Fitbit Cardio Syncing

eagleandthecrow

Hi there!

I apologize if this has been asked before (and I imagine that it has... but I had a hard time finding a topic...)

I'm specifically confused about the following when it comes to syncing my FitBit and MFP:

"2. Record start times for all cardio exercises
In order for your Fitbit tracker to accurately calculate your calorie burn, you'll need to record a start time for all cardio exercises you log on MyFitnessPal. If you use a MyFitnessPal mobile app, make sure you update to the latest version so that you can record start times from the app as well."

My questions are:

Do I enter ANYTHING into the fitbit? Because there is a section for entering cardio exercises.

Second, if I am not entering anything into the fitbit app, then am I supposed to just log the time of exercises on MFP?


This seems like it should be easy, but i am feeling so confused!

editorgrrl

MFP says to log everything in MFP, but that's just a serving suggestion. Food & water only syncs one way, from MFP to Fitbit. But exercise syncs both ways.

There's no need to log any step-based activity—your Fitbit is already tracking it for you. Non-step exercise (like swimming or biking) can be logged either in Fitbit or in MFP—never both. I find Fitbit's burns to be way more accurate than MFP's one-size-fits-all guesstimates. It will take trial & error to find which one you prefer.

eagleandthecrow

MFP says to log everything in MFP, but that's just a serving suggestion. Food & water only syncs one way, from MFP to Fitbit. But exercise syncs both ways.

There's no need to log any step-based activity—your Fitbit is already tracking it for you. Non-step exercise (like swimming or biking) can be logged either in Fitbit or in MFP—never both. I find Fitbit's burns to be way more accurate than MFP's one-size-fits-all guesstimates. It will take trial & error to find which one you prefer.

Thanks for the reply!

When it comes to the step based activities, I thought that you had to log your cardio exercises (with the new update to the app) for better tracking of calorie burn. Is this not the case?

editorgrrl

If you use a heart-rate monitor, then log your burns. Other than that, no.

ahoier

So is this statement erroneous on the site integration end? hehe. I just got a fitbit flex last night, and went to go Sync it and read this and was so confused....

Since there doesn't appear to be any way to enter "Start times" in MFP app.......though after my elliptical run, I do enter my "duration" (typically 45 minutes....) within the app, as well as the calories burned.


I do my calorie burn a little different though, pre-Fitbit, I would take an average of the elliptical, my HRM, and the elliptical/machine....and enter that "average" - HRM + Elliptical + MFP divided by 3......and enter that calorie burn


Weight Training log is a little different though......MFP always has a significantly higher calorie burn......than my HRM Wrist Watch.....likely due to the fact I'm not doing HIIT Weight lifting lol....and rest between sets.....etc....hehe.so to log weight lifting, I'll typically use HRM + MFP reading ...... divided by 2....and log that as the calorie burn......