How accurate is Fitbit calories burned?

ejb499

My wife got me a Charge HR about 2 months ago. It has been great! I set my daily step goal for 12,000 and I've only missed it a couple of times. Definitely keeps me motivated! My question is how accurate is it at keeping track of calories burned? I have read on here many times not to trust MFP or your exercise machines for calories burned but I would think Fitbit would be more accurate since it continuously monitors your heart rate.

I have my calorie goal set for 2,000 and what I have been doing is I just try to stay under that food-wise and figure any calories I burn from exercise will be a bonus, meaning I'll just have that much bigger of a deficit. I know I can eat some of the calories back but I am nervous to because I don't know how accurate it is.

daniip_la

I'm not sure about the Charge HR, but I have a Fitbit One and have found it extremely accurate over the past two months. I've lost within a pound (in my favour) of what it reported that I should have lost.

Annahbananas

I have the charge hr. The calories burnt from extra activity (aside from your basic calorie resting burn) is not very accurate. Especially if your heart rate is a little higher than normal.

The heart rate tool isn't very accurate either. When I wore my chest hr and my Fitbit hr, my Fitbit was off by 15-30 beats per minute during exercise

I do love my Fitbit...but the calories I burn from exercise I don't put much stock into it. I use my Fitbit mostly for friend challenges, exercise accountability and seeing how many steps and stairs I take

ejb499

I do a lot of cardio. Usually at least one hour per day and it is mostly on my treadmill at home. My treadmill has a couple of walking poles that you can grab onto to get your arms moving. I have noticed that whenever I'm holding those my heart rate goes down compared to when I just have my arms at my sides. I have a hard time getting myself into "the cardio zone" when I'm using the poles even though I know I am actually working harder. Must have to do with the position of my wrist but that does make me think that the heart rate tracker isn't all that accurate.

janejellyroll

I have been eating back the calories from my Charge HR since last July and have lost/maintained exactly as expected. You will see some people say that it doesn't seem accurate for the, but it has been very accurate for me.

Christine_72

I started off with the zip, and now have the Alta. The zip overestimated, my Alta is a little better. Fitbit estimates my TDEE to be around 2,579, most days, especially lately, i burn a total of 2,600-2,700. If this was truly the case i would have been at my goal weight eons ago!
I've reduced my height and stride length by 2.5 inches, but i haven't really noticed a difference in my burn numbers.

Pawsforme

I've had a Charge HR for eleven months now and I've found it to be extremely accurate. But there are a lot of factors involved -- how correctly you wear it, how accurate your settings are and probably what kind of exercise you do. Most of mine is step based.

LivingtheLeanDream

I have the Fitbit One, the calories burned have been pretty accurate for me, at least 95% accurate.