Steps

2

Replies

  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
    ryenday wrote: »
    Are you set at 1200 calories?
    Do you have negative adjustments turned on?

    Even with your step calories added in you could still be below 1200 and the system won't let you go below that. Basically, you haven't exercised enough to earn more than 1200 calories.

    I’m set at 1500 calories. I don’t think it has anything to do with it. Step adjustments work fine on my rest days ( days when I don’t workout).

    I walk throughout the day. MFP and Apple Watch sync pretty often and i can see my step count increase in MFP and the adjustment grows higher the more steps I take. Then I exercise. The exercise workout gets synced to MFP and recorded and the step adjustment changes to zero ( or to a negative number if negative adjustment is enabled).

    I’m set to sedentary on MFP. The syncing of a workout cancels steps for that whole day no matter if I workout at 9am or 9pm. No matter how many steps, syncing a workout cancels out step adjustments. I do not need a walking workout for this to happen. My swim workouts negate all the days step adjustments.

    It has been this way since I got my Apple Watch in May and makes no sense to me so I assume it is a bug.

    Are you logging your exercise? Do you log them in MFP, or with Apple Watch?

    This may be a bug. I know that there are on and off issues with fitbit syncing to MFP, although I haven't had any since August. It could possibly be the way you are logging your exercise. I don't know anything about Apple Watch. I know with fitbit you have to log your exercise (any kind of exercise) a specific way so that it adjusts correctly and gives you proper credit.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
    ryenday wrote: »
    ritzvin wrote: »
    Trex5009 wrote: »
    lorrpb wrote: »
    Try rewording your question or explaining what you mean a bit more. I don't know what you mean that your step calories go back to 0.
    Also, sometimes it takes more than 2 1/2 hours for someone with the answer to see your question and respond. Just sayin'.

    Ok... you know how your phone tracks your steps? Well MFP calculates how many calories you burn based on number of steps. Well sometimes I go into the app and I have like 50 calories burned or something just from my steps. However when I add my own excersie of cardio or something.. my calories burned from my steps reset to 0. Idk why I'm having trouble explaining this.. hope you got what I mean though

    your fitness tracker is estimating your total calorie expenditure from what it sees, and MFP is adjusted to match the total. If the tracker didn't see/measure what you are manually adding it won't be in that total (and will thus be negated in the adjustment).

    I don’t manually add anything. The watch syncs steps AND workouts. If the Watch doesn’t see it, I’m not recording it (I.e. household cleaning) in MFP.

    That post was meant for the OP who added in their own exercise. Yours might be doing the same thing as Garmin if it is non-step-based but still watch-measured activities getting negated. (Negative adjustments can get pretty interesting when riding a century).
  • ryenday
    ryenday Posts: 1,540 Member
    edited November 2017
    Dnarules wrote: »
    ryenday wrote: »
    Are you set at 1200 calories?
    Do you have negative adjustments turned on?

    Even with your step calories added in you could still be below 1200 and the system won't let you go below that. Basically, you haven't exercised enough to earn more than 1200 calories.

    I’m set at 1500 calories. I don’t think it has anything to do with it. Step adjustments work fine on my rest days ( days when I don’t workout).

    I walk throughout the day. MFP and Apple Watch sync pretty often and i can see my step count increase in MFP and the adjustment grows higher the more steps I take. Then I exercise. The exercise workout gets synced to MFP and recorded and the step adjustment changes to zero ( or to a negative number if negative adjustment is enabled).

    I’m set to sedentary on MFP. The syncing of a workout cancels steps for that whole day no matter if I workout at 9am or 9pm. No matter how many steps, syncing a workout cancels out step adjustments. I do not need a walking workout for this to happen. My swim workouts negate all the days step adjustments.

    It has been this way since I got my Apple Watch in May and makes no sense to me so I assume it is a bug.

    Are you logging your exercise? Do you log them in MFP, or with Apple Watch?

    This may be a bug. I know that there are on and off issues with fitbit syncing to MFP, although I haven't had any since August. It could possibly be the way you are logging your exercise. I don't know anything about Apple Watch. I know with fitbit you have to log your exercise (any kind of exercise) a specific way so that it adjusts correctly and gives you proper credit.

