FitBit Calorie Tracking Issues

TexasTallchick

Anyone else having these? Some days I’ll walk 5000 steps and my FB says I burned 650 calories, but MFP says only 75. That’s just an example.

I’ve had to reinstall the MFP app on my iPhone and reconnect the MFP account to my FitBit account probably 50 times over the past year. It’ll work well for awhile, then my burned calories either just stop showing up completely or are super low/way off.

It’s super irritating since I’m trying really hard to be accurate with my logging and never knowing if it’s correct is a pain.

jennettewooten

I always have an issue with it. Trying to find one that works would really be nice. .lol

PAV8888

I think you're misunderstanding the exercise adjustment that you see on MFP after it synchronizes with Fitbit.

the exercise adjustment you see has absolutely nothing to do with any specific exercise you've engaged in.

integration between Fitbit and mfp uses the exercise adjustment as a mechanism in order to equate the full day burn between mfp and Fitbit.

It is a full day TDEE adjustment.

5,000 steps is at the entry level of mfp lightly active if it were converted to a whole day activity factor

Therefore an adjustment of about 75 calories above sedentary during an otherwise not very active day would not be out of line for most people

Whether the specific walk did or did not burn 650 calories that's a different story.

But the 75 you see means that at the time of adjustment and assuming you continue the rest of your day to burn calories at the level MFP expects you to, at that point of time during the day your Fitbit has detected you burning enough calories that mfp needs to add 75 to the daily total in order to match what Fitbit has detected

janejellyroll

Your adjustment will never (or very rarely) equal the calories burnt in individual exercise sessions. The MFP adjustment is meant to reflect the difference between the calories MFP projected you would burn in a day (given your stats and the activity level you chose in MFP) and the calories estimated by your Fitbit.

dragon_girl26

What do you have your activity level set to on MFP? Do you ever change it?

ridiculous59

I just want to make sure I understand this process because when I lost a big chunk of my weight I didn't have a fitbit but I was recently given one.

I have my activity level set on mfp as sedentary because my days vary quite a bit. My fitbit is connected to mfp. In the past I have chosen to eat back only about half the calories I earn during the day which in my mind allows for any small inconsistencies in my food logging (as an older female my maintenance calories are only 1500 so yes, those small inconsistencies make a difference) plus I know that calorie burns are notoriously over stated.

Back to my fitbit question: yesterday, for example, my fitbit accounted for nearly 9000 steps therefore mfp "allowed" me an extra 225 calories to eat to compensate. Am I interpreting that right?

janejellyroll

ridiculous59 wrote: »

I just want to make sure I understand this process because when I lost a big chunk of my weight I didn't have a fitbit but I was recently given one.

I have my activity level set on mfp as sedentary because my days vary quite a bit. My fitbit is connected to mfp. In the past I have chosen to eat back only about half the calories I earn during the day which in my mind allows for any small inconsistencies in my food logging (as an older female my maintenance calories are only 1500 so yes, those small inconsistencies make a difference) plus I know that calorie burns are notoriously over stated.

Back to my fitbit question: yesterday, for example, my fitbit accounted for nearly 9000 steps therefore mfp "allowed" me an extra 225 calories to eat to compensate. Am I interpreting that right?

If you're seeing an adjustment of 225 calories, then yes -- that represents the amount of calories you "earned" due to your activity level being higher than the sedentary level you entered when setting your goals.

PAV8888

ridiculous59 wrote: »

Back to my fitbit question: yesterday, for example, my fitbit accounted for nearly 9000 steps therefore mfp "allowed" me an extra 225 calories to eat to compensate. Am I interpreting that right?

*** Correct interpretation ***

9000 steps absent a Fitbit to provide an estimate would usually be indicative of an "active" person.

If you wanted to specify it more, it would usually be in the entry to mid part of the "active" category depending on how the steps were taken and what they represented. Assuming correct logging. Assuming a person who tracks near the mean as most people would.

But you're set at sedentary. "Active" is TWO activity levels up.

MFP only has 4 activity levels you can pre select for the entire day.

Fitbit "detects" and *estimates* an activity level for each 5 minute increment throughout your day and then adds them all up.

At midnight MFP and Fitbit do their final synchronizing and the number you see corrects the mfp pre selected level to become equal to what Fitbit observed and estimated for your day's burn.

ridiculous59

Thanks for the confirmation. I was pretty sure I had it figured out right but just wanted to be sure. I get confused with all the NEAT, BMR, and TDEE discussions and just want to keep it simple