Logging Steps on MFP insane calorie amounts

dragonghost

When i log my steps from fitbit into MFP it is telling me to eat over 4k calories.

This seems like an insane amount of food to be eating on a daily basis.

I am unsure if this correct or if there is something seriously wrong with both applications working together.

On average i walk five miles a day an on some days i go to the gym for two hours doing the stairs an bike an treadmill an i also lift weights a couple times a week.

Currently i have my steps not being tracked in MFP due to this reason an will only log activity's like biking or treadmill not everyday walking.

Any guidance or insight would be greatly appreciated.

AnnMarieThomas91

I wondered this too, as on my home dash the calorie goal is less, when you go into add food it has increased due to the extra steps my fitbit has recorded, I have been aiming for the lower amount to hit as i guess if i eat as much as i burn then i will stay the same

dragonghost

I tried eating 4k calories a few days i burned over 1k+ calories though i felt worse doing so.

eminater

I wanted to turn off the fitbit adjustment calories as well, it gives me way too much extra, and then when I complete my diary, the "In 5 weeks you will weigh" thing is absolutely ridiculous as well.

heybales

When you folks with these huge adjustments that MFP is making, have you ever clicked on the More info for the adjustment to see what is the reported Fitbit calorie burn the math is being done with, and the time of that sync?
I'm wondering if a bug has crept in, and which side of the sync.

FYI - MFP makes the adjustment.
Fitbit is sending a Step count, and a total daily calorie burn, and time of sync - that's it.

You could have a high HR workout and big calorie burn given by Fitbit with few steps.

Anyway - can someone look at one of your past days where it's really messed up and give all the figures that show on the Fitbit Adjustment.
Click on the "i" for more info, or on the app press and hold the adjustment.
Then report:

Fitbit Calories Burned - ?
Based on ? calories burned as of ? time

MFP Calories Burned - ?
Includes ? calories from exercise (if you have that line you manually logged some workouts)

Your MFP set Activity Level (Sedentary, ect).

And what was the Fitbit daily calorie burn for that past day, did it match above figure on MFP?

dragonghost

My guess is that MFP most active setting will not account for walking more then 5 miles at a time.

Yesterday i went to the gym an when i added my activity's for only one hour of activity i was given 800 calories.

The time before that when i spent two hours at the gym it accounted for well over 1k+ calories.

So i can truly see why it is adding such a large excess of calories. I just hope that if i do not eat back that many calories it will not cause me to lose muscle which is my main concern.

These are rough estimates

Fitbit Calories Burned - 4000k burned around 12 in the afternoon
Based on ? calories burned as of ? time // this will reflect based on time of day when i went walking since i normal do it in the morning it will show 3k+ by the time i am done walking over 5 miles.

MFP Calories Burned - ? 2000k
Includes ? calories from exercise (if you have that line you manually logged some workouts) This is just walking over 5 miles

Your MFP set Activity Level (Sedentary, ect). Active

And what was the Fitbit daily calorie burn for that past day, did it match above figure on MFP? sorry do not understand question

I should also mention that a lot of my walking is uphill which i know that will also factor into the math.

heybales

I'm betting the app info doesn't read exactly as the web account wording I gave.

For instance - that Fitbit Calories Burned figure is for the day as a whole with the MFP math already done estimating the rest of the day.
It's the figure under it that is what Fitbit actually reported to MFP, and required for troubleshooting.

So MFP is estimating your daily burn at Active to be 2000.

The last question requires looking at Fitbit app/web account - it's what did Fitbit actually show.
That helps determine if MFP has recent info from Fitbit.

And past day activity is easier to troubleshoot because it leaves out the math required for mid-day estimate (which is easy to do, but need exact figures then).

Regarding your adding activity - On MFP as a workout?
did you enter 800 calories?
Did the database suggest 800 and you kept it?
Why didn't you just let MFP estimate calorie burn (was type of workout not good for HR-based calorie burn)?
If you added workout on MFP and accepted the database burn - that has nothing to do with Fitbit.

Now, if added on MFP, MFP immediately adjusts it's own figures while syncing the workout to Fitbit to replace it's figures. You will receive an incorrect adjustment until the Fitbit sync comes back with it's own elevated calorie burn, and the math is done.

Like this at say noon:
Fitbit 1200 - 1000 MFP = 200 adjust.

You add workout of 400 on MFP, when Fitbit thought it was a 200 workout. But not synced to Fitbit yet.
Fitbit 1200 - 1000 MFP - 400 workout = neg 200 adj.

After Fitbit gets the sync, and reports the new daily back to MFP:
Fitbit 1400 - 1000 MFP - 400 workout = 0 adj

Eating goal say 2000-500 = 1500 base.
1500 + 200 adj prior to workout added = 1700
1500 - 200 adj + 400 workout not on Fitbit yet = 1700
1500 + 0 adj + 400 workout to Fitbit & back = 1900 (daily burn estimated at 2400, so 500 deficit still)

As you can see, the math actually goes the opposite way, hence the reason I think you are manually logging a workout.


Uphill walking doesn't figure into the math, unless you are going hard enough that Fitbit has started using HR-based calorie burn - then that likely would be inflated calorie burn as it's accuracy at that range isn't as good.
If HR isn't going up high enough to kick that method off - then step-based is actually backwards, because impact of foot is less and stride length is less going up - so it appears less calorie burn - just the opposite of reality.

dragonghost

The base amount of calories i need to eat at active is 2420 when i log my steps i have a surplus of close to 2k an a total of 4k+ which is what i am required to eat.

