Which is better at predicting calories - Fitbit or MFP?
MiniMexxxxx
Posts: 43 Member
My Fitbit app and MFP both give me a different amount of calories to maintain my weight with. For peeps that use both - which do you find to be more accurate?
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Replies
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I think you're going to get varying answers, but I've been in maintenance for ten years and I would say (I don't have, never had a fitbit) that my own numbers compiled over years of my own data are the most accurate thing. None of the predictions get it absolutely right, and are all based on average population stats.
I still log food. I still weigh myself once a week and that is the best thing for me based on the above.
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I have the fitbit blaze and it tracks my heartrate so I would call it more accurate. I have the two setup where the exercise adjustment comes from fitbit but the base calorie number is mfp.1
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My fitbit is pretty accurate when measured against my own data. I think it's a pretty good guide4
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I find my Fitbit (no matter the model) is usually more accurate than MFP. I don't do exercises other than step-based, though.1
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I have a feeling that may be the case. MFP is currently saying I have 400 cals left for the day even tho I've accounted for everything I have and will eat. I think that's too much.I find my Fitbit (no matter the model) is usually more accurate than MFP. I don't do exercises other than step-based, though.
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Depends on what exactly you think each is predicting.
FitBit provides total calories burned - based on your stats and it's measurement of your activity, some incorporate heart rates, etc. This would be an estimate of your TDEE.
When MFP calculates your Maintenance calories, it does so using a NEAT calculation, which includes your BMR and your daily activity but not purposeful exercise. It is not meant to be the same as your TDEE, which is what FitBit is estimating.
That said - if you have yourself set to maintain, and you have the two devices synced - they should work together to provide you the results you desire. MFP would have your goal set at 1800 for example, but if FitBit says you burned 2200, then you would have a 400 calorie exercise adjustment to bring you up to that 2200.
Make sense? I've found the two systems working together to be quite accurate and used them to manage the second half of my weight loss, and now my maintenance, pretty seamlessly.3 -
WinoGelato wrote: »Depends on what exactly you think each is predicting.
FitBit provides total calories burned - based on your stats and it's measurement of your activity, some incorporate heart rates, etc. This would be an estimate of your TDEE.
When MFP calculates your Maintenance calories, it does so using a NEAT calculation, which includes your BMR and your daily activity but not purposeful exercise. It is not meant to be the same as your TDEE, which is what FitBit is estimating.
That said - if you have yourself set to maintain, and you have the two devices synced - they should work together to provide you the results you desire. MFP would have your goal set at 1800 for example, but if FitBit says you burned 2200, then you would have a 400 calorie exercise adjustment to bring you up to that 2200.
Make sense? I've found the two systems working together to be quite accurate and used them to manage the second half of my weight loss, and now my maintenance, pretty seamlessly.
Thank you. That does make sense. There's 120 calories left for the day between the 2 at the moment but perhaps it'll even put over what's left of the day.
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MiniMexxxxx wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »Depends on what exactly you think each is predicting.
FitBit provides total calories burned - based on your stats and it's measurement of your activity, some incorporate heart rates, etc. This would be an estimate of your TDEE.
When MFP calculates your Maintenance calories, it does so using a NEAT calculation, which includes your BMR and your daily activity but not purposeful exercise. It is not meant to be the same as your TDEE, which is what FitBit is estimating.
That said - if you have yourself set to maintain, and you have the two devices synced - they should work together to provide you the results you desire. MFP would have your goal set at 1800 for example, but if FitBit says you burned 2200, then you would have a 400 calorie exercise adjustment to bring you up to that 2200.
Make sense? I've found the two systems working together to be quite accurate and used them to manage the second half of my weight loss, and now my maintenance, pretty seamlessly.
Thank you. That does make sense. There's 120 calories left for the day between the 2 at the moment but perhaps it'll even put over what's left of the day.
