Should MFP & Fitbit have the same data

debrag12

Trying to understand which I should be looking at to see how many calories I can eat at the end of the day.

So at the end of the day should both progammes say the same thing? Should the calories left be the same etc

My burn goal on fitbit is 2861 and it gets changed via the trainer (I have the add on) every 12 weeks.
My burn goal on mfp is 2300 (active).

I have both set to 0.5lbs a week.

Yesterday I only burnt 1964 calories and eat 1602 calories. Fitbit says I have 112 calories left . MFP had me at 359 calories left out of a 1961 calorie goal. I would have expected mfp to say the same as my fitbit.

Is this due to mfp using 'net' and extra 'burn' from fitbit is exercise on mfp?

Should I just aim to eat to my goal of 1760 each day and forget about the other numbers, should my activity level on mfp be changed or change it to sedentary & 'maintain my weight'? I averaged a TDEE of 2426 in March and 2419 in Feb.

Jxnsmma

I'm having the same issue. Would be nice if both were somewhere near eachother but even if I start out with the same numbers in the morning by evening one will say i have 200 left to eat and one will say I have over eaten by 300! Frustrating!

debrag12

I'm basically just checking the fitbt app throughout the day. I aim for around 1800 calories

NancyN795

Most people here look at MFP to know how many calories they have to eat and ignore what Fitbit says. Because MFP and Fitbit use different methods to come up with those numbers, they'll never agree until the next day - at which point they should be pretty close.

For yesterday, MFP says I had 183 calories remaining and Fitbit says 176. For today (which is shortly after breakfast here, I haven't done any real exercise), MFP thinks I have 1055 calories left and Fitbit thinks I have 828 left. Basically, MFP is projecting a "sedentary" day with no exercise and Fitbit is projecting that I'll spend the rest of the day in bed, asleep. As I move around and exercise, those numbers will go up. The closer it gets to bedtime, the closer they get to each other, but I still just rely on the MFP number.

One confusion I think I see is that MFP doesn't typically display a "burn goal" like Fitbit does. That "burn goal" is what Fitbit wants you to achieve as your TDEE. The number MFP gives you is your eating goal. Which is your estimated TDEE (based on your activity level, without exercise) minus a calorie deficit (based on your desired rate of weight loss). I keep my activity level set to "sedentary" because I don't work (I'm retired) and my natural inclination is to be fairly inactive - I have to push myself to move. However, I do push myself to move and I actively exercise for at least an hour a day, so I get calorie adjustments from my Fitbit that reflect that. Others might set their activity level to incorporate their normal exercise regimen, but that would result in fairly high negative calorie adjustments from Fitbit on days that they don't exercise. I think MFP intends the activity level to just include what you get during a normal day when you don't exercise.

If you're getting a significant mismatch between what MFP and Fitbit say were calories remaining for a previous day, check when the last data exchange between the two happened on the day in question. You do that on the exercise tab of MFP by clicking on the 'i' next to the Fitbit calorie adjustment. For previous days, mine typically says 11:59 pm. I don't know what would cause those numbers to be way off. All I can think is a weird setting mismatch (time zone, maybe).

CM9178

if you have a 500 calorie difference in your goal between Fitbit and MFP then you probably need to increase your activity level on MFP so it gives you more calories. They should match as closely as possible. A 0.5 lb per week weight loss = 250 calorie deficit per day.
So just look at what Fitbit says you burn and subtract 250, that's what you should eat.

editorgrrl

I ignore Fitbit's calorie goal and follow MFP's, eating back my adjustments.

bengal512

I do the same @editorgrrl Fitbit tracks my steps and activities, MFP for calories/food. MFP takes into account what the FitBit is tracking and adjusts my calorie based on this. Keep it simple.

debrag12

Calories rarely even close lol

My TDEE tends to average each month around 2400 so should I set my activity level to as close as that as possible? My calorie goal of 1906 is around the -20% mark.

I'm just going to stick to 1906 or less a day and if my calories go into the red I won't mind as long as I'm still in a deficit. I will use fitbit to get my calorie burns for each day and add activity if needed.

Basically stick to a calorie goal (1906) and ignore 'calories left' on both fitbit and mfp.

editorgrrl

debrag12 wrote: »

My TDEE tends to average each month around 2400 so should I set my activity level to as close as that as possible? My calorie goal of 1906 is around the -20% mark.

If (and only if) you enable negative calorie adjustments, then eating back your adjustments means you're eating TDEE minus deficit.

heybales

debrag12 wrote: »

Calories rarely even close lol

My TDEE tends to average each month around 2400 so should I set my activity level to as close as that as possible? My calorie goal of 1906 is around the -20% mark.

I'm just going to stick to 1906 or less a day and if my calories go into the red I won't mind as long as I'm still in a deficit. I will use fitbit to get my calorie burns for each day and add activity if needed.

Basically stick to a calorie goal (1906) and ignore 'calories left' on both fitbit and mfp.

I think you are confusing yourself, and you will because MFP is meant for one method, but you can use it for the method you are attempting, if you understand the finer points.

What system do you want to use first?
MFP method where the eating goal changes daily based on what you actually do, but the deficit amounts are in blocks of 250, 500, 750, or 1000?
And Fitbit can remain synced to keep MFP more accurate.

or

Average TDEE deficit method when the deficit is many times a % block off TDEE so you can eat the same daily for good planning?
But Fitbit must be unsynced because you are not using the tools as they were intended to be.

With the latter, it really doesn't matter what your MFP activity level is set to - you disable your accounts so there is no math done on MFP's estimate of daily burn based on activity level.

If you do the latter, MFP's math regarding weight loss and deficit and "in 5 weeks you'll weigh" will all be wrong - because they math is based on former method usage.

Oh, 2400 TDEE from Fitbit (if you correct the stuff it's bad as estimating calorie burn on, you'll need to keep doing that) x 0.8 = 1920 to eat daily. (which happens to be a 500 cal deficit or 1 lb weekly almost on the dot.

Set MFP to that eating goal, unsync accounts, ignore MFP math regarding anything, reach your eating goal daily.

Or set MFP to lose 1 lb weekly, activity level whatever is decent, sync accounts, MFP math will be more correct, your eating goal will change daily, and you need to try to reach it.