Garmin and TDEE problems
Replies
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NorthCascades wrote: »
My Fenix 3 (high end Garmin multisport GPS watch) seriously overestimates my walking calories but it's 11 to 13 % low for cycling calories every time, because I use a power meter and it just changes the label from kJ to kCal.
I don't find it overestimates walking on mine. Seems quite comparable to METs values at a given speed. Have you compared it to those values.
I have not. I'll give you some examples, though:
* My lunch walk yesterday was 2.3 miles, 152 feet of elevation gain, 55 minutes, and credited with 334 calories.
* Some errands I ran on Sunday came to 6.4 miles, 295 feet of gain, 1 hour 33 mins, and 455 calories.
* More errands, 4.4 miles, 141 feet of gain, 1 hour 27 mins, 546 calories.
At my weight I should be burning somewhere around 75 kCal per mile.0 -
Interesting. Currently trying to figure out whether to go Garmin or TomTom as an upgrade to Fitbit, not that I follow their calorie estimates that closely, but interesting to read. Since I imagine I might have similar issues. I use it more as a monitor and motivator.0
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Soccermavrick wrote: »Interesting. Currently trying to figure out whether to go Garmin or TomTom as an upgrade to Fitbit, not that I follow their calorie estimates that closely, but interesting to read. Since I imagine I might have similar issues. I use it more as a monitor and motivator.
After reading this thread, I'd go for a fitbit. Garmin sounds a tad complicated to use.1 -
Editing to simplify.
You have your own data. Go with them.
Calculate a day or two using both Fitbit and Garmin and you now have a conversion factor that you can apply.
Use that conversion factor and act accordingly. At the end of 4-6 weeks re-calculate and keep refining.
The quality of your own food logging, intensity of exercise and a host of other figures can affect the numbers. It really doesn't matter as you can dynamically make SMALL adjustments to lead you to where you need to be.
If you think fitbit was +10% and garmin is -10%... then you already know where you're at
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NorthCascades wrote: »NorthCascades wrote: »
My Fenix 3 (high end Garmin multisport GPS watch) seriously overestimates my walking calories but it's 11 to 13 % low for cycling calories every time, because I use a power meter and it just changes the label from kJ to kCal.
I don't find it overestimates walking on mine. Seems quite comparable to METs values at a given speed. Have you compared it to those values.
I have not. I'll give you some examples, though:
* My lunch walk yesterday was 2.3 miles, 152 feet of elevation gain, 55 minutes, and credited with 334 calories.
* Some errands I ran on Sunday came to 6.4 miles, 295 feet of gain, 1 hour 33 mins, and 455 calories.
* More errands, 4.4 miles, 141 feet of gain, 1 hour 27 mins, 546 calories.
At my weight I should be burning somewhere around 75 kCal per mile.
Much has to do with the speed of the walk.
Scoobys calculator uses the corrected METs values. Try entering your stats there and see how it lines up. His calculations give a higher burn than the F3.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calories-burned/
I walked 7.1k today at 7.2km/H in 59min and the F3 gave me 418 calories.0 -
NorthCascades wrote: »Well mine is a hiking watch too.
So you set it in the device itself, not through the Connect site or mobile app?
On the connect site. Not sure how on the app, but on the site it's device setting >User setting.
I'm really thinking if you don't see it, it's because yours uses the gps for anything it does whereas the VAHR has activities with the GPS turned off (like walking indoors).0 -
NorthCascades wrote: »NorthCascades wrote: »
My Fenix 3 (high end Garmin multisport GPS watch) seriously overestimates my walking calories but it's 11 to 13 % low for cycling calories every time, because I use a power meter and it just changes the label from kJ to kCal.
I don't find it overestimates walking on mine. Seems quite comparable to METs values at a given speed. Have you compared it to those values.
I have not. I'll give you some examples, though:
* My lunch walk yesterday was 2.3 miles, 152 feet of elevation gain, 55 minutes, and credited with 334 calories.
* Some errands I ran on Sunday came to 6.4 miles, 295 feet of gain, 1 hour 33 mins, and 455 calories.
