Thinking of Unsyncing my Activity Tracker...

kiela64

Every day my activity tracker adds 260 cal "from exercise" before I've moved. The tracker app says I've done basically nothing, but it tracks a "total calories burned from existing" so I have 700 cal burned when I wake up on there. Somehow in the communication with MFP, MFP misunderstands the recording and adds extra calories.

I'm guessing MFP assumes my calories burned by existing is lower than the Misfit app (they have the same height/weight/age/gender stuff inputed).

It also records a significantly higher calorie burn for exercise than MFP, and I keep hearing that MFP overestimates calories burned.

I know the information can't be exactly accurate, but I would like to have a better sense of what's going on. I'm thinking of unsyncing the two apps, & possibly just inputing the exercise calories myself? The Misfit app gives a little notification for each exercise, like "209 calories burned in 23 minutes!" so I know the calories burned for one exercise, but MFP doesn't.

Would you unsync them? What is the rationale behind assuming MFP's exercise cals are ~2x the reality?

Spice1973

I wish I could help you. I've never had that problem with my fitbit. I always start out the day negative 80 calories. I would probably disconnect if it's not being accurate.

Alluminati

You won't have a better sense until you start experimenting. All the numbers that come back to you are estimates spit out by a computer based on the data you give it. It will get you into the general area of where to start but it's up to you to monitor and adjust accordingly. If you aren't losing (assumption) with them synced, then un-sync and see how it goes. I would try both ways.

kiela64

Alluminati wrote: »

You won't have a better sense until you start experimenting. All the numbers that come back to you are estimates spit out by a computer based on the data you give it. It will get you into the general area of where to start but it's up to you to monitor and adjust accordingly. If you aren't losing (assumption) with them synced, then un-sync and see how it goes. I would try both ways.

My concern having them synced is I'm getting a false suggestion on how many calories I have "left" to eat.

Yeah, I haven't really lost much yet, but I have yet to locate a scale I can consistently use to get a better/more accurate reading to see if that is the case. My eating has also been all over the place. I've seen people talk about calculating over the course of the week, and I don't know how they do that. But I'd guess I probably haven't kept a good enough deficit yet to check.

sympha01

My guess is simply that Misfit and MFP are using different algorithms to estimate your pre-exercise (BMR + NEAT) burn, and the Misfit's baseline estimate is simply higher.

I used to have a Fitbit and it had the opposite issue: its baseline assumption was lower than MFP's, but once I actually started moving for the day it gave me MUCH more credit for moving than MFP ever did. I kept the two synced for a year and worked around the disconnect. Then this year I got a different activity tracker and keep it disconnected on purpose.

Honestly, take all of it with a grain of salt. I don't think any activity tracker is a great way to estimate how many calories you should eat for exercise. They're best used for helping you keep track of your overall movement and just making sure that you hit whatever minimum non-sedentary goal you set. They help you be less sedentary, that's all. My advice is to use the tracker as a way of quantifying your activity level for the week or month (not so much the day), and ignore the fact that it calls this quantification "calories." Based on your history, decide what threshhold target numbers should equate to "inactive," "lightly active," "moderately active" and "very active," and set your overall activity level in MFP accordingly. Keep an eye on your Misfit numbers over time to make sure your weekly averages are in your target zone and make small adjustments as needed.

Maries_wine_calories

I have a couple of friends also using Misfit and it has incredibly high burns for activity. It likely projects your total burn for the day rather than the actual activity. For example a mfp friend says she burned 2588 today doing 90 minutes of leisurely swimming. Olympic qualifiers maybe....I did 20K steps at work and burned the same to this hour according to my Fitbit flex. I would buy a Fitbit Flex(have one, its right on) and get a much more accurate contribution to Mfp

Liftng4Lis

Do you have negative calorie adjustments enabled?

Merkavar

From the sounds of it you have a higher bmr than what mfp thinks so you burn more doing nothing. So it adds an adjustment for this.

Do you have mfp set to sedentary while your actually active?

My Fitbit exercise calories I believe include my bmr. But exercise in mfp is just the exercise. That might explain why your calories are higher on your device.

For me when I wake up mfp gives me a negative 100-200 adjustment. A positive adjustment does seem odd. Sure your not sleep walking or sleep burpeeing?

ncfitbit

Fitbit flex user here that I didn't have it linked to MFP until recently, but I love it. I find that my Flex syncs very well with MFP and enabling calorie adjustments has been super helpful because on days when I exercise hard I notice I want to move a lot less the rest of the day, but I hate having my hard-earned calories "taken away" from me. I also like when it tells me I've been a lazy slug all morning and need to get moving!

kiela64

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

Do you have negative calorie adjustments enabled?

