Do you believe your fitbit calorie burn?
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shadow2soul wrote: »ncboiler89 wrote: »The step counts are reasonably accurate - the calorie burn estimates....not so much. Since these are walking calories, I would suggest eating back no more than 25% to start with.
I found mine to be very accurate so far. I crunched the numbers after a month and was off by a few hundred calories.
Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the Fitbit award calories based on our speed? I'd think it would not give the same amount for a leisurely stroll as power walking.
I think it's based on the met system, so speed would have an impact. The thing is though, if you spend most of the day walking around your house which is probably the equivalent to 2 mets one day, but go running on a different day (which I believe is 7 mets) for an hour and spend less time walking around the rest of the day it would probably even out. I know on days I go running, I'm pretty lazy for the rest of the day.
I have been making an effort to walk 5 miles per day, broken up into two chunks, a walk in the morning and again in the evening (and I walk pretty briskly.) Between those and my typical day's activities, I am getting around 15K steps. But on more than one occasion, I've seen it referred to as "just walking." So if I was doing nothing before and I walk 5 miles per day now, I shouldn't count that or count only a very small portion as suggested above? Even if it's "just walking" I'd like to think I've significantly increased my TDEE. There have been days when I did practically nothing and recorded a total day's burn of about 1600. Now I get about 2200. So 25% would be 150 calories for five miles?
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I've lost 20 pounds trusting my Fitbit, which seems to be accurate as long as I make sure that my weight (in MFP to which the Fitbit syncs) is correct. I've only had two instances where my Fitbit (the Fitbit One, which I clip to my bra) was inaccurate:
1- I live in a rural area, and noticed that when I drive on a gravel road (bumpy), the Fitbit will sometimes count that movement as steps--so now if I do, I notice the time I'm on the road and later log it as "driving-- 0 calories" to overwrite the calorie adjustment.
2- My PT suggested that I bounce up and down whilst sitting on a fitness ball for my back; when I did, I looked down at my Fitbit and noticed that it was counting each bounce as a step! Now I just take the Fitbit off when doing my bouncing.
Long story short, yes, I trust my Fitbit for counting my steps and calories expended. But if doing something out of the ordinary that would shake your whole body around, do check that it isn't counting non-steps as steps!0 -
shadow2soul wrote: »ncboiler89 wrote: »The step counts are reasonably accurate - the calorie burn estimates....not so much. Since these are walking calories, I would suggest eating back no more than 25% to start with.
I found mine to be very accurate so far. I crunched the numbers after a month and was off by a few hundred calories.
Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the Fitbit award calories based on our speed? I'd think it would not give the same amount for a leisurely stroll as power walking.
I think it's based on the met system, so speed would have an impact. The thing is though, if you spend most of the day walking around your house which is probably the equivalent to 2 mets one day, but go running on a different day (which I believe is 7 mets) for an hour and spend less time walking around the rest of the day it would probably even out. I know on days I go running, I'm pretty lazy for the rest of the day.
I have been making an effort to walk 5 miles per day, broken up into two chunks, a walk in the morning and again in the evening (and I walk pretty briskly.) Between those and my typical day's activities, I am getting around 15K steps. But on more than one occasion, I've seen it referred to as "just walking." So if I was doing nothing before and I walk 5 miles per day now, I shouldn't count that or count only a very small portion as suggested above? Even if it's "just walking" I'd like to think I've significantly increased my TDEE. There have been days when I did practically nothing and recorded a total day's burn of about 1600. Now I get about 2200. So 25% would be 150 calories for five miles?
Maybe my statement was confusing. I was saying that:- Day A: No running, but spent lots of time walking which can be anywhere from 2-3.5 Mets depending on speed according to a sheet I found online.
- Day B: Run for 60 mins, end up being less active the rest of the day (maybe spend more time at the computer or watching TV...all of which is under 2 mets).
