Understanding Fitbit
stephaniechukwu31
Posts: 112 Member
If someone could help on clarification on how to read my Fitbit. Hopefully give me a reason not return it 
I'm having trouble understanding how it counts my calories.
And just generally on how to use the darn thing.
I have a Fitbit charge HR
I'm only interested in Fitbit related responses anything else will not be entertained.
Thank you!
I'm having trouble understanding how it counts my calories.
And just generally on how to use the darn thing.
I have a Fitbit charge HR
I'm only interested in Fitbit related responses anything else will not be entertained.
Thank you!
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Replies
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*not*0
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stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »If someone could help on clarification on how to read my Fitbit. Hopefully give me a reason not return it
I'm having trouble understanding how it counts my calories.
And just generally on how to use the darn thing.
I have a Fitbit charge HR
I'm only interested in Fitbit related responses anything else will not be entertained.
Thank you!
https://staticcs.fitbit.com/content/assets/help/manuals/manual_charge_hr_en_US.pdf0 -
http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/How-does-Fitbit-know-how-many-calories-I-ve-burned
What questions do you have about how to use it? Most of us just strap it on our wrist and charge it when it gets low (taking it off to shower).0 -
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10098937/faq-syncing-logging-food-exercise-calorie-adjustments-activity-levels-accuracy/p1
For such a general question, you should probably read the sticky posted on the Fitbit user group.0 -
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I'm at the gym right now.
I'm on the stair master. Or whatever it's called so far I burned about 300 more calories in the first 30 mins. But my Fitbit didn't account for the actual stairs I'm climbing.
Also I guess it goes into the net calories again. So I guess this post has two different questions.
What are the calories that the Fitbit account for? For instance I wake up and the fit bit is already counting calories burned even though I have done nothing significant. So, where do I factor those calories burned into my net calories?
For example I normally burn 800-1000 calories a day for 6 days.
Anything over that, that my Fitbit accounted for where do I calculate that?
I'm just trying to learn where to factor all the "work" I've done so I don't over do it nor under do it.0 -
When I say "normally" I mean my regime before I restarted and what I'm doing now. This week won't be six days it will be five.0
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stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »I'm at the gym right now.
I'm on the stair master. Or whatever it's called so far I burned about 300 more calories in the first 30 mins. But my Fitbit didn't account for the actual stairs I'm climbing.
Also I guess it goes into the net calories again. So I guess this post has two different questions.
What are the calories that the Fitbit account for? For instance I wake up and the fit bit is already counting calories burned even though I have done nothing significant. So, where do I factor those calories burned into my net calories?
For example I normally burn 800-1000 calories a day for 6 days.
Anything over that, that my Fitbit accounted for where do I calculate that?
I'm just trying to learn where to factor all the "work" I've done so I don't over do it nor under do it.
Did you read the links (at least two) that were posted here from the Fitbit FAQ about how Fitbit Charge HR calculates your calories? You can check my post above if you didn't get a chance to look at it yet.
Fitbits probably won't measure the stairs you climb on a stairclimber machine. But if you begin activity (by pressing the button on the left) before beginning your workout, it will use your heartrate to determine how many calories you are burning in a session. This is useful for exercise machines.0 -
stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »I'm at the gym right now.
I'm on the stair master. Or whatever it's called so far I burned about 300 more calories in the first 30 mins. But my Fitbit didn't account for the actual stairs I'm climbing.
Also I guess it goes into the net calories again. So I guess this post has two different questions.
What are the calories that the Fitbit account for? For instance I wake up and the fit bit is already counting calories burned even though I have done nothing significant. So, where do I factor those calories burned into my net calories?
For example I normally burn 800-1000 calories a day for 6 days.
Anything over that, that my Fitbit accounted for where do I calculate that?
I'm just trying to learn where to factor all the "work" I've done so I don't over do it nor under do it.
