TDEE: scooby or fitbit?
Volauvent
Posts: 8
Hi everyone, I'm back again with (yet) another question about numbers! 
So I calculated my TDEE numbers on the Scooby website and I got 1715 for sedentary, 1965 for lightly active, 2215 for moderate and 2465 strenuous (these are full tdee). I decided I was somewhere between light and moderately active because I exercise about 4 hours a week even though the rest on the time I am quite sedentary except for some unavoidable walks and housework.
I just got my FitBit One though (today will be the 4th day and I love it!) and yesterday I didn't do any exercise, or work, but I did chores, some cleaning and also grocery shopping etc - a day of "normal" routine that I would have considered sedentary. Turns out I burned 2132 calories! And the other day I exercised for 30 minutes of stationary biking (I put my fitbit in my sock and the calorie count was in line with what I used to log on mfp, maybe a tad lower) plus a brisk walk another 30 minutes on top of my normal routine and ended up with 2422 kcal. Eeek!
Okay so my question is, should I go with the numbers my FitBit gives me, or with Scooby? Or do I choose a number in the middle? Thanks for reading!
So I calculated my TDEE numbers on the Scooby website and I got 1715 for sedentary, 1965 for lightly active, 2215 for moderate and 2465 strenuous (these are full tdee). I decided I was somewhere between light and moderately active because I exercise about 4 hours a week even though the rest on the time I am quite sedentary except for some unavoidable walks and housework.
I just got my FitBit One though (today will be the 4th day and I love it!) and yesterday I didn't do any exercise, or work, but I did chores, some cleaning and also grocery shopping etc - a day of "normal" routine that I would have considered sedentary. Turns out I burned 2132 calories! And the other day I exercised for 30 minutes of stationary biking (I put my fitbit in my sock and the calorie count was in line with what I used to log on mfp, maybe a tad lower) plus a brisk walk another 30 minutes on top of my normal routine and ended up with 2422 kcal. Eeek!
Okay so my question is, should I go with the numbers my FitBit gives me, or with Scooby? Or do I choose a number in the middle? Thanks for reading!
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Replies
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I am just waiting for my new jawbone up to come and have been wondering what People do in your situation too! Do you do a big jump in calories if that's what the tracker tells you you are burning? Or do a gradual increase?0
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bump....I have the same question!0
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Bump again!0
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Well, I get a weekly email from FitBit that gives me my average burned. It's pretty close to what Scooby and Fitness Frog both give me, and it's pretty steady week to week (around 2400). I guess I would tend to go with FitBit, since it's actually on you tracking. It seems that people have a tendency to either over or underestimate their exercise on the TDEE calculators; it sounds like you probably underestimated. I would go with FitBit.0
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Fitbit gives a decent estimate for sitting idle and walking, and I would even say it's on the lower side. However, be wary of the activity logger as it significantly overestmate calories for household chores (and possibly other activities too).0
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I eat by what my fitbit says, according to scooby I have to go up but I think that's due to busy normal daily activity. I checked out my hrm and fitbit accuracy via a link that heybales had and the fitbit was bang on! So I'm a fitbit convert 0
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So use the device that is designed to estimate your TDEE, or a 5 level scale where you pick the level based on hrs of exercise weekly?
Your routine is the kind it's good at estimating.
And in fact on the sedentary day, it was using your BMR value for awake and resting non-moving time, which is actually underestimated, because RestingMR is higher than BasalMR.
Be aware the spin bike could get rather off even with your inventive idea, since there is no impact it may think you are walking with a fast turn-over. So probably underestimated there too.
Ya, most everyone discovers their sedentary day is closer to Lightly Active even with no specific exercise.0 -
Thank you so much everyone! Alright, I'll go with the Fitbit then (well, after all that's what I purchased it for! lol). Heybales, The BMR / RMR difference is something I hadn't thought of. If I understand correctly, it is slightly underestimating when, for example, I am sitting reading a book / watching tv / doing nothing, because it logs the calories based on my BMR, the same I would burn if I were in a coma - which is not the case? That is interesting.
(On a side note, I found another online calculator that seems to give higher (=closer to Fitbit) numbers than Scooby (although I've read some comments of people saying that it tends to overestimate): http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
Or maybe it's just that with this one you don't choose a strict activity level, but rather log the actual hours/minutes of each activity, minimizing the risk of underestimating? Idk what you all think about this... anyway.)
Yeah, I know my *sock method* is not the best of accuracy, also because, I guess, a step is not the same as a revolution on the bike, but I find it easier to do so instead of logging the activity on the site each time, and it gives me a "reasonable" number anyway.
Thanks again!0 -
Thank you so much everyone! Alright, I'll go with the Fitbit then (well, after all that's what I purchased it for! lol). Heybales, The BMR / RMR difference is something I hadn't thought of. If I understand correctly, it is slightly underestimating when, for example, I am sitting reading a book / watching tv / doing nothing, because it logs the calories based on my BMR, the same I would burn if I were in a coma - which is not the case? That is interesting.
(On a side note, I found another online calculator that seems to give higher (=closer to Fitbit) numbers than Scooby (although I've read some comments of people saying that it tends to overestimate): http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
Or maybe it's just that with this one you don't choose a strict activity level, but rather log the actual hours/minutes of each activity, minimizing the risk of underestimating? Idk what you all think about this... anyway.)
Yeah, I know my *sock method* is not the best of accuracy, also because, I guess, a step is not the same as a revolution on the bike, but I find it easier to do so instead of logging the activity on the site each time, and it gives me a "reasonable" number anyway.
Thanks again!
That Spin sock idea is better than alternative, which is barely much logging if on your hip or arm.
That TDEE site is the same formula basis for the activity calculator in the spreadsheet actually. Full blown version on the Future You tab. Also use here in form I like better actually.
http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html
Easier version on the Simple Setup tab because Sedentary is assumed base level, you only add on from there. Plus, since you add weekly time to then average back out daily in Your Results, better balance. Because for vast majority, rarely is a workday the same as weekend day, so assuming 1 day activity is tad too much.
Correct on BMR/RMR understanding. I assumed since you can calculate BMR from RMR, they would do that, since they have you set the device for sleeping time, but know, BMR all the time.
So a truly sedentary day is really underestimated by probably 200 calories, the more you move the better accuracy it can get.
Several have been helping me test a method for the spreadsheet, and they timed a sitting block of time at work, and same calorie burn calculated out as Mifflin BMR, same as block of time at nite, or if device got left at home accidently.0 -
I had the same question. Thanks for the responses!0
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Fitbit gives a decent estimate for sitting idle and walking, and I would even say it's on the lower side. However, be wary of the activity logger as it significantly overestmate calories for household chores (and possibly other activities too).
This is true. I create my own exercises and set it at 1 calorie for 1 minute, and then just stick with my FitBit adjustment.0
