FitBit Calories

sezzyxo92
sezzyxo92 Posts: 19 Member
edited November 26 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there,

I am wondering if my FitBit is giving me too many calories back? For example today I've only walked 2100 steps and it's given me 527 calories back. Does this seem right to you?!

I don't eat back all of my exercise calories anyway but really don't want to over do it.

Also when I go to the gym I turn on my fitbit, does this also sync properly on MFP or do I need to manually log the activity? Again, I am not sure how accurate it is.

Thank you,

Sarah

Replies

  • Go_Deskercise
    Go_Deskercise Posts: 1,630 Member
    Click on the exercise tab and see what it's showing.
    There's a blue 'i' you can click to show the calculation of how they are getting the 527 calories.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    When you say " given me 527 calories back" do you mean you see that on your FitBit or in MFP? IIRC, the calories on your FitBit include your BMR, but the ones received my MFP do not.

    527 calories rec'd by MFP is indeed too high for that many steps.
  • Biggster69
    Biggster69 Posts: 84 Member
    I walk about 12000 steps in order to get 400 exercise cals from fitbit. Yours is pretty high.
  • Leah2975
    Leah2975 Posts: 65 Member
    20 steps = 1 cal. So yes, too much. Are you sure thats not total calories for the this time in the day as in your exercise cals plus normal daily burn?
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Leah2975 wrote: »
    20 steps = 1 cal. So yes, too much. Are you sure thats not total calories for the this time in the day as in your exercise cals plus normal daily burn?

    This is what I meant but you said it more clearly :smile:
  • sezzyxo92
    sezzyxo92 Posts: 19 Member
    edited June 2018
    Hi, sorry for the late reply but here are two screen shots from what I mean.
    It looks like the second one is not through exercise, so not sure why I have an extra 489 calories? Should I unlink my fitbit perhaps and just log my exercise manually? I don't want to over eat my calories.

    l0vn6pn579xk.jpg
    eavaj247npvl.jpg



    Thank you for your help!
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,254 Member
    They are both the "same".

    The final number will be correct at midnight, the end of the day.

    That first number says that you were out exercising before 4 a.m. so your adjustment was really high red afterwards. But as the day went on it got smaller.

    You're obviously not sedentary so a 4 or 500 calorie adjustment from sedentary doesn't seem that excessive...

    Again you true final adjustment according to Fitbit will be at midnight not before. And if you go to bed early that adjustment will get smaller.
  • witchaywoman81
    witchaywoman81 Posts: 280 Member
    If your calorie adjustment is really high on a consistent basis, you might considering changing your activity level in mfp in order to get a smaller calorie adjustment. Also, if you’re syncing throughout the day, make sure negative calories are enabled.
  • FlyingMolly
    FlyingMolly Posts: 490 Member
    First off, go enable negative adjustments. If you start the day more active than your MFP activity level, Fitbit will start giving you extra calories. If you want a more accurate reflection of the day as a whole, empower it to also take them away.
  • hipari
    hipari Posts: 1,367 Member
    Do you have a Fitbit with all-day heart rate tracking? The heart rate tracking makes calorie count more precise.

    The adjustment is based on a projection of ”if the rest of your day was exactly like the day has been so far”, so if you work out first thing in the morning it will assume a higher burn for the rest of the day as well. Things even out by midnight, as others have said.

    That said, Fitbit neatly gives you a weekly average of your food intake in the Fitbit app (when you have the MFP sync on), and the same view also has nice graphs that show your intake vs. burn. I generally check my activity, burn and deficit through Fitbit rather than MFP, which I use for logging food, tracking weight & measurement, and social support. The Fitbit browser dashboard even has a view that directly states what your deficit for the current week is so far.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,244 Member
    My fitbit overestimated my burns by so much I could gain 5lbs a month if set on deficit (imagine if I set it to maintain). And these were burns only from steps, no other exercise. I gave it more than 6 months chance to reconsider (but never ate its burns). Now it rests in peace in the drawer.

    I've always used the SHealth or other pedometer apps or the walking exercise in MFP all of which give me the same calories.
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