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Understanding MFP vs. FitBit calculations
sheepingly
Posts: 237 Member
So basically my TDEE is around 2016, i'm trying to cut weight so i'm at a 500 caloric deficit.
So my food intake is around 1,500. Though MFP lowered it to a 1200 goal but I typically stay between 1200-1500.
But I recently syced it to my FitBit and I'm just curious how i'm supposed to understand it.
Keep in mind it's only 2PM right now and i'm at work and I haven't worked out yet (i work out in the evenings).
But this is currently my log (i tend to put what i'm going to eat ahead of time). It says:
Goal: 1,200
Food: 1,725 (again I put food in ahead of time. TDEE w/ caloric deficit is 1,516 -- i'm 200 over because i'm going to have dinner with friends)
Exercise: 18 (i haven't worked out today this is just my "calorie adjustment" that fitbit has in comparison to MFP or the mere fact that its the calories burned from my 3,000 steps of walking i've done at work)
Remaining = -507
So how is Fitbit calculating things and which parts should i pay attention to. It's easier dealing with MFP without fitbit but my fitbit is more accurate right?
So my food intake is around 1,500. Though MFP lowered it to a 1200 goal but I typically stay between 1200-1500.
But I recently syced it to my FitBit and I'm just curious how i'm supposed to understand it.
Keep in mind it's only 2PM right now and i'm at work and I haven't worked out yet (i work out in the evenings).
But this is currently my log (i tend to put what i'm going to eat ahead of time). It says:
Goal: 1,200
Food: 1,725 (again I put food in ahead of time. TDEE w/ caloric deficit is 1,516 -- i'm 200 over because i'm going to have dinner with friends)
Exercise: 18 (i haven't worked out today this is just my "calorie adjustment" that fitbit has in comparison to MFP or the mere fact that its the calories burned from my 3,000 steps of walking i've done at work)
Remaining = -507
So how is Fitbit calculating things and which parts should i pay attention to. It's easier dealing with MFP without fitbit but my fitbit is more accurate right?
0
Replies
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What is your MFP Activity Level setting? What is your MFP weekly loss rate?
You have another 10 hours before final sync. As long as you move at least as much as your MFP Activity Level setting estimates for the next 10 hours, you will not lose any more Calories. If you move more, such as your scheduled exercise this evening, the adjustment will start increasing and getting less negative as it approaches zero. If you move enough, it will eventually turn positive. If you want it to turn positive, start moving more up until midnight.
https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1084232-what-is-the-calorie-adjustment-in-my-exercise-diary-0 -
What is your MFP Activity Level setting? What is your MFP weekly loss rate?
You have another 10 hours before final sync. As long as you move at least as much as your MFP Activity Level setting estimates for the next 10 hours, you will not lose any more Calories. If you move more, such as your scheduled exercise this evening, the adjustment will start increasing and getting less negative as it approaches zero. If you move enough, it will eventually turn positive. If you want it to turn positive, start moving more up until midnight.
https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1084232-what-is-the-calorie-adjustment-in-my-exercise-diary-
On my fitness pal i set it as sedentary because there are just alot of days where I can't work out. I'm adjusting to working out again. Fit Bit is set that way too.0 -
sheepingly wrote: »What is your MFP Activity Level setting? What is your MFP weekly loss rate?
You have another 10 hours before final sync. As long as you move at least as much as your MFP Activity Level setting estimates for the next 10 hours, you will not lose any more Calories. If you move more, such as your scheduled exercise this evening, the adjustment will start increasing and getting less negative as it approaches zero. If you move enough, it will eventually turn positive. If you want it to turn positive, start moving more up until midnight.
https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1084232-what-is-the-calorie-adjustment-in-my-exercise-diary-
On my fitness pal i set it as sedentary because there are just alot of days where I can't work out. I'm adjusting to working out again. Fit Bit is set that way too.
What is your weekly loss rate? If you are set to lose 2 lbs. per week, that is a daily deficit of up to 1000 Cals per day. I say up to, because MFP will bottom out at 1200 Cals, so your MFP deficit for the day may not actually be 1000 Cals per day - it could be slightly less.
You need to overcome your MFP Activity Level plus the required deficit. Walking 3000 steps is normally within MFP Activity Level Sedentary for most people. In order to maintain your deficit, the adjustment is going to be negative, because you have already logged 1725 Cals of food. The negative adjustment is trying to get you back down to the 1200 net Cals. The adjustment is basically letting you know, if you don't move any more, and you eat what you have logged, you will not meet your net 1200 Calorie goal for today.0 -
sheepingly wrote: »What is your MFP Activity Level setting? What is your MFP weekly loss rate?
