Fitbit adds too many calories.....I think?

misty589

I'm going to give a simplified example.

Mfp has me at a goal of 1500 calories a day to lose 1 lb/ week
Fitbit says I burned 2000 calories today and adds 500 exercise calories to mfp asking me to eat 2000 calories.

Am I missing something? It always adds enough exercise calories to bring me up to what I've burned, which would give me 0 defecit for loss....right?

I'm sorry if this question is redundant, I did read a lot in this group but there is an overwhelming amount of info.

Thank you kindly,
Misty

BlueMacaroniArt

Did you set your calorie goal in MFP yourself or let it figure for you? Because mine is figured for me at 1640 for a 1 lb loss and yesterday per fitbit I burned 2279. it only added 162 calories to my total. I'm not sure if i read that if you have it hard coded in with 1500 calories when it adds adjustments it may work differently? But i'm new to fitbit too so i'm really not sure but that doesn't seem right at all.

misty589

I let mfp set it for me. I used round numbers as an easy to follow example. My actual daily goal is 1360. Alreadt today it has added 450 to my day and I haven't done much at all.

misty589

To use yesterday as an example fitbit says I burned 1900 calories, and added 500+ to my starting goal of 1360

BlueMacaroniArt

Hmmm... is it possible fitbit is set for maintenance instead of to lose 1 lb? Maybe by mistake?

NancyN795

What Fitbit is set to shouldn't affect MFP's calculations. MFP takes the "calories burned" number it gets from Fitbit, projects out to the end of the day and compares that to the calories it expects you to burn for the full day (based on your stats and activity level). (The projection of your Fitbit calories is also based on MFP's stats and activity level.) You can see the calculation that is being done on the exercise page (website) or in the diary (mobile app). Just click on the little 'i' next to the adjustment (website) or touch, and touch again on the adjustment in the diary (mobile app). Here's an example of what it looks like:



One additional point of confusion... Your MFP calorie goal only changes when you update your diet/fitness profile in the settings. However, the "MyFitnessPal Calories Burned" number changes every time you update your weight. So, as you lose weight but don't update your profile, your actual deficit will get smaller. That's why you need to update it every 10 pounds or so.

RunRachelleRun

Maybe check that your height and weight are correctly entered on FitBit. I had this problem and it was because of a typo. I had given myself an extra foot of height.

misty589

Thanks for the suggestions. Everything seems to be set up correctly but mfp is still telling me to eat the total amount of calories my fitbit says I burned. I'm ignoring it, obviously, but it's annoying.

NancyN795

Have you looked at the math used to calculate your Fitbit Calorie Adjustment? If your settings are correct, that is the next step in figuring out what is wrong.

masull

Even without Fitbit, MFP "gives" you the calories burned and adds it to your calories-you-can-consume total. Like its a one-to-one ratio. But if you consume the same number of calories as you burn, it's a break-even in reality. In my experience you won't gain but you won't lose weight. I look at the added calories I "can" consume as just a bonus if I go over the regular allotment. But I still try to hover close to the original calorie intake suggestion for me. The key to losing weight is more about the quantity/quality of what you eat than about the calorie burn. I think it's the 80/20 rule

hazleyes81

What activity level do you have set in MFP? If you have it set to sedentary it doesn't take much before extra "earned" calories start getting added on. Make sure your settings are realistic (or overly ambitious, like mine are)

misty589

It is sedentary, but unfortunately I truly am lol. Under 5000 steps on a day at home (most days)

heybales

misty589 wrote: »

I'm going to give a simplified example.

Mfp has me at a goal of 1500 calories a day to lose 1 lb/ week
Fitbit says I burned 2000 calories today and adds 500 exercise calories to mfp asking me to eat 2000 calories.

Am I missing something? It always adds enough exercise calories to bring me up to what I've burned, which would give me 0 defecit for loss....right?

I'm sorry if this question is redundant, I did read a lot in this group but there is an overwhelming amount of info.

Thank you kindly,
Misty

So if MFP has eating goal at 1500 and that is a 500 cal deficit (1 lb weekly) - that means MFP is estimating you'll burn 2000 calories with no exercise accounted for - just daily activity.
So that 1500 goal is when you do no exercise and daily activity is sedentary.

So Fitbit on it's site said you burned at end of day with 2000 calories with no exercise?
Then MFP estimated right.
or at the time you checked it said 2000 calories before the end of day had been burned so far?
Then MFP was wrong, well, you selected wrong activity level in MFP actually.

As mentioned above - actual figures or screen shot as was shown above.

Oh - I get positive adjustment with 4000-5000 steps on my sedentary days, set as sedentary also.

Where are you reading that Fitbit says you burned 2000 in example above (or whatever true figure is).

Screen shot would be best bet, either prior day or during day.

misty589

I don't know how to post a screen shot here, but I just went to look at yesterday's numbers, when I closed my diary last night after supper, it told me I had 700+ calories left, today when I look back it says 300+ so Did the fitbit readjust after I went to bed? Maybe it overestimates during the day and readjusts after? That's kind of a pain. .

Christine_72

misty589 wrote: »

I don't know how to post a screen shot here, but I just went to look at yesterday's numbers, when I closed my diary last night after supper, it told me I had 700+ calories left, today when I look back it says 300+ so Did the fitbit readjust after I went to bed? Maybe it overestimates during the day and readjusts after? That's kind of a pain. .

That's strange.. I get calories taken away at night if I'm set to lightly active or active, because mfp expects you to keep up that level of activity til midnight, which I definitely do not, as my activity switches to very sedentary after 5pm.
But I don't lose any if I'm set at sedentary, but keep in mind I average 15-20,000 steps a day. If you are getting under 5000 steps it could explain the negative adjustment, but shouldn't take away over 300 calories, I wouldn't think...

