If you’re looking to lose weight or keep your weight off, you’ll want to make sure you’re taking in enough calories. But how do you know how many calories you need? And what’s the best way to track them? Here are three tips:
- Use a Fitbit tracker. Fitbits are great for tracking your calorie intake because they have a built-in monitor that shows you how many calories you’ve burned and how many grams of fat and protein you’ve eaten.
- Use a food scale. A food scale is a great way to track your calorie intake because it can help you see where all of your food goes. Plus, using a scale can help you figure out what foods are the most caloric, since they tend to have high amounts of calories per serving.
- Use a calculator. If all of the above methods don’t work for you, there’s always the option of using a calculator to figure out how many calories you need in order to lose weight or keep your weight off.
To change your target heart rate zone, scroll up until you see “Zones” (in settings). Here you can select which zone is most optimal for your workouts (30%, 50%, 70% of Max HR) and then choose a new goal by tapping on it. You will notice that when updating these zones, they will save as a new user profile, so you can switch back and forth between these zones as needed. (Note that updating your heart rate zones will not affect any of your other stats or records.)
To set a new stride length for running steps, go to: Settings > More > Stride Length & Distance. The default setting is “Default”, which automatically sets the distance based on the average size of an adult male (84″), but you can also customize this by tapping “Set a New Stride”. Just enter in how many inches long you are from heel to toe, and then tap “OK” to save it!
Why isn’t my calorie burn accurate?
You may notice that your Fitbit sometimes doesn’t seem to accurately reflect how many calories you’re burning, depending on what activity you’re doing. While it’s hard for us to give an exact interpretation of why this may be the case without more specific details about where or when this occurred, there are a few things we can do to help with calorie burn accuracy:
Make sure that your tracker is snug and secure in its wristband Make sure that your tracker is positioned correctly on your wrist (the heart rate monitor needs to be able to see at least two fingers from underneath) Don’t forget that some activities require multiple arm motions throughout them– such as typing on a computer– so keep this in mind if you notice any discrepancies.
A Fitbit can’t tell you how many calories you’ve burned. Burning calories is a side effect of exercise and the key to losing weight—not logging your activity on Fitbit. You’ll learn more about burning calories in this article: How do I lose weight?
Fitbit makes it easy to log what little food calorie s you eat to get an idea of how many calories you’re consuming to achieve sustained weight loss, which ultimately leads to sustained healthy lifestyles. Here’s how:
Log foods by tapping Log . Search for each item or scroll through the list of popular foods and drinks. Review the nutritional information before logging it. Some items show a range of values rather than an exact amount. Double check that the item you’re logging has the correct number of calories in it. When you’ve added all your foods, tap Save .
If you don’t have a food item on Fitbit yet, refer to our Nutrition Database for help. If you can’t find an exact match, try searching for similar items found under the Other category or suggest a new food by tapping Add new food . Once we add a new food item to our nutrition database, anyone will be able to log that same food in the future without having to submit their own tips and advice.
Make sure you input the information accurately and remember that portions matter! Get more details about portion control here: What is my Fitbit doing? How does it work?
In addition to logging your foods, consider setting your nutrition goals. You can customize these to reflect both weight loss and other important considerations like blood pressure or cholesterol. Learn more about nutrition goals here: Set a goal >
Keep in mind that Fitbit aims to offer an easy way to log calories you eat during the course of your day while working towards achieving a healthier lifestyle. Be mindful of what constitutes a healthy nutritional intake and remember that making good choices is key. If you have any questions please refer to our online support community for additional advice and tips from fellow users!
