MFP doesn’t be adding up

geraldc85

So I do my steps all day and the amount varies but when I add a exercise it zero outs my steps

yirara

No idea what's going on. But it's possible that your tracker accidentally tracked steps during the bike workout, and hence you'd be double dipping them. On that note: the calories for your bike workout look extremely exaggerated unless you did a race in the super high wattage range. Thus I'd be careful with this super high calorie number.

spiriteagle99

The steps are within the range of normal movement in daily life. I list my activity level as sedentary, which would include 2-3000 steps around the house and running errands, etc. Because that is simply part of daily life, it wouldn't be considered additional exercise so you wouldn't get extra calories for it. If you list your activity level as lightly active or active, that would include a higher number of steps as part of ordinary living, not active calories.

I agree that the amount of calories listed for the bike is much too high. I ride a stationary bike regularly. If I ride for 60 minutes, covering 24 miles, I get 300 calories. Even that is probably a bit high, but that's what I log.

mtaratoot

I use a Garmin device. It tracks steps and sends the data to MFP. I get calorie "credit" for those steps UNLESS I also log an actual activity on my Garmin device. It reports the activity to MFP, and I get calorie "credit" for the activity. I then lose some or all of the calorie "credits" from steps UNTIL AND UNLESS I continue to build up enough steps that Garmin sees them as adding active calories.

If I tell my device I'm going for a walk or hike and that walk or hike is 12,000 steps, I may get zero calories for the steps because I got them for the hike. If I tell my device I'm going paddling, I may bet zero steps during the activity, but I won't get step credit until I've surpassed some threshold.

I have found that with my Garmin device, the estimates work really well. What I mean is that my changes in weight are what I would expect based on calories in and out including steps and activities. I have never used a Fitbit, so I can't say how accurate they are in this regard.

PAV8888

Fitbit comes up with an all day TDEE.

You may have to read the following twice to figure out what I'm saying 🤔:


That TDEE is the value (and not that of specific exercises) that is transferred to MFP through the exercise adjustment to replace MFP's guess of your TDEE based on your pre selected settings. The value will change with apparent unpredictability during the day when you look at it on MFP because MFP and Fitbit assign different base values during inactivity. However at midnight the exercise adjustment will be such that your calories out for the day are the number that Fitbit has detected regardless of what you logged on MFP.

Think of MFP as your calories in log and of Fitbit as your calories out log.

You are now introducing a second "problem".

With full integration operating your exercise activities logged on MFP get passed back to Fitbit and FULLY overwrite the activity that was detected during that time frame replacing what Fitbit defected by what you "manually" TOLD it you did through your MFP entry. So you are "polluting" (or correcting) your exercise tracker detection with your manual log.

Indeed, some activities may not detect correctly on Fitbit and maybe you do need to go back to fix them if they happen often enough (outdoor cycling shouldn't be one of them normally).

If that is the case, you would be better off to fix the issue by logging the activity directly on Fitbit by using the app to manually log an exercise. That too will replace automatic detection with what you enter but at least it will be doing so on only one side of the equation without messing both sides

Integration is not always instant and sometimes double values are transmitted especially if a value is changed after transmission. Can you fix it? Sure. But it is cleaner and requires less work and vigilance to just keep track calories out and exercise on the device tasked with tracking it and food on the app tasked with tracking it.

The only thing you lose is the automatic wall post that you have performed an exercise

You can write a manual post using similar wording if that's motivating.

Why did your exercise value go down?(example)

From 00:00 to 13:30 MFP expected BOB to burn 2000 Cal based on Bob's activity settings. Fitbit detected that BOB spent 3000 Cal to that time. So an exercise adjustment of 1000Cal was issued.

BOB logs a 1200Cal exercise on MFP

MFP now knows that BOB has spent 3200 Cal. Fitbit now knows BOB has spent 3200Cal since the detections get overwritten (note this could be 3100, or 3200, or 3300, it doesn't HAVE to be the same total, whether you see a difference or not depends on whether negative adjustments are enabled)

3200 on MFP, 3200 on Fitbit are the same. So exercise adjustment is zero. I.e. you "lost" your exercise. But not the actual Calories. In fact the calories went up above detection

Change-up: bob logs 1200 Cal exercise on Fitbit not MFP

MFP knows that BOB spent 2000Cal. Fitbit who thought Bob spent 3000Cal now has been told via exercise logged directly there that Bob has spent 3200

The adjustment will change from 1000 to 1200.

My personal advice is to just accept automatic detections from Fitbit unless you're engaged in activities that are not detected or egregiously incorrect.

You log for weeks, determine your expected vs actual weight level change and adjust. Consistency is more important than complete accuracy

springlering62

This sounds very similar to an Apple Watch adjustment.

I’m set as “very active” on MFP. The means there’s the expectation I’ll take a certain number of steps, and a lot of “NEAT” movement.

I record each workout- including most intentional walks. I also get steps during other workouts. For example, I got about 3,000 during an aquafit class this morning, from “jogging”, “jacks”, etc.

Likewise, I do incidental steps during power yoga or cardio class.

Since it’s assumed- due to the activity level I selected- I’m going to be taking steps anyway during that same period, MFP deducts some calories so I don’t get double credit for those steps included in the workout activity.

This is how it looks on my food diary:


You can see I did almost 23,000 steps, but that there’s a 418 calorie “deduction” for those steps.

It’s possible to turn the adjustment off by going in to my settings or profile. When MFP first introduced this, it felt like a punishment, like I was being penalized for working out.

I have no idea how to turn it off for other devices, assume it’s a similar process to Apple Watch, but, I wouldn’t, understanding it now.

After I understood it better, I understood that it made my calorie calculations much more accurate.