Question about Fitbit calories vs Treadmill and Elliptical calories

govnorr22

So I have a question to everyone out there that has a FitBit and uses it for tracking their fitness efforts. When you get 13,000 steps in a day, and it says I have burned 2400 calories, how accurate is that really? Because I know when those steps transfer into MYFITNESSPAL it gives me roughly 3-4 hundred calories to use, but when I look at my FitBit app it says I burned over 2400 calories...... The other question I have is. It doesn't really matter if I walk 10,000 steps on the road or walk 10,000 steps on a treadmill at a incline and a fast pace, which is way harder. It still gives me the same number of calories burned. So I guess my question is, does anyone know how to get a true idea of how many calories you burn doing different exercises or is it just a way to give you an idea of what your doing?

heybales

You'll need to read the FAQ in the stickies as to what that adjustment is.

If your stride length for average walking pace is accurate, the calorie burn based on steps is very good.

The incline or carrying extra weight is indeed the failing, as is hiking with backpack up/down hills, though the extra hard impact from more weight is seen as longer stride as seen as bigger calorie burn - which may or may not match the fact you did indeed burn more.

It's great for the other 23 hrs of the day.

The 1 hr for exercise may require manual logging on some types, may be off a small % for others, and right on the money for others.

If it is off, how many calories was that 1 hr of exercise perhaps out of total daily or weekly burned calories, such that even if it's off by 30%, it matters much in the big scheme of things.

Now - do a tough 4 hr bike ride and have inaccuracy - yeah, not desired.

Do a walk with 5% incline for 45 min - not much to worry about.

CM9178

the 2400 calories is how many calories you've burned for all of your activity all day. If it is "giving" you an extra 300 to 400 calories on the MFP side, then that means you've burned 300 or 400 calories more than MFP expected you to burn (based on the activity level you have set on MFP).

If you continuously get such a large adjustment everyday, you should increase the MFP activity level you have set for yourself, so you get a smaller adjustment.

lcannon799

I have found the calorie count to be inline with what it's says on the treadmill at the gym within 10. If you have a HR, it uses your heart rate to monitor what you burn as well as steps even on a steep incline.