Fitbit help?

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iris8pie
iris8pie Posts: 224 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
hey gang, I just got a fitbit, and I dont really understand it yet. I was at work today and it says I burned 2183 calories while I was at work... do I enter that in my exercize ? or does that include my BMI?

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  • stuntpilot51
    stuntpilot51 Posts: 53 Member
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    No, that's your total calories burned for the day, including your bmi

    If you have it synced with MFP you will see the exersise calories at the bottom of your food diary and automatically add the extra calories to your diary

    Set MFP to sedentary and Fitbit will do all the calcs for you.
  • iris8pie
    iris8pie Posts: 224 Member
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    thank you
  • cmor1701d
    cmor1701d Posts: 4 Member
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    Be aware that syncing does not always work. Mine was doing fine till I lost my original Fitbit on vacation. I bought a replacement and linked that. It was syncing fine for 2 days, but not since.

    Lots of messages about the sync problem, but no one is sure whether the problem is with MFP or the Fitbit site.
  • 2hobbit1
    2hobbit1 Posts: 820 Member
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    @cmort1701d
    For fitbit to MFP sync issues I find that sometimes it can be fixed if you go to both sited and delink them. then go back on each site and relink them. You do need to do both sides of the equation, I found that if you only do one side then it doesn't seem to help.

    Good luck - I'm liking mine - motivates me to get moving.
  • 2youngatheart
    2youngatheart Posts: 338 Member
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    Bump
  • iris8pie
    iris8pie Posts: 224 Member
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    i dont get how to syn them so I was just going to enter the info myself....should i minus my BMI from the total number of calories burned?
  • verapamil
    verapamil Posts: 94
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    I think you mean BMR (basal metabolic rate-- calories you burn just by existing) not BMI (body mass index--based on weight and height). But the fitbit counts the calories you're burning even when you're just sleeping. When I use mine when I'm sleeping, it still says I burned like 400ish calories just by being alive. If you sync it with the fitbit website and mfp, it won't count all the calories your fitbit says, just the extra you burned (right now my fitbit says I've burn 1005 calories today (I've done nothing except sit on my couch, watch bad movies and make breakfast) but mfp still says "0" because I think it has to get over your BMR before it starts counting burned calories). Just be careful about double logging things. I never log my running/walking on mfp because my fitbit enters the calories burnt for me.

    "Be aware that syncing does not always work. Mine was doing fine till I lost my original Fitbit on vacation. I bought a replacement and linked that. It was syncing fine for 2 days, but not since"
    Try cancelling your permission for mfp to sync with fitbit (on the mfp site) and then re-do it. That worked with mine when it wouldn't sync for a few days. But I also never lost mine so I don't know if that will definately help but since it worked for a few days after you got your new one, I would think it would.
  • 2hobbit1
    2hobbit1 Posts: 820 Member
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    Go to the myfitnespal help page there is a link on fitbit integration - it will talk you through it.
    Also on the fitbit site look at the application gallery under products there are a bunch of neat little apps you can download.
    You will need to get the myfitnesspal app and then give permission for it to access your fitbit account.

    It can take some flailing around both sites to find it. - a bit of a pain - I have to refind things each time I need to redo the link!
  • stuntpilot51
    stuntpilot51 Posts: 53 Member
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    This page here.

    Put the fitbit into the base station and click the green button on the page

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps/show/fitbit
  • iris8pie
    iris8pie Posts: 224 Member
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    you guys are so wonderful, thanks for taking your time to help me. and yes, I think i was thinking BMR not BMI I am such a newb! :P i need a fitbit for dummies book.
  • 2hobbit1
    2hobbit1 Posts: 820 Member
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    The calories burned on your fitbit is you TDEE - your total daily energy expenditure. that means both you BMR (what you burn if you were in a coma) + your daily activity including your exercise.
    To lose consistently you should be eating your TDEE - 20%.
    If you do that then you exercise cals are factored in. Try seeing what you get for a week or so of your normal activities. Once yo have the average -then see what 20% fewer calories are. That would be your daily target. You would not add in exercise calories unless you did something way beyond what you normally do.

    If you do it this way then your net will cycle around the average on your rest days you use the extra calories to help repair/rebuild and on exercise days you deficit is a little bigger - the average over the week will remain in the range that you want.

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