Shed Pounds Easily: Use Fitbit for Effective Weight Loss!

Want to know the single best way to use your Fitbit for weight loss?  Here is the sure fire method that I used to lose over 20 pounds with my Fitbit.  

Did you just get a Fitbit and are wondering if it will help you lose weight?  Or, are you like I was, and have been wearing your Fitbit religiously but haven’t been losing weight?  Are you wondering if your Fitbit can be used for weight loss?

This post will teach you how here is how you can use your Fitbit to create a calorie deficit designed specifically for you! After reading this you will be able to tell at any time how many calories you will burn each day and use that information to provide you predictable and repeatable results. 

All you will need to succeed is a Fitbit with a heart rate monitor so that you can track your calories burned and a calorie tracking app.  Last year, I was able to lose 20 pounds by using the following tips.

This post is all about how to use your Fitbit for weight loss!!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. I only recommend products that I love and think you will too!

The Best Way To Use Your Fitbit For Weight Loss

Use Your Fitbit To Create A Calorie Deficit

The only way to successfully lose weight is to burn more calories than you consume. This is frequently referred to as Calories In vs Calories Out (or “CICO”). The Fitbit is a fitness tracker that started out as a devices that measured your steps moved each day.  Over the years, Fitbit has evolved into much more than just a step counter.  Fitbit now has several smart devices that measure so much more than just steps walked including calories burned each day, time sleeping (and how good the quality of sleep was), heart rate variability, and so much more!.

One of the most powerful features on your Fitbit to help reach your weight loss goals is the ability to tell you how many calories you actually burn each day. In order to get an accurate estimate of your daily calorie burn you need to have one of the trackers which have real-time 24/7 heart rate tracking. Fitbit explains how they calculate calorie burn here.

Many people wonder how accurate the estimate is. The only way to get a true determination is if you sat in a lab all day hooked up to machines – every day. Well, that’s not happening. So the Fitbit is a great alternative. The biggest factor is that It is measuring the same thing (you) every day.   So, if you wear your tracker regularly, overtime it is going to give you a pretty good idea of how many calories you are burning each day.

For years, I passively wore my Fitbit and was focused on the number of steps that I got each day.  I aimed for 10,000 steps and kind of looked at the calories burned at the end of the day with mild interest. This approach really didn’t do anything for me. However, once I started proactively tailoring my daily calorie intake to what I was projected to burn each day I have seen good – and most importantly – predictable and repeatable weight loss.

What Is A Calorie Deficit Needed To Lose Two Pounds A Week?

Just knowing how many calories you burn each day isn’t enough. You also need to know how many calories you eat each day, whether you are in a calorie deficit, and if so, how much.

The accepted standard is that to lose one pound of fat you need to have a deficit of 3500 calories. So, with that in mind, if you have a calorie deficit of 500 calories it a day will give you about a pound a week weight loss.  And, a 1000 calories per day calorie deficit will give you about 2 pounds a week weight loss. This isn’t exact, but over time the weight loss does track around these numbers.

Using Your Fitbit To Determine Your Calorie Intake

Healthy eating is a huge part of the weight loss journey.  In order to actually lose weight you need to actually create a calorie deficit,  For this, it is important to know both how many calories you eat (calories in) each day and how many you burn (calories out).  Without both of these numbers you have no idea whether you are actually in a calorie deficit or not and it makes weight loss a lot harder.  

In order to determine your calories in, you must log your food and keep track of your calories.  Back in the day, we had to write everything on a piece of paper and then look up the calories in a book.  Now it is so easy,  You can use an app to log your food and it will determine the calories and also all the macros in your daily meals.  

There are two ways to do this.  

You can log your food into the Fitbit app if you like.

 

In order to log your food in Fitbit, open the app.

On the screen you will see a section for calories in.  Tap the plus sign (circled in red). 

That will take you to a second screen where you can look up the food that you ate and then log the food that you ate in the amount that you ate.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or, I prefer to use the Myfitnesspal app to log my food (you can really use any calorie counting app that you like). I prefer Myfitnesspal because it is free and has a huge database so I can usually find the food I’m eating already in the database which makes logging my food quick and easy. It also has a barcode scanner that makes it easy to log a packaged food.

I have been using it forever and so it has years of my history including saved meals, favorite foods, and my recipes.

If you are using Myfitnesspal then it is important to sync that app with your fitbit.  Once you sync the two it will always all the foods that you over to Fitbit so you can see how your calories In are comparing to your calories out.

In order to sync your myfitnesspal app to your Fitbit app go to the “more” section of the myfitnesspal app and tap the “Apps & Devices” section. Find the Fitbit tracker and click connect. This will then import your Myfitnesspal entries into the food and calorie portion of your Fitbit app.

