any tips for fine-tuning accuracy of fitbit?

bellabrite

Do you have any tips for fitbit use to make sure it is the most accurate?

--where do you log exercise? (mfp or fitbit)
--do you log all non-movement periods on fitbit?
--do you wear your fitbit during exercise, even if you are going to record the exercise period separately?
--have you found that it adds extra steps if you forget to "stop" it while on train or in car?
--if you forget to wear it all day, how do you manually add steps, and have you found that your burn is what you would expect?

Thanks!

holleysings

Do you have any tips for fitbit use to make sure it is the most accurate?

--where do you log exercise? (mfp or fitbit)
--do you log all non-movement periods on fitbit?
--do you wear your fitbit during exercise, even if you are going to record the exercise period separately?
--have you found that it adds extra steps if you forget to "stop" it while on train or in car?
--if you forget to wear it all day, how do you manually add steps, and have you found that your burn is what you would expect?

Thanks!

I used to log it on MFP, but now I log it on fitbit because that's what you're supposed to do.
I don't log all non-movement periods, but I do log some of them since you do burn calories sitting at a desk moving your arms about lol.
I wear my fitbit during exercise because it does pick up movement. You can actually use it as a timer and then tell it what you did when you sync it later. Makes the tracking much more precise!
You don't need to stop it in a train or a car. I've never had it add anything extra. Plus, if you move about a bit in a car! I sit dance most of my drives!
I never forget to wear it all day! So I'm not sure what I would do.

Originally, my daily burn was higher then I expected because I thought I was sedentary. Turns out my three part time jobs and all the singing I do burns a heck of a lot of calories! Plus, I run around like a madwoman every day from thing to thing. My daily burns have increased as I started logging activity on fitbit rather than MFP even though the calories burned were about the same...so I would recommend doing what fitbit says and logging on their website. They say the more activities you log, the more accurate your burn will be. But I wouldn't go nutso with that one! :laugh:

glwerth

Do you have any tips for fitbit use to make sure it is the most accurate?

--where do you log exercise? (mfp or fitbit)
--do you log all non-movement periods on fitbit?
--do you wear your fitbit during exercise, even if you are going to record the exercise period separately?
--have you found that it adds extra steps if you forget to "stop" it while on train or in car?
--if you forget to wear it all day, how do you manually add steps, and have you found that your burn is what you would expect?

Thanks!

I used to log it on MFP, but now I log it on fitbit because that's what you're supposed to do.
I don't log all non-movement periods, but I do log some of them since you do burn calories sitting at a desk moving your arms about lol.
I wear my fitbit during exercise because it does pick up movement. You can actually use it as a timer and then tell it what you did when you sync it later. Makes the tracking much more precise!
You don't need to stop it in a train or a car. I've never had it add anything extra. Plus, if you move about a bit in a car! I sit dance most of my drives!
I never forget to wear it all day! So I'm not sure what I would do.

Originally, my daily burn was higher then I expected because I thought I was sedentary. Turns out my three part time jobs and all the singing I do burns a heck of a lot of calories! Plus, I run around like a madwoman every day from thing to thing. My daily burns have increased as I started logging activity on fitbit rather than MFP even though the calories burned were about the same...so I would recommend doing what fitbit says and logging on their website. They say the more activities you log, the more accurate your burn will be. But I wouldn't go nutso with that one! :laugh:

With regard to the car rides....totally depends on the roads you are driving on! Mine adds between 8 and 10 flights of stairs and a couple thousand steps in one drive to Cedar Rapids, which takes 40 minutes!

HeidiHoMom

For the driving, start the timer when you start driving and stop it when you are done, then later go into fitbit and log that time as driving. And then remove the timed activity and it will remove the steps during that period.

HeidiHoMom

oh and I log my non walking activity on MFP because that is what I read on the fitbit forum here and on the fitbit site.

bellabrite

Thanks, guys.
Maybe I'll try some different experiments in logging and see what I think makes the most sense.

gjriddle

Plus, if you move about a bit in a car! I sit dance most of my drives!

^^^ This! :laugh: