So Will My Charge HR Adjust Itself? Or Not?
kirstinlee
Posts: 152 Member
I read the sticky and tried google, but I think my question is specific enough that I'm getting mixed answers.
I bought my HR last night, and wore it all day today. I'm a cashier, so I was expecting extra steps to be counted considering how much I use my arms. Now, ten hours later, it says I've taken 9,100 steps and have burned 2,800 calories. It's added over 900 "workout" calories to MFP.
I've read that it will start adjusting itself after a couple of weeks, but to what extent? I know I'm not going to get away from extra steps being counted, but 7,000+ extra steps? And what percentage of those 2,800 calories do you think I would be safe to count as right?
I'm new enough that I don't know what information is relevant, so I'm just gonna kind of list everything I can think of that might apply:
I have it set to dominant hand, and put it on my non-dominant hand. MFP is set to Sedentary. I'm on my feet and fairly active constantly at work (walking, lifting, crouching, etc) but don't do much once home except cook. Calorie goal given by MFP is 1,310 before fitbit adjustments.
I bought my HR last night, and wore it all day today. I'm a cashier, so I was expecting extra steps to be counted considering how much I use my arms. Now, ten hours later, it says I've taken 9,100 steps and have burned 2,800 calories. It's added over 900 "workout" calories to MFP.
I've read that it will start adjusting itself after a couple of weeks, but to what extent? I know I'm not going to get away from extra steps being counted, but 7,000+ extra steps? And what percentage of those 2,800 calories do you think I would be safe to count as right?
I'm new enough that I don't know what information is relevant, so I'm just gonna kind of list everything I can think of that might apply:
I have it set to dominant hand, and put it on my non-dominant hand. MFP is set to Sedentary. I'm on my feet and fairly active constantly at work (walking, lifting, crouching, etc) but don't do much once home except cook. Calorie goal given by MFP is 1,310 before fitbit adjustments.
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Why do you think it gave you 7,000 extra steps? 9100 isn't that many for someone with a job that keeps them on their feet. Sedentary is probably not an accurate activity level given your job, but that doesn't matter as much with a Fitbit - as long as you trust it - as a higher activity level will just result in a lower adjustment but the same number of calories at the end of the day. However, if you do change your activity level be sure to enable negative adjustments so you don't overeat on lazy days off.
I'm not certain how much it will adjust. I do know it takes a while to get an accurate resting heart rate. Mine now reads about 5-10 BPM over what I get when I just take my heart rate first thing in the morning, and I'm content with that. At first, it was more than 15 BPM high and that bugged me. Other than that, I just haven't tried to figure out what adjustments happen.0 -
HR-based calorie burns for actual exercise will get more accurate.
The cutoff between what is and is not automatically assumed to be exercise based on HR will adjust as resting HR is better seen.
If - IF - extra steps are seen from moving arms and not the actual impact of steps taken - they will be wimpy low calorie steps - nothing to worry about.
But that number seems low for on feet all day.
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Thanks for the answers ☺ I'm on my feet all day, but I'm in a confined area. To test it at one point, I checked it, and then checked it five minutes later after taking maybe twenty steps... It logged over five hundred. I'm really not concerned about the extra steps themselves, just the calories it adds for the MFP adjustment.
Also, I thought I had MFP set for sedentary, but it's actually set to lightly active. So it was giving me 900 calories on top of lightly active.0 -
Weird! I wonder if there is a stride length glitch?0
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If there is, how would I go about fixing it? Or would I have to go exchange it for another one?0
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kirstinlee wrote: »If there is, how would I go about fixing it? Or would I have to go exchange it for another one?
Go to your fitbit dashboard and click on the gear icon in the top right hand corner, then click settings. All your details such as weight, height and walking/jogging stride length are in there.0 -
heybales is right that the steps it is reading are probably wimpy low calorie steps, but I can understand wanting to get an accurate count. If you want to experiment, try taking your Fitbit off your wrist one day - be sure to turn the HR function to OFF (not Auto) - and putting it in your pocket. The HR function isn't going to really be a factor in figuring calorie burn when not exercising, so it shouldn't mess things up. That way, you can see how many steps are seen without your arm movement and what kind of calorie burn you get.0
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kirstinlee wrote: »If there is, how would I go about fixing it? Or would I have to go exchange it for another one?
The FAQ in the stickies should help you with that one:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10098937/faq-syncing-logging-food-exercise-calorie-adjustments-activity-levels-accuracy#latest
Lots of good info for new users in there.
Personally my Charge HR rarely picks up arm activity, but it has, just not enough to impact my daily burn.
Nancy's idea about not having it on your wrist while working is probably a good one.0