So will say day A you spent 6 hours at a Met of 2.5...I'll use my weight of 147lbs, that's approx 1050 calories.
So will say day B you ran at a speed equivelent to 6 Mets for 1 hour and then spent 5 hours at a met level of 1.8...that's approx 1050 calories.
Now if you take a day were you were similar to Day A and add 2 walks or runs or anything for that matter without decreasing your activity, than your TDEE will increase.0 -
I've had my fitbit flex for a year and I think it's pretty accurate...if anything, I think it undercounts my mileage. I think it's more accurate than trusting the calorie burn on cardio machines at the gym too. you have to keep in mind that it's based on arm movement, so exercising that doesn't involve the arms won't get counted accurately, which is kind of a bonus...you don't see the additional earned calories and aren't tempted to eat them back:) I'll eat back some of my calories, but try not to focus on that too much...maybe eat back a maximum of up to 500 earned calories on any given day, but not go over that even if fitbit says I've burned quite a bit more.0
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I believe my Jawbone.0
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I've had my fitbit flex for a year and I think it's pretty accurate...if anything, I think it undercounts my mileage. I think it's more accurate than trusting the calorie burn on cardio machines at the gym too. you have to keep in mind that it's based on arm movement, so exercising that doesn't involve the arms won't get counted accurately, which is kind of a bonus...you don't see the additional earned calories and aren't tempted to eat them back:) I'll eat back some of my calories, but try not to focus on that too much...maybe eat back a maximum of up to 500 earned calories on any given day, but not go over that even if fitbit says I've burned quite a bit more.
Not all of them are based on arm movement. Mine clips to my bra.
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Thanks everyone for your replies, they've helped alot
Someone mentioned driving on a bumpy road.... I have a habit of tapping/jiggling my leg when I sit down (I can't keep still). I'm going to check if that affects the step count.....
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christinev297 wrote: »Thanks everyone for your replies, they've helped alot
Someone mentioned driving on a bumpy road.... I have a habit of tapping/jiggling my leg when I sit down (I can't keep still). I'm going to check if that affects the step count.....
Ha! This is why I got rid of mine for a while. I was thinking, "OMG! I am worrying about these numbers way too much!"
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I've had my fitbit flex for a year and I think it's pretty accurate...if anything, I think it undercounts my mileage. I think it's more accurate than trusting the calorie burn on cardio machines at the gym too. you have to keep in mind that it's based on arm movement, so exercising that doesn't involve the arms won't get counted accurately, which is kind of a bonus...you don't see the additional earned calories and aren't tempted to eat them back:) I'll eat back some of my calories, but try not to focus on that too much...maybe eat back a maximum of up to 500 earned calories on any given day, but not go over that even if fitbit says I've burned quite a bit more.
Not all of them are based on arm movement. Mine clips to my bra.
yeah mine too
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christinev297 wrote: »Thanks everyone for your replies, they've helped alot
Someone mentioned driving on a bumpy road.... I have a habit of tapping/jiggling my leg when I sit down (I can't keep still). I'm going to check if that affects the step count.....
Ha! This is why I got rid of mine for a while. I was thinking, "OMG! I am worrying about these numbers way too much!"
I will admit I am totally obsessed. It's early days yet though My poor husband is only just getting used to me counting calories and weighing my food. Now he's annoyed by the "sound of a herd of buffalo" stomping outside when I do my laps around the house :laugh:
I promised myself I will NOT bring up MFP or how many steps I've done today with him, lest I get that glazed eye, you crazy woman, look!
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christinev297 wrote: »christinev297 wrote: »Thanks everyone for your replies, they've helped alot
Someone mentioned driving on a bumpy road.... I have a habit of tapping/jiggling my leg when I sit down (I can't keep still). I'm going to check if that affects the step count.....
Ha! This is why I got rid of mine for a while. I was thinking, "OMG! I am worrying about these numbers way too much!"
