Does 10,000 steps a day really mean anything?

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annetrout
annetrout Posts: 20 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have a Vito that tracks my steps for the day but when I sync it only shows the 30 minutes I was on the treadmill. Does it not count because it is spread out over the course of the day?

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  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    10,000 is not a magic number, but it's a heck of a lot better than 1,000. Sorry, I don't know about the Vito. My fitbit syncs everything.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
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    Do you mean a Vivofit by Garmin? If so, on MFP mobile app, go to Menu > Steps and see if there is an option to choose Garmin as the step source. I use Fitbit, so I don't know if that will be an option.
  • annetrout
    annetrout Posts: 20 Member
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    Yes, I do mean the Vivofit by Garmin. I didnt see the option so I guess it doesnt sync completely with it. It shows if I do 30 minutes on the treadmill, but thats it. Should I give myself extra exercise points?
  • KatieJane83
    KatieJane83 Posts: 2,002 Member
    edited January 2017
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    I have the Vivoactive and it syncs steps as well as exercise activities. I also made sure I had 'enable negative adjustments' in Food and Exercise Diary Settings, and have my activity level set to Sedentary, so it utilizes my activity level completely from my Vivofit. Do you mean you're not seeing your steps at all? When you log into the app you should see them listed on the main page

    wxteufmotntp.jpg

    EDIT: Just realized I misread! I have the Vivoactive, not the Vivofit. I have no experience with that device. Sorry!!
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited January 2017
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    annetrout wrote: »
    Yes, I do mean the Vivofit by Garmin. I didnt see the option so I guess it doesnt sync completely with it. It shows if I do 30 minutes on the treadmill, but thats it. Should I give myself extra exercise points?

    Maybe.........

    What syncing should do is compared your stated MFP activity level against your actual activity. Active people take more steps (obviously) but you want to be careful not to double count the steps MFP assumed when you set your activity level up.

    Here's an idea for activity level based on steps
    http://www.fitnessforweightloss.com/rate-your-activity-level-based-on-steps-per-day/

  • annetrout
    annetrout Posts: 20 Member
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    KatieJane83, I think the Vivofit and the Vivoactive should be about the same, but I don't have anything that shows the connect steps on my main page. In fact, it doesn't show up at all. It says its syncing from the Garmin site, but it just doesn't show up on the MFP site. Is there a setting on MFP that I need to change possibly?
  • annetrout
    annetrout Posts: 20 Member
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    TeaBea, I havent figured out how to state the 10,000 steps on the MFP. So I just leave it off and put in whatever I do on the treadmill. I checked out the link (thank you for that!) and I am definately in the sedentary level as I have a desk job and schoolwork at night. Thats why I was trying to get more steps in for the whole day in addition to the 30 minutes on the treadmill. I was hoping it counted for something exercise-wise.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,932 Member
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    annetrout wrote: »
    TeaBea, I havent figured out how to state the 10,000 steps on the MFP. So I just leave it off and put in whatever I do on the treadmill. I checked out the link (thank you for that!) and I am definately in the sedentary level as I have a desk job and schoolwork at night. Thats why I was trying to get more steps in for the whole day in addition to the 30 minutes on the treadmill. I was hoping it counted for something exercise-wise.

    That's what I do ... I just count whatever I consider actual exercise. I wore a pedometer for a month and it turns out I walk almost twice as much as I record, but that's OK. I look at it this way ... if I happen to eat something and I'm not sure about the amount of calories in it, and I happen to record it wrong, any extra walking I did, but didn't record, compensates for that. :)

  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
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    annetrout wrote: »
    KatieJane83, I think the Vivofit and the Vivoactive should be about the same, but I don't have anything that shows the connect steps on my main page. In fact, it doesn't show up at all. It says its syncing from the Garmin site, but it just doesn't show up on the MFP site. Is there a setting on MFP that I need to change possibly?

    The option to select step source is not on the Home page on the mobile app or the web version. Did you check on your mobile app in Menu > Steps as I posted above?

    Here is a pic of my Menu on my older version of Android and what displays in the Menu > Steps page when I tap on Steps.

    You should have something similar. If you are using the web version, you can navigate to APPS > Steps.

    The specifications on the Garmin website indicate the Vivofit has a step tracker, so if you have Garmin synced to MFP, you should see a choice in the Steps page to check to use or not use a specific step tracker.

    9vpj4jt1h53x.jpg

    If you can't get it to work, I would recommend opening a Case with Customer Support on the MFP Help/FAQ pages...

    http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/emails/new
  • annetrout
    annetrout Posts: 20 Member
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    Hello CyberTone, thank you SO much for your help! I wasnt using a moble device (I tried to get my iPad set up but it wasnt working correctly, so I just use my regular computer). I was able to click on the "steps" link you posted and enabled it! It didnt show up before, so I'm grateful you posted the link! Hopefully I can get it to work now! Thank you so much!
  • annetrout
    annetrout Posts: 20 Member
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    Machka9, you have a brilliant point! If I dont track it I have a bit of leeway for when I miscalculate or cant find the info on something. Kind of safegards against going over my stats!
  • lazysahm98
    lazysahm98 Posts: 1 Member
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    Get the Garmin connect appt. it communicates with MFP
  • Iwanttolosemymummytummy
    Iwanttolosemymummytummy Posts: 82 Member
    edited March 2017
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    This was me for ages!!!! It was driving me bonkers not being able to get it to sync on mfp! The way I got it to work was to go to the mfp browser -www.MyFitnessPal.com then settings > diary settings> check the box on calorie adjustments and voila it worked.
    Hope you get it to do it's thang!

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