Fitbit Help

ashbee03

Okay so I just got a Fitbit charge HR for Christmas and I've been unmotivated to use it as I tried it for a couple of days and it just confuses me.

So can anyone really dumb it down for me "Fitbit for dummies" style?


All I did was go to work, walk a lot, and that's it and the MFP adjustment said I burnt like 2,000 calories?? Who needs the gym at that point? and everyday its are in burning like 3-400 calories..

Also, when I go to the gym, I don't log it in MFP anymore? The Fitbit will put it in the adjustment?

And how does the Fitbit recognize when I've done the elliptical compared to walking? It says it auto recognizes.

Also confusing.. I haven't even stepped outta bed and I already have burnt calories on Fitbit.

And last but not least, (not Fitbit related) negative calories on MFP?

This has all been confusing me lately and it's deterred me a bit on accuracy and if it's actually working. And if I can't understand it I don't think it will be as beneficial. I want to be able to take advantage of these tools and use them to help me with my goals.

Please help!! Lol

FitGamerSmoak

Okay because it's the he it automatically gives you the calories you are Burning just by existing. So you wake up you've burned what like 300 calories? I got in when I log my exercise and update the category. It gets to know you. I don't log workouts in mfp I log them in the Fitbit app but I log my food in mfp and I use the calories there and yes I do use the negative adjustment as well. On days that I don't workout but get 10,000 steps I burn about 400 additional calories I believe. I find the calorie thing in Fitbit confusing so that's why I use mfp for that.

Feel free to add me on Fitbit (dancoo86@gmail.com) and here and do a weekly challenge. The challenges is what really gets me going.

Fostercatter

Those are good questions. About 2 months ago, I got one of those FitBits that clips on a waistband. A typical day of walking around registers about 250-350 calories on MFP. (The FitBit website, of course, shows more details about my activity.) This seems believable to me.

However, I get weird readings occasionally that I can't explain. One day, I'll help somebody move some stuff, and I get 37 calories burned on MFP, but the next day, I'll be much less active and it shows 629 calories burned! Seems like the 2-day total is accurate, but somehow it's like the data doesn't seem to "know" when one day ends and the next day starts.

As a techie, I wonder what's inside the FitBit that senses my activity. Must be some kind of accelerometer chip. Is it a three-axis accelerometer? I have no idea. Is it position sensitive? No clue. But one thing I'm pretty sure of, is that the accuracy MUST depend on what part of your body you wear the device. When I first got my FitBit, I tried putting it on the frame of my glasses. It came up with activity numbers that were unbelievably high. I figured it was counting every little movement of my head as a "step." So, I consistently clip the FitBit to my waistband in the same spot. This way, I figure it will pick up motion mainly from the biggest, slowest part of me.

When I do actual exercise, I just enter that activity manually into MFP. And the negative calorie thing? Who knows what the website programmer was thinking! I ignore it. I know this doesn't answer many of your questions, but it's a start. At least you know you're not the only one who is confused!

ashbee03

Thank you so far. I appreciate the feedback.
Hopefully more people see this and are more "experienced" with it and can answer more.