    I assume it is a bug, and yeah I don’t log any of my exercises or steps - this is the Apple Watch sync of workouts and steps counted. It has been this way since May when I got the watch. (All I do is tell Apple Watch when I start or stop a workout)

    Thanks, as I said, while I am still in weight loss mode this is like a bonus. But I’ve started to look ahead to the ever closer maintenance (yay!) and MFP won’t work for me then because the difference can easily be 15% of my daily calories on my walking everywhere all day weekend days (a not unusual but not regular occurrence).
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
    edited November 2017
    If it bothers you just un-sync the two apps and log your exercise manually.
    At the end of the day it doesn't really matter how many cals you are given or not given for your exercise, if you are losing weight if that's what you want to do, that is the main thing.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited November 2017
    ryenday wrote: »
    Thanks all who tried to explain, but either I’m just too thick to get it or something is wrong in the sync.

    Yesterday: Apple Watch. MFP set to sedentary. Apple Activity App ( which gets its data from my watch) says 15237 steps. MFP profile page agreed (MFP iPhone app). Exercise section however at end of day reads:

    steps adjustment 11,207 :: -63
    Swim 325
    Walking (.5 hour) 102

    MFP gave me 364 calories.

    It is always the same.

    If I have steps but no exercise a portion of the steps makes it from home page to exercise diary. A small adjustment to calories is recorded.

    If I have ANY exercise during the day, at any time - MFP zeros out (or makes negative if negative adjustments allowed) the step calories. I have days (MFP set to sedentary) of 15000 ish steps with a 15 minute bike ride and get 45 calories for the bike ride and 0 for steps.

    As I said, this is fine while I aim to lose weight. But I don’t understand it at all. And when I get to maintenance I’ll have to find a different app because I get no step activity adjustments if I record a bike ride or swim so more often than not MFP is going to just be wrong in its calculations (sometimes wildly wrong - like on HIIT days where I record 10 minutes of cardio so I get 40 or so calories and that workout negates any and all steps.)

    It's exactly the math that I gave.

    You need to click on the Exercise Adjustment "i" for more info as to what is the basis for the math - it's all spelled out.

    Simple as that.

    And just so your terminology is straight, because it's confusing right now.

    You are getting steps synced just fine, and nothing happens to them.

    You are strictly talking about the calorie adjustment, that's all.
    It's allowing MFP to correct itself with it's original estimate and exercise it knows about (because logged on here), and the calorie burn from the outside source.

    3rd Party sync of calorie burn minus MFP estimate of daily burn minus MFP logged exercise equals adjustment.

    So:

    Outside source 2500 - 2000 MFP - 600 logged exercise = negative 100 adjustment.

    Base eating goal 1500 + 600 exercise - 100 adjustment = 2000 new eating goal.

    500 cal deficit. 2500-2000.

  • ryenday
    ryenday Posts: 1,540 Member
    edited November 2017
    heybales wrote: »
    ryenday wrote: »
    Thanks all who tried to explain, but either I’m just too thick to get it or something is wrong in the sync.

    Yesterday: Apple Watch. MFP set to sedentary. Apple Activity App ( which gets its data from my watch) says 15237 steps. MFP profile page agreed (MFP iPhone app). Exercise section however at end of day reads:

    steps adjustment 11,207 :: -63
    Swim 325
    Walking (.5 hour) 102

    MFP gave me 364 calories.

    It is always the same.

    If I have steps but no exercise a portion of the steps makes it from home page to exercise diary. A small adjustment to calories is recorded.

    If I have ANY exercise during the day, at any time - MFP zeros out (or makes negative if negative adjustments allowed) the step calories. I have days (MFP set to sedentary) of 15000 ish steps with a 15 minute bike ride and get 45 calories for the bike ride and 0 for steps.

    As I said, this is fine while I aim to lose weight. But I don’t understand it at all. And when I get to maintenance I’ll have to find a different app because I get no step activity adjustments if I record a bike ride or swim so more often than not MFP is going to just be wrong in its calculations (sometimes wildly wrong - like on HIIT days where I record 10 minutes of cardio so I get 40 or so calories and that workout negates any and all steps.)

    It's exactly the math that I gave.

    You need to click on the Exercise Adjustment "i" for more info as to what is the basis for the math - it's all spelled out.

    Simple as that.

