Fitbit help
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tazjosh
Posts: 88 Member
im trying to work out a daily goal to maintain my wait but I'm still loosing. I think I burn a lot of calories some days and not others. I was thinking to get a Fitbit. Can someone explain how you work it out. Does your intake of calories a day match what you burn on a fit bit to maintain your weight? Sorry I'm not great with all this. I'm a mum with a toddler and work part time. So my days at home are very different calorie burning from running about with my toddler or cleaning or sitting and relaxed. as well as at work that sometimes I'm pushing a 20st wheel chair for a long time and others I'm in a home quite relaxed. I really don't want to put weight back on now I've lost my pregnancy weight but wen I'm on here I loose too much and look ill.
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Replies
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The Fitbit looks at overall activity (steps), miles walked and extrapolates your calorie burn based on your age, weight, heart rate, etc. It give you a baseline of calorie burn based on your goals and then if you pair it with the MyFitness Pal website inputs your food intake and specific fitness activity.
You can override the tracking on the Fitbit in MyFitness Pal by putting in the time you've worked out and the type of workout. For example, I like to use an elliptical but the Fitbit can't really track it all that well. By manually putting in the time I started in MyFitnessPal, how long I used it and the calorie burn from the ellipical, the app adjusts my Fitbit to match the calories burned.
Based on all that it tells you how much you've burned for the day, how much you need to burn, etc. It's really a very easy and seamless experience.
FYI - I have a Fitbit One which doesn't have heart rate - http://www.amazon.com/Fitbit-Wireless-Activity-Sleep-Tracker/dp/B0095PZHPE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434838352&sr=8-1&keywords=fitbit+one&pebp=1434838344792&perid=014DRXNECGS622MVANT00 -
im trying to work out a daily goal to maintain my wait but I'm still loosing. I think I burn a lot of calories some days and not others. I was thinking to get a Fitbit. Can someone explain how you work it out. Does your intake of calories a day match what you burn on a fit bit to maintain your weight.
Yes, your Fitbit burn is TDEE—the number of calories to maintain your current weight. When you connect your accounts, MFP adjusts your daily calorie goal to TDEE minus deficit.
You can learn more in the Fitbit Users group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
PS. Fitbit challenges are great motivation—and fun!0 -
It's really easy. Once you set it up, you set your MFP activity to sedentary and the fitbit overrides it with its estimate of your activity. If you do exercise that Fitbit doesn't count well (bicycling, weightlifting), log that manually and fitbit doesn't count steps during that time period. I have a very variable activity level day-to-day so I find it very helpful. I just have the zip, and bought it used on ebay, so it was like $39. I've lost it twice in 3 years and replaced it immediately because I really find it helpful.
Bottom line for me - if I walk 10,000 steps in a day, I get to eat an extra 400 calories. Yippee! If I don't, I stick to my base MFP calculation.
If you're losing weight still, just up your calories though.0 -
It's really easy. Once you set it up, you set your MFP activity to sedentary and the fitbit overrides it with its estimate of your activity. If you do exercise that Fitbit doesn't count well (bicycling, weightlifting), log that manually and fitbit doesn't count steps during that time period.
I think Fitbit still counts your steps. It's just that exercise logged in MFP overwrites your Fitbit burn during that time. (I log exercise in Fitbit, never MFP. I trust Fitbit's burn.)
If (and only if) you enable negative calorie adjustments, you can set your activity level higher than sedentary. Then you get more calories to start with, but smaller adjustments. It's a matter of personal preference.0 -
Fitbit devise is a great tool. I love it. They can be pricey, but I purchase a zipit for about $60.00 off amazon or zipbit website. Does the same thing. Count steps, calorie burned, and and distance0
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The Fitbit looks at overall activity (steps), miles walked and extrapolates your calorie burn based on your age, weight, heart rate, etc. It give you a baseline of calorie burn based on your goals and then if you pair it with the MyFitness Pal website inputs your food intake and specific fitness activity.
You can override the tracking on the Fitbit in MyFitness Pal by putting in the time you've worked out and the type of workout. For example, I like to use an elliptical but the Fitbit can't really track it all that well. By manually putting in the time I started in MyFitnessPal, how long I used it and the calorie burn from the ellipical, the app adjusts my Fitbit to match the calories burned.