You have another 10 hours before final sync. As long as you move at least as much as your MFP Activity Level setting estimates for the next 10 hours, you will not lose any more Calories. If you move more, such as your scheduled exercise this evening, the adjustment will start increasing and getting less negative as it approaches zero. If you move enough, it will eventually turn positive. If you want it to turn positive, start moving more up until midnight.
https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1084232-what-is-the-calorie-adjustment-in-my-exercise-diary-
On my fitness pal i set it as sedentary because there are just alot of days where I can't work out. I'm adjusting to working out again. Fit Bit is set that way too.
What is your weekly loss rate? If you are set to lose 2 lbs. per week, that is a daily deficit of up to 1000 Cals per day. I say up to, because MFP will bottom out at 1200 Cals, so your MFP deficit for the day may not actually be 1000 Cals per day - it could be slightly less.
You need to overcome your MFP Activity Level plus the required deficit. Walking 3000 steps is normally within MFP Activity Level Sedentary for most people. In order to maintain your deficit, the adjustment is going to be negative, because you have already logged 1725 Cals of food. The negative adjustment is trying to get you back down to the 1200 net Cals. The adjustment is basically letting you know, if you don't move any more, and you eat what you have logged, you will not meet your net 1200 Calorie goal for today.
My Weekly lost rate is 2lbs/week. Should i just pay attention only to the 1200 and ignore everything else?0 -
The way it works is that fitbit tells mfp how much you have burned in total calories during the sync. Mfp calculates how much your burn should be for the entire day based on current burn. It then subtracts your maintenance calories and that is your adjustment.
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sheepingly wrote: »sheepingly wrote: »What is your MFP Activity Level setting? What is your MFP weekly loss rate?
You have another 10 hours before final sync. As long as you move at least as much as your MFP Activity Level setting estimates for the next 10 hours, you will not lose any more Calories. If you move more, such as your scheduled exercise this evening, the adjustment will start increasing and getting less negative as it approaches zero. If you move enough, it will eventually turn positive. If you want it to turn positive, start moving more up until midnight.
https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1084232-what-is-the-calorie-adjustment-in-my-exercise-diary-
On my fitness pal i set it as sedentary because there are just alot of days where I can't work out. I'm adjusting to working out again. Fit Bit is set that way too.
What is your weekly loss rate? If you are set to lose 2 lbs. per week, that is a daily deficit of up to 1000 Cals per day. I say up to, because MFP will bottom out at 1200 Cals, so your MFP deficit for the day may not actually be 1000 Cals per day - it could be slightly less.
You need to overcome your MFP Activity Level plus the required deficit. Walking 3000 steps is normally within MFP Activity Level Sedentary for most people. In order to maintain your deficit, the adjustment is going to be negative, because you have already logged 1725 Cals of food. The negative adjustment is trying to get you back down to the 1200 net Cals. The adjustment is basically letting you know, if you don't move any more, and you eat what you have logged, you will not meet your net 1200 Calorie goal for today.
My Weekly lost rate is 2lbs/week. Should i just pay attention only to the 1200 and ignore everything else?
You should let the two apps work together to show you how many Calories you have left to eat if you have a positive Calorie adjustment, or how many Calories you went over your goal for the day if you have a negative Calorie adjustment at the end of the day. Some days you may end up with a final negative adjustment; as long as the negative adjustment is not too large, you will still be in a deficit for the day. Just move on to the next day.0 -
problem is i go running in the evenings and fitbit syncs the "steps". so do i just leave that as is or use my run keeper which syncs to my fitness pal and let it record the workout too or is that doubling?0
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sheepingly wrote: »problem is i go running in the evenings and fitbit syncs the "steps". so do i just leave that as is or use my run keeper which syncs to my fitness pal and let it record the workout too or is that doubling?
I used Runkeeper in the past directly with MFP; then when I got a Fitbit, I kept Runkeeper linked only to MFP. Linking only to MFP will ensure the Runkeeper activity is posted to MFP and there should be a post to your News Feed if you have that setting enabled. The Calories logged from Runkeeper to MFP will transfer from MFP to Fitbit and not be double counted. I have not used Runkeeper in over a year, but it is still linked with MFP.
I believe you can also link Runkeeper to Fitbit; however, it is a one-way data dump from Fitbit to Runkeeper, meaning you must wear your Fitbit when you use Runkeeper.0 -
sheepingly wrote: »problem is i go running in the evenings and fitbit syncs the "steps". so do i just leave that as is or use my run keeper which syncs to my fitness pal and let it record the workout too or is that doubling?
I used Runkeeper in the past directly with MFP; then when I got a Fitbit, I kept Runkeeper linked only to MFP. Linking only to MFP will ensure the Runkeeper activity is posted to MFP and there should be a post to your News Feed if you have that setting enabled. The Calories logged from Runkeeper to MFP will transfer from MFP to Fitbit and not be double counted. I have not used Runkeeper in over a year, but it is still linked with MFP.
