Fitbit and exercise
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nooshi713
Posts: 4,877 Member
I recently synched my fitbit to MFP. I logged my exercise today (only half) in MFP and noticed fitbit also gave me extra calories based on how many steps I got in the day. Should I still log my exercise separately and eat these calories back? When I logged only half my exercise calories, it is about the same amount of extra calories that fitbit gave me. I dont want to double dip though.
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Replies
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When you log exercise on MFP and you have Fitbit connected you're replacing what Fitbit detected during the time frame of your "exercise" with the exercise you manually entered.
Why don't you let Fitbit figure out your calories out while just logging your calories in on MFP?
You can then eat all or part of your adjustment. The adjustment uses the exercise mechanism to transfer values; but it does not only reflect exercise. It is just a value that brings up your mfp calories (which were determined based on your selection of activity level) to the level of expenditure that Fitbit detected.5 -
My fitbit is linked to MFP so I just let it sync itself, I dont trust the calories they give me though. I eat about half.1
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I don’t trust mine because I get a vastly bigger burn just for stepping on the spot in my kitchen, than I do when I’m out running!1
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WinoGelato wrote: »
I believe it overestimates calories burned. I've read several articles stating that it is not 100% accurate when it comes to calories burned. I can get 100 "steps" doing my hair
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WinoGelato wrote: »
I believe it overestimates calories burned. I've read several articles stating that it is not 100% accurate when it comes to calories burned. I can get 100 "steps" doing my hair
I’ve had one synced with MFP for years and it’s accurate for me, countless members on here have used the two programs successfully trusting the data and eating back the exercise adjustments.
Usually when someone doesn’t trust the data it’s because they’ve for themselves set as Sedentary when they average 10k or more steps (NOT Sedentary) so they see big adjustments and don’t think that can possibly be accurate.
Maybe take it off while doing your hair if that bothers you - 100 steps is 1% of my total day and I’m not going to sweat about little inaccuracies like that - I mean, I don’t get “credit” for calories burned while the thing is charging so in the end it’s kind of a wash... I’ve lost the weight I set out to lose and am currently maintaining by trusting and eating back the calorie adjustments. Blanket skepticism doesn’t seem warranted in a device I paid money for...9 -
WinoGelato wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »
I believe it overestimates calories burned. I've read several articles stating that it is not 100% accurate when it comes to calories burned. I can get 100 "steps" doing my hair
I’ve had one synced with MFP for years and it’s accurate for me, countless members on here have used the two programs successfully trusting the data and eating back the exercise adjustments.
Usually when someone doesn’t trust the data it’s because they’ve for themselves set as Sedentary when they average 10k or more steps (NOT Sedentary) so they see big adjustments and don’t think that can possibly be accurate.
Maybe take it off while doing your hair if that bothers you - 100 steps is 1% of my total day and I’m not going to sweat about little inaccuracies like that - I mean, I don’t get “credit” for calories burned while the thing is charging so in the end it’s kind of a wash... I’ve lost the weight I set out to lose and am currently maintaining by trusting and eating back the calorie adjustments. Blanket skepticism doesn’t seem warranted in a device I paid money for...
That's funny because my Calories still go up when I'm not wearing mine eg if I take it off to go in the bath etc also people that don't wear it at night wake up to calories burned I've only had mine since February and have found its 200-300 calories over per day based on calories burned and weight loss5 -
Angelsja, Fitbit estimates your base calorie burn at rest. Mine says I burn 16 calories every 15 minutes when I’m completely stationary (dead to the world at night). Even if I didn’t wear the Fitbit, I’d still see that calorie burn regardless.9
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Angelsja, Fitbit estimates your base calorie burn at rest. Mine says I burn 16 calories every 15 minutes when I’m completely stationary (dead to the world at night). Even if I didn’t wear the Fitbit, I’d still see that calorie burn regardless.
Yes exactly that's why I was saying it's weird to not get "credit" when it's charging etc2 -
Yes exactly that's why I was saying it's weird to not get "credit" when it's charging etc
Does it not!? I’ll have to have a look next time I charge. The base burn, I assumed, was automatically calculated within the Fitbit app itself and communicated to the Fitbit at the next sync.3 -
Angelsja, Fitbit estimates your base calorie burn at rest. Mine says I burn 16 calories every 15 minutes when I’m completely stationary (dead to the world at night). Even if I didn’t wear the Fitbit, I’d still see that calorie burn regardless.
Exactly. It’s a total activity tracker and it estimates calories burned all day based on your stats to calculate your BMR. I charge mine while I’m in the shower and getting ready for work because I like getting the sleep data every night, so yeah there are times it might add a few extra steps ( I’m an animated hand talker) and there’s times when I’m moving and it isn’t on me. It’s all an estimate and the important thing with weight loss is to be directionally correct as consistently as possible and I think FitBit supports that well.
I’m just always curious why people have automatic skepticism when they maybe don’t understand how the tool works and how to optimize results.8 -
No it does but someone above said they didn't get credit when it was charging so discrepancies like getting steps when brushing your hair etc don't matter as it all evens out4 -
Angelsja, Fitbit estimates your base calorie burn at rest. Mine says I burn 16 calories every 15 minutes when I’m completely stationary (dead to the world at night). Even if I didn’t wear the Fitbit, I’d still see that calorie burn regardless.
