How have you found the Fitbit Force Calorie Count Accuracy??

MsipiGRITS

I know there are other posts on the Fitbit Force, but I wanted a little different perspective... I was just wondering how many MFP users are using the Fitbit Force or other fitness tracker and how they have found the accuracy to be? I got the FBF for my birthday and just started wearing it in the last couple of weeks. So far, I am really liking it! It appears the steps are pretty accurate as well as the sleep function. I am more concerned with the number of calories burned calculations.... Any feedback there? If I go by my fitbit, I am not eating enough calories! I am not really trying to lose weight, but this still concerns me as I don't want to screw up my metabolism... I also would not be eating enough if you go by the .42 cals/lb of body weight/hour resting calc.... Thoughts, comments?

Kevalicious99

First .. love my Force, except for the defective clasp. That's another issue altogether.

But .. re the calories, you have to realize that the Force does not measure calories burned.

The calories burned are based on your statistics you entered at Fitbit ... the Force only measures steps, distance, active minutes and sleep. And really when you get down to it ... the Force and all Fitbits really measure 1 thing, movement. The Force also measures altitude change. So what you are seeing is fancy math .. your HRM is the same way, but it actually measures your heartbeat whereas the Force does not.

So .. all you are seeing on your dashboard is the result of a mathematical formula to estimate calories burned. It really is pretty much your bmr + some for exercise.

Hope this helps .. I know people think these are magical devices, but really they just really measure 1 or 2 things and do calculations with the results.

MsipiGRITS

To Kevalicious99: Yes, I understand that the Force uses calculations, but... It bases the calculations on the activity/movement measured. For example, it calculates inactive time (e.g. sleep) using a lower number and active minutes (e.g. walking/running) using a higher number. So, I am still wondering how accurate it is for "calculating" calories burned if anyone has really looked into that in any level of detail.... I am a numbers person so I have looked at my own BMR, TDEE, etc. and am just curious what others have found in comparison... I kind of think I am taking in too few calories, but am too anal to change without looking into it... LOL

tegalicious

I have a fitbit flex and I am finding the calorie calculation to be pretty accurate. I just got a food scale so now that my intake numbers are more accurate I am taking this month to test the accuracy of the fitbit flex TDEE calculation. So far based off of the deficit it says I have I should have lost 2.2 pounds this past month and I have lost 2.5.