NancyN795

You don't need to post a screen shot. The numbers will do. The values needed are:

1. "Fitbit Calories Burned (Full day projection)"
2. # calories and time that the projection was based on
3. "MyFitnessPal Calories Burned"
4. and finally, "Fitbit Calorie Adjustment"

I told you how to get those numbers in the post where I put the screenshot. The adjustment number, without the math used to get to it, isn't very informative.

3foldchord

masull wrote: »

Even without Fitbit, MFP "gives" you the calories burned and adds it to your calories-you-can-consume total. Like its a one-to-one ratio. But if you consume the same number of calories as you burn, it's a break-even in reality. In my experience you won't gain but you won't lose weight. I look at the added calories I "can" consume as just a bonus if I go over the regular allotment. But I still try to hover close to the original calorie intake suggestion for me. The key to losing weight is more about the quantity/quality of what you eat than about the calorie burn. I think it's the 80/20 rule

This is how I think of it.

I custom set my calories. My TDEE is ~1750. My BMW is about 1350 (but I start feeling bad when I go below 1425) I set my goal at 1550 calories. So if Fitbit says I burned 400 calories over my 1550 limit, I might eat 200. Keeping close to my TDEE number. Just started with this fitbit calorie adjustment, hope this method works.

heybales

3foldchord wrote: »

masull wrote: »

Even without Fitbit, MFP "gives" you the calories burned and adds it to your calories-you-can-consume total. Like its a one-to-one ratio. But if you consume the same number of calories as you burn, it's a break-even in reality. In my experience you won't gain but you won't lose weight. I look at the added calories I "can" consume as just a bonus if I go over the regular allotment. But I still try to hover close to the original calorie intake suggestion for me. The key to losing weight is more about the quantity/quality of what you eat than about the calorie burn. I think it's the 80/20 rule

This is how I think of it.

I custom set my calories. My TDEE is ~1750. My BMW is about 1350 (but I start feeling bad when I go below 1425) I set my goal at 1550 calories. So if Fitbit says I burned 400 calories over my 1550 limit, I might eat 200. Keeping close to my TDEE number. Just started with this fitbit calorie adjustment, hope this method works.

It won't - because MFP is not comparing the Fitbit daily burn to your eating goal.

It's comparing to what MFP calls Calories Burned to get the difference - then adding that to your eating goal.

You might look at the Fitbit Calorie adjustment figures that NancyN mentions - that's the figures the math is done with.

There is really no good way to link them if you want to do the TDEE method.

Best is usually to unsync accounts and just look at your weekly email of average Fitbit daily burn.

Take off your 20% or 15% or whatever is reasonable for amount to lose for your eating goal.

Manually enter that as your eating goal.

You could do weekly or biweekly adjustments just fine and that would take into account seasonal changes.
You could also skip weeks that way that you know shouldn't count, like sick or super busy or extra workouts, ect.

heybales

misty589 wrote: »

I don't know how to post a screen shot here, but I just went to look at yesterday's numbers, when I closed my diary last night after supper, it told me I had 700+ calories left, today when I look back it says 300+ so Did the fitbit readjust after I went to bed? Maybe it overestimates during the day and readjusts after? That's kind of a pain. .

As Christine said, that's well above the normal adjustment because of MFP math and Fitbit reality being different for the sitting/sleeping part of the night until midnight.

I'm wondering if you are getting a good sync from your device that is coming across eventually early enough for the figures to be corrected before bed.

Hence NancyN's 4 figures and time needed perhaps right before you turn in. And the next morning.

smit7633

I just focus on eating under my regular calorie allowance I don't eat back my burned calories, the higher the green number at the end of the day the better, just means a larger deficit!

heybales

Don't imagine bigger is better.

If that was true - why don't you just stop eating and lose weight fast and get it over with faster?

Whatever reasons pop into mind, still happen on big deficits, and probably some other reasons you don't know about.

jlcnuke

As I've come to understand it, here is the simple explanation of the adjustments:

The "calories" that MFP starts you with are less than you will burn by existing (effectively), let's say it's 2,000 calories for you. If it says to lose 1 lb/week you need to eat 1500 calories each, what it's actually saying is that by existing with the assumptions it makes, you should have a 3,500 calorie deficit after a week if you eat 1,500 calories because you'd burn 2,000 each day but only eat 1,500 so seven days with a 500 calorie deficit gets you to the desired 3,500 calorie deficit each week..

Then... you went and did something beyond existing that burned calories. Because of that, if you only at the original 1,500 calories then you'd EXCEED your 1lb/week weight loss goal because you'd have a larger calorie deficit. In order to maintain the calorie deficit at the set rate, you must then eat enough calories to get you back to the 500 calorie deficit for the day. This is important because your body is okay with a deficit, but too few "net calories" and your body might start doing unhealthy things instead of just consuming fat. You don't have to "eat back" all those calories, but if you're at a very large deficit then you should eat some of them back imo.

chrislee1628

I take it with a pinch of salt, no 2 people are the same, so if 2 people put the same details in, it will say the same, yet their bodies are not, and even if they did the same exercise at the same level and for the same amount of time, they will have burnt different amount of calories

even if they were twins

for me, as long as I am in deficit, as in it says I still have calories left to eat, at least over 500, then I am happy, I am pretty much always at least over 1000 in deficit to make sure

but I only try to eat what I set with myfitnesspal or at least not too much over

so say for example

mightinesspal 1710
fitbit exercise +2000

I eat 2000