Yes, and the morning 260 is a positive cal adjustment. I do get -80 if I don't wear it for a day and don't touch it or move it at all. But if I so much as walk a couple steps or move it to another place I get the 260 added.

scoandmur wrote: »

I have a couple of friends also using Misfit and it has incredibly high burns for activity. It likely projects your total burn for the day rather than the actual activity. For example a mfp friend says she burned 2588 today doing 90 minutes of leisurely swimming. Olympic qualifiers maybe....I did 20K steps at work and burned the same to this hour according to my Fitbit flex. I would buy a Fitbit Flex(have one, its right on) and get a much more accurate contribution to Mfp

The reason I didn't get a Fitbit is because they are not waterproof & swimming is my main activity. I don't have the money to get anything fancier. The "daily calories burned" on misfit is definitely Way overestimated, but I like the little notifications about each exercise. I think those are probably more accurate, but ofc I don't know for sure.

kiela64

Merkavar wrote: »

From the sounds of it you have a higher bmr than what mfp thinks so you burn more doing nothing. So it adds an adjustment for this.

Do you have mfp set to sedentary while your actually active?

My Fitbit exercise calories I believe include my bmr. But exercise in mfp is just the exercise. That might explain why your calories are higher on your device.

For me when I wake up mfp gives me a negative 100-200 adjustment. A positive adjustment does seem odd. Sure your not sleep walking or sleep burpeeing?

No, and the misfit app says "8 points" in the morning, which is very close to "you haven't moved today" (you aim for 1000 points, which amounts to ~800 steps). So the misfit app doesn't think I exercised, but it tells mfp that I did.

I am not active. A day where I don't leave the house & the most exercise I get is walking to the kitchen, misfit adds at least 300-400 calories to mfp.

Liftng4Lis

kae612 wrote: »

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

Do you have negative calorie adjustments enabled?

Yes, and the morning 260 is a positive cal adjustment. I do get -80 if I don't wear it for a day and don't touch it or move it at all. But if I so much as walk a couple steps or move it to another place I get the 260 added.

scoandmur wrote: »

I have a couple of friends also using Misfit and it has incredibly high burns for activity. It likely projects your total burn for the day rather than the actual activity. For example a mfp friend says she burned 2588 today doing 90 minutes of leisurely swimming. Olympic qualifiers maybe....I did 20K steps at work and burned the same to this hour according to my Fitbit flex. I would buy a Fitbit Flex(have one, its right on) and get a much more accurate contribution to Mfp

The reason I didn't get a Fitbit is because they are not waterproof & swimming is my main activity. I don't have the money to get anything fancier. The "daily calories burned" on misfit is definitely Way overestimated, but I like the little notifications about each exercise. I think those are probably more accurate, but ofc I don't know for sure.

Wow, I've got nothing, sorry.

LAT1963

I use both a polar A300 and runkeeper. When I use them both with a heart-rate monitor (Polar H7), they agree within about 40 calories. But that results in double-logging my exercise, so I always delete one.

Runkeeper (a phone ap) aligns the heart rate data from Polar or Wahoo heart-rate chest straps with a GPS map (you can see what your heart rate was at a particular point on your route). But if GPS reception is wonky when walking in mountains or after a solar flare, sometimes my phone gets things absurdly wrong (ie: current speed: 107 mph, or instantaneous jumps to n miles away and back). Runkeeper can also be used without a heart rate monitor and will use your phone's GPS and your age and weight to estimate your calories. So long as the GPS isn't on the fritz, runkeeper's estimates seem to track well with my weight loss results, assuming 3500 cals/lb. (basic version is a free ap).

Polar is more consistent for calories but the data isn't aligned with a route map (Polar products can also be used in a pool, except for the M400).

The Polar A300 is expensive and combines activity tracker with chest-strap based heart rate monitor (if you get the bundled version). There are cheaper polar products if you just want heart rate monitoring and not basic activity monitoring; since you already have an activity monitor but are displeased with its performance on exercise, maybe one of the low-end polar products will fill in for the flaws in your misfit. It would mean carrying 2 devices though.

kiela64

LAT1963 wrote: »

I use both a polar A300 and runkeeper. When I use them both with a heart-rate monitor (Polar H7), they agree within about 40 calories. But that results in double-logging my exercise, so I always delete one.