How To Use Your Fitbit To Easily See Your Expected Calorie Deficit Each Day

One of the hardest parts of trying to lose weight is determining how many calories you can eat each day and end up in a deficit.  Also, once you’re halfway through your day wouldn’t it be nice to determine how many calories you can still eat to remain in a deficit.  Sometimes it feels like we have been so busy we must have burned a lot of extra calories. 

Your Fitbit will measure your daily calorie deficit.  You can tell it how much of a deficit you want to aim for.  This allows you to tell Fitbit how much of a deficit you want to aim for each day. If you set your Fitbit for 1000 calorie deficit per day then if you reached that goal it would lead to a deficit of 7000 calories for the week and put you on track for a two pound a week weight loss.

In order to set your calorie deficit goal. Go to your Fitbit app and click on your avatar in the top left corner.

Next click on “Nutrition and Weight.” Then click on Food. You can either set your own goal or have Fitbit help you set your goal.

I like to have mine set to a 1000 calorie per day deficit. Now, I will say that it is tough for me to meet 1000 calories per day and I am more likely to usually have a deficit of 700-800 each day. So usually my app will tell me I am over calories. That is ok with me because I track my overall progress elsewhere.

But the main reason I like it set to a 1000 calorie deficit is that it allows me to easily see how many calories I am set to burn at any point during the day.

Since Fitbit is monitoring your heart rate 24/7, it is monitoring your daily calorie burn in real time.  It is also thinking ahead and predicting how many calories it thinks you will burn for the whole day.  If I have a daily calorie goal of 1600 calories I can check in and see if I am on track to burn 2600 calories for the day. If I am significantly lower then that lets me know that I might want to have lighter meals for the rest of the day – or up my acitivity.

For Example:

Below is a screenshot of my CICO for the day at about 4:00 p.m. It is showing that I have eaten 960 calories and Fitbit is telling me that I have about 562 calories left if I want to end the day with a 1000 calorie deficit.

If I were to eat what it is suggesting then I would consume about 1500 calories for the day. Knowing that my Fitbit app has me set at a 1000 calorie deficit this tells me that Fitbit thinks I on track to burn around 2500 calories for the day.

But, this prediction assumes that I continue on the same amount of activity for the rest of the day but that is not likely to happen. Instead, once I finish work my activity drops a bit (since I use a treadmill desk), and then after dinner, I usually watch some TV with my daughter. So it has to recalculate based on my less active evenings and I usually end up finishing my day with about 200 calories less than what is projected now.

Your daily burn will depend on your unique activity level and that is why I think that this is perhaps the most powerful weapon in creating your own personal weight loss plan.

To set your calorie goal for weight loss go to your Fitbit app: Click on the calories and it will bring you to the page to show you your daily calorie burn. It also summarizes your total calorie burn for the week before. Check out the past few weeks and find a recent week that you think is representative of your average activity level. Look at the total calories burned for the week. Then divide that number by seven to determine your average daily calorie burn. From there, determine how much of a daily calorie deficit you want to shoot for (remember a 1000 calorie daily deficit will put you on track for an approximate 2 pound a week loss. A 500 calorie daily deficit will put you on track for an approximate 1 pound a week loss.

So for example, if your Fitbit showed that you had a total weekly burn of 16,786 calories.

Divided by 7 that would be an average daily calorie burn of 2398 calories.

In order to go for a two pound(ish) loss a week you could set your daily calorie goal for 1400 calories a day.

What I did when I set up my own plan was to look back on what I was averaging over time for a daily calorie burn. At the time, I was averaging around 2000 – 2100 calories per day burned. I ended up setting up my plan to allow me 1650 calories each day. I picked this number because it allowed me for a deficit but not feel completely starved or deprived. It also gave me room to lower the calories if needed.

I also decided to focus on ways to increase my calories burned each day. Over the summer I was extremely active and was consistently burning 2600-2800 calories per day. With the increased burn and eating around 1600 calories per day the weight started coming off at a fairly regular pace.

Recently, I have noticed that my calories burned has decreased again. I think this has been due to the colder weather making me lounge a little more with coffee in the morning which has caused me to have a shorter morning workout coupled with less evening activity. My goal for the month of December is to increase activity again.

Which Fitbit Is Best For Weight Loss?

The best Fitbit’s for weight loss are the trackers that have the 24/7 heart rate monitor so that you can get an accurate measure of your daily calorie burn.  Here are the Fitbits that are best for weight loss:

Below are three Fitbits that have the 24/7 heart rate calories so you can most accurately measure your daily calorie burn:

 

Fitbit Sense 2

 

 

This is the fitbit that I have and I LOVE it!  The calorie tracking is accurate and it is in a stylish shape. 

