Fitbit vs the Endomondo App

Nikki31104

The other day I went for a walk with a friend of mine. I was using my Endomondo phone app. She was wearing her Fitbit. We walked 3.3 miles in 1 hour 17 minutes. Our average speed was only 2.6 mph which in my book is fairly slow. I never broke a sweat or felt my heart rate increase. My Endomondo app said I burned 508 calories. Her Fitbit said 1800. That is a HUGE difference. How can they be so far apart? I don't think there is anyway we could have burned 1800 calories while walking so slow.

rileysowner

You are comparing two different things. Endomondo is meant to measure a specific time of exercise. Fitbit is meant to measure all day calories. I am not sure what the display on the Fitbit is showing, but my guess is it is a cumulative calories for the day, not just the calories for the walk.

Nikki31104

That was the only thing we did all day. We stayed home all day until the walk. As soon as the walk was over we compared our stats.

ScrabbleWords

The Fitbit calculates how many calories your body burns when at rest. If I forget to wear my Fitbit for an entire day, it still says I burned 2,019 calories. Calories burned from activity is added onto that number. Today I walked 2.95 miles and my total calories burned is 2,674.

MeanderingMammal

Nikki31104 wrote: »

My Endomondo app said I burned 508 calories. Her Fitbit said 1800. That is a HUGE difference. How can they be so far apart?

Both have accounted for BMR, but the two are measuring different things; Endomondo measures actual distance whereas the fitbit is measuring number of steps and calculating distance based on an assumed step length. The fitbit package also starts estimating from midnight, so you're looking at different time periods.

For example my Vivosmart will give me about 1800 cals for a 24 hour period, then exercise cals on top. For a 3 mile walk I'd add about 150 cals, at 165lbs. Pace isn't a significant factor in walking, it's more about distance covered.

Nikki31104

That helps a lot. I don't think she knows how to use her fitbit. She assured me that the 1800 calories burned were from the walk alone.

robertw486

It sounds like she just wasn't familiar with her FitBit. As for Endomondo, I found that it grossly exaggerates my BMR, so long workouts were more inflated than I wanted to do the math to straighten out. It showed me burning a lot of calories doing *nothing*.

Nikki31104

I only use my Endomondo when I am walking. That is the only time I ever turn it on.