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add exercise to MFP manually, or no???

alwjmw11
alwjmw11 Posts: 1 Member
in Social Groups
Are you supposed to manually log exercises into MFP after you complete them or just let the Fit Bit sync to give you credit for those calories burned? I'm so confused...

Replies

  • NancyN795
    NancyN795 Posts: 1,134 Member
    Read the FAQ:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10098937/faq-syncing-logging-food-exercise-calorie-adjustments-activity-levels-accuracy/p1

    The preferred method among many of us here is to log all activity in Fitbit and all Food in MFP. So, let your Fitbit handle any step based exercise. Manually log non-step based exercise (swimming, bicycling, etc.) on the Fitbit site (or app). Then go by MFP's calorie number. MFP has a better food database and food logging interface. Fitbit does a better job estimating exercise and activity calories.
  • lmr0528
    lmr0528 Posts: 427 Member
    I've been wondering about this as well. So far I've just been letting the Fitbit track all of my activity and using MFP to track my food. But for bike riding I was planning on using my HRM and logging that on MFP.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    Depends on your goals and how much of a buffer you want to include. Considering there is a 20% margin of error in nutritional labeling - if your goal is weight loss, then overestimate on calories in and underestimate your exercise. Adjust your entries based upon your goals.

    I used to log time on the elliptical, but as the Flex tracks my steps on this I err on the side of caution and only track steps. I eat back protein to help maintain muscle, but that's about it.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    lmr0528 wrote: »
    I've just been letting the Fitbit track all of my activity and using MFP to track my food. But for bike riding I was planning on using my HRM and logging that on MFP.

    That's fine—exercise logged in MFP overwrites your Fitbit burn during that time, so you're never "double dipping."

    I personally would trust an HRM, but not MFP's burns. So if you didn't have a HRM, I would've said log your biking in Fitbit, not MFP.
  • cyronius
    cyronius Posts: 157 Member
    alwjmw11 wrote: »
    Are you supposed to manually log exercises into MFP after you complete them or just let the Fit Bit sync to give you credit for those calories burned? I'm so confused...

    It all depends on what your goals are.

    I tend to use MFP as my "home". I track my food there, and my exercise, and I can see all of my historical data there as well. For that reason, I do track my exercise on MFP as well. But the problem with that is that it then creates a duplicate exercise on your Fitbit which is used instead of the (more accurate) Fitbit measurement. If you delete the duplicate that gets created on Fitbit, it all works out.

    Now obviously that's a bit fiddly. If you don't care about having your exercise history on MFP, then the simplest solution is to just not log it on MFP at all. The Fitbit will track and it your calorie burn will get synched with MFP anyway, so it'll still account for that when giving you your estimate.
  • myheartsabattleground
    myheartsabattleground Posts: 2,040 Member
    I log on manually on MFP, then let fitbit take what it needs for the neg adjust.

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