Fitbit help!!

bobbybromley
bobbybromley Posts: 15 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone,

I'm struggling a bit to understand how my Newley purchased fitbit works when synced with MFP. Today is my first day using it and I have logged all my food through MFP, water through fitbit (because the format is easier) and a 20 min walk through MFP.
I changed my activity level to sedentary as I heard this works better.... Not sure if it's right though.
Am I right to log the walk? What about when I do cardio at the gym and I wear my fitbit? When I'm on the bike/ stairmill/ cross trainer what will happen with the fitbit? Am I in danger of double counting calories burned etc.
Maybe I'm just being a bit stupid but it's a confusing business!
Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks

Replies

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Hi everyone,

    I'm struggling a bit to understand how my Newley purchased fitbit works when synced with MFP. Today is my first day using it and I have logged all my food through MFP, water through fitbit (because the format is easier) and a 20 min walk through MFP.
    I changed my activity level to sedentary as I heard this works better.... Not sure if it's right though.
    Am I right to log the walk? What about when I do cardio at the gym and I wear my fitbit? When I'm on the bike/ stairmill/ cross trainer what will happen with the fitbit? Am I in danger of double counting calories burned etc.
    Maybe I'm just being a bit stupid but it's a confusing business!
    Any help would be appreciated!
    Thanks

    You don't need to log any step based activities. The fitbit will pick up your walking and running on it's own.

    You will need to manually log activities like swimming, stairmill, bike, etc. Fitbit can't accurately track these types of activities. When you log them just make sure you input the correct start time and duration. It doesn't matter which site you log them on. My personal preference is fitbit, but some people like to log them here on MFP. Either way, fitbit will use the information you input to overwrite whatever it had tracked for that time period.
  • Amitysk
    Amitysk Posts: 705 Member
    If you want to still log any step based activities you can, just enter the time you began and the duration. The link between Fitbit and MFP will workout the adjustment.

    I only log step based activities if it is truly extraneous to my regular activity. Otherwise, I let Fitbit do it's thing.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Don't log step-based activities. If you bike, swim, etc. - log that and enter the time. That way MFP knows to use the non-step activity INSTEAD of Fitbit's info for that time.

    Other than that, just let them work together. It might be helpful to wear Fitbit for a week or so to get an idea of your average calorie burn total per day. Fitbit guesses about what you're going to burn the rest of the day, and so does MFP - but they work in different ways. So it can be useful IMO to have an idea of where you're going to end up.

    My example: I have a goal these days to burn a total of at least 2000 calories per day according to Fitbit. I have to work a little to make this happen, I don't have a very high total daily burn. I eat in the range of 1600-1800, and I'm confident this gives me a little deficit. (I'm not aiming for a large deficit these days.)

    It can also be helpful to google your BMR. Based on your height, weight, etc. this is what you burn when your body is at rest. Just to handle bodily functions and stuff. Mine is a little under 1 calorie per minute. So if I look at my Fitbit at 9pm, and I'm not yet ready for bed, and it shows 1800 calories burned I know there are 180 minutes left in the day and I'll still move around some. So I'm going to hit my 2000 goal.
  • bobbybromley
    bobbybromley Posts: 15 Member
    Thanks everyone. Think it's starting to sink in a bit now x

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