FitBit Versa 3

 

Fitbit Versa 2

 

 

Fitbit Charge 4

Fitbit Inspire 2 

 

Fitbit Luxe

 

Will Getting 10,000 Steps On My Fitbit Help Me Lose Weight?

For years we have all heard that the gold standard is to aim for 10,000 steps a day. The 10,000 steps a day was set up as an attainable goal for most people to get moving. By aiming for 10,000 steps per day it is likely to keep you moving throughout the day. According to Thom Riech at the mayoclinic.com, the average American walks 3,000 to 4,000 steps a day or roughly 1.5 to 2 miles. 10,000 is a number that was devised to keep people moving throughout the day.

Is 10,000 steps right for you? Maybe. The best bet is to wear your Fitbit and assess how many steps you are averaging each day. Are you like the average American and walking around 3,000 steps a day? Then maybe shooting for 6,000 to begin and then adding extra steps to your goals each week as you attain the goal. Or, are you pretty active and you easily reach 10,000 steps per day? Well, can you increase it a little bit? I am currently aiming for 100,000 steps per week. So far, I am usually around 70-80,000 steps per week because I find that I am less active on the weekends.

But ultimately the steps per day isn’t as important as whether you are active throughout your day vs sedentary. My day job is in an office and so before my treadmill desk I was very sedentary all day. I would usually hit 10,000 steps but that was mainly based on my morning workout and lunchtime walk. The eight hours while I was at work I sat at my desk and barely moved all day. So while I felt pretty good with my 10,000 steps, I was barely moving most of the day.

One of the deeper dives on the Fitbit app looks at if you have been active throughout the day. It measures whether you take at least 250 steps per hour during the workday. This is helpful because it shows whether you are consistently moving your body throughout the day. Once I started really focusing on moving throughout the day, I noticed the weight seemed to be coming off quicker. Also, by increasing my movement throughout the day my resting heart rate has dropped as well. Which I think shows that while 10,000 steps a day is a good goal the more important factor is whether you are accumulating those steps throughout the day rather than taking one really long walk and then being sedentary for the rest of the day.

Below you can see what I am talking about. I looked through my app and picked two weeks at random to illustrate what I am talking about. The week of January 12 I was not very active and was averaging 3000-5000 steps per day finishing out the week at 34,174 steps . The week of Sept 6-12 I was averaging over 10,000 steps and finished the week at 76,124 steps. You can see below that it is not just the number of steps taken but that in September I was also far less sedentary during the day. This helps with our NEAT (non exercise activity thermogenesis) and helps us to burn more calories overall throughout the day.

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How to Use Your Fitbit To Track Your Weight Loss

Oh we all hate it ,but we need to use our weight as a measurement of whether or plan is working or not. The easiest way to do this is to get a wireless scale that also measure body fat and sync it with your Fitbit app. I like this because it keeps a record of your weight and body fat and you don’t have to think about it or put too much emotion into it.

Fitbit makes scales that integrate with the app. The Fitbit scale is called the Aria Air which you an purchase here:

 

I liked the Fitbit scale and it worked great.  I have the Aria 1 and while I loved it, there were two complaints I had.  It only measures weight and body fat.  Second, when Comcast did an update it couldn’t update to our wireless.  So then, I had to manually input it to my fitbit app.  

Personally, I prefer the Renphro Body Fat Scale which is the scale I currently have.  

 

 

 

The Renpho scale is $20 less and measures weight, body fat, muscle mass, subcutaneous fat, visceral fat, skeletal muscle, and body water.  In addition, it syncs with the Fitbit app.  For me, the Renpho scale is the clear winner.  

To Sync the Renfro scale to your Fitbit. Go to the Fitbit app and click your Avatar on the upper left corner. Then scroll down to the bottom and click on “Third Party Apps.” Click “manage third party apps.” Then find the renphro app and click it and follow the directions to sync with your app.

Now you are ready to set up a diet personalized to you and your needs. Focus on calorie setting first and foremost and then eating within your calorie limit. Next focus on ways to increase your NEAT throughout the day. Once you have your diet set you can move on to setting up your fitness plan.

Conclusion

 I lost 20 pounds thanks to my Fitbit Sense! It all started when I discovered how to use the calories burned feature on my new watch. The numbers that popped up were so motivating for me, and it was easy to see how many calories I had left before hitting my goal each day. The Fitbit’s calories burned feature is an easy way to calculate how many calories you should consume in a day. By combining this number with your calories consumed each day, you can lose weight without ever feeling like you are dieting or depriving yourself of the foods that make life worth living! 

This post was all about how to use your Fitbit for weight loss!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. I only recommend products that I love and think you will too!