MFP Apple Watch - Steps Calorie adjustment.

CocoPlops999
CocoPlops999 Posts: 2 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So today i done around 13000 steps and in the MFP i was given 45 calories back... surely this is way wrong? Any idea how to fix this?

Thank you

Replies

  • TheMrWobbly
    TheMrWobbly Posts: 2,541 Member
    Have you entered all of you details correctly? I managed to put a decimal point in and weighed 1.07 kg in stead of 107kg and got very few calories on the adjustment.

    The other things that matter are how you have set your lifestyle. If MFP is already expecting an active lifestyle it won't give you as much credit either.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,892 Member
    I've read on these forums that Apple doesn't 'play well' with MFP. The recommended strategy is to sync Apple with the Pacer app and sync the Pacer app with MFP, instead of syncing directly.
  • tonyhackenberg
    tonyhackenberg Posts: 4 Member
    I am experiencing the same problem as “CocoPlops999” describes above. MyFitnessPal (MFP) app’s reading of Apple Watch’s health/fitness data just does not jive.☹️

    For example, yesterday (Jan. 13, 2021), I walked a lot and exercised (Silver Sneakers live Facebook-accessible class). Apple Watch and the Apple Health app (iPhone/iOS) correctly showed my number of steps (5,558 steps for 2.5 miles). The Apple Health app (iOS) also showed my calories burned (330 cal of expected 540 to close my ring).

    Yet, the MFP app (iOS) shows something quite different. It shows many more steps (6,014); yet, it only credits me with a paltry 30 calories burned! Something seems “fishy in Denmark” (as Shakespeare might say) with how MFP is handling the data it’s reading from my Apple Watch.🙁

    I am a beginner user of the MFP app; so, maybe I don’t understand or have MFP incorrectly configured. However, I am a very experienced user of a competitor’s app called “MyPlate” (by Livestrong.com). MyPlate “correctly” reads my Apple Watch data. For example, in my scenario from yesterday, MyPlate correctly read the calories burned (330 cal) from my Apple Watch and subtracted them from my calories consumed (eating/snacking). I have both MyPlate and MFP set to say that I’m “lightly active”.

    So, can someone explain the discrepancies I am seeing between my Apple Watch/Apple rings/Apple Health app vs. the MFP app’s stingy calories burned?

  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    When you do not link accounts - Apple is not sending any data to MFP, hence the step count being non-matching.
    It also means the MFP app is literally just getting step count from the device you said was the step source. As best it can.

    And it means with no calorie burn info from Apple (MFP can't reach into that account to grab data - kind of a huge security issue there, Apple has to send it) - MFP is attempting some super rough math for calories.

    And if a workout did come over from Apple or you logged one - it's unknown what steps were part of that workout and therefore already accounted for - so the calories for the steps is lost.

    Other trackers you link accounts and MFP is sent the data to do math with - basically making your daily burn what the tracker determined, and then taking the deficit for your eating goal.

    Sadly Apple sends wrong data in that linked case making matters worse - hence the advice to link MFP and Apple both to the Pacer app.
    Then the correct info gets to MFP.

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