Well the other thing to keep in mind when you have the two synced is that there is often an end of the day adjustment which can result in a drop in the calories you have left for the day. FitBit prorates your calories, assuming you are going to be as active all day as you are at certain points in time, so if you go to bed early for example, and you aren't burning as many calories for the last 3 hours of the day, then when you wake up, you will often see that there are less calories (sometimes putting you in the negative) on MFP. Once you've been using the two systems for a while you get used to it, but I usually try to leave 50-100 calories available by the time I end my day, since I know many of those will be gone when I wake up.
Also - I never look at how many calories FitBit says I have used or have left. I log all my food in MFP and let FitBit tell it how many calories I burned and how much "credit" I get in the form of exercise adjustments. When I first started using FitBit I drove myself batty trying to understand why the numbers were always different, then I realized it's different systems, different technology, different algorithms. They work well together, but they aren't identical.
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WinoGelato wrote: »MiniMexxxxx wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »Depends on what exactly you think each is predicting.
FitBit provides total calories burned - based on your stats and it's measurement of your activity, some incorporate heart rates, etc. This would be an estimate of your TDEE.
When MFP calculates your Maintenance calories, it does so using a NEAT calculation, which includes your BMR and your daily activity but not purposeful exercise. It is not meant to be the same as your TDEE, which is what FitBit is estimating.
That said - if you have yourself set to maintain, and you have the two devices synced - they should work together to provide you the results you desire. MFP would have your goal set at 1800 for example, but if FitBit says you burned 2200, then you would have a 400 calorie exercise adjustment to bring you up to that 2200.
Make sense? I've found the two systems working together to be quite accurate and used them to manage the second half of my weight loss, and now my maintenance, pretty seamlessly.
Thank you. That does make sense. There's 120 calories left for the day between the 2 at the moment but perhaps it'll even put over what's left of the day.
Well the other thing to keep in mind when you have the two synced is that there is often an end of the day adjustment which can result in a drop in the calories you have left for the day. FitBit prorates your calories, assuming you are going to be as active all day as you are at certain points in time, so if you go to bed early for example, and you aren't burning as many calories for the last 3 hours of the day, then when you wake up, you will often see that there are less calories (sometimes putting you in the negative) on MFP. Once you've been using the two systems for a while you get used to it, but I usually try to leave 50-100 calories available by the time I end my day, since I know many of those will be gone when I wake up.
Also - I never look at how many calories FitBit says I have used or have left. I log all my food in MFP and let FitBit tell it how many calories I burned and how much "credit" I get in the form of exercise adjustments. When I first started using FitBit I drove myself batty trying to understand why the numbers were always different, then I realized it's different systems, different technology, different algorithms. They work well together, but they aren't identical.
Thanks. The fact that there might be a minus adjustment makes sense and sounds like things will even out. I have 230 left for day on MFP so will see how that changes overnight.0 -
I suppose this is the same for the Garmin?0
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Somewhere right in the middle I suspect. Right now I'm almost eating all my MFP and exercise cals and am slowly losing still, but I know that the 3-400 more that Fitbit has for me is way too many. Still working it out, though. I'm actually feeding myself up today
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I am maintaining using all my calories from fitbit although I want to still lose 5 more pounds. So, I would suggest that you use half the earned calories from fitbit and/or MFP. The problem is that because I synch the fitbit I want to eat what shows up on MFP, so the fitbit is a bit of a hindrance for me while still trying to lose.1
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mines the other way around. MFP is giving me more. Think I'll try and stay 100-200 under MFP and see how that goes.MelanieCN77 wrote: »Somewhere right in the middle I suspect. Right now I'm almost eating all my MFP and exercise cals and am slowly losing still, but I know that the 3-400 more that Fitbit has for me is way too many. Still working it out, though. I'm actually feeding myself up today
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WinoGelato wrote: »
Well the other thing to keep in mind when you have the two synced is that there is often an end of the day adjustment which can result in a drop in the calories you have left for the day. FitBit prorates your calories, assuming you are going to be as active all day as you are at certain points in time, so if you go to bed early for example, and you aren't burning as many calories for the last 3 hours of the day, then when you wake up, you will often see that there are less calories (sometimes putting you in the negative) on MFP. Once you've been using the two systems for a while you get used to it, but I usually try to leave 50-100 calories available by the time I end my day, since I know many of those will be gone when I wake up.
