FAQ - Syncing, logging food & exercise, calorie adjustments, activity levels, accuracy
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HI all,
Can someone tell me how can stop my charge to add my exercise calories to my food diary?
I want to see my daily calories & my exercise calories but I don't want them added to my daily calorie allowance.
is there a way to do that? Thanks :-)
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HI all,
Can someone tell me how can stop my charge to add my exercise calories to my food diary?
I want to see my daily calories & my exercise calories but I don't want them added to my daily calorie allowance.
is there a way to do that? Thanks :-)
Unsync accounts so you are no longer getting the benefit of a much better estimate of daily burn to base your eating calories on.
Once unsynced - you can keep using MFP's rough estimate without correction.
And read the FAQ - they aren't exercise calories. Sounds like you have a misunderstanding of how this works.
To lose fat - you merely need to eat less than you burn by a reasonable amount.
Make it unreasonable if you want to lose muscle mass too.
Fitbit is better estimate than MFP as to what you burn daily, in order to eat less than.0 -
Hi all - I just bought a FitBit One recently. Have been using MFP for ~5 years. Been maintaining for about 1-2 years now. Any advice on my little predicament would be greatly appreciated!
Until now, I've been using my iPhone's pedometer (synced with MFP). I have only got positive calorie adjustments enabled (not negative). So usually, on lazy days, I get at least ~50 calories extra due to activity measured on the iPhone. On more active days this can be into the 100s etc.
I've just switched my 'steps' on MFP to be counted by the FitBit, instead of the iPhone. I still only have positive calorie adjustments enabled. I've been reading and trying to get my head around the way the FitBit calorie adjustment works... and I think I vaguely understand it. But it seems a bit weird and too changeable/dynamic for my liking...
Why is it that my iPhone would give me say 50 extra calories for walking to the bus-stop, but now my FitBit won't give me any (even though it has logged the same number of steps as the iPhone would have?) I understand the concept that MFP estimates your projected deficits throughout the day, whereas FitBit uses 'real-time' adjustments... but what I don't get is how the iPhone's pedometer is really any different to the FitBit's pedometer... and thus why there is a difference in the number of calories you can 'gain' from activity?
I feel a bit 'cheated' by my FitBit...I thought it would be a good way to gain even more calories to eat each day (as I'm wearing it all the time...) but instead it seems to always say I gain 0!
Have I been naively eating back extra calories given to me by my iPhone pedometer, that I haven't actually earned...?
Any advice/explanation would be excellent! Thanks
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Your iPhone did not give you 50 extra calories based on steps alone.
Neither does Fitbit give calories strictly from steps alone.
Steps is converted to distance on each step, and distance and weight and time is used to estimate calorie burn.
Have you compared the actual distance between the days using both methods?
Merely look at records.
MFP and Fitbit for the eating goal both project a daily burn, including up till then reported burn - they use different math to get there though. But that's not part of the math difference here at all.
So you are sad to discover that you actually aren't as active as iPhone said and you should not have been eating as much?
Also, general questions in the FAQ are only going to be seen by those that look here - which most don't, just me.
Might make an actual topic of your own for others that have used the iPhone to Fitbit switch to see if common discovery.0 -
I know that I should be able to see my FitBit calorie adjustment, or that I should be able to click on the "i" but I cannot find either of these pages. Where do I find the FitBit calorie adjustment on MFP? I've looked everywhere. I cannot find it on my diary page or anywhere. What could I be doing wrong?
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Exercise Diary, both web account and app. On app once found, you press and hold to get extra view of stats used.
If not there, you may not have negative adjustments enabled and didn't burn more than MFP estimated anyway, so no positive to view.
Or it's really not syncing. Look on web account at Check-In, do you see Fitbit stats at bottom of list?0 -
Hi, thanks for the explanation.
I need to gain weight
I'm currently 54kg, 1.78m
I'm aiming at 60kg.
My goal should be 2400.
Do you think is normal that my Fitbit charge HR tracks 2500-2700calories burned? I don't even do exercises.
No gym, no run!!!
And then
And then, why MFP want to tracks my calories burned, subtract, adjust...etc.
It won't be easier if it simply replace my daily goal with the fitbit data?
I mean if my MFP daily goal is 2400, and fitbit says that I burned 2500, I will know for sure I'm gaining weight.
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If MFP was set to Sedentary, and Fitbit is only seeing 350 more than that rough estimate - then that is very realistic.
You are hitting the average 2500 for average male.
MFP is basically replacing it's estimate of daily burn with Fitbit - but it must have a base estimate to adjust from - because what if you didn't wear or sync the Fitbit?
Or just as likely - sync issues prevented the data from coming over timely?
Gotta have some number to base eating goal on until such time as more accurate figures are available.
Fitbit does that too - but they go kind of extreme below and above MFP.
Either barely above sleeping level BMR burn, or based on daily historical average. Until such time as device syncs and they have better data.