* More errands, 4.4 miles, 141 feet of gain, 1 hour 27 mins, 546 calories.
At my weight I should be burning somewhere around 75 kCal per mile.
Much has to do with the speed of the walk.
Scoobys calculator uses the corrected METs values. Try entering your stats there and see how it lines up. His calculations give a higher burn than the F3.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calories-burned/
I walked 7.1k today at 7.2km/H in 59min and the F3 gave me 418 calories.
For the record, that calculator overestimates fairly seriously for cycling, compared to a direct force power meter.0 -
I went trail running on Sat. with my Garmin Fenix 3 HR. While some may think the Garmin comes in low on calories, my workout syncs with Strava. Strava seems to calculate calorie burn independently, but using the data it got from Garmin (HR, distance, time, elevation change). Garmin figured 1,601 calories while Strava figured 1,311 calories burned during the same time period. That's 290 calories and around 20% (more or less, depending on which you use as the base).
I'm aware that one may question whether the wrist-based HR is the best (as compared to the chest strap I don't have), and one may argue that the Garmin is not idea for trail running (as compared to a running power meter that I don't have); the fact is still that the data used to calculate calorie burn is the same in both programs. Even if the starting data is wrong, it is at least consistent across both platforms.
If Garmin is calculating too low, then Strava must calculate extremely low on calorie burn.
*Note: 290 calories would be about twice my RMR during that time period, so even if Garmin includes that and Strava doesn't, then Garmin is still estimating higher than Strava.0 -
@midwesterner85 I wouldn't put too much stock in running power meters at this point. They're very much in their infancy, people haven't quite figured out how to crack the nut yet. Cycling power meters use strain gauges to measure torque. Running power meters use accelerometers and algorithms. They're not direct force measurements. More akin to a Newton iBike than to a PowerTap.1
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I got the Vivosmart HR for Christmas and have worn it consistently. I've noticed my burn is significantly different when I "log" an activity vs when I don't. For instance, I used the "other"workout setting to track a lifting session followed up with 15 minutes of HIIT. That day I hit 7800 steps. My activity burn was 750 calories. I did essentially the same workout a couple days later but didn't use the tracking function. Overall steps 8200. Activity burn 370 calories.
I've been weighing and consistently logging food for a few weeks and just connected my Garmin with MFP. I'm nursing and keeping my calories at 2000. At the end of the month, I'll go back and see if my Garmin burn cals were accurate=weight loss.0 -
I got the Vivosmart HR for Christmas and have worn it consistently. I've noticed my burn is significantly different when I "log" an activity vs when I don't. For instance, I used the "other"workout setting to track a lifting session followed up with 15 minutes of HIIT. That day I hit 7800 steps. My activity burn was 750 calories. I did essentially the same workout a couple days later but didn't use the tracking function. Overall steps 8200. Activity burn 370 calories.
I've been weighing and consistently logging food for a few weeks and just connected my Garmin with MFP. I'm nursing and keeping my calories at 2000. At the end of the month, I'll go back and see if my Garmin burn cals were accurate=weight loss.
You can't use the activities on the VSHR or it will double count the calories. See https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?331937-Vivosmart-double-counting-activities-calories-during-activities!&highlight=activity
It's a known problem Garmin hasn't fixed in over a year. It's also the reason I no longer use mine.0 -
I think it is interesting to see how many calories a device says I'm burning, but I assume that every device is wrong. I adjust my calories based on the bathroom scale. If my weight is climbing then I reduce calories. If my weight is declining then I increase calories.0
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Fitbit Charge HR was amazingly accurate for me. I ate back 100% of my exercise calories (about 20,000 steps a day) for 8 months and maintained my goal weight.
I got a Garmin Forerunner 225 in December, and it is fine at calculating my Activity calories (e.g. runs).
But Garmin gives me only 30-50% of calories for steps (other than those burned running) than it should.
I've been asking all over the place about this, and no-one has an answer.