Also - I never look at how many calories FitBit says I have used or have left. I log all my food in MFP and let FitBit tell it how many calories I burned and how much "credit" I get in the form of exercise adjustments. When I first started using FitBit I drove myself batty trying to understand why the numbers were always different, then I realized it's different systems, different technology, different algorithms. They work well together, but they aren't identical.
question - I understand about fitbit prorata-ing my daily calories, but what I can't get my head around yet is how to set up both systems. Do I let MFP calculate a calorie goal? What about fitbit? how do I set it? Do I set a calorie goal there? On fitbit it won't show me the base rate of calories it is using prior to exercise so I can't be certain it is starting from the same point as MFP.
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girlinahat wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »
Well the other thing to keep in mind when you have the two synced is that there is often an end of the day adjustment which can result in a drop in the calories you have left for the day. FitBit prorates your calories, assuming you are going to be as active all day as you are at certain points in time, so if you go to bed early for example, and you aren't burning as many calories for the last 3 hours of the day, then when you wake up, you will often see that there are less calories (sometimes putting you in the negative) on MFP. Once you've been using the two systems for a while you get used to it, but I usually try to leave 50-100 calories available by the time I end my day, since I know many of those will be gone when I wake up.
Also - I never look at how many calories FitBit says I have used or have left. I log all my food in MFP and let FitBit tell it how many calories I burned and how much "credit" I get in the form of exercise adjustments. When I first started using FitBit I drove myself batty trying to understand why the numbers were always different, then I realized it's different systems, different technology, different algorithms. They work well together, but they aren't identical.
question - I understand about fitbit prorata-ing my daily calories, but what I can't get my head around yet is how to set up both systems. Do I let MFP calculate a calorie goal? What about fitbit? how do I set it? Do I set a calorie goal there? On fitbit it won't show me the base rate of calories it is using prior to exercise so I can't be certain it is starting from the same point as MFP.
Do you have a day that you forgot to wear your Fitbit? If you go back to that day on your dashboard it will have your days calories without any extra movement added. Mine is 1138 which is also very close to that calculated by a bodytrax machine at my gym which is reassuring if disappointingly low0 -
MiniMexxxxx wrote: »girlinahat wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »
Well the other thing to keep in mind when you have the two synced is that there is often an end of the day adjustment which can result in a drop in the calories you have left for the day. FitBit prorates your calories, assuming you are going to be as active all day as you are at certain points in time, so if you go to bed early for example, and you aren't burning as many calories for the last 3 hours of the day, then when you wake up, you will often see that there are less calories (sometimes putting you in the negative) on MFP. Once you've been using the two systems for a while you get used to it, but I usually try to leave 50-100 calories available by the time I end my day, since I know many of those will be gone when I wake up.
Also - I never look at how many calories FitBit says I have used or have left. I log all my food in MFP and let FitBit tell it how many calories I burned and how much "credit" I get in the form of exercise adjustments. When I first started using FitBit I drove myself batty trying to understand why the numbers were always different, then I realized it's different systems, different technology, different algorithms. They work well together, but they aren't identical.
question - I understand about fitbit prorata-ing my daily calories, but what I can't get my head around yet is how to set up both systems. Do I let MFP calculate a calorie goal? What about fitbit? how do I set it? Do I set a calorie goal there? On fitbit it won't show me the base rate of calories it is using prior to exercise so I can't be certain it is starting from the same point as MFP.