Runkeeper (a phone ap) aligns the heart rate data from Polar or Wahoo heart-rate chest straps with a GPS map (you can see what your heart rate was at a particular point on your route). But if GPS reception is wonky when walking in mountains or after a solar flare, sometimes my phone gets things absurdly wrong (ie: current speed: 107 mph, or instantaneous jumps to n miles away and back). Runkeeper can also be used without a heart rate monitor and will use your phone's GPS and your age and weight to estimate your calories. So long as the GPS isn't on the fritz, runkeeper's estimates seem to track well with my weight loss results, assuming 3500 cals/lb. (basic version is a free ap).

Polar is more consistent for calories but the data isn't aligned with a route map (Polar products can also be used in a pool, except for the M400).

The Polar A300 is expensive and combines activity tracker with chest-strap based heart rate monitor (if you get the bundled version). There are cheaper polar products if you just want heart rate monitoring and not basic activity monitoring; since you already have an activity monitor but are displeased with its performance on exercise, maybe one of the low-end polar products will fill in for the flaws in your misfit. It would mean carrying 2 devices though.

Oh interesting! I had thought the heart rate monitors needed to be paired with a polar tracker so you could get the readings. Do you know if the heart rate monitors are waterproof for swimming as well? I might save up for something like that for Christmas.

kiela64

Thanks everyone for your responses!

I've decided to keep the activity tracker, but just unsync them for now. I feel like just inputting my actual exercise will be a lot less confusing (and require less mental math lol).

I do like the Misfit tracker, and I think it does a decent job at reminding me to be active, and tracking when I'm moving (and I think the calorie estimates for specific activities are probably fine). But I don't like the additional "daily existence" calories that also get added, and trying to weed them out, and then divide by 2 to see what exercise calories I can eat back...it's just too much math for me.

auddii

I chose not to sync my fitbit and MFP just because of posts similar to this. Instead, I look at my average over time, and use that to set my calorie goal. If I notice my activity declines (I'm swamped at work, and so my lunchtime walks have stopped as have my walks to and from work since it's ridiculously hot), I adjust my eating goal.

catt952

sounds like such a hassle. I was thinking of getting a fitbit tracker but the main thing i want is accuracy. I like to do exercise videos and to be honest theres no way of getting the accurate estimate of calories burned during a mixed workout session. I have heard fitbit calculates calories burned by arm movement so thats a bit dodgy.

kiela64

auddii wrote: »

I chose not to sync my fitbit and MFP just because of posts similar to this. Instead, I look at my average over time, and use that to set my calorie goal. If I notice my activity declines (I'm swamped at work, and so my lunchtime walks have stopped as have my walks to and from work since it's ridiculously hot), I adjust my eating goal.

That sounds like a really good system that's awesome you can walk to work! My school is a 1h bus ride so no chance of that

DeguelloTex

catwils1 wrote: »

sounds like such a hassle. I was thinking of getting a fitbit tracker but the main thing i want is accuracy. I like to do exercise videos and to be honest theres no way of getting the accurate estimate of calories burned during a mixed workout session. I have heard fitbit calculates calories burned by arm movement so thats a bit dodgy.

If you log accurately and exercise consistently, it's pretty straightforward to figure out what you're burning, with or without a tracker.

auddii

kae612 wrote: »

auddii wrote: »

I chose not to sync my fitbit and MFP just because of posts similar to this. Instead, I look at my average over time, and use that to set my calorie goal. If I notice my activity declines (I'm swamped at work, and so my lunchtime walks have stopped as have my walks to and from work since it's ridiculously hot), I adjust my eating goal.

That sounds like a really good system that's awesome you can walk to work! My school is a 1h bus ride so no chance of that

Ha, I actually drive to work but park a mile away since parking in the medical center is $150 a month. I park for free a mile away and then walk in (or ride public transit if it's raining or it's too hot).

Kalikel

I never even got a fitbit. If you like it, use it. It's great if you like it.

But if you don't like it, you can certainly lose weight without one. It's not actually necessary.

kiela64

auddii wrote: »

Ha, I actually drive to work but park a mile away since parking in the medical center is $150 a month. I park for free a mile away and then walk in (or ride public transit if it's raining or it's too hot).

Nice! Saving money and getting exercise Unfortunately the bus is practically right by my house, and goes right into my school's campus. When it gets really cold (or I'm running late) it's hard to justify walking to the next stop, or getting off a stop or two early. But when it's nice & I'm early I do, so it's something haha.

kiela64

I unsynced the activity tracker and it made my life sooo much simpler. I can look at the individual "exercise events" and add those calories into MFP (as close as MFP comes to the same). Then divide by 2, and eat that. Today, I got to eat 1440cal, closer to what's comfortable for me than my calorie goal, and I feel a lot more confident that it's closer to accurate. Or as close as it can come w/o a heart rate monitor & a food scale. (I'll get all the bells and whistles eventually). Thanks so much for your feedback!