    And just so your terminology is straight, because it's confusing right now.

    You are getting steps synced just fine, and nothing happens to them.

    You are strictly talking about the calorie adjustment, that's all.
    It's allowing MFP to correct itself with it's original estimate and exercise it knows about (because logged on here), and the calorie burn from the outside source.

    3rd Party sync of calorie burn minus MFP estimate of daily burn minus MFP logged exercise equals adjustment.

    So:

    Outside source 2500 - 2000 MFP - 600 logged exercise = negative 100.

    Base eating goal 1500 + 600 exercise - 100 adjustment = 2000 new eating goal.

    500 cal deficit. 2500-2000.

    Then I guess I’m just dumb.

    I don’t understand how 14,000 steps and a 10 minute workout mean that MFP allots a total of 1483 cal. But the day that I walk 9000 steps and do not exercise at all MFP allots calories at 1615.

    So I’m dumb. Or there is a bug. But thank you for trying to explain. I appreciate the time it took for you to try, even if I just don’t understand.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Click on the Adjustment for more details and share all the figures on that extra screen.

    It can be explained - but not about to try using Steps when that is not in the math.

    Just so you are aware too - not all steps are equal for calorie burn. So not truly valid to compare even 2 days of equal steps wondering why they are different.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,393 Member
    The explanation of what should be happening has been given and it is unfortunately more complex than it ideally should be because as mentioned mfp and various trackers start with different base assumptions, pigeonhole their various intermental values differently, and then try to reconcile the whole mess with a single number (the exercise adjustment which by that point is essentially mislabeled; it should be something like relative tdee equalisation adjustment)

    However we all seem to be ignoring that currently the Apple watch, Apple health, and mfp are experiencing integration issues based on a number of recent posts...

    So they're just may not exist a rational solution :disappointed:
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
    edited November 2017
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    This might help...I use a fitbit.

    The steps are irrelevant really...it's about what the tracker is saying you burned vs what MFP thinks you might burn...based on the data you entered.
  • ryenday
    ryenday Posts: 1,540 Member
    Question then: does this look reasonable for a MFP sedentary level then? (Yesterday). I hate to post photos bc they so big on non iPhones, but I don’t have access to a computer today way:

    pzza2a97sspo.png
    And. This is the ‘detail’
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  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
    are you using your iphone to track your activity or an apple watch?

    if an apple watch you need to ensure that it is sync'd to your phone which in turn is sync'd to MFP...not totally sure how this is done as I am an android user...

    It actually looks reasonable as you have your walk logged so it will negate those calories form the 11k total steps.

    and swimming for 36mins if you were doing laps sure...depending on your stats of course.
  • need2belean
    need2belean Posts: 353 Member
    edited November 2017
    I can tell you this. That since you don't swim with your iPHONE, your phone is negating the calories used from walking from your swimming total burn you inputed. So if you walked 11,000 steps, and you swam, that's probably why it's taking away from your calorie total (because it can't count steps from a swim). That's why IMO it doesn't make sense to have the calorie adjustment check box checked if you're not wearing a tracker watch that you'll wear during all of your workouts. I don't take my phone with me everywhere that I go, so I don't see how it's an accurate tracking method for steps.
  • ryenday
    ryenday Posts: 1,540 Member
    edited November 2017
    Yeah, I do wear an Apple Watch at all times except sleep. I do sync the watch to the iPhone. And whatever’s — I’m done. It’s fine for weight loss but I’ll just have to find something else than MFP for maintenance. With a sedentary setting MFP should not be subtracting or negating my step activity - and thank y’all for trying, but I don’t understand and each explanation seems to miss something I thought I already detailed so I’m now too frustrated to continue.
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
    Chiming in here because I killed my exercise and activity rings on my watch (Apple 2) and MFP awarded me some extra calories, and then when I went out with the dog and came back in, everything was different - I somehow not only lost all of the calories but was even given a deficit below that. I unchecked the negative calorie option which did nothing. Then I updated MFP on my phone. That didn't help when I went into the phone MFP app. Then I logged out of the website on my computer and went back in and everything had reset properly. It's gremlins. That's my story & I'm sticking to it.
  • misnomer1
    misnomer1 Posts: 646 Member
    Trex5009 wrote: »
    lorrpb wrote: »
    Try rewording your question or explaining what you mean a bit more. I don't know what you mean that your step calories go back to 0.
    Also, sometimes it takes more than 2 1/2 hours for someone with the answer to see your question and respond. Just sayin'.

