Just bought a Fitbit, how do I find out how many calories burned?

SarahFromWalthamForest

Hi, I've just bought a Fitbit Surge.
How do I find out how many I've calories burned through walking?
And how accurate would you estimate the tracker is?

MeanderingMammal

A lot of the how accurate aspect depends on your lifestyle.

The assumptions built into these devices are that each measured step is a consistent length, so if you don't customise step length and you're short, or tall, that'll inject error.

Similarly if you do a lot of movements that are less than a step then it'll overestimate; retail, gardening and the like.

Over long durations the errors should net off, but you may not find that.

malibu927

Connect your Fitbit account to MFP, make sure you have step tracking enabled, and MFP will take care of the rest. Keep in mind that the adjustment you'll get will account for your entire day and burning above maintenance, not just when you go out for a walk.

CyberTone

There is a lot of information in the MFP Fitbit Users group at this link...

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users

SarahFromWalthamForest

Thank you

jnomadica

It's been pretty accurate for me. It estimates I average burning 2050c per day (my activity is fairly consistent day to day, too). I've been eating 1550 and consistently losing a pound a week.