The Fitbit counts the calories you burn all day long. Total energy expenditure, not just the calories you're burning when exercising. If you set your MFP settings to allow calorie adjustments, and link your Fitbit, the math all gets done for you, and you don't have to worry about logging your exercise in either place.0 -
You are over complicating this more than you need to. The fitbit does not count steps if your arm isnt moving. You can put it into Exercise mode, but if you are more after the total caloric burn then you shouldnt worry about steps as much IMO.
You burn calories breathing, sleeping, heart beating, brain functioning etc, so that is where those calories that fitbit calculates before you even wake up come from. If I were you, I would look at the Average that fitbit says I have burned over the last 1-4 weeks, and figure out what you want to subtract from that for your deficit. (Cal Burn - desired deficit = daily cal intake)
So for me for example: over the last week I burned just over 20,000 calories with an average of 2861 per day. Since I have almost 130lbs to lose I am set for 2 lbs per week loss (-1000 cals per day) So i would try to eat around 1860 cals per day.
If you are not losing where you would expect after 3-6 weeks, then your calculations could be off, or your logging might need to be more accurate. Make sure that you logging your weight and adjusting your average TDEE along the way because as you get lighter your body needs less.0 -
ColinsMommaOC wrote: »You are over complicating this more than you need to. The fitbit does not count steps if your arm isnt moving. You can put it into Exercise mode, but if you are more after the total caloric burn then you shouldnt worry about steps as much IMO.
You burn calories breathing, sleeping, heart beating, brain functioning etc, so that is where those calories that fitbit calculates before you even wake up come from. If I were you, I would look at the Average that fitbit says I have burned over the last 1-4 weeks, and figure out what you want to subtract from that for your deficit. (Cal Burn - desired deficit = daily cal intake)
So for me for example: over the last week I burned just over 20,000 calories with an average of 2861 per day. Since I have almost 130lbs to lose I am set for 2 lbs per week loss (-1000 cals per day) So i would try to eat around 1860 cals per day.
If you are not losing where you would expect after 3-6 weeks, then your calculations could be off, or your logging might need to be more accurate. Make sure that you logging your weight and adjusting your average TDEE along the way because as you get lighter your body needs less.
Thank you.
What about car rides? Does any one else find it annoying that you have to account for the time you're driving just seems tedious.0 -
I think the last thing I don't understand is net calories. Some people from my previous post tried to explain I still don't get it also to many replies. This time I'm going to research on what I don't understand then expand on that.0
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stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »
Thank you.
What about car rides? Does any one else find it annoying that you have to account for the time you're driving just seems tedious.
You burn calories sitting in the car. You burn calories sitting on the couch. You burn calories eating. You burn calories taking a shower, sleeping, brushing your teeth... So no, I dont account for when I am just driving because my heartrate is what is telling fitbit how many cals I am burning. Nothing is going to be 100% accurate. But I think the margin of error for fitbit is considerably less than personal guesstimates and online calculators that only ask for a few stats and base their answers on the average person.
If you are worried it is logging extra steps then take it off and put it in your purse or pocket. It will assume you are just burning BMR cals for the time it is not on and should not log any extra for you.0 -
You're planning on eating 1200 calories and burning 800-1000 calories from exercise. That gives you 200-400 NET calories. That's not enough to live on.0
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net calories only applies if you are using MFP's calorie goal method. Net calories = daily intake - intentional logged exercise cals. What I recommended above means you are targeting your own calorie intake goal and not logging additional exercise. So you just want Gross Calories to equal TDEE-deficit.0
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kshama2001 wrote: »You're planning on eating 1200 calories and burning 800-1000 calories from exercise. That gives you 200-400 NET calories. That's not enough to live on.
blah. I am out of it today. I didn't even notice it was the same OP.
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ColinsMommaOC wrote: »stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »
Thank you.
What about car rides? Does any one else find it annoying that you have to account for the time you're driving just seems tedious.
