Log Exercise or not

ajkaware

I use a Fitbit charge (no HR), and I wear it during my daily elliptical workout. Should I log this workout in MFP manually, or let Fitbit do it for me?

My thoughts are that I should log it, because since my Fitbit does not monitor heart rate, it will not give me a realistic calorie count for my workout. After all, even though it is a step-based activity, it is more vigourous than just walking.

While responding, please keep in mind that not wearing the Fitbit during my workout is not an option, since meeting my steps goal gives me free Scene points through Carrot rewards. Its cheating I know, but hey, I love movies

I do apologize for posting a question that seems to have multiple threads dedicated to it. After going through them, I saw that there are so many factors in play, that I couldn't find a solution for my exact situation.

cathipa

I manually enter the exercise as 1 so it's logged, but I also have customized my calories and macros which take into account my activity. If you use mfp for your calories it may not be accounting for those calories.

NorthCascades

Yes, enter the workout. Apparently if you pay attention to when you started and ended, MFP will ignore your steps for that period so you aren't double counting.

An elliptical is not walking, and if you were a computer programmer trying to figure out how many calories people burn, you'd probably have a different function for walking than for elliptical. Using the wrong one would be less accurate, obviously. I would personally have more faith in MFP's guess about elliptical calories more than Fitbit's guess about walking calories when you're not walking.

A heart rate monitor may or may not get you closer to the truth about calorie burns for any particular type of workout, but an HRM isn't a calorie monitor. Your heart rate is only a clue about how hard you're working; it's befuddled by things like how much caffeine you've had and your emotional state, and there's no relationship like you burn 10 calories per minute at 100 bpm.

Ready2Rock206

I just let fitbit do its thing. I find when I add in more and more extra calories I gain more and more weight. If you can eat all those extra calories go ahead and log it, but for me it didn't work and I was more successful just letting fitbit do the calories.

Chieflrg

For newbies it's probably a good idea, if you are a bit seasoned on how your body loses/gains...it's not necessary in most cases.

ajkaware

Thanks for the replies everyone. For now, I'm logging the exercise, but I'm trying to ensure that I do not exceed my original calorie goal by a whole lot.

Alidecker

I let Fitbit calculate for me. It seems to take into account if my activity is more vigorous or not. The only think I log is swimming and that is because I can't wear the Fitbit in the water.

thenananator

I use my Garmin but I also use the notes thing on the mobile app for MFP because I like to be able to remember my sets, how it felt...low energy...blah blah blah. Serves many diff purposes recording that stuff.

jayleza

Help?! I added the Fitbit to MFP when I usually use MapMyWalk primarily BUT this time I tracked my exercise on Fitbit and in didn't move to my log

malibu927

I actually log it in Fitbit, as their calorie burn estimation seems to be better than MFP's.