muscle mass. I know it seems silly to worry about eating too little calories when I am over 200, and trying to lose 25lbs, but I want to do this in a healthy way... So, I am suspecting that Fitday might just not be counting things correctly, in spite of how accurate and detail I try ot be. (See journal: . I've also noticed that if I do eat more, I gain weight or stagnate.. or so it seems, since I've only done it for 3.5 weeks.
Any feedback, anyone?
 
I Use FitDay

First of all...howdy neighbor :D

Ok, I have gone down from 217 to 171 in about a year or so I would say. I use fitday to log my food intake, but I also work my buns off exercising.

I don't think that fidaty does not count cals accurately, but there is a difference in what type of cals you are consuming. I eat between 1200 - 1600 cals daily. On the days I workout I might go upto 1700...depends on mood and how I feel.

The important thing is to make sure you are eating enough protein, veggies, fresh fruits, whole grains, etc. not so much to fixate on how many cals you've actually eaten.

At 171 I am a size 10, but my muscles are well defined so I take it I am falling in the muscle weighs more than fat category. I weigh myself daily, but don't fixate on the numbers rather than the way I feel and how I fit into my clothes.

I hope this helps and if you need a local health buddy...let me know.
 
Fitday is actually pretty accurate. Sometimes I think some of their calorie burn rates for various activities are a little off, but that's about it.

When it says you should have 3000 calories to maintain, it isn't lying. For someone your size, that is accurate.

But because you have been eating way below maintenance for so long, chronically, you have ruined the efficiency of your metabolism.

So, the average person who has caused no metabolic damage at your size would maintain at 3000. You, on the other hand, would gain, probably. Fitday, and other calculators of that sort work off of averages.
 
So what to do?

Hi Steve- thanks for the post. I wasnt aware that I can screw up my metabolism by eating too little.. :confused: Want to get back to a more normal one.. what to do? Simply increase calorie intake slowly?
 
I use it. It helps to keep track of just more than the basics, plus you'll be able to track your progress down the road. One thing I really like about is is being able to tell exactly where my calories are coming from rather than just how many calories I have consumed.
 
jackovi said:
Hi Steve- thanks for the post. I wasnt aware that I can screw up my metabolism by eating too little.. :confused: Want to get back to a more normal one.. what to do? Simply increase calorie intake slowly?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. You said you eat around 1500? Try for 2000 for around two weeks, then slowly increase by 10-20% at timed intervals.
 
I use fitday too, although I bought their PC program, because I did not want to depend on internet... Anyway, I feel it is fairly accurate as far as food is concerned, although it does average things quite a bit. I usually compare the amount written on foods with amount Fitday reports, and up the quantity if appropriate. For example, a large bagel in Fitday is 250 cals, but in reality it is close to 300. So, instead of 1 bagel I'll put 1.1 and that will make calorie count more accurate.

Also, what I noticed is that Fitday tends to overestimate how much calories I burn doing activities and just living. I think they take an "average" person with "average" muscle mass. But the truth is that if you have more fat and less muscle then the "average" person of your height and weight, you'll be burning much less calories per day. The only way to know for sure your metabolism is to test it. So, if you're eating 2000 cals and gaining weight, then your body may not be burning 3000. However, it is very hard to tell whether a short term weight gain or weight loss is really caused by fat or by water. It is very easy to gain or loose 5 lbs of water in a day. So if you're eating more and gaining weight, it may not necessarily be fat, it could be water retention as well. But if you experiment and find out what works for you, you will have success with using Fitday.
 
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