"Step calorie adjustment"

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  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Calories back depend on intensity of steps, your height and weight and stride length

  • dalielahdawn
    dalielahdawn Posts: 141 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Calories back depend on intensity of steps, your height and weight and stride length
    Can the iPhone's health app take all that into account? I thought it only counted steps.
  • Wiseandcurious
    Wiseandcurious Posts: 730 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Calories back depend on intensity of steps, your height and weight and stride length
    Can the iPhone's health app take all that into account? I thought it only counted steps.

    Didn't you enter your height and weight in the app at some point? Most apps ask you that.
  • dalielahdawn
    dalielahdawn Posts: 141 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Calories back depend on intensity of steps, your height and weight and stride length
    Can the iPhone's health app take all that into account? I thought it only counted steps.

    Didn't you enter your height and weight in the app at some point? Most apps ask you that.

    I was questioning more, intensity and stride
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited November 2015
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    I don't know the iPhone app but I am highly doubtful that any phone app can accurately monitor steps in the first place

    But the estimates may be good enough depending on the individuals stats

    Even bespoke equipment like fitbits are estimators, but I think more accurate than apps
  • ARGriffy
    ARGriffy Posts: 1,002 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Calories back depend on intensity of steps, your height and weight and stride length
    Can the iPhone's health app take all that into account? I thought it only counted steps.

    Didn't you enter your height and weight in the app at some point? Most apps ask you that.

    I was questioning more, intensity and stride

    Stride it works out from height, as I'm short it takes me more steps to get somewhere! As for intensity, no idea how it monitors that, if I have a day where I'm charging about in work it logs the same cals as if I'm moving slowly for the same steps.
  • Wiseandcurious
    Wiseandcurious Posts: 730 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    I don't know the iPhone app but I am highly doubtful that any phone app can accurately monitor steps in the first place s

    Actually a phone today has very advanced sensors, there's no reason it shouldn't be able to capture the same information as a bracelet-worn sensor (without a built-in hrm). And the big brands like Apple and Samsung know their own hardware well enough to make a really good use of the capability I guess; the proprietary Samsung app has a surprisingly accurate pedometer which also distinguishoes walking from running, so I guess it can measure intensity.

    Of course it does depend where you wear it, and if you have it on you at all times, but ultimately I think nowadays it's more a matter of how good the algorithm they have is. Fitbit obviously has a good one, but some phone companies do, too.
  • Wiseandcurious
    Wiseandcurious Posts: 730 Member
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    Just want to clarify - I am not advocating that people take the calorie count from their pedometer apps at face value, because that's a whole different kettle of fish and sometimes it's not even clear what the app thinks your BMR is etc. But that's true for most fitness trackers too.
  • pitbullmamaliz
    pitbullmamaliz Posts: 303 Member
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    Partly some of it may be if you get the steps earlier in the day, you get a large calorie adjustment because MFP thinks you'll then continue that rate of steps throughout the day. I work 3rd shift, so I may have 5000 steps before 6am, so I have a huge calorie adjustment. But when I wake up at 1pm, the calorie adjustment has dropped way back down again because I haven't continued at that rate of exercise.
  • mrsloganlife
    mrsloganlife Posts: 158 Member
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    For me with my Fitbit I see fluctuations in my calories even if I am around the same step count. But one day I could have gathered those steps in small increments from standing up at my desk, and the other day I got those steps because I went for a run (and then sat on the couch getting mad at the Michigan/Ohio State game). Also once I manually adjusted my stride length I saw the calories burned not go as crazy.

    To the OP, there is a chance that if you have a smart phone that there is a health app that is tracking your steps. Like one poster suggested, check your app settings. Phone technology is way advanced now, and phones can tell the difference between walking vs. driving.
  • enemyger
    enemyger Posts: 84 Member
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    For me with my Fitbit I see fluctuations in my calories even if I am around the same step count. But one day I could have gathered those steps in small increments from standing up at my desk, and the other day I got those steps because I went for a run (and then sat on the couch getting mad at the Michigan/Ohio State game). Also once I manually adjusted my stride length I saw the calories burned not go as crazy.

    To the OP, there is a chance that if you have a smart phone that there is a health app that is tracking your steps. Like one poster suggested, check your app settings. Phone technology is way advanced now, and phones can tell the difference between walking vs. driving.

    It really is the health app
    It never asked me or notified me that it was counting my steps thats weird...

    How reletable is this health app?
  • cnbbnc
    cnbbnc Posts: 1,267 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    I don't know the iPhone app but I am highly doubtful that any phone app can accurately monitor steps in the first place

    But the estimates may be good enough depending on the individuals stats

    Even bespoke equipment like fitbits are estimators, but I think more accurate than apps

    I'm going out on a limb here, but based on people saying they're fitbits are giving steps for driving and arms swinging, I'm going to say that Apple is doing a bit better with their health apps tracking....

    I always have my phone in my pocket whether at work or doing cardio, and I think it's accurate at tracking steps. Granted, I don't use it to calculate burn since I rarely eat back calories, so I can't say anything about that.

  • starwhisperer6
    starwhisperer6 Posts: 402 Member
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    cnbbnc wrote: »
    rabbitjb wrote: »
    I don't know the iPhone app but I am highly doubtful that any phone app can accurately monitor steps in the first place

    But the estimates may be good enough depending on the individuals stats

    Even bespoke equipment like fitbits are estimators, but I think more accurate than apps

    I'm going out on a limb here, but based on people saying they're fitbits are giving steps for driving and arms swinging, I'm going to say that Apple is doing a bit better with their health apps tracking....

    I always have my phone in my pocket whether at work or doing cardio, and I think it's accurate at tracking steps. Granted, I don't use it to calculate burn since I rarely eat back calories, so I can't say anything about that.

    I would have to really swing my arm around for my fitbit to count driving, what does happen sometimes is if I am on a super bumpy road the vibrations will switch me into sleep mode. But I have never had it count steps from driving or riding my bike.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    enemyger wrote: »
    For me with my Fitbit I see fluctuations in my calories even if I am around the same step count. But one day I could have gathered those steps in small increments from standing up at my desk, and the other day I got those steps because I went for a run (and then sat on the couch getting mad at the Michigan/Ohio State game). Also once I manually adjusted my stride length I saw the calories burned not go as crazy.

    To the OP, there is a chance that if you have a smart phone that there is a health app that is tracking your steps. Like one poster suggested, check your app settings. Phone technology is way advanced now, and phones can tell the difference between walking vs. driving.

    It really is the health app
    It never asked me or notified me that it was counting my steps thats weird...

    How reletable is this health app?

    Not weird, it's programmed to do it by default. I've been on MFP for a couple years and one day after an iOS upgrade and an MFP upgrade, there's a step adjustment ...

    Ticked me off because it meant I was double-counting my exercise (running). For a minute I thought I had all kinds of calories left, LOL. I turned it off so I could stick with logging my exercise.

    FWIW, the steps seemed decently accurate.
  • enemyger
    enemyger Posts: 84 Member
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    I did a lot of walking today but thinking that I lost 600kcal from it is really a huge number... I hope it is accurate hahaa
  • Protranser
    Protranser Posts: 517 Member
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    enemyger wrote: »
    I did a lot of walking today but thinking that I lost 600kcal from it is really a huge number... I hope it is accurate hahaa

    Try and see! I have been able to lose weight consuming 3000 calories a day (my burn is 3200ish average according to fitbit) and most of my burn comes from walking each day of the week.