Issues with logging calories

I’ve been using MyFitnessPal for years but left for Lose IT! due to this issue.

If I burn 500 calories through steps (automatically logged through my apple watch) and then try to manually log in a 600 calories workout (weight lifting, swimming, etc) my daily log will only show the manually logged exercise. My daily log will set the calories burned from steps to 0 and keep the logged entry (instead of 1100 it will only show 600).

Is there any way to stop this from happening?
I have tried asking MyFitnessPal directly but they didn’t really provide anything.

Replies

  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    No.
    Not with that setup where MFP is directly getting steps from any device.

    Because all it gets is step count, not distance that would actually provide knowing a good calorie estimate, and not when they happened to know when it coincides with a workout.
    MFP gets Steps, and it does a super rough estimate of calories from them.

    So MFP has no idea if the steps were totally a result of the workout you just entered - to prevent calorie doubling or overlap, it assumes the steps were created by the workout.

    Other trackers that actually sync accounts correctly, when you do that it all works correctly.
    The tracker account sends total daily burned calories (total means total and includes all calorie burn like exercise).
    MFP will only subtract workouts it knows about to prevent doubling up, because it's contained in the TDEE sent over.

    Apple never sent correct info when they did their work to sync accounts - and unlikely to correct it since it's been years and MFP let them get by with it.

    Solution if you want smooth operation like other linked tracker accounts.

    Install in MFP App store the Pacer app and sync to that.
    Then in Pacer sync to Apple Health account.
    MFP app settings change to sync to Pacer.
    Pacer will correctly add together Apple's base, active, and exercise calories to send MFP a correct TDEE figure.
    Pacer will pass on the Apple health workouts created there, or you can manually create one on MFP if not there.
    MFP will do correct math for TDEE and known workouts.
  • braydonthomson
    braydonthomson Posts: 2 Member
    Thank you for the recommendation, I tried the Pacer app and it fixed that exact issue. Lose IT! and a few other apps I’ve tired give more options when it comes to logging exercise, hopefully MFP will eventually get on board as well.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I'll bet they are using the exact same METS database as MFP, Fitbit, and others use.
    There is no other place to go for exercise calorie burn that is a good estimate.

    What sites will do for their users is take a now popular workout, pick what entry in the database is close to it, and make an extra entry with a mere text label description change.

    Because the METS database does NOT add entries often at all, because they are based on studies - Curves seems to be the last IIRC. And that was after it was out for awhile already.

    So it's really a matter of doing what some sites do - find the entry that would be correct to use, rename it to your own custom one, and use that going forward.

    That way you have no confusion thinking this entry has any basis in any study for actual calorie burn.
    But merely an estimate based on similar types of exercise.

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,907 Member
    So it's really a matter of doing what some sites do - find the entry that would be correct to use, rename it to your own custom one, and use that going forward.

    Yep. That's what I do or I create my own exercise, then it's in my Recents Exercise list.

    From Help > Using the App:

    https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032625831-Can-I-add-a-new-exercise-to-the-database-