Not sure where to post: FITBIT help please!!

Options
maddiey
maddiey Posts: 231 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone! I have a fitbit, and I love it! I do have a question though about how it sync's with MFP and how it calculates 'exercise calories'.

So sometimes, I will sync my fitbit and it will show up on MFP that I burned a certain amount of calories as exercise. Example, after working out it synced burned 500 calories. But sometimes after a work out, it doesn't sync anything automatically. And then what I have to do is go in and manually set the times I worked out and then it will transfer over as exercise calories.

SO BASICALLY my question is does Fitbit only automatically sync 'exercise calories' when you've hit the red zone enough? (Fitbit shows steps in blue, yellow, and red, red being the highest intensity). Because I suppose that would make sense. I just want to know why it randomly syncs cals and randomly why it doesn't!

Replies

  • maddiey
    maddiey Posts: 231 Member
    Options
    And to add, today it automatically synced 500 cals after I worked out. So then I went in to the fitbit site, set the time zones of my work out, which showed to be 300 cals, and then nothing synced to MFP. So... confused?
  • Ange_
    Ange_ Posts: 324 Member
    Options
    If you are using a HRM to record your workouts you log it on MFP and make care you put in the start time right.
    If you do this unless you have done a lot of additional walking around outside of this exercise session you may not get any fitbit adjustment.
    If your exercise was something like walking or running and you were just using your fitbit to record it then essentially you don't need to do anything and fitbit will sync an adjustment with MFP.
    Always record exercise on the MFP website, not on Fitbit.
  • Arleigh7
    Arleigh7 Posts: 150 Member
    Options
    I just got a fit bit too a couple of weeks ago and am noticing the same issues you are seeing. Basiclly I let it sync and see what comes over to MFP. If it's not right then I adjust MFP as the interface says all adjustments need to be done here. Not sure why it doesn't always work and I have plut a request for help on the Fitbit forum but nothing so far.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
    Options
    FitBit will sync over calories to MFP when you've gone above the amount of calories MFP already calculates in that you will burn for the day. So if you do a workout in the morning and haven't burned much it won't usually bring anything over - but at the end of the day when you've gone above what MFP already assumes you'll burn you will show the adjustment (if you've earned enough).
  • crimsontech
    crimsontech Posts: 234 Member
    Options
    ^ What Ready2Rock206 said - first of all there can be a few minutes delay between your FitBit uploading to their site and that adjustment coming over to MFP, but as she said, it sends an adjustment when you burned more calories than MFP thinks you will burn for the day.

    Set MFP to a "sedentary" activity level and then let FitBit and MFP talk to each other for the rest. NEVER enter exercise on MFP unless you weren't wearing your FitBit (like swimming)... and even then it's better to enter it on the FitBit site and let it sync over the correct adjustment.

    Been using MFP + FitBit for nearly a year and this technique is what works for me.

Categories