You burn calories sitting in the car. You burn calories sitting on the couch. You burn calories eating. You burn calories taking a shower, sleeping, brushing your teeth... So no, I dont account for when I am just driving because my heartrate is what is telling fitbit how many cals I am burning. Nothing is going to be 100% accurate. But I think the margin of error for fitbit is considerably less than personal guesstimates and online calculators that only ask for a few stats and base their answers on the average person.
If you are worried it is logging extra steps then take it off and put it in your purse or pocket. It will assume you are just burning BMR cals for the time it is not on and should not log any extra for you.
I do take it off. I only wear it when I know I'm doing heavy activity. In the car it still adds steps, miles, and calorie burn.0 -
Honestly I would just like a formula on how to calculate net calories.
Because my mind is just not registering what you all are saying concerning how to calculate.
Preferably.
A formula that consists of.
TDEE
BMR
Calorie deficit
Calorie consumed
Fitbit calories ( I guess this ties into BMR and TDEE, but I honestly don't know)
= net calories.
So for example my BMR is 1753
If I decided to stay in bed all day I would burn that much that much I understand.
So what's my TDEE in that same scenario and how does that factor or does it not matter? All these extra variables are confusing me.
My BMR is 1753
I eat 1200 out of 1753 and exercise an additional 800
Does that mean I have a net of -247?
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I did some reading bc I was having issues w/ steps being added while driving and since I commute 2+ hrs a day I didn't want to count all those steps. Also my flights of stairs is messed up sometimes too.
http://support.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/How-does-my-tracker-work-while-I-m-driving-in-a-car0 -
stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »Honestly I would just like a formula on how to calculate net calories.
Because my mind is just not registering what you all are saying concerning how to calculate.
Preferably.
A formula that consists of.
TDEE
BMR
Calorie deficit
Calorie consumed
Fitbit calories ( I guess this ties into BMR and TDEE, but I honestly don't know)
= net calories.
So for example my BMR is 1753
If I decided to stay in bed all day I would burn that much that much I understand.
So what's my TDEE in that same scenario and how does that factor or does it not matter? All these extra variables are confusing me.
My BMR is 1753
I eat 1200 out of 1753 and exercise an additional 800
Does that mean I have a net of -247?
This really depends on which "net calories" you're trying to define.
If you're using what MFP calls net calories it's:
Calories consumed - Exercise calories (or Fitbit calorie adjustment) = Net Calories. (Food minus exercise, easy peasy.)0 -
Oh, and in your example your net is 400.0
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stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »
I do take it off. I only wear it when I know I'm doing heavy activity. In the car it still adds steps, miles, and calorie burn.
then you are not using it properly imo. I wear mine 24/7 unless it is charging. It is estimating your calorie burns when you are not wearing it because it is trying to give you a TDEE. If you just want something to tell you what you burn during intentional exercise, then you should get a Heart Rate Monitor (best for steady state cardio, not weights etc).stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »Honestly I would just like a formula on how to calculate net calories.
A formula that consists of.
TDEE
BMR
Calorie deficit
Calorie consumed
Fitbit calories ( I guess this ties into BMR and TDEE, but I honestly don't know)
= net calories.
Net calories, as applies to MFP, formula has been given to you twice now.
TDEE = BMR + exercise + activity factor
Fitbit calories (when used correctly) = TDEE
daily deficit = 500* however many lbs per week you want to lose
if your BMR = ~1750, you do approx 800 cal per day in exercise and you are lightly active the equation looks like this:
Estimated TDEE =(1750*1.375)+800 = 3206
if you are trying to lose 2 lb per week then your deficit would be 1000 cals
3206 -1000 = 2206 = daily calorie consumed goal
If you want to use a net calorie system then the equation would look like this:
MFP Estimated Cal burn = (1750*1.375) = 2406
2406-1000= 1406 = daily cal consumed goal
IF you ate 1406 and exercised 800 cals then net cal equation would be:
1406-800= 606 NET
This number is lower than the accepted minimum net calories. You should eat at least 600 of your exercise cals back so that you DO NOT Net under 1200.