    Ok... you know how your phone tracks your steps? Well MFP calculates how many calories you burn based on number of steps. Well sometimes I go into the app and I have like 50 calories burned or something just from my steps. However when I add my own excersie of cardio or something.. my calories burned from my steps reset to 0. Idk why I'm having trouble explaining this.. hope you got what I mean though

    First off. Enable negative calorie adjustment in mfp settings using PC.

    When you add an exercise, your steps are likely resynced by mfp at that time. If you walk a lot till noon, you might see a big positive calorie adjustment. If you just sleep after that, you might notice the adjustment get smaller and smaller and might even become negative till midnight. This is how it is supposed to work.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited November 2017
    I can tell you this. That since you don't swim with your iPHONE, your phone is negating the calories used from walking from your swimming total burn you inputed. So if you walked 11,000 steps, and you swam, that's probably why it's taking away from your calorie total (because it can't count steps from a swim). That's why IMO it doesn't make sense to have the calorie adjustment check box checked if you're not wearing a tracker watch that you'll wear during all of your workouts. I don't take my phone with me everywhere that I go, so I don't see how it's an accurate tracking method for steps.

    You don't have to wear a tracker during all workouts if you plan on manually entering in the workout with more accurate info.

    I can wear my Fitbit during a bike ride and get totally worthless stats of steps, distance, and calorie burn.
    As soon as I log the workout based on Garmin data, it's replaced.
    So I could have left the Fitbit off in that case.

    Most the devices assume that if there are no steps, you are at BMR level burn for that time - like sleeping.
    So something is counted, just not as high as reality perhaps is if like standing, or lifting, or swimming.

    If the correct data isn't enter in later - you merely have an underestimated daily burn.

    The swim would have replaced a chunk of time the iPhone had no data on because as you said it's a swim.
    So you are replacing no step/distance/extra calorie burn stats with whatever the swim stats are.

    It's perfectly fine method and should not result in any problems.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited November 2017
    ryenday wrote: »
    Question then: does this look reasonable for a MFP sedentary level then? (Yesterday). I hate to post photos bc they so big on non iPhones, but I don’t have access to a computer today way:

    And. This is the ‘detail’

    It could be easily.

    Normally I'd expected that many steps to be more than 420 calories - but like I said - depends on the distance traveled actually and calories assigned. 30 min walk could have been short steps, or false step reading, which could be a concern for distance estimated then, and calorie burn based on it. Or perhaps in this case, correct steps seen, but distance was short.
    You got a stride length setting in your stats for watch?

    Those are MFP manually entered exercise entries, so they should have synced back over to iPhone to inform it what was going on during the time you used.

    You do have to enter Start and Duration time, right, for the MFP workouts?

    Here's your stat's I think.

    BMR - 1620
    MFP estimated daily sedentary burn - 2025
    500 cal deficit
    base eating goal - 1525

    Here's what happened in your screen shots at 2:13 pm, which is 853 min into the day, or 587 min left, or 40.8% left.

    MFP estimated daily 2025 x 40.8% = 826.2 calories left at Sedentary rate of burn.

    iPhone synced calorie burnt so far that day - 1563
    (for comparison - MFP @ sedentary would be at 1199, so you are 364 over Sedentary at that point)

    iPhone reported 1563 + 826 = 2389 Full day projected
    (again - 364 over only MFP estimate of 2025 @ sedentary)

    Full day projected 2389 - 2025 MFP estimated daily - 427 MFP exercise = -63 calorie adjustment.

    Base eating goal 1525 + 427 exercise - 63 adjustment = 1889 new eating goal.

    You ate 1779 so far - you have 1889-1779 = 110 calories left.

    Just for confirmation - 2389 full day projected - 500 deficit = 1889 eating goal.

    You still have your 500 cal deficit.

    Reread the above carefully as to what is going on. Exactly what I said, but with your numbers.
    You don't have to have fun with maths, may not even get it - that's fine.
    But you can't say it's not working right if you don't understand what it's doing - it is.