Based on all that it tells you how much you've burned for the day, how much you need to burn, etc. It's really a very easy and seamless experience.
FYI - I have a Fitbit One which doesn't have heart rate - http://www.amazon.com/Fitbit-Wireless-Activity-Sleep-Tracker/dp/B0095PZHPE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1434838352&sr=8-1&keywords=fitbit+one&pebp=1434838344792&perid=014DRXNECGS622MVANT0
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editorgrrl wrote: »im trying to work out a daily goal to maintain my wait but I'm still loosing. I think I burn a lot of calories some days and not others. I was thinking to get a Fitbit. Can someone explain how you work it out. Does your intake of calories a day match what you burn on a fit bit to maintain your weight.
Yes, your Fitbit burn is TDEE—the number of calories to maintain your current weight. When you connect your accounts, MFP adjusts your daily calorie goal to TDEE minus deficit.
You can learn more in the Fitbit Users group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
PS. Fitbit challenges are great motivation—and fun!
Thanks0 -
It's really easy. Once you set it up, you set your MFP activity to sedentary and the fitbit overrides it with its estimate of your activity. If you do exercise that Fitbit doesn't count well (bicycling, weightlifting), log that manually and fitbit doesn't count steps during that time period. I have a very variable activity level day-to-day so I find it very helpful. I just have the zip, and bought it used on ebay, so it was like $39. I've lost it twice in 3 years and replaced it immediately because I really find it helpful.
Bottom line for me - if I walk 10,000 steps in a day, I get to eat an extra 400 calories. Yippee! If I don't, I stick to my base MFP calculation.
If you're losing weight still, just up your calories though.
Ok thankyou0 -
editorgrrl wrote: »It's really easy. Once you set it up, you set your MFP activity to sedentary and the fitbit overrides it with its estimate of your activity. If you do exercise that Fitbit doesn't count well (bicycling, weightlifting), log that manually and fitbit doesn't count steps during that time period.
I think Fitbit still counts your steps. It's just that exercise logged in MFP overwrites your Fitbit burn during that time. (I log exercise in Fitbit, never MFP. I trust Fitbit's burn.)
If (and only if) you enable negative calorie adjustments, you can set your activity level higher than sedentary. Then you get more calories to start with, but smaller adjustments. It's a matter of personal preference.
True. I turned off negative calories because it estimates expenditure from what you've done so far that day, so if you exercise at night it takes away calories before dinner and gives them back to you after you've done your evening exercising. That didn't work for me and I'm never under sedentary anyway.
As you say, MFP overwrites Fitbit during the period you've logged other exercises. I do like Fitbit's burns numbers better. However, I find logging in MFP gives me a more consistent integration of the two programs. That's what Fitbit's instructions said to do, so I just went with it. When I logged exercises in Fitbit, sometimes it would double count. And if you log in MFP, Fitbit will pick up the exercises and you'll see it on that site too, just as you see steps from Fitbit here. They may have improved integration of the programs in the last few years.
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MFP tells people to log exercise in MFP. (Probably because they want page views.) But exercise logs both ways, so you can log in either one.
If you want your Fitbit exercise to appear in your newsfeed, post it as a status update.
I've logged exercise in Fitbit for two years, and never had it duplicate. Also, my adjustments turn from negative to positive after a few thousand steps.0 -
Interesting. No, I don't want it in my news feed. But fitbit used to have you do it too. It must have changed. Nice to have that option.0
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Interesting. No, I don't want it in my news feed. But fitbit used to have you do it too. It must have changed. Nice to have that option.
I've had a Fitbit since Sept. 2013, and my Fitbit stats have never appeared in my MFP newsfeed. Endomondo does—but it's owned by the same company as MFP. RunKeeper too, I think.0 -
editorgrrl wrote: »Interesting. No, I don't want it in my news feed. But fitbit used to have you do it too. It must have changed. Nice to have that option.
I've had a Fitbit since Sept. 2013, and my Fitbit stats have never appeared in my MFP newsfeed. Endomondo does—but it's owned by the same company as MFP. RunKeeper too, I think.
Editorggrl just wondered which Fitbit do you use?0 -
Editorgrrl just wondered which Fitbit do you use?