I will admit I am totally obsessed. It's early days yet though My poor husband has only just getting used to me counting calories and weighing my food. Now he's annoyed by the "sound of a herd of buffalo" stomping outside when I do my laps around the house :laugh:
I promised myself I will NOT bring up MFP or how many steps I've done today with him, lest I get that glazed eye, you crazy woman, look!
Hehe. I remember that time period with me and my husband. Oddly enough he is now doing it too.0 -
shadow2soul wrote: »christinev297 wrote: »christinev297 wrote: »Thanks everyone for your replies, they've helped alot
Someone mentioned driving on a bumpy road.... I have a habit of tapping/jiggling my leg when I sit down (I can't keep still). I'm going to check if that affects the step count.....
Ha! This is why I got rid of mine for a while. I was thinking, "OMG! I am worrying about these numbers way too much!"
I will admit I am totally obsessed. It's early days yet though My poor husband has only just getting used to me counting calories and weighing my food. Now he's annoyed by the "sound of a herd of buffalo" stomping outside when I do my laps around the house :laugh:
I promised myself I will NOT bring up MFP or how many steps I've done today with him, lest I get that glazed eye, you crazy woman, look!
Hehe. I remember that time period with me and my husband. Oddly enough he is now doing it too.
I'm working on that. Slowly and subtly
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The calorie estimate is pretty accurate for me. I've lost 100 pounds using MFP and my Fitbit.0
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I would say try it for a month or so and see what happens. I've used the fitbit for about a year and gotten good results with it's calorie count.0
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I just got a fitbit a few days ago, so far it seems pretty accurate. I didn't leave my house today but I did some laps around the house to get a few steps in and the distance it measured along with the calorie adjustment it sent to mfp looked okay. Even if it's not completely accurate I like it because I really think it's going to motivate me to move more- I would have barely gotten off the couch today otherwise.0
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beachlandia wrote: »I just got a fitbit a few days ago, so far it seems pretty accurate. I didn't leave my house today but I did some laps around the house to get a few steps in and the distance it measured along with the calorie adjustment it sent to mfp looked okay.Even if it's not completely accurate I like it because I really think it's going to motivate me to move more- I would have barely gotten off the couch today otherwise.
Same here
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i have a fit bit surge. seems accurate to me. not sure how i could test it.
seems to match up to the calorie burned on the gym machines.
so i trust it, doesnt mean i am going to eat 100% of it back.
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i have a fit bit surge. seems accurate to me. not sure how i could test it.
seems to match up to the calorie burned on the gym machines.
so i trust it, doesnt mean i am going to eat 100% of it back.
You would test it by comparing your actual results to your projected results over time (preferably for at least a couple of months.)
It would only be as good as your logging is accurate though.0 -
Whats the point in purchasing a fitbit if you're assuming its going to be innacurate? I would eat them back, experiment, and see what happens!
For me, it was useless because it was within 20 calories of every single TDEE calculator out there. I am burning on a daily basis exactly what i thought i was (and basing a deficit off of).
It can be helpful if you want to be more active, but, meh. For me it was accurate and just confirmed what i knew already.0 -
ILiftHeavyAcrylics wrote: »i have a fit bit surge. seems accurate to me. not sure how i could test it.
seems to match up to the calorie burned on the gym machines.
so i trust it, doesnt mean i am going to eat 100% of it back.
You would test it by comparing your actual results to your projected results over time (preferably for at least a couple of months.)
It would only be as good as your logging is accurate though.
but even if you were 100% accurate with the logging there would still be variables other than fit bit being inaccurate.
but at a guess i would say it is fairly accurate looking over my past few weeks of weight loss. like over the last month in MFP including fitbit calculated exercises i would have estimated .3KG less weight loss than the actual results.
this could be explained by a few things but the first that comes to mind is the 3 hours a week i spend kick boxing that i dont wear a fit bit for and probably under estimate the burn when i manually enter it.
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