Does anyone use an Apple Watch to track activity?

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Hi I'm completely new to all this being a bit of a numpty probably but will ask anyway... does any one use an Apple Watch to track and if so why is there a different activity/calorie burn on my watch and on the app? Which one do I pay attention too ? It can be out by as much as 500 calories in a day. Can anyone help as I want to get the best out of my gym / weight loss? Thanks ..... oh and being new I have no friends so please feel free to add me xx

Replies

  • Kapoten
    Kapoten Posts: 327 Member
    edited March 2017
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    I use an Apple Watch, but I've only had it for about a month now. I'm not sure if this is what you mean, but for me, only my "workouts" from my Apple Watch seem to sync with MFP. For example, if I burn 200 calories during a "workout" at the pool and burn 400 "active" calories through daily activity (e.g., walking to and from work), only 200 calories show up in MFP as calories earned through exercise. When I had a Fitbit, all 600 calories would have shown up in MFP as calories earned through exercise. I'm not sure if there is a way to change this so that all "active" calories shown in my Apple Watch app transfer over to MFP. I think the "Total calories" burned in a day as shown in the Apple Watch app is most accurate in terms of how many calories you are using each day. The MFP number is just an estimate based on your size and the activity level you selected.

    Edited to add: If you mean that your Apple Watch says you burned 200 calories during a 30-minute walk, but when you enter a 30-minute walk in MFP it says you burned 400 calories, the Apple Watch is almost certainly more accurate. MFP calorie burn estimates are generally thought to be inflated, and the Apple Watch has access to your heart rate, which should help with a more accurate estimate too.
  • Deltamichelle
    Deltamichelle Posts: 8 Member
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    Thankyou for responding :). First friend ☺️yay! So yea today my active calories were 1100 but on mfp 700 it does take my recorded work outs over but again doesn't seem to correlate,.,. I will just pay attention to my watch but still continue to track with mfp too that way I get the best of both worlds I guess
  • Kapoten
    Kapoten Posts: 327 Member
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    I've been a little disappointed with the syncing between my Apple Watch and MFP, but I love the Apple Watch for other reasons, so I put up with it and just keep an eye on both :smile: Most days, based on my Apple Watch stats, I think I've burned a bit more than MFP is giving me credit for. I just consider that to be wiggle room since my logging might not have been perfect (I don't weigh and measure everything).
  • Deltamichelle
    Deltamichelle Posts: 8 Member
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    Wiggle room ... I like the idea of that... it's good to have a little flexibility ! Thanks x
  • size102b
    size102b Posts: 1,370 Member
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    You'll never find your precise calorie burn as a computer device can't know your medical dieting history and those contribute to how many calories we burn
    Someone the same age weight height sex as you won't burn the same as you
    So if pick one given device and set your calories as sedentary add your exercise calories eat upto half of those
  • Skipper111
    Skipper111 Posts: 392 Member
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    Hi Michelle, and welcome to the awesomeness that is MFP :-D

    I have an Apple Watch Series 2 so it has a HRM on it. Therefore, I always go off my watch stats as it monitors my personal activity, rather than a standard guess work like what @size102b rightly mentions.

    It amazing for running as you can use the watch to control your running app, music, etc.

    Enjoy :-) and feel free to add
  • Itisibigj39
    Itisibigj39 Posts: 200 Member
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    Had my Apple Watch a couple of years now...you can go into the settings on MFP and change where it takes your steps for ex...from iPhone or Apple Watch. Worth looking at and see if it's just going by your phone
  • zayon88
    zayon88 Posts: 1 Member
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    It's not exact , i prefer fitbit watch .