Do you have a day that you forgot to wear your Fitbit? If you go back to that day on your dashboard it will have your days calories without any extra movement added. Mine is 1138 which is also very close to that calculated by a bodytrax machine at my gym which is reassuring if disappointingly low
I guess it's more about how to set each device - MFP and fitbit. I want my fitbit to sync with MFP, and I log my food intake on MFP. However I am finding fitbit is adding too many calories. Should I have a calorie goal in fitbit?0 -
girlinahat wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »
Well the other thing to keep in mind when you have the two synced is that there is often an end of the day adjustment which can result in a drop in the calories you have left for the day. FitBit prorates your calories, assuming you are going to be as active all day as you are at certain points in time, so if you go to bed early for example, and you aren't burning as many calories for the last 3 hours of the day, then when you wake up, you will often see that there are less calories (sometimes putting you in the negative) on MFP. Once you've been using the two systems for a while you get used to it, but I usually try to leave 50-100 calories available by the time I end my day, since I know many of those will be gone when I wake up.
Also - I never look at how many calories FitBit says I have used or have left. I log all my food in MFP and let FitBit tell it how many calories I burned and how much "credit" I get in the form of exercise adjustments. When I first started using FitBit I drove myself batty trying to understand why the numbers were always different, then I realized it's different systems, different technology, different algorithms. They work well together, but they aren't identical.
question - I understand about fitbit prorata-ing my daily calories, but what I can't get my head around yet is how to set up both systems. Do I let MFP calculate a calorie goal? What about fitbit? how do I set it? Do I set a calorie goal there? On fitbit it won't show me the base rate of calories it is using prior to exercise so I can't be certain it is starting from the same point as MFP.
What I did was use MFP to set up my goal and baseline calories, and I track all calories consumed in MFP. I enabled negative calorie adjustments so that if I do have a less active day than normal, MFP deducts calories from me since I'm not moving as much. I made sure that FitBit had same stats, same goal (i.e. Lose 1 lb/week), etc. then I let FitBit tell MFP how many cals I am burning. If you do non step based exercise, you can log that in either system (but not both), they will carry over.
I never look at the FitBit calories consumed, calories remaining, etc. I only look at step count and total calories burned.
Also, a common question for people is about the actual adjustment from MFP to account for those FitBit calories. It's not equivalent to a calorie burn from a specific exercise you did. It's a true up of the difference between what MFP thought you would burn without exercise, and what FitBit said you actually burned. So it is just a simple subtraction with the goal of keeping your Net calories what MFP suggests you need in order to lose at the rate you selected.
It has worked quite well for me but it takes a bit of trust in the process and the two systems.2 -
My fitbit is within 5% of my calculated TDEE over an 8 month period. MFP is well under.1
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Mfp gives me less than 2100 as my tdee, I know from experience that's cutting calories for me.
Fitbit tend to hover between 2300 and 2800, so in my case fitbit is more accurate. Ymmv1 -
girlinahat wrote: »MiniMexxxxx wrote: »girlinahat wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »
Well the other thing to keep in mind when you have the two synced is that there is often an end of the day adjustment which can result in a drop in the calories you have left for the day. FitBit prorates your calories, assuming you are going to be as active all day as you are at certain points in time, so if you go to bed early for example, and you aren't burning as many calories for the last 3 hours of the day, then when you wake up, you will often see that there are less calories (sometimes putting you in the negative) on MFP. Once you've been using the two systems for a while you get used to it, but I usually try to leave 50-100 calories available by the time I end my day, since I know many of those will be gone when I wake up.
Also - I never look at how many calories FitBit says I have used or have left. I log all my food in MFP and let FitBit tell it how many calories I burned and how much "credit" I get in the form of exercise adjustments. When I first started using FitBit I drove myself batty trying to understand why the numbers were always different, then I realized it's different systems, different technology, different algorithms. They work well together, but they aren't identical.
question - I understand about fitbit prorata-ing my daily calories, but what I can't get my head around yet is how to set up both systems. Do I let MFP calculate a calorie goal? What about fitbit? how do I set it? Do I set a calorie goal there? On fitbit it won't show me the base rate of calories it is using prior to exercise so I can't be certain it is starting from the same point as MFP.
