So confused about Fitbit HR calories

Zborni4

I don't know why my brain can't comprehend this but it just can't. I have been using MFP on and off for a while. I was used to the good old days when I would set my goal and then manually log my exercise. I would then eat those exercise calories back if it fell below my calorie goal as to not undereat. With this Fitbit, I'm just feel like a giant dummy. I have my activity set to sedentary and have my goal for 1.5 pounds to lose a week, which gives me like 1380 calories to eat a day. Today I got my 10,000 steps and was up and down a little at work but sat a bit. I also took a 45 minute walk. According to MFP, I have earned 1000 extra calories from exercise. Am I really supposed to eat those back? That seems insane. I am about ready to go back to just manually logging exercise because it makes more sense to me.

sunburntgalaxy

I don't have a fitbit, I have a vivosmart and honestly it isn't even close to accurate on the heart rate. For example today it was crazy at work (I have a desk job) and so I am only at about 4300 steps right now - but because of the heart rate function being so off it says I earned 4295 extra calories today which is just ridiculous. I have checked it at the same time they took my pulse at the doctor and yeah my heart rate tends to be fast due to medication I am on but it was WAY off, and that makes my calories way off. I suspect you have the same problem but to a lesser extent. Everything I have read is that the wrist heart rate monitors are way off - honestly I only have that feature because my first vivosmart had issues and they replaced it with this one for free (it has a better screen so I live with it).

Zborni4

I think you might be right. I work at a school and I had walked down the hall to visit a classroom and checked it when I got there and it said my heartbeat was in the 100's which seemed way off just from walking down the hall. Something is fishy.

Aaron_K123

You can determine your heart rate manually and compare if you are concerned about accuracy. 100bpm from walking sounds reasonable to me.

Christine_72

Personally i don't trust HR monitors at all. I "might" use one for jogging or high heart rate continuous aerobic exercise, but for walking or anything else i wouldn't bother. I do have a fitbit (Alta), but it doesn't have a HR monitor.

TangledThread

I'm one of the people that the Fitbit HR works perfectly and I lose as expected eating the adjusted amount. Walking 11,080 steps earns me 600 calories. I love my fitbit so much, because of it I'm eating more than I ever guessed I could.

But it does overestimate for some people. The only way to know it to test it out for a few weeks and see.

my stats: 5' 4" 120lbs

Aaron_K123

Also keep in mind fitbit HR is worn on your lower forearm...not your wrist. Very inaccurate on your wrist. Shows where to wear in instructions

alyssa0061

If you're averaging 10,000 steps a day, according to MFP, you aren't sedentary. If you had your activity level set to lightly active you'd already be at a higher calorie target and the adjustment wouldn't be so high as far as I understand. I don't have anything synced to MFP I log any activity manually.

Christine_72

I'm set at lightly active, it just means you don't start getting positive adjustments till around 5000ish steps, compared to 2500ish at sedentary. You can also lose a swag of calories if you don't stay lightly active throughout the day. It definitely puts pressure on me to keep moving..

shadowfax_c11

I get about 15k steps a day at work. My HR also gives me huge adjustments and for a while I was eating all or most of the calories it gave me. That was about 2700 calories a day when set to sedentary. I was not losing weight. So I unchecked steps from my exercise so Fitbut can no longer adjust my daily goal.

I do log exercise manually. That is things that are not a part of my everyday activity level. I only log them if the Fitbit auto tracked a workout and I only log the amount of time and manually enter the calorie burn that Fitbit reports. For instance this evening I practiced at the dojo for 2 hours but Fitbit only tracked 69 minutes of activity so instead of 120 minutes I logged 69. I did eat over my calorie goal today but Fitbit is showing a TDEE of 4000+ calories for today and I at 2880 so still at a 1000 calorie deficit. Fitbit still wants me to eat another 598 calories.

Because my job is so energy intensive I do have my activity level set to highly active. MFP gives me 2200 calories a day plus exercise. I eat back some or all of the exercise calories and most days all of my 2200. Some days I eat over my MFP goal but with an eye on my Fitbit TDEE to maintain a 1000 calorie deficit.

Since I started doing this, the weight loss has resumed.

I still like my Fitbit for the data I get but I think it is better, at least for highly active people, to not let it count steps as exercise.
I know it probably sounds a little complicated but seems to work better for me than just blindly trusting the gadget.