Fitbit accuracy

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  • debrag12
    debrag12 Posts: 1,071 Member
    JAT74 wrote: »
    Does anyone in this thread use a Heart Rate Monitor at the same time as their Fitbit, or take of their Fitbit when doing workouts it can't track and use the HRM instead? If so, what's the best way to add these extra calorie burns:

    1) so that they aren't counted twice and
    2) so that you get to add in more accurate calorie burns for some types of workouts.

    I have a Polar FT7 which is currently out of action (waiting for new batteries) but when I get it up and running again I want to be able to use it in addition to the Fitbit.

    I use both and keep both on while running or at the gym. I then log my burns on fitbit which the fitbit then incorporates into my daily burns. Its not like having a set calorie goal and then adding exercise calories on top.
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
    Does it matter whether you log the burns on Fitbit or MFP or does it still end up showing the same?

    Doing it the way you are debrag12, doesn't MFP still add the calories onto your goal or is your Fitbit not linked to MFP? If so, what do you set your MFP calories to?
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    The only thing I have noticed as far as inaccuracy is when I am in the pool. Fitbit counts about 75% of the steps I take when I am jogging in water. I am guessing that the buoyancy of the water lessens the impact of each footfall so not all of them register. I tested this out a couple of times by counting my steps then checking the recorded steps.

    For burn, it doesn't matter because I log my water aerobics into MFP so it overrides any calorie burn Fitbit gives me for the steps taken at the time.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    JAT74 wrote: »
    Does it matter whether you log the burns on Fitbit or MFP or does it still end up showing the same?

    Doing it the way you are debrag12, doesn't MFP still add the calories onto your goal or is your Fitbit not linked to MFP? If so, what do you set your MFP calories to?

    Log them into MFP only.

  • debrag12
    debrag12 Posts: 1,071 Member
    JAT74 wrote: »
    Does it matter whether you log the burns on Fitbit or MFP or does it still end up showing the same?

    Doing it the way you are debrag12, doesn't MFP still add the calories onto your goal or is your Fitbit not linked to MFP? If so, what do you set your MFP calories to?

    My calorie goal is TDEE - 20%. My goal increases/decreases throughout the day with how active I've been.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    JAT74 wrote: »
    rabbitjb firstly where do you log the workouts? Do you do it on the Fitbit App/website or MFP and how does it know what time you've done the workouts? For example if I do a workout using my HRM but don't put in the workout manually until an hour or so later (when I have a chance) how can it tell?

    On MFP

    It asks for the length and the the time you started and calories ..this is all displayed on your polar watch data files ...you can enter it any time you want
  • debrag12
    debrag12 Posts: 1,071 Member
    the same on fitbit, you add start time, duration, distance/intensity, calories etc
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    segacs wrote: »
    WalkingAlong wrote: »
    It's not quite that simple. It compares the motion pattern detected from the 3d accelerometer to databases of activity data and picks the closest match. Then it applies the METS value (google it, if needed) for that activity to your BMR for that moment. It does that all day. So it'd be like you logging each moment of your day in an activity database.

    Yeah, but all of that is still based on a formula. It's a complex formula, granted. But it's still a formula.
    Oh I agree. Sometimes people think it shows them their ACTUAL calorie burn. No. But it's not as primitive as some think either. Some think it does like "step count times x = calories" or "<5000 steps = sedentary, therefore calories are 1.2 times BMR".

  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    WalkingAlong wrote: »
    Oh I agree. Sometimes people think it shows them their ACTUAL calorie burn. No.

    Exactly. I mean, I think most people who stop and think about it would realize that no $100 gadget can measure your actual calorie burn, and that it has to be extrapolated from some data points.

    But I've seen a lot of people who treat their Fitbits like magic. And, moreover, who expect their Fitbits to be able to estimate calories from things that it was not designed for, like strength training or non-step cardio exercise.

    Calculators, fitness trackers, formulas and algorithms are good for getting to a starting number. But it's just a starting number. The only way to see if it's accurate is to eat at that number for a while and see how much weight actually comes off.
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