Fitbit driving me crazy (A little)
Vicxie86
Posts: 181 Member
Hey Guys, so i am back again after being away for 18mths. My fitbit does not seem to be accurately recording the calories burned after my elliptical workout. Before i start exercising, e.g. fitbit says i have burned 608kcal so far for the day and after exercise, i see something like 1010kcal burned but when i track it on mfp, it will have only given me like 126kcal for 45mins on the elliptical.
Now, i know this can't be accurate at all but the exercise kcals on mfp always creeps up the closer i am to 10k steps a day, so i have just left it alone. Today, i have just finished a 63min workout on my elliptical and same thing again, it gave me 118kcals burned but within 30mins, that changed to just 20kcals while i was changing my exercise goal on mfp. Is my fitbit going insane?
I used to rely more on my Polar FT4 because it was synced to the Polar H7 to monitor my HR during exercise for a more accurate calories burned count but the battery seems to be dead after a 18mth neglect and i'm awaiting delivery for new batteries. So in the main time, i have to rely solely on my fitbit for calories burned but it's doing my head in with the crazy figures.
Now, i know this can't be accurate at all but the exercise kcals on mfp always creeps up the closer i am to 10k steps a day, so i have just left it alone. Today, i have just finished a 63min workout on my elliptical and same thing again, it gave me 118kcals burned but within 30mins, that changed to just 20kcals while i was changing my exercise goal on mfp. Is my fitbit going insane?
I used to rely more on my Polar FT4 because it was synced to the Polar H7 to monitor my HR during exercise for a more accurate calories burned count but the battery seems to be dead after a 18mth neglect and i'm awaiting delivery for new batteries. So in the main time, i have to rely solely on my fitbit for calories burned but it's doing my head in with the crazy figures.
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Replies
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I would just estimate it based on a combination of methods that makes sense to you. For example, 10 calories per minute, or whatever, depending on your effort. All calorie burns are only estimates anyway. No need to go crazy.
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I used to rely more on my Polar FT4 because it was synced to the Polar H7 to monitor my HR during exercise for a more accurate calories burned count but the battery seems to be dead after a 18mth neglect and i'm awaiting delivery for new batteries. So in the main time, i have to rely solely on my fitbit for calories burned but it's doing my head in with the crazy figures.
You can buy those batteries at any Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, Target, etc.
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I would just estimate it based on a combination of methods that makes sense to you. For example, 10 calories per minute, or whatever, depending on your effort. All calorie burns are only estimates anyway. No need to go crazy.
Yes, i finally did that this evening because i could not stand seeing 20kcal burned for a 63mins workout. I recorded it as 550kcals burned even though it might be more but better to underestimate than overestimate. Not even eating back the kcals anyway0 -
Remember that your adjustment from Fitbit isn't based on the exercise you did for the day.
It's your Fitbit total calorie burn minus what MFP expected you to burn for the day.
Anytime you log exercise on MFP, this will increase your MFP expected burn and as a result your Fitbit adjustment will decrease (if it didn't you would be double counting the exercise burn).
If you do a workout and then get lazy throughout the day you may also notice that your Fitbit adjustment decreases. This is more noticeable if you have your activity level on MFP set to anything other than Sedentary.
You can see the math behind the adjustment by clicking the little "i" next to it in your exercise diary on the website. Example:
or tapping the adjustment in the app twice.
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shadow2soul wrote: »Remember that your adjustment from Fitbit isn't based on the exercise you did for the day.
It's your Fitbit total calorie burn minus what MFP expected you to burn for the day.
Anytime you log exercise on MFP, this will increase your MFP expected burn and as a result your Fitbit adjustment will decrease (if it didn't you would be double counting the exercise burn).
If you do a workout and then get lazy throughout the day you may also notice that your Fitbit adjustment decreases. This is more noticeable if you have your activity level on MFP set to anything other than Sedentary.shadow2soul wrote: »Remember that your adjustment from Fitbit isn't based on the exercise you did for the day.
It's your Fitbit total calorie burn minus what MFP expected you to burn for the day.
Anytime you log exercise on MFP, this will increase your MFP expected burn and as a result your Fitbit adjustment will decrease (if it didn't you would be double counting the exercise burn).
Yes, i know all that already but 20kcal burn from a 63mins workout, thats just not on. My mfp is set to sedentary so that i can have a more accurate count of any workouts done because i have a desk job and the steps i take everyday varies.0 -
I used to rely more on my Polar FT4 because it was synced to the Polar H7 to monitor my HR during exercise for a more accurate calories burned count but the battery seems to be dead after a 18mth neglect and i'm awaiting delivery for new batteries. So in the main time, i have to rely solely on my fitbit for calories burned but it's doing my head in with the crazy figures.
You can buy those batteries at any Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, Target, etc.
I live in the U.K and i just ordered some off amazon0 -
Check the adjustment math. I was having issues where MFP was saying I had logged exercise not to long ago when I actually didn't. This resulted in my getting an adjustment that was lower then it should have been.0
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Totally unrelated, but I found my fitness band doesn't record steps when I'm pushing a shopping cart. I guess because my arm isn't swinging
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shadow2soul wrote: »Check the adjustment math. I was having issues where MFP was saying I had logged exercise not to long ago when I actually didn't. This resulted in my getting an adjustment that was lower then it should have been.
My thing is, i'm already at sedentary and all my exercise kcals should count but i feel like fitbit doesnt realise that im not just stomping my feet in the same spot. Oh well, i'll see what happens tomorrow.0 -
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Totally unrelated, but I found my fitness band doesn't record steps when I'm pushing a shopping cart. I guess because my arm isn't swinging
Yup, anytime your arms aren't swinging it's not counting your steps. It was frustrating to see hubby easily get 10-20k while I got maybe 4k while pushing a stroller. I put it in my coat or jeans pocket and that seems to help. Although, kind of defeats the purpose for having a watch tracker to begin with, lol.0 -
shadow2soul wrote: »Remember that your adjustment from Fitbit isn't based on the exercise you did for the day.
It's your Fitbit total calorie burn minus what MFP expected you to burn for the day.
Anytime you log exercise on MFP, this will increase your MFP expected burn and as a result your Fitbit adjustment will decrease (if it didn't you would be double counting the exercise burn).
If you do a workout and then get lazy throughout the day you may also notice that your Fitbit adjustment decreases. This is more noticeable if you have your activity level on MFP set to anything other than Sedentary.
You can see the math behind the adjustment by clicking the little "i" next to it in your exercise diary on the website. Example:
or tapping the adjustment in the app twice.
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