Yes exactly that's why I was saying it's weird to not get "credit" when it's charging etc
Sorry I should have said “credit for steps taken while it’s not on me” not calories burned. I would go back and amend my post but it will make this discussion really confusing.3 -
WinoGelato wrote: »Angelsja, Fitbit estimates your base calorie burn at rest. Mine says I burn 16 calories every 15 minutes when I’m completely stationary (dead to the world at night). Even if I didn’t wear the Fitbit, I’d still see that calorie burn regardless.
Yes exactly that's why I was saying it's weird to not get "credit" when it's charging etc
Sorry I should have said “credit for steps taken while it’s not on me” not calories burned. I would go back and amend my post but it will make this discussion really confusing.
Ah that makes more sense
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WinoGelato wrote: »WinoGelato wrote: »
I believe it overestimates calories burned. I've read several articles stating that it is not 100% accurate when it comes to calories burned. I can get 100 "steps" doing my hair
I’ve had one synced with MFP for years and it’s accurate for me, countless members on here have used the two programs successfully trusting the data and eating back the exercise adjustments.
Usually when someone doesn’t trust the data it’s because they’ve for themselves set as Sedentary when they average 10k or more steps (NOT Sedentary) so they see big adjustments and don’t think that can possibly be accurate.
Maybe take it off while doing your hair if that bothers you - 100 steps is 1% of my total day and I’m not going to sweat about little inaccuracies like that - I mean, I don’t get “credit” for calories burned while the thing is charging so in the end it’s kind of a wash... I’ve lost the weight I set out to lose and am currently maintaining by trusting and eating back the calorie adjustments. Blanket skepticism doesn’t seem warranted in a device I paid money for...
Gaining steps from doing my hair doesn't bother me. I have myself set for sedentary because I have a desk job but I get about 12-15k steps a day. I don't sweat about it I dont even think about it. I just don't eat all of the calories I'm given because I understand slight movements can add steps/calories, I even gain steps driving...understanding that the number is not 100% is not blanket skepticism, it's reality. I'm losing the weight .5-1lb per week so I'm eating right about what I should for my goals. I do think the fitbit is accurate as it can be, and accurate enough to warrant the $150 I spent on it.
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When you log exercise on MFP and you have Fitbit connected you're replacing what Fitbit detected during the time frame of your "exercise" with the exercise you manually entered.
Why don't you let Fitbit figure out your calories out while just logging your calories in on MFP?
You can then eat all or part of your adjustment. The adjustment uses the exercise mechanism to transfer values; but it does not only reflect exercise. It is just a value that brings up your mfp calories (which were determined based on your selection of activity level) to the level of expenditure that Fitbit detected.
I'm sorry but this just made me more confused. I thought I was supposed to log exercise calories and eat some, in my case half, back. If I wear fitbit, I shouldnt do that?
For example, 1/2 of yesterdays exercise calories for me was 90, so I logged that, but then fitbit gave me 80 calories also. Im not sure if I should be eating both of those back or not.0 -
Also, I would think fitbit is pretty accurate. My BMR is 1260. On a day when I got 6000 steps, it says I burned 1700 calories. On a day I burned 12000 steps, it said I burned 1900 calories. These numbers seem to line up with my calculated TDEE bases on a "lightly active" level. Actually, according to TDEE, I should be burning 1650 a day when sedentary, and I wouldn't consider 6000 steps a day sedentary. So it seems to underestimate calorie burn if anything.1
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When you log exercise on MFP and you have Fitbit connected you're replacing what Fitbit detected during the time frame of your "exercise" with the exercise you manually entered.
Why don't you let Fitbit figure out your calories out while just logging your calories in on MFP?
You can then eat all or part of your adjustment. The adjustment uses the exercise mechanism to transfer values; but it does not only reflect exercise. It is just a value that brings up your mfp calories (which were determined based on your selection of activity level) to the level of expenditure that Fitbit detected.
I'm sorry but this just made me more confused. I thought I was supposed to log exercise calories and eat some, in my case half, back. If I wear fitbit, I shouldnt do that?
For example, 1/2 of yesterdays exercise calories for me was 90, so I logged that, but then fitbit gave me 80 calories also. Im not sure if I should be eating both of those back or not.
You can log your exercises on Fitbit (or just let it take care of everything if you have a HR-based model) and get one total adjustment.3 -
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Also, I would think fitbit is pretty accurate. My BMR is 1260. On a day when I got 6000 steps, it says I burned 1700 calories. On a day I burned 12000 steps, it said I burned 1900 calories. These numbers seem to line up with my calculated TDEE bases on a "lightly active" level. Actually, according to TDEE, I should be burning 1650 a day when sedentary, and I wouldn't consider 6000 steps a day sedentary. So it seems to underestimate calorie burn if anything.
it's accurate enough to give us the info we need to meet our goals. I know most people underestimate their calorie input and over estimate their calorie burn so by eating back about half, some days more, some days less it seems to be working pretty well for me. .5-1lb a week is what I'm losing and thats right about where I should be for my weight since I am obese.1
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