    The reason the above MUST happen that way - is because the workouts you logged on MFP are synced over to whatever the tracker is.
    The tracker account replaces whatever it had with the workouts you logged.
    Perhaps they exactly match, like the walking may have.
    Perhaps they are totally new, like the swimming would be.

    So for the adjustment to be figured out - whatever you logged on MFP, which must also be known on the tracker account - must be subtracted first.
    That can result in a negative adjustment sometimes.
    But the overall result is not.

    And as you can see - the deficit remains.

    So keep up your manual logging of workouts that need to be like swimming, lifting, elliptical, or other non-step based activity.
    The walking you don't need to as the iWatch's calorie estimate for the walk was probably good enough - if you want your wall to know you walked - just post the fact.

    And you can keep using it into maintenance - because it's working just like it's supposed to.
  • ryenday
    ryenday Posts: 1,540 Member
    LOL. I’m gonna just say it’s broken.

    hjc2y96i56x3.png
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    edited November 2017
    heybales wrote: »
    I can tell you this. That since you don't swim with your iPHONE, your phone is negating the calories used from walking from your swimming total burn you inputed. So if you walked 11,000 steps, and you swam, that's probably why it's taking away from your calorie total (because it can't count steps from a swim). That's why IMO it doesn't make sense to have the calorie adjustment check box checked if you're not wearing a tracker watch that you'll wear during all of your workouts. I don't take my phone with me everywhere that I go, so I don't see how it's an accurate tracking method for steps.

    You don't have to wear a tracker during all workouts if you plan on manually entering in the workout with more accurate info.

    I can wear my Fitbit during a bike ride and get totally worthless stats of steps, distance, and calorie burn.
    As soon as I log the workout based on Garmin data, it's replaced.
    So I could have left the Fitbit off in that case.

    Most the devices assume that if there are no steps, you are at BMR level burn for that time - like sleeping.
    So something is counted, just not as high as reality perhaps is if like standing, or lifting, or swimming.

    If the correct data isn't enter in later - you merely have an underestimated daily burn.

    The swim would have replaced a chunk of time the iPhone had no data on because as you said it's a swim.
    So you are replacing no step/distance/extra calorie burn stats with whatever the swim stats are.

    It's perfectly fine method and should not result in any problems.

    I can't speak to the underlying math question, but I would point out that the newer Apple Watches can be worn while swimming, so if this is what @ryenday is using, there wouldn't be a data gap - you just start and end the workout as usual and the synch hypothetically takes care of the rest.
  • ryenday
    ryenday Posts: 1,540 Member
    heybales wrote: »
    I can tell you this. That since you don't swim with your iPHONE, your phone is negating the calories used from walking from your swimming total burn you inputed. So if you walked 11,000 steps, and you swam, that's probably why it's taking away from your calorie total (because it can't count steps from a swim). That's why IMO it doesn't make sense to have the calorie adjustment check box checked if you're not wearing a tracker watch that you'll wear during all of your workouts. I don't take my phone with me everywhere that I go, so I don't see how it's an accurate tracking method for steps.

    You don't have to wear a tracker during all workouts if you plan on manually entering in the workout with more accurate info.

    I can wear my Fitbit during a bike ride and get totally worthless stats of steps, distance, and calorie burn.
    As soon as I log the workout based on Garmin data, it's replaced.
    So I could have left the Fitbit off in that case.

    Most the devices assume that if there are no steps, you are at BMR level burn for that time - like sleeping.
    So something is counted, just not as high as reality perhaps is if like standing, or lifting, or swimming.

    If the correct data isn't enter in later - you merely have an underestimated daily burn.

    The swim would have replaced a chunk of time the iPhone had no data on because as you said it's a swim.
    So you are replacing no step/distance/extra calorie burn stats with whatever the swim stats are.

    It's perfectly fine method and should not result in any problems.

    I can't speak to the underlying math question, but I would point out that the newer Apple Watches can be worn while swimming, so if this is what @ryenday is using, there wouldn't be a data gap - you just start and end the workout as usual and the synch hypothetically takes care of the rest.

    Yes, I wear my watch while swimming, rowing, walking, biking, etc. I do not manually enter any workouts, they are all synced from the Apple Watch. I only start a workout for walking on the watch if I am going to be walking a mile or more every other ‘walking’ is in steps.