Do you have a day that you forgot to wear your Fitbit? If you go back to that day on your dashboard it will have your days calories without any extra movement added. Mine is 1138 which is also very close to that calculated by a bodytrax machine at my gym which is reassuring if disappointingly low
I guess it's more about how to set each device - MFP and fitbit. I want my fitbit to sync with MFP, and I log my food intake on MFP. However I am finding fitbit is adding too many calories. Should I have a calorie goal in fitbit?
Why do you think FitBit is adding too many calories?0 -
I've had my Charge 2 for about a month now. I wish it were accurate.
It's saying I average around 2300 calories/day (ranges from 2100-2700 depending on my activity level) but I've been eating around 1700. Initially I was still slooowly losing weight but now it seems to be stabilizing so 1700 might actually be my TDEE.
I'm a 40 y/o female, 5'7", 131 lbs and I've been running about 3x/wk and PT exercises 2x/wk, averaging 13k steps/day. I do have PCOS, most likely with insulin resistance, so I may be one of the unlucky ducks for whom PCOS causes a slower metabolism.0 -
I have my FITBIT synced to MFP and I find MFP usually estimates around 50-100 calories more compared to my FITBIT. I usually go off my FITBIT for total calorie burn.1
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Mfp gives me less than 2100 as my tdee, I know from experience that's cutting calories for me.
Fitbit tend to hover between 2300 and 2800, so in my case fitbit is more accurate. Ymmv
Thanks. My Fitbit app and MFP actually ended up about 10 calories apart in the end yesterday so pretty close.
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macchiatto wrote: »I've had my Charge 2 for about a month now. I wish it were accurate. It's saying I average around 2300 calories/day (ranges from 2100-2700 depending on my activity level) but I've been eating around 1700. Initially I was still slooowly losing weight but now it seems to be stabilizing so 1700 might actually be my TDEE.
I'm a 40 y/o female, 5'7", 131 lbs and I've been running about 3x/wk and PT exercises 2x/wk, averaging 13k steps/day. I do have PCOS, most likely with insulin resistance, so I may be one of the unlucky ducks for whom PCOS causes a slower metabolism.
Could it be your calorie requirements have gone down as you've lost weight. Mind you, Fitbit and MFP should make that allowance for you so perhaps not!
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MiniMexxxxx wrote: »macchiatto wrote: »I've had my Charge 2 for about a month now. I wish it were accurate. It's saying I average around 2300 calories/day (ranges from 2100-2700 depending on my activity level) but I've been eating around 1700. Initially I was still slooowly losing weight but now it seems to be stabilizing so 1700 might actually be my TDEE.
I'm a 40 y/o female, 5'7", 131 lbs and I've been running about 3x/wk and PT exercises 2x/wk, averaging 13k steps/day. I do have PCOS, most likely with insulin resistance, so I may be one of the unlucky ducks for whom PCOS causes a slower metabolism.
Could it be your calorie requirements have gone down as you've lost weight. Mind you, Fitbit and MFP should make that allowance for you so perhaps not!
Yeah, MFP and Fitbit are updated with my current stats. In recent years I only lost 20 lbs and that was over a year ago. (I did have to re-lose 5 of it in Jan/Feb.) I just got the Fitbit Charge 2 a month ago. For my current stats with my activity level I just would have expected a TDEE a little higher, and it seems MFP and Fitbit both would, too. 0 -
I use fitness frog I think to determine my TDEE as sedentary. Fit Bit seems to agree, and its added calories burned for steps taken seem pretty accurate as I haven't gained.
I have the Fit Bit One which I like a little better because I don't get "steps" added from moving my arm or something.0 -
MFP where you are guessing from 4 non-exercise daily activity levels, and hoping you add exercise correctly?
or
A device that is on you all day, using the same basis as MFP but applied to what it actually sees you doing?
(and yes to someone's question of is Garmin the same).
You could totally luck out and MFP is right on correct. Go buy lottery tickets too.
Fitbit's going to have much better chance of getting close.
Calorie goals, weight loss goals, daily burn goals - none of those in Fitbit will effect the basic math that is done.
Fitbit reported calorie burn minus MFP estimated calorie burn.
The only one that could matter is the Fitbit activity level, for times you do NOT sync your device during the day.