So on my MFP dashboard it will show 2420 - Exercise +2000 = 4,420

This is after i sync fitbit to MFP an allow MFP to calculate the surplus based on the information fitbit is logging.

As you can see that is a lot of calories to be eating which is why i no longer track steps.

I do on the other hand log my activity's through MFP with out using fitbit an allow MFP database to take the time an type of exercise an calculate the extra surplus.

Which i am well aware that this is not using fitbit doing it this method though it seems like the only way to make it work.


As for my HR i normal get it up to around 160+ when i am at the gym two hours which i am unsure is high enough to get into HR mode.


I truly appreciate you taking the time to find out if there is an alternative to logging my steps or just leave it the way it is.

blairf83

yeah, I think it's wayyyyy overestimating my calories burned too. During the week, unless I go to the gym, I get about 3000 to 4000 steps in. Today, for about 4000 steps (logged getting up, going to the store in the morning to buy lunch, scampering around the office, going to the store again after work.. Not exactly a workout), it gave me over 1000 calories adjustment above my 1200 calorie goal. There's no way. There just isnt, that my largely sedentary self is going to lose anything at all eating 2200 calories per day.. I have my MFP activity level set to sedentary, 1200 cal goal. I am ready to unsync my fitbit from the dang app because I can't trust the counts.

heybales

blairf83 wrote: »

yeah, I think it's wayyyyy overestimating my calories burned too. During the week, unless I go to the gym, I get about 3000 to 4000 steps in. Today, for about 4000 steps (logged getting up, going to the store in the morning to buy lunch, scampering around the office, going to the store again after work.. Not exactly a workout), it gave me over 1000 calories adjustment above my 1200 calorie goal. There's no way. There just isnt, that my largely sedentary self is going to lose anything at all eating 2200 calories per day.. I have my MFP activity level set to sedentary, 1200 cal goal. I am ready to unsync my fitbit from the dang app because I can't trust the counts.

can you look at one of your past days where it's really messed up and give all the figures that show on the Fitbit Adjustment on MFP?
Click on the "i" for more info, or on the app press and hold the adjustment. These are the lines given and the numbers needed.
Then report:

Fitbit Calories Burned - ?
(Based on ? calories burned as of ? time)

MFP Calories Burned - ?
(Includes ? calories from exercise) (if you have that line you manually logged some workouts)

Your MFP set Activity Level (Sedentary, ect).

And what was the Fitbit daily calorie burn for that past day according to the Fitbit site?

I'd like to help - but need figures to troubleshoot because MFP or Fitbit may not be aware of an issue occurring.

hipari

Do the people here with these problems log exercise on MFP separately, in addition to letting Fitbit do the sync? I don't think you're supposed to do that.

My numbers seem to be fairly accurate. My daily calorie goal is 2000, with a goal deficit of 500 per day. So, daily burn at around 2500, calories at 2000, deficit at 500. Here's what my recent days were:
Aug 14: adjustment 592, burn 2931, deficit with adjustment 339
Aug 13: adjustment 195, burn 2521, deficit 326
Aug 12: adjustment -50, burn 2294, deficit 344
Aug 11: adjustment 645, burn 2995, deficit 350
Aug 10: adjustment 244, burn 2613, deficit 369
Aug 9: adjustment 275, burn 2632, deficit 357
Aug 8: adjustment 157, burn 2482, deficit 325
Aug 7: adjustment 119, burn 2426, deficit 307
Aug 6: adjustment 383, burn 2720, deficit 337

Sure, the calculated deficit with those intake adjustments would be at around 300-350, which is lower than my goal of 500 per day, but it's reasonable* and consistent. If I also logged my runs and workouts separately, I would naturally get double exercise calories and this whole thing wouldn't work.

*reasonable for me, as in that has been pretty much my weekly average deficit anyway.

heybales

Actually, there is no double-logging issue with Fitbit unless you totally get the time wrong.

Fitbit is a replacement only system, not addition system.

If you logged a workout in Fitbit or MFP manually, you give a start & duration time - and it overwrites whatever calorie burn Fitbit had for that chunk of time, changing the daily burn figure if the amounts were different.

That being said, HR-based devices for steady-state cardio don't need manual entry of a workout - though you could create on Fitbit an Activity Record to see the stats for that chunk of time.

But for HR-based device on incorrect workouts - lifting, intervals, similar - manually logging a Workout Record would likely be more accurate.

If those are truly the reported numbers by MFP for adjustment, and reported burn by Fitbit - then MFP is doing your math wrong too.
There should literally be a 500 cal deficit still in place.

Reread my posts above for insight on how the math works.

Pirnie13

Just a thought, are height and weight set correctly in both apps? I know this has caused problems for people before

heybales

Weight would sync from either to either.

Height is good point.

Now, Fitbit did have bug in the past where for internal calculations they convert your stated weight in lbs to kg since that is used in every formula where weight is needed, they merely have a flag to convert to display in lbs, or keep as kg.
Their bug one time was keep the weight in lbs internally as a kg figure - so talk about doubled amount and inflated calorie burn.
Yet nothing appeared wrong visually except the end figures, but you could manually do the math and figure out exactly what happened.

Took changing to metric, confirming figure, changing back to lbs, and re-entering it and saving out.

But that led to outrageous Fitbit daily calorie burns. Of course, no one is being clear in stating if they are even looking at the Fitbit stated calorie burn daily.

dragonghost

At the moment i have decided to just input my activity's into MFP manual an allow MFP to calculate the calories burned i just hope that i do not lose to much muscle doing it this way though only time will tell.