Garmin watch

bex1086

I've set it up to link to my diary so it links my steps and workouts automatically. I don't actually use it for tracking calories but just as a record of what I've done that day.

Why does it tell me I've burnt x calories from morning to early evening then discount them completely if I record a run?

How accurate are they for tracking calories and steps anyway? Even though I don't use them it could still be useful to have a rough idea of what I burn during an average run.

John772016

No idea on the situation you're describing.

I find my Garmin over estimates calories burned for walking (by a lot), and for strength workouts (not by much), under estimates calories burned cycling and is pretty accurate for my running.
On days where I do all, it's overall calorie burn for the day is bang on.

I never really paid too much attention to steps but anytime I crossed checked them, it seemed accurate.

yirara

John772016 wrote: »

No idea on the situation you're describing.

I find my Garmin over estimates calories burned for walking (by a lot), and for strength workouts (not by much), under estimates calories burned cycling and is pretty accurate for my running.
On days where I do all, it's overall calorie burn for the day is bang on.

I never really paid too much attention to steps but anytime I crossed checked them, it seemed accurate.

The same is true for me as well. I can understand the strength part because I have a very high exercise HR but a low resting one, thus Garmin seems to think I do something super, super strenuous despite pretty good custom HR zones 😅 Walking? Who knows.

mtaratoot

bex1086 wrote: »

I've set it up to link to my diary so it links my steps and workouts automatically. I don't actually use it for tracking calories but just as a record of what I've done that day.

Why does it tell me I've burnt x calories from morning to early evening then discount them completely if I record a run?

How accurate are they for tracking calories and steps anyway? Even though I don't use them it could still be useful to have a rough idea of what I burn during an average run.

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking, but I THINK you're asking why My Fitness Pal takes away active calories on your diary when you log an exercise in Garmin. Your Garmin tracks your active calories and sends that information to MFP. It also logs steps, but it has some fancy stuff going on in the background too. My watch knows if I hop on a bike even if I don't log it as a ride. Like when I go to the store. If I go for a hike, walk, run, or whatever and track in with my Garmin device, it tracks calories for THAT activity. Either Garmin or MFP then backs out calories from my steps until I get to some level that's more than some amount in order that it doesn't double-track. I find my Garmin device is pretty good at estimating what I burn, and if I log my food completely, honestly, and accurately, my weight changes are what I would expect from my calorie deficit or surplus.