Puzzled steps vs activity calories

puzzledstill

I sync MFP with the step counter and it shows a step adjustment of -20 calories.
If I don't use the step counter and select an hours walking it adds 217 calories to my daily totals.
I can't reconcile these two things.
I aim for 7000 steps a day - allowing for my age (60) and I do add other activities e.g. Horse riding which 'earn' calories.
Simple explanation please.

jayemes

Did you check "allow negative calorie adjustment" when you set up your goals?
The negative adjustment is probably because fitbit looks at what you'll burn all day and you're behind your total daily burn at this particular hour.....
Hope that makes sense

NorthCascades

Activity level.

CyberTone

MFP uses NEAT not TDEE, which means you should lose/maintain/gain without any purposeful exercise at the MFP Activity Level you set, as long as the MFP Activity Level you chose is close to your daily average activity.

Without a step counter, MFP assumes you will add purposeful exercise, such as a walk activity above your self-reported normal routine (i.e. Not Very Active, Lightly Active, Active, or Very Active). Adding the purposeful walk activity into the MFP Exercise Diary increases your extra Exercise Calories immediately.

With a step counter, such as the iPhone, which I think you indicated in another thread you use, MFP assumes you will carry that step counter on you all day, and every step it records throughout the day will be counted towards both your set MFP Activity Level and any additional purposeful walk activity.

When you sync the step counter, MFP will compare the total amount of steps the iPhone has counted at that point in the day. If you have not completed as many steps (as reported by the step counter) as MFP would estimate you need to exceed your MFP Activity Level, it will only add a small amount of Exercise Calories or even take away some Exercise Calories, until you move more throughout the day. At the end of the day, if you have not moved enough to exceed your estimated MFP Activity Level, you will have Exercise Calories taken away, if you have negative adjustments enabled.

Using a step counter to track all day activity is different than just adding a walk activity. They can not be compared one for one.

Choose one method, stick with it for four to six weeks, then adjust your Calorie intake based on results.

TeaBea

NorthCascades wrote: »

Activity level.

This^

You selected an activity level in MFP. That level includes steps. If you exceed those steps you earn calories, if you don't meet that level of steps you lose calories.

Logging 100% of your steps (as exercise) would include a fair amount of double counting.

DX2JX2

On a sort of related note...be careful of the calorie totals added when selecting activity items from MFP. It's been known to overcount.

Unless you're walking really really fast, you're likely not burning 217 calories with an hour of walking. A better estimate of the burn depends on your weight. I don't know what you'd actually burn, but I can say that I'm 200 pounds and only burn 200 calories an hour if I walk for a constant hour at 3.5 mph (which is much tougher than you think it should be...average walking speed is closer to 2 to 2.5 mph).