Fit bit and calories

farroz
farroz Posts: 51 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I was wondering if those who use fit bit find it accurate enough with adding exercise calories. I know I did not get to eat as much when i was manually entering my exercise and now I am afraid that I may be overeating.

Replies

  • AmandaTWaH
    AmandaTWaH Posts: 181 Member
    It seems to be very accurate. You only need to add in calories from things besides walking/running. The fitbit adjusts for you. It may seem like you get to eat more because the fitbit accounts for all of your activity, not just your workouts. When you get up to go to the kitchen, those steps burn calories too.
  • RetiredAndLovingIt
    RetiredAndLovingIt Posts: 1,395 Member
    But this am I discovered it takes off calories burned as the night goes if you are not active. At 8pm last night I had 421 exercise calories showing on MFP, at 10 it said 404, went to bed about 10:30, this am before syncing it was 295 and after syncing was 273 exercise calories for the day yesterday. So if I am eating my exercise calories, I went over by 148? Yikes! But even with that I love the fitbit!
  • farroz
    farroz Posts: 51 Member
    But this am I discovered it takes off calories burned as the night goes if you are not active. At 8pm last night I had 421 exercise calories showing on MFP, at 10 it said 404, went to bed about 10:30, this am before syncing it was 295 and after syncing was 273 exercise calories for the day yesterday. So if I am eating my exercise calories, I went over by 148? Yikes! But even with that I love the fitbit!


    I noticed this too and so I pretend I didnt exercise and followed MFP calories for the day
  • chickenz
    chickenz Posts: 101 Member
    I feel it overestimates excercise calories, not good!
  • piinchi
    piinchi Posts: 172 Member
    I'm still figuring out mine, but what seems to work for me now is using MFP to log food, but to use the FitBit site to log exercise. You can use the FitBit to log an "activity", and it does pretty good tracking things like elliptical, walking, and running. I separately log strength training. The fitBit calories carry over to MFP, but I go by the FitBit site to see my "stats" - calories, floors climbed, steps, etc. I just have to use both and my own common sense! I love my FitBit though, I am so much more active with it. Its like a nagging friend telling me to walk 1000 more steps or go walk up and down the stairs more :laugh:
  • Krisstah
    Krisstah Posts: 136 Member
    I was wondering if those who use fit bit find it accurate enough with adding exercise calories. I know I did not get to eat as much when i was manually entering my exercise and now I am afraid that I may be overeating.

    mine isnt and ive been trying to find out why for days.. when i subtract my estimate of MFPs guess from the calories burned on my fitbit, its 300-400 difference and ive been getting adjustments of 600-1000 calories and i cant understand why
  • Krisstah
    Krisstah Posts: 136 Member
    But this am I discovered it takes off calories burned as the night goes if you are not active. At 8pm last night I had 421 exercise calories showing on MFP, at 10 it said 404, went to bed about 10:30, this am before syncing it was 295 and after syncing was 273 exercise calories for the day yesterday. So if I am eating my exercise calories, I went over by 148? Yikes! But even with that I love the fitbit!


    you can turn calorie estimation off at fitbit.com in the settings
  • farroz
    farroz Posts: 51 Member
    But this am I discovered it takes off calories burned as the night goes if you are not active. At 8pm last night I had 421 exercise calories showing on MFP, at 10 it said 404, went to bed about 10:30, this am before syncing it was 295 and after syncing was 273 exercise calories for the day yesterday. So if I am eating my exercise calories, I went over by 148? Yikes! But even with that I love the fitbit!


    you can turn calorie estimation off at fitbit.com in the settings

    I think I might do that but at the same time I got the fitbit to track my exercise, I just dont like it when it adjust my calories so that it looks like I have more calories to eat. I guess I tried to not eat my exercise calories before and now I have been.


    I think I figured out what might work, I have changed my food plan on fitbit to say I am sedentary so that it starts my calories off low.
  • heathermang
    heathermang Posts: 1
    I read on the fitbit forums that it helps if you set your settings to sedentary. Then you'll get back your calories if you're active but it won't overestimate. Not sure if that's right, but it seems to be for me so far. I've lost nearly 15 lbs in the past 2.5 months with it.
  • nadsazombie
    nadsazombie Posts: 61
    mine is very accurate. Even when you read up on using both MFP and a fitbit it says to log everything with MFP. They sync together. Its when you start over thinking things that you mess it up. Trust me I did this also when I first got mine. As long as your activity level is accurate and you synce everyday there should be no problem. Ive been leaving my fitbit alone (except for wearing it of course) and using MFP to log everything and ive lost 15 pounds and my husband has lost 20 pounds in about 2 months
  • loubeth22
    loubeth22 Posts: 72
    I think its actually MFP that overestimates.

    Fitbit gives me a estimate of about 1800-2000 calories for the whole day when I wake up - based on my past activity. I've had days when I have had a total of maybe 30 minutes really intense activity and burned 200+calories and then not moved much later. Fitbit gives me the true amount burend that day of BMR plus exercise. MFP gives me BMR+20% + exercise.

    When I got my fitbit I went from losing nothing because I tried to stick to what MFP which cous be up to 500 calories more than I was actually burning which negated all my efforts to counting calories here and then working out until fitbit said I was in the green for the day.

    Same deficit of 500 on both sites. Daily difference on MFP can be 500-700 more than Fitbit
  • farroz
    farroz Posts: 51 Member
    Thanks everyone

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