I believe you can also link Runkeeper to Fitbit; however, it is a one-way data dump from Fitbit to Runkeeper, meaning you must wear your Fitbit when you use Runkeeper.
Well the problem is I went running on monday and tuesday this week. I wore my fit bit. Naturally when i synced it to MFP it logged the steps.
I also logged it into runkeeper if i'm running on a treadmill and it syncs to MFP too. Under excerise on MFP it shows both the caloric burn from my steps but also the caloric burn of what i entered into RunKeeper which synced to MFP.0 -
For example yesterday i walked 45 minutes on the treadmill and wore my fitbit.
Fitbit synced to MFP and it said: 10,245 steps calories: 119
Then i logged it manually into Runkeeper which sync'd to MFP and it says right under the fit bit entry:
Walking, 3.0 mph, mod pace calories: 152
So under exercise in MFP it says i burned 271 calories in exercise. I don't know if i actually did becuase i only burned 152 calories in the 45 minute walk i did so where did the additional 119 from fit bit come from?0 -
sheepingly wrote: »sheepingly wrote: »problem is i go running in the evenings and fitbit syncs the "steps". so do i just leave that as is or use my run keeper which syncs to my fitness pal and let it record the workout too or is that doubling?
I used Runkeeper in the past directly with MFP; then when I got a Fitbit, I kept Runkeeper linked only to MFP. Linking only to MFP will ensure the Runkeeper activity is posted to MFP and there should be a post to your News Feed if you have that setting enabled. The Calories logged from Runkeeper to MFP will transfer from MFP to Fitbit and not be double counted. I have not used Runkeeper in over a year, but it is still linked with MFP.
I believe you can also link Runkeeper to Fitbit; however, it is a one-way data dump from Fitbit to Runkeeper, meaning you must wear your Fitbit when you use Runkeeper.
Well the problem is I went running on monday and tuesday this week. I wore my fit bit. Naturally when i synced it to MFP it logged the steps.
I also logged it into runkeeper if i'm running on a treadmill and it syncs to MFP too. Under excerise on MFP it shows both the caloric burn from my steps but also the caloric burn of what i entered into RunKeeper which synced to MFP.
Without being able to see your account, I can not tell whether there is double counting or not. There should not be. You may want to unlink Runkeeper from Fitbit for a few days and see if there is any difference in the Fitbit Calorie adjustment compared to the past two days. If there is no difference, then that would likely indicate Fitbit is not double counting even though there are two MFP activities in Exercise. I just can not know for sure without doing some experimentation.0 -
sheepingly wrote: »sheepingly wrote: »problem is i go running in the evenings and fitbit syncs the "steps". so do i just leave that as is or use my run keeper which syncs to my fitness pal and let it record the workout too or is that doubling?
I used Runkeeper in the past directly with MFP; then when I got a Fitbit, I kept Runkeeper linked only to MFP. Linking only to MFP will ensure the Runkeeper activity is posted to MFP and there should be a post to your News Feed if you have that setting enabled. The Calories logged from Runkeeper to MFP will transfer from MFP to Fitbit and not be double counted. I have not used Runkeeper in over a year, but it is still linked with MFP.
I believe you can also link Runkeeper to Fitbit; however, it is a one-way data dump from Fitbit to Runkeeper, meaning you must wear your Fitbit when you use Runkeeper.
Well the problem is I went running on monday and tuesday this week. I wore my fit bit. Naturally when i synced it to MFP it logged the steps.
I also logged it into runkeeper if i'm running on a treadmill and it syncs to MFP too. Under excerise on MFP it shows both the caloric burn from my steps but also the caloric burn of what i entered into RunKeeper which synced to MFP.
Without being able to see your account, I can not tell whether there is double counting or not. There should not be. You may want to unlink Runkeeper from Fitbit for a few days and see if there is any difference in the Fitbit Calorie adjustment compared to the past two days. If there is no difference, then that would likely indicate Fitbit is not double counting even though there are two MFP activities in Exercise. I just can not know for sure without doing some experimentation.
what i have been doing is just focusing on my intake goal of 1200 and then after i work out and how many calories i actually burned, i eat back half of that. its been working so far.0 -
The additional will be from life activities. The Fitbit calculates that through the day you have earned 119 extra above your base rate and exercise cals. My garmin does the same. I get exercise calories and then life calories which is extra burns in addition to what I would. So if I'm lazy and stayed in bed my daily burn would be around 1650. With life such as tidying cleaning dog walking I get a few more. Then I get specific activity calories on top0
This discussion has been closed.
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