Fitbit is going to estimate a per minute burn rate if there is no real data from the device to use. After it goes up by 100 calories from last sync, new amount is sent to MFP.
Fitbit has 2 options - Sedentary which is just barely above BMR, and Personal which is based on historical averages.
If you device sync to phone often - those don't matter except when sleeping then. And really doesn't matter then either.
If like me and you don't sync device until close to dinner time as first time, it could matter. Except I don't look at MFP goals during the day anyway, as meals are pre-planned. So the math done doesn't matter to me anyway.
@MiniMexxxxx - it could also easily be that a poorly logged 1700 cal day is actually closer to 2000 or more if it was accurately done.
You could also have your stride length for walking set to exercise pace that is done how many hours a day - but then that inflates ALL the other walking you do much slower for how many hours a day?
You could also have workouts where HR-based calorie burn calculations are incorrect and inflated.
And you even could have had many diets in the past where you've lost muscle mass, so your BMR is lower than what it uses as basis for everything else. Or the PCOS combined with that makes it lower.
Even those with un-medicated thyroid issues in studies have shown a pretty tight bell curve of vast majority being no worse than 5% slower.
It's rather the being tired feeling and not moving as much daily that's the kicker.4 -
MFP where you are guessing from 4 non-exercise daily activity levels, and hoping you add exercise correctly?
or
A device that is on you all day, using the same basis as MFP but applied to what it actually sees you doing?
(and yes to someone's question of is Garmin the same).
You could totally luck out and MFP is right on correct. Go buy lottery tickets too.
Fitbit's going to have much better chance of getting close.
Calorie goals, weight loss goals, daily burn goals - none of those in Fitbit will effect the basic math that is done.
Fitbit reported calorie burn minus MFP estimated calorie burn.
The only one that could matter is the Fitbit activity level, for times you do NOT sync your device during the day.
Fitbit is going to estimate a per minute burn rate if there is no real data from the device to use. After it goes up by 100 calories from last sync, new amount is sent to MFP.
Fitbit has 2 options - Sedentary which is just barely above BMR, and Personal which is based on historical averages.
If you device sync to phone often - those don't matter except when sleeping then. And really doesn't matter then either.
If like me and you don't sync device until close to dinner time as first time, it could matter. Except I don't look at MFP goals during the day anyway, as meals are pre-planned. So the math done doesn't matter to me anyway.
@MiniMexxxxx - it could also easily be that a poorly logged 1700 cal day is actually closer to 2000 or more if it was accurately done.
You could also have your stride length for walking set to exercise pace that is done how many hours a day - but then that inflates ALL the other walking you do much slower for how many hours a day?
You could also have workouts where HR-based calorie burn calculations are incorrect and inflated.
And you even could have had many diets in the past where you've lost muscle mass, so your BMR is lower than what it uses as basis for everything else. Or the PCOS combined with that makes it lower.
Even those with un-medicated thyroid issues in studies have shown a pretty tight bell curve of vast majority being no worse than 5% slower.
It's rather the being tired feeling and not moving as much daily that's the kicker.
Agree with all of this, but I think it was @macchiatto that suggested that the 1700 from MFP is more in line with their losing pattern, not @MiniMexxxxx who was the OP.
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@heybales thanks for the insights. I admit it's a little early for me to jump to the conclusion that 1700 is TDEE since weight loss has only seemed to stabilize for a very short time now. (I lost 1.2 lbs in 3 weeks at that intake level but only 0.1 the past week.) Just keeping an eye on the data. I do weigh my food and log carefully at home but meals out (usually 1-2x/wk) might throw things off a bit.
I've never had much muscle mass (and did some yoyo dieting in the past in a 20-lb range) so the decreased BMR theory may be a factor.
Re walking stride length, I followed the instructions in the Fitbit group for calculating running and walking stride length. My stride lengths do seem to vary a good bit by speed, which also varies a good bit throughout the day (or the type of run, "easy run" vs speed work, etc.). I'll try bumping that down a little and see what happens.0
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