Fitbit calorie estimations going weird ways

Neonbeige

Hey,

I have a fitbit one and find the calories burned numbers not really fitting. The last two days for example I walked around 13.000 steps and 9km (gps gave me way more km) on day one and around 15.000 steps and 11km on day two.

Calories on day one: 2546
Day two: 2177

The calories jump around quite a lot.

How are your experiences with that? Do you rely on that number to adjust your calories?

Cheers, neon

NancyN795

There isn't a direct calculation from steps to calories. FitBit considers not only the number of steps, but the intensity of the steps. It also adjusts estimated step length based on the intensity of the step. So, it is possible that your steps on day one were more intense than your steps on day two.

You also may need to adjust your stride length, if the distance doesn't match. The best way to do that is with a treadmill, but you can get close with other methods. It will never be exact, but the closer it is, the better the calorie estimate will be.

I do use the calorie burn estimate from my FitBit to adjust my calories. The only way to really know if it is accurately estimating your calorie burn is to carefully log your food for about a month and then look at what FitBit says your calorie burn was, what your calorie intake was, and what your weight change was. I've done this and it is pretty close for me.

I suggest that you read the FAQ that heybales wrote, which you can find in the stickies for the FitBit group.

Neonbeige

ah, thanks :-)