First a Flex, then I upgraded to the Charge HR because it has a real buckle (like a watch), it has a heart rate monitor, and it comes in purple. It's much bigger than the Flex, though.
Which model you choose is entirely a matter of personal preference—and price.0 -
I use a zip. Cheap and does your calories and steps but not your heart rate. Plus you can wear it on your bra or under your clothes if you're going out.
P.S. I must be making myself unclear because people keep telling me I can solve problems I don't have. I have used the fitbit since June 2013. I also have never had the stats on my newsfeed. What I was trying to say was that the instructions for both MFP and fitbit used to say to enter your exercise in MFP, not in fitbit. When I first started, if you logged in fitbit, you used to get double logging of exercise on MFP because it didn't synch properly. I have been told that this is no longer true. I believe that. I haven't had any problems with fitbit for years. It's a great product, IMHO. It's nice to see that it has changed and you have the option to log exercise in fitbit now because I like their estimates of exercise better.0 -
I use a fitbit charge... Get it.. in the past I used a Fitbug (hated it and got just what I paid for in the 60.00 I paid for it ... the website was terrible and I hated telling it every time I went to sleep)...
You can get a non heart rate Fitbit Charge for 130.00... It is worth it and you can use the "exercise" function to record a workout duration that will show up on your dashboard as an activity and give you a number of calories you burned... for example, if you went for a stroller walk with your child a couple of time around the block, you could put it in exercise mode and then check how many steps you walked/jogged and the number of calories fitbit gave you for the activty.. ALL of the steps you do are recorded in MFP..
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So when I add my fit bit, i will go down to sedentary that will lower my calorie goal a lot. And the Fitbit just keeps increasing my calory alounance for the day as I do steps/burn calories?0
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So when I add my fit bit, i will go down to sedentary that will lower my calorie goal a lot. And the Fitbit just keeps increasing my calorie allowance for the day as I do steps/burn calories?
If (and only if) you enable negative calorie adjustments in your diary settings, choosing an activity level is a matter of personal preference. At sedentary, you start with fewer calories in the morning then get large adjustments.0 -
Exactly what edtorgrrl said.
If you set it to sedentary, you start low but get calories added when you walk more than 3500 (or so) steps.
If you set it to a higher level, then make sure you have 'negative adjustment' turned on. If you exercise less than what a person of that level would be, it will subtract those calories from your normal goal.
Your choice.
Fitbit guess what your activity level will be for the whole day from what you've done so far. So if you walk evenly across the day, it will give you a perfect estimate. If you walk a lot in the morning and not much in the afternoon, it will overestimate your calories by lunchtime and then cut them back later. If you walk a lot in the evening, it will underestimate your calories until after dinner, then add them in.
I have an exercise schedule that varies quite a bit day to day, ranging from 4000-18000 steps. I do most of my walking after lunch and often after dinner, so I set to sedentary and turn off negative calories. That way I have a base calorie that is the same every day, but Fitbit adds in additional calories as soon as I get more than 3800 steps.
If you have a different exercise pattern, something else might work better for you. For example, if you always hit 8,000 steps, you might want to start with a more active level and add on from there.
One of the nice things about it is that once you get started, you can adjust to what fits you best.0 -
ThExactly what edtorgrrl said.
If you set it to sedentary, you start low but get calories added when you walk more than 3500 (or so) steps.
If you set it to a higher level, then make sure you have 'negative adjustment' turned on. If you exercise less than what a person of that level would be, it will subtract those calories from your normal goal.
Your choice.
Fitbit guess what your activity level will be for the whole day from what you've done so far. So if you walk evenly across the day, it will give you a perfect estimate. If you walk a lot in the morning and not much in the afternoon, it will overestimate your calories by lunchtime and then cut them back later. If you walk a lot in the evening, it will underestimate your calories until after dinner, then add them in.
I have an exercise schedule that varies quite a bit day to day, ranging from 4000-18000 steps. I do most of my walking after lunch and often after dinner, so I set to sedentary and turn off negative calories. That way I have a base calorie that is the same every day, but Fitbit adds in additional calories as soon as I get more than 3800 steps.
If you have a different exercise pattern, something else might work better for you. For example, if you always hit 8,000 steps, you might want to start with a more active level and add on from there.
One of the nice things about it is that once you get started, you can adjust to what fits you best.
thanks, I understand now0
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