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MyFitnessPal Community

Walking calories discrepancy

trudiebamford

I've just used my Fitbit Charge 2 for the first time, synced it with mfp, but the results seem completely wrong to me. I walked 3 miles in 1 hr, a lot of which was hills. The Fitbit data when synced to mfp said I'd burned 109 cal. That doesn't seem much! I'm 152lbs. I think it based it purely on steps, not heart rate (I don't know how that works, this is the first time I've tried a fitness tracker - I know it measured my heart rate, but that doesn't seem to have affected the mfp data).

When I manually enter my walk on mfp it gives me about 260 cal burned. Which should I rely on for accuracy in future?

Replies

mandalunia

I was just going to search for a thread about this. I have a similar question I have a Garmin Vivo and the I walk two miles it shows 177 active calories but MFP syncs and only shows 135 calories. I'm 268 pounds so walking two miles is a real work out I can't talk and I'm drenched in sweat. I wonder if I should enter that as exercise in MFP or just rely on the sync'd data?

cmriverside

I use 300 calories as a flat rate for an hour of moderate exercise. It has always worked for me.

I'd say pick one of them and use it consistently for a month, then reevaluate if necessary. I don't know anything about FitBit...but I used to have a Polar HR monitor, and I didn't really trust it, either. I decided to do my own numbers, so I just took an average of a few sources. I'm also older than you and weigh in the 140s - but that isn't the issue, just pick one and use it. It's the only way to find your sweet spot.

trudiebamford

I only bought the Fitbit for accuracy in calories burned, so I'm not feeling positive about keeping it, right now.

rileysowner

Fitbits are all day calorie trackers, not specific to exercise amounts. Generally when I see people here post who use one it is quite accurate, although several have said it takes several days or a week for it to get to know you, so to speak. It will sync through the day and adjust your calories appropriately, not just for your walk but for all your activity. In other words, understand what the tool you are using is for, and use it properly.

rileysowner

mandalunia wrote: »

I was just going to search for a thread about this. I have a similar question I have a Garmin Vivo and the I walk two miles it shows 177 active calories but MFP syncs and only shows 135 calories. I'm 268 pounds so walking two miles is a real work out I can't talk and I'm drenched in sweat. I wonder if I should enter that as exercise in MFP or just rely on the sync'd data?

Same thing. The calorie adjustments have to do with all day calories, not simply a specific workout time. So if your expected calories to burn in a day based on your selected activity level is say 2000 calories, and your vivofit or fitbit record that you burned 2300 calories for the day from all your activity, you will get 300 calories, even if you did an stretch of exercise that burned 400 calories, because you were likely less active at other times of the day than expected. That means your 135 calories does not directly connect to your workout of 177, it has to do with your daily burn (TDEE).

LazSommer

MFP over estimates calories all the time. Your fitbit is probably closer to the actual number. 3 miles of walking at your weight isn't really a workout.

capaul42

rileysowner wrote: »

mandalunia wrote: »

I was just going to search for a thread about this. I have a similar question I have a Garmin Vivo and the I walk two miles it shows 177 active calories but MFP syncs and only shows 135 calories. I'm 268 pounds so walking two miles is a real work out I can't talk and I'm drenched in sweat. I wonder if I should enter that as exercise in MFP or just rely on the sync'd data?

Same thing. The calorie adjustments have to do with all day calories, not simply a specific workout time. So if your expected calories to burn in a day based on your selected activity level is say 2000 calories, and your vivofit or fitbit record that you burned 2300 calories for the day from all your activity, you will get 300 calories, even if you did an stretch of exercise that burned 400 calories, because you were likely less active at other times of the day than expected. That means your 135 calories does not directly connect to your workout of 177, it has to do with your daily burn (TDEE).

This. Your adjustment is not your workout, it's your total daily burn (which includes your workout) - what MFP thinks your maintenance is.

kanebrewer88

LazSommer wrote: »

MFP over estimates calories all the time. Your fitbit is probably closer to the actual number. 3 miles of walking at your weight isn't really a workout.

Frustratingly true.. -_-

Have you considered doing lamp posts?

Jog to a lamp post, walk to next, jog keep rotating.

Good way to get your body used to jogging.

rileysowner

LazSommer wrote: »

MFP over estimates calories all the time. Your fitbit is probably closer to the actual number. 3 miles of walking at your weight isn't really a workout.

All interesting and true, but it misses the point that they OP is not understanding how fitbit synced to mfp works, and is really beside the point.

MeanderingMammal

trudiebamford wrote: »

I walked 3 miles in 1 hr, a lot of which was hills. The Fitbit data when synced to mfp said I'd burned 109 cal.

Assuming that you identified that as deliberate exercise on your FitBit then I'd say that it's not far out. You probably burned in the order of 150-170 calories at your weight.

HR isn't a meaningful contributor to the calculation at such a low speed.

If you didn't register it as deliberate exercise then the points above about the synch process apply.

LazSommer

rileysowner wrote: »

LazSommer wrote: »

MFP over estimates calories all the time. Your fitbit is probably closer to the actual number. 3 miles of walking at your weight isn't really a workout.

All interesting and true, but it misses the point that they OP is not understanding how fitbit synced to mfp works, and is really beside the point.

I get that and have a Fitbit that syncs as well - I'm aware of what the OP meant which is why I told them to go with it. Fitbit adds calories to MFP as you surpass a certain threshold and can deduct as well, should you allow it. OP went for a walk and passed the threshold of their set activity and got an extra 100 cals added to the ticker. The walk was probably more of an expenditure, but drawn across the rest of the day it only adds 100 to the OP's TDEE.

mandalunia

Thank for the answer Rileysowner that makes sense and reassures me I'm getting the right calorie deficit.

I have been spreading out my exercise walking about 45 minutes each time three times a day and I'm getting stronger which is the goal.
I'll keep plugging.

trudiebamford

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

trudiebamford wrote: »

I walked 3 miles in 1 hr, a lot of which was hills. The Fitbit data when synced to mfp said I'd burned 109 cal.

Assuming that you identified that as deliberate exercise on your FitBit then I'd say that it's not far out.
If you didn't register it as deliberate exercise then the points above about the synch process apply.

Ah, I didn't. Thanks for that.

BrianSharpe

As a sanity check 3 miles at your weight would be approx 137 net cal (the additional calories directly attributed to the activity) ( .30 x weight in lbs x distance in miles) and given that it was hilly terrain the actual expenditure is higher but I don't have a factor to correct for that.