Just make sure you have MFP set to whatever gain amount you want - 250 or 500 (1/2 or 1 lb) credit.0 -
I've synced MFP & Fitbit by following steps in this post. Everything worked fine. But since day before yesterday, fitbit is actually duplicating the meal summary from MFP and showing Over Target. How do I solve this? I tried revoking access and deleting fitbit app from MFP and followed fresh install. But still didn't work..0
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I've synced MFP & Fitbit by following steps in this post. Everything worked fine. But since day before yesterday, fitbit is actually duplicating the meal summary from MFP and showing Over Target. How do I solve this? I tried revoking access and deleting fitbit app from MFP and followed fresh install. But still didn't work..
Everyone I know is having issues with this, even for different fitbit devices. I don't know wtf to do except for go in and delete the duplications manually. Extra lame.0 -
Hi all,
I've had my Charge for a few months but I prefer to wear my HR monitor for workouts. I'm not sure if I should be removing the Charge while wearing the HR monitor so I don't double up on steps/calorie burn or keep it on? I don't want to think I'm burning more than I am. I know most folks say 'just let the Fitbit do it's job' but I love my HRM. Thanks for all the great info here!0 -
What you manually log overwrites whatever Fitbit had - so no need to remove it. Might reread the 1st section of FAQ for that and more info.0
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I have runkeeper linked to MFP, and Fitbit linked to MFP, but runkeeper and Fitbit aren't linked directly. If I track a run on runkeeper, and it sends the information to myfitnesspal, would it be double dipping so to speak? When I log into fitbit, it is showing both workouts listed in the log, both showing a calorie burn, but the run isn't registering any steps, which is what I want right? Does that make any sense?0
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Any workout that is manually entered or synced into Fitbit replaces whatever was seen by Fitbit. With some apps they do accept type of workout, and with those running and walking results in calculating steps rather than keeping what steps they saw.
MFP is not one of those - just an unknown workout as far as type, calorie replacement.
With RK perhaps having better distance - I'd suggest syncing that with Fitbit to replace miles that could be off, unless you find Fitbit is correct.
The entry you are seeing there with steps is probably the Activity Record from pressing the button on the unnamed device you are using - that is merely a snapshot of original Fitbit stats for that chunk of time.
The incoming Workout Record replaces the calorie burn part of it. If that came from RK instead of MFP, it might change the miles too, but not the fact of what the 2 entries mean.0 -
With a recent (Nov 20th?) update, the exercise I log in MyFitnessPal (via Android) is no longer showing up in FitBit after I sync. My food calories are getting updated fine. Anyone else seeing this problem?0
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Sounds like someone did mention that in main group topics - few read the FAQ's to see if anything new.0
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I tried to read several of the pages and do a search and didn’t see this addressed-I apologize if this was answered and I missed it. I have mfp premium. I synced it with my fit bit. The only food that transferred was my snacks, breakfast, lunch and dinner. It did not transfer my pre workout or post workout meals. Any suggestions? I bought mfp premium so I could customize my meals and calories each day. Thanks,0
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Thank you for the summary- I have read it and I still have a question I'm hoping you can help me out with.
MFP sets my calories at 1200 (sedentary).
If I burn between 1600 and 2200 per day according to my Fitbit (not hr) do I just subtract 500 from my daily average to determine how much I should be eating?
Thank you!0 -
Loveslupins wrote: »Thank you for the summary- I have read it and I still have a question I'm hoping you can help me out with.
MFP sets my calories at 1200 (sedentary).
If I burn between 1600 and 2200 per day according to my Fitbit (not hr) do I just subtract 500 from my daily average to determine how much I should be eating?
Thank you!
You sync accounts, and then MFP will correct it's estimate of daily burn based on your selection of Sedentary and what Fitbit reports you actually burned with real activity level, and eating goal will increase to keep the same deficit.
Use MFP for eating side of equation, use Fitbit for activity side of equation.
If you don't want a daily changing goal based on actual activity level - but would prefer a static goal based on weekly average, then you can set that up too.
Obviously it'll be higher than 1200, which is bare minimum recommended for safety for average sedentary woman, and you aren't sedentary, and hopefully don't want to be average, nor get bare minimum results.0 -
colette430 wrote: »I tried to read several of the pages and do a search and didn’t see this addressed-I apologize if this was answered and I missed it. I have mfp premium. I synced it with my fit bit. The only food that transferred was my snacks, breakfast, lunch and dinner. It did not transfer my pre workout or post workout meals. Any suggestions? I bought mfp premium so I could customize my meals and calories each day. Thanks,
Extra created "meals" on MFP should be lumped under snacks (or Other depending on your account) on Fitbit.
The total count should be correct, even if not the split out subtotals you'd get on MFP.
If those workout meals aren't showing up subtotaled in Fitbit under some meal heading - then sync issue - I'd leave premium out of it though - ability to create your own meals has been around for awhile - and still works for me correctly.0