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Tacklewasher wrote: »I got the Vivosmart HR for Christmas and have worn it consistently. I've noticed my burn is significantly different when I "log" an activity vs when I don't. For instance, I used the "other"workout setting to track a lifting session followed up with 15 minutes of HIIT. That day I hit 7800 steps. My activity burn was 750 calories. I did essentially the same workout a couple days later but didn't use the tracking function. Overall steps 8200. Activity burn 370 calories.
I've been weighing and consistently logging food for a few weeks and just connected my Garmin with MFP. I'm nursing and keeping my calories at 2000. At the end of the month, I'll go back and see if my Garmin burn cals were accurate=weight loss.
You can't use the activities on the VSHR or it will double count the calories. See https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?331937-Vivosmart-double-counting-activities-calories-during-activities!&highlight=activity
It's a known problem Garmin hasn't fixed in over a year. It's also the reason I no longer use mine.
Does it double count them on its daily burn estimates? Or are you saying it gives you calories back for the workout plus calories back for the step adjustment? Because mine never gives me a step adjustment. It always says 0 even if I'm over 15k steps. But there's no way mine double counts tracked exercise. That would mean on a day it says 1750 (total burned) and I did 200 calories worth of working out plus over 10k steps, I only burned 1550 calories. Which would be a pretty low TDEE for me.
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ehaleyhoward2778 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »I got the Vivosmart HR for Christmas and have worn it consistently. I've noticed my burn is significantly different when I "log" an activity vs when I don't. For instance, I used the "other"workout setting to track a lifting session followed up with 15 minutes of HIIT. That day I hit 7800 steps. My activity burn was 750 calories. I did essentially the same workout a couple days later but didn't use the tracking function. Overall steps 8200. Activity burn 370 calories.
I've been weighing and consistently logging food for a few weeks and just connected my Garmin with MFP. I'm nursing and keeping my calories at 2000. At the end of the month, I'll go back and see if my Garmin burn cals were accurate=weight loss.
You can't use the activities on the VSHR or it will double count the calories. See https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?331937-Vivosmart-double-counting-activities-calories-during-activities!&highlight=activity
It's a known problem Garmin hasn't fixed in over a year. It's also the reason I no longer use mine.
Does it double count them on its daily burn estimates? Or are you saying it gives you calories back for the workout plus calories back for the step adjustment? Because mine never gives me a step adjustment. It always says 0 even if I'm over 15k steps. But there's no way mine double counts tracked exercise. That would mean on a day it says 1750 (total burned) and I did 200 calories worth of working out plus over 10k steps, I only burned 1550 calories. Which would be a pretty low TDEE for me.
That is what mine did. 35 Mins on the treadmill (walking) and I ended up with ~600 cals from it. Sounds like yours is doing something different.0 -
I got the Vivosmart HR for Christmas and have worn it consistently. I've noticed my burn is significantly different when I "log" an activity vs when I don't. For instance, I used the "other"workout setting to track a lifting session followed up with 15 minutes of HIIT. That day I hit 7800 steps. My activity burn was 750 calories. I did essentially the same workout a couple days later but didn't use the tracking function. Overall steps 8200. Activity burn 370 calories.
That makes perfect sense. How else would it know you're lifting weights unless you tell it?1 -
ehaleyhoward2778 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »I got the Vivosmart HR for Christmas and have worn it consistently. I've noticed my burn is significantly different when I "log" an activity vs when I don't. For instance, I used the "other"workout setting to track a lifting session followed up with 15 minutes of HIIT. That day I hit 7800 steps. My activity burn was 750 calories. I did essentially the same workout a couple days later but didn't use the tracking function. Overall steps 8200. Activity burn 370 calories.
I've been weighing and consistently logging food for a few weeks and just connected my Garmin with MFP. I'm nursing and keeping my calories at 2000. At the end of the month, I'll go back and see if my Garmin burn cals were accurate=weight loss.
You can't use the activities on the VSHR or it will double count the calories. See https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?331937-Vivosmart-double-counting-activities-calories-during-activities!&highlight=activity
It's a known problem Garmin hasn't fixed in over a year. It's also the reason I no longer use mine.