ETA: that I know of, there is no equation that uses TDEE, BMR, cal deficit, cal consumed all at once. From what I have seen you either use TDEE method or you use MFPs net cals method.0 -
On a side note: you seem to be confused about just what your BMR is. BMR is the amount of calories your body uses if you were to lay in bed and do nothing, i mean no lifting your arm or leg, no turning over, no getting up to pee etc. You should not (without doctors supervision) eat below BMR, or if you do it should not be for any length of time. Even if you were sedentary, meaning you sit at a desk for 8-10 hours, sleep 6-8 hours, and sit on the couch the other 8 hours, you are likely burning about 350 more calories a day than your BMR. That is why people keep trying to help you understand what your TDEE and activity factors are.0
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You don't use net calories with the TDEE method.0
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JUST keep track of the section where is says total calories burned. For your goals you're gonna need that to say 2900 everyday. So get walking or running or whatever it is that you do. You'll find as you lose weight you'll have to walk more to reach that 2900.0
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Counting steps while driving is a known bug with all the fitbits, though it doesn't happen to everyone. That's why there's a "driving" activity which you can log (on fitbit, not MFP) that will take away those erroneous steps. Have you looked at the forums on fitbit? They'll be more helpful than here for most of your question.
I'll also second the other folks' suggestion that you join the fitbit users group here on MFP and read that FAQ. Welcome to the club and have fun!0 -
Fitbit is an all day total calorie measuring device. It is meant to be worn all day to track all your activity, not just when you are exercising. With its accelerometers it measures your activity and based on that adds calories to your BMR to give an estimated number for you Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).
To explain further, Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the number of calories your body burns simply staying alive. It is used to keep your heart beating, your brain functioning, and your various other bodily functions functioning. That means in your case your burn 73 calories an hour even if you are doing nothing at all (1753/24). Generally it is considered a bad idea to eat less calories than your BMR since those calories are needed to keep the necessary functions of your body provided for. This is also the number that fitbit uses for your calorie burns if you are doing nothing.
From the BMR you can estimate your daily calorie burns from your non-exercise activity through various multipliers. For example, a truly sedentary person burns 1.2 times their BMR through their daily non-exercise activity. So if you are sedentary you probably burn 2100 calories a day or so from the activity of moving around to make meals, go to the washroom and the like.
To that number you then add exercise calories. The number that you would get from BRM, Non-Exercise Calories, and Exercise Calories is your TDEE. What fitbit does is take your BMR and the activity it senses as you wear it all day to come up with this TDEE number. That is synced with MyfitnessPal to either add or take away calories from your daily goal if you have negative adjustments enabled.
If you are not wearing your fitbit all day, you are not using it correctly.
BTW, the reason it does not measure stairs climbed on a stair climber is because the flights climbed is based on the changes is barometric pressure as you go up and down actual stairs. With a stair climber you are not actually going up or down in elevation, but are on a simulated stair.0 -
I should be subtracting my calorie deficit from my TDEE.
So BMR 1753-1000 =753
TDEE: 753+1000 = -1753 net?
BMR:1753
TDEE: 3833
Calories consumed: 1000
Calories burned: 1000
Calories remaining: 753
So if I have to burn 2900 daily as some of you say. I'm just about 200 away right?0 -
Also on Saturday during my 12 hour shift. I burned over 3000 calories. And yes I wore it and reset from the start of my shift till the end. I also ate about 1800 calories. What was my net burn?0
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I don't think you still know your TDEE yet. In order to have an accurate TDEE from a Fitbit, it needs a few weeks of data from 24 hour wear.
Since you haven't been doing that, no one can say what your TDEE is.
Why don't you give the device a chance to work the way it should? They get more accurate the more and longer you wear them.0
This discussion has been closed.
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