Fitbit calories burned
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lsfgreen
Posts: 5
indknt understand how my Fitbit steps are converted into calories burned. Yesterday it gave me 0 for exercise. How does this work?
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From my understanding it depends how you have your activity set up in MFP....if your anything over sedentary then if you do not reach your activity level for the day then you will get 0 calories back.....
Example...
activity set at Light active = 2000 calories for the day
If you are say 1500 calories for the day without moving out of bed.....but you eat 1800 calories that day, then your fitbit thinks you have not done enough (200 short of your goal to reach light active) then you will get 0 back for calories burned....
If you get out of bed and do say 600 calories worth of activity on your FB.....then you will get 100 calories back from your FB.....(1500 FB classes as sedentary + 600 FB calories burned - 2000 MFP activity level = 100 calories back...)
The FB has different settings for its sedentary or BMR level, so that why the figures are never as straight forward as 100 cals back....(if MFP thinks Sedentary is 1500 then FB will think its 1421 for instance) but I tried to simplify the math a little.....
So from what I can understand it depends how your activity is set in MFP compared to how much activity you do a day with your FB...
Although reading other users info they do set higher activity and do negative feedback or something....I am not sure how that works yet TBH....try searching the forums for FB info....use the search bar at the top...
Not sure I have mine set right....but when I got my FB HR 2 weeks ago I reset my activity from Light to sedentary....so then my FB works out all my activity and gives me food back...then on the days I have a lazy day, I can then see if I am eating too much for the lack of activity I do....
Hope this makes sense.....
I only got mine just over 2 weeks ago so I am no expert....hope someone tells me if I am wrong.....but its how I think it works...
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There isn't a direct relationship between steps and calories burned. FitBit takes into account how "heavy" the step is (the magnitude of the acceleration), so more energetic steps get you more calories than gentle steps.
You should read the FAQ heybales wrote. It's full of great information. It's now a "sticky" on the group page, but just to make it easy, here's a link:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10098937/faq-syncing-logging-food-exercise-calorie-adjustments-activity-levels-accuracy#latest
fatjon73 said this: "So from what I can understand it depends how your activity is set in MFP compared to how much activity you do a day with your FB...", which is correct. However, I think it would be quite unusual for anyone to finish the day with a calorie adjustment of exactly 0. So, I'm guessing you don't have negative calorie adjustments enabled. That's covered in heybales' FAQ.
If I'm right and you don't have negative calorie adjustments enabled then the 0 calorie adjustment at the end of the day means that you've got your MFP activity level set either exactly right or too high. I do it the same way fatjon73 does - I set my MFP activity level to sedentary, which means that I don't start the day with a very accurate estimation of what I can eat but I get the psychological boost (for me) of seeing extra calories added as the day goes on. That works for me and my lifestyle (retired, home most of the day, frequent syncing) but wouldn't for someone else.
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I have the same results and psychological boost as NancyN795 and fatjon73. I have only had my fitbit since Valentines Day. Loving the encouragement. Keep at it Isfgreen, and try not to make yourself crazy trying to figure out the electronic jibberish.
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Thanks all for your tips and encouragement. I'm still a little confused as to what my activity level is set at. Guess I need to figure that part out. I will also read the information you sent me. Thanks again all!!0
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Although reading other users info they do set higher activity and do negative feedback or something....I am not sure how that works yet TBH
This is what I meant....I'm guessing you don't have negative calorie adjustments enabled. That's covered in heybales' FAQ.
If I'm right and you don't have negative calorie adjustments enabled then the 0 calorie adjustment at the end of the day means that you've got your MFP activity level set either exactly right or too high.
I don't have mine set to do the negative thingy.....did not think I need it as set to Sedentary....is this right or should I still have it on??
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Although reading other users info they do set higher activity and do negative feedback or something....I am not sure how that works yet TBH
This is what I meant....I'm guessing you don't have negative calorie adjustments enabled. That's covered in heybales' FAQ.
If I'm right and you don't have negative calorie adjustments enabled then the 0 calorie adjustment at the end of the day means that you've got your MFP activity level set either exactly right or too high.
I don't have mine set to do the negative thingy.....did not think I need it as set to Sedentary....is this right or should I still have it on??
If you're not a complete couch potato, then, with your activity level set to sedentary, it shouldn't make much difference having negative calorie adjustments enabled. Still, it doesn't hurt, either.
What happens with me is that when I get up in the morning, I show negative exercise calories for a while, but it usually turns positive after a few hours. I think it helps me to get moving earlier because I hate seeing that negative adjustment, even though I know it will go away with my normal activity level (i.e. without deliberate exercise).
I think if someone has their activity level set to about what they usually burn in a day, then it is quite important to have negative adjustments turned on, so they don't eat too much and end up going over their calorie allotment.
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