Does it double count them on its daily burn estimates? Or are you saying it gives you calories back for the workout plus calories back for the step adjustment? Because mine never gives me a step adjustment. It always says 0 even if I'm over 15k steps. But there's no way mine double counts tracked exercise. That would mean on a day it says 1750 (total burned) and I did 200 calories worth of working out plus over 10k steps, I only burned 1550 calories. Which would be a pretty low TDEE for me.
This happens to me, too. 15,000 steps in a day and i have no calorie adjustment for them in MFP after I enter in my evening yoga class (I don't wear it now during yoga, but it did the same thing when I did wear it). I don't know if it's a Garmin thing, a MFP thing or something weird happening between the two. Haven't cared enough to unlink them and find out. So I don't freak out if I go over in calories. I'm in maintenance and I'm m maintaining so something's working.1 -
Fitbit Charge HR was amazingly accurate for me. I ate back 100% of my exercise calories (about 20,000 steps a day) for 8 months and maintained my goal weight.
I got a Garmin Forerunner 225 in December, and it is fine at calculating my Activity calories (e.g. runs).
But Garmin gives me only 30-50% of calories for steps (other than those burned running) than it should.
I've been asking all over the place about this, and no-one has an answer.
Exactly same experience, end up returning garmin due to this issue.
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midwesterner85 wrote: »I went trail running on Sat. with my Garmin Fenix 3 HR. While some may think the Garmin comes in low on calories, my workout syncs with Strava. Strava seems to calculate calorie burn independently, but using the data it got from Garmin (HR, distance, time, elevation change). Garmin figured 1,601 calories while Strava figured 1,311 calories burned during the same time period. That's 290 calories and around 20% (more or less, depending on which you use as the base).
I'm aware that one may question whether the wrist-based HR is the best (as compared to the chest strap I don't have), and one may argue that the Garmin is not idea for trail running (as compared to a running power meter that I don't have); the fact is still that the data used to calculate calorie burn is the same in both programs. Even if the starting data is wrong, it is at least consistent across both platforms.
If Garmin is calculating too low, then Strava must calculate extremely low on calorie burn.
*Note: 290 calories would be about twice my RMR during that time period, so even if Garmin includes that and Strava doesn't, then Garmin is still estimating higher than Strava.
Strava always estimates higher for me than Garmin for the same data. Just checked, and my weight was a few pounds higher in strava (I just updated it)..so that might be some of the difference in my case.0 -
before my fitbit, i used a chest strap HR monitor, and my fitbit comes really close to what my chest strap did, it actually reads i burn a little less then what my chest strap would read.0
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HappyGrape wrote: »Fitbit Charge HR was amazingly accurate for me. I ate back 100% of my exercise calories (about 20,000 steps a day) for 8 months and maintained my goal weight.
I got a Garmin Forerunner 225 in December, and it is fine at calculating my Activity calories (e.g. runs).
But Garmin gives me only 30-50% of calories for steps (other than those burned running) than it should.
I've been asking all over the place about this, and no-one has an answer.
Exactly same experience, end up returning garmin due to this issue.
Thanks, good to know it's not just an isolated issue.
I love the Garmin's functionality for running. It's great for that.
But calorie counting, not so much.
Thinking of getting a Fitbit Charge 2 to wear on my other arm. Is that too OCD?
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I wish companies like Garmin would allow custom BMR entries if you go by bf% or have a more reliable method of calculating this value for yourself. It's even more frustrating that their BMR formulas don't match MFP when you have them linked which automatically makes for an offset between the platforms.
It'd be great if it matched MFP's sedentary BMR x 1.25 formula and you'd just let the tracker add any calories on top of that instead of these silly calorie adjustments that can even go negative.
My Fenix3 I find is accurate for recorded exercise(using external HRM for Cardio and not using a HRM for brisk walking). The only exception is mixed cardio/strength like Insanity - only gives me 400 calories per session with the HRM but it's a bit low on the estimate from how I feel after.
But it underestimates my general BMR and steps significantly (like 200-300 cals). I have a pretty low bf% though.0
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