MFP with FitBit, Runkeeper, and Polar HRM

stuman74

I'm trying to make sure that I have all of my devices and trackers set properly with MFP. I have a FitBit Zip that I wear all day long and when I exercise (jog, bike, lift) I wear my Polar H7 HRM and use Runkeeper (used to use DigiFit).

A couple of questions I am not clear on are:
1.) Does Runkeeper actually take into account data from the HRM to calculate calories burned? Or just the activity and time/distance?
2.) If I have MFP connected to FitBit and MFP also connected to Runkeeper, should I complete the "triangle" and connect Runkeeper to FitBit as well? I don't want to under or over count calories earned.

Thanks!

editorgrrl

You might find answers in the Fitbit Users group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users

I would sync Runkeeper to Fitbit (not MFP), for a straight line rather than a circle. Your Fitbit burn is TDEE and exercise logged in MFP overwrites your Fitbit burn during that time, so the only exercise I would ever log in MFP is your HRM burns.

Unless, that is, you can sync Polar with either Fitbit or Runkeeper. (I don't have one, so I have no idea.) If so, I wouldn't log any exercise in MFP.

If you want your Fitbit exercise to appear in your newsfeed, post a status update.

stuman74

Thanks. I got the following response from Runkeeper support:

Thanks for reaching out! If you are wondering how we calculate calories, check out our knowledge base article.
To answer your question, no heart rate data does not affect the reported calories burned from the RunKeeper app.

I like Runkeeper for tracking the routes and sharing with some friends (since I have 2 1/2 years of data in it). But since not getting proper credit for calorie burn based on the HRM, I'll just run DigiFit concurrently.

I now have my apps set like this:

MFP<-->FitBit<-->Digifit plus Runkeeper on its own. I think Fitbit will make the proper adjustments and then the correct adjusted calorie credits will automatically show in MFP.