Bodymedia syncing = awesome! Now, for the housekeeping ...

brits111383
brits111383 Posts: 55
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi, all!

Does anyone else use Bodymedia and was floored today that we could finally sync up our data? Yea!

It now seems like I have waaaay too many calories remaining in MFP for the day. Has anyone done the legwork yet to figure out what adjustments we make on MFP to get our calorie counts back in-line?

If I don't hear back, I'll investigate and report back. Just didn't want to re-invent the wheel.

Replies

  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    MFP just bases your calories on formula. your individual needs might be more or less, so i wouldnt worry about having to have the numbers 100% match up unless you aren't losing anything (weight or inches) or dropping too much weight
  • brits111383
    brits111383 Posts: 55
    Hi, yes -- I adjusted my calories from the MFP default a while ago (1,550 calories a day net versus 1,200 net), but as of today with syncing with Bodymedia's activity manager the calories are way, way off.

    Right now, my daily goal is listed at 2,401 calories. I didn't go in and program that; it's something new with syncing with Bodymedia's activity manager. I've eaten 935 calories today and did some lifting, but MFP is telling me I have 1,466 calories left to eat today. Wishful thinking ... but no.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    Hi, yes -- I adjusted my calories from the MFP default a while ago (1,550 calories a day net versus 1,200 net), but as of today with syncing with Bodymedia's activity manager the calories are way, way off.

    Right now, my daily goal is listed at 2,401 calories. I didn't go in and program that; it's something new with syncing with Bodymedia's activity manager. I've eaten 935 calories today and did some lifting, but MFP is telling me I have 1,466 calories left to eat today. Wishful thinking ... but no.

    2401-935 = 1466

    ETA: ahh i think i see what you mean.. does your body media know that you're trying to lose weight? is that 2401 number your maintenance number or does it factor your weight loss goals in?
  • apatheticLog
    apatheticLog Posts: 24 Member
    if you look under the exercise tab, youll notice that mfp adds BMF's calorie adjustment with the cals you burned.

    im wondering if we should delete that everytime it pops up?
  • brits111383
    brits111383 Posts: 55
    For tracking everything in MFP, it wouldn't be good if the Bodymedia burn counts were lumping together metabolic/sitting-around/calories-from-just-staying-alive burn into account along with our additional physical activity. I'm not sure if this is the case or not. MFP is showing a Bodymedia adjustment of 934 calories for me for today. I lifted weights today only, which I would normally account for 200-300 calories. The adjustment is a lot -- 934 calories would be a hard 2-hour bike ride with my hard-core cycling friends or a hilly 8-mile run. Yet, I'm pretty sure I burned more than 934 calories just staying alive pumping my blood through my veins. I've plugged in the Bodymedia unit about four times today to see if that Bodymedia adjustment would change, and it hasn't.

    Hmm, at least all of the nutritional information gets over to the Bodymedia Activity Manager. If we can't resolve the Bodymedia adjustments, then at least we can use Bodymedia to track the deficit. We'll just have to throw our end-of-day numbers out the window for MFP.
  • brits111383
    brits111383 Posts: 55
    Also, meshashesha20, you're right! My MFP calorie counts are thrown off due to the Bodymedia number not taking into account weight loss, only maintenance.

    * I am looking at my Bodymedia Activity Manager, and it's saying that I'm expected to burn 2,406 calories today.
    * Instead of seeing the programmed 1,550 calories net on the MFP Food Diary Daily Goals, I am seeing 2,406 calories.
    * Therefore, MFP is going to be overstating my remaining calories by whatever deficit I want to run.
    * I'm thinking I should be subtracting 250-500 calories from the remaining calorie balance provided by MFP in order to get a healthy deficit.

    EDIT: I can probably correct everything on a daily basis by entering deficit calories as a meal. Whew! Fixed, I think!

    SECOND EDIT: No ... adding quick calories to account for my deficit will throw off the calorie count moved from MFP to Bodymedia ... :(
    I think the 934 calories is coming from taking my 1,510 calories net goal per day + 934 calories adjustment from Bodymedia = 2,444 ~= 2,406 expected calories burned today.
  • Hannah_Banana
    Hannah_Banana Posts: 1,242 Member
    Yes, I'm having the same problem.

    Until this is fixed, I am just planning on doing it the old fashioned way (logging anything over what MFP expects me to burn as exercise calories). It still syncs the food you input with bodymedia, so it's doing half the work. :smile:
  • Gionni
    Gionni Posts: 77 Member
    I noticed the same thing! I got a 1800 calorie adjustment yesterday. I realized that BodyMedia gives a adjustment based on their estimate of how many calories it thinks you are going to burn each day. For example I started today with a 1600 calorie adjustment. I took that number and added it to my current MFP calorie goal of 1860 (1860+1600) and got 3460, which is what the BodyMedia Activity manager says is my "estimated calorie burn" for the day. If you keep syncing, through out the day, this number will increase (or decrease) based on your level of activity. LOG INTO the BodyMedia Activity Manager (on a computer) and look at your summary to see what I mean.

    THE BIGGEST ISSUE is that the BodyMedia sync does not account for the fact that we are trying to lose weight. If I want to lose 2 pounds a week I need to be deficit 1000 calories. If the integration was working correctly, instead of getting 1600 (my adjustment this morning), I should have started the day with a 600 adjustment (basically the difference between the BodyLink estimate and my MFP goal INCLUDING a 1000 calorie deficit).

    HERE IS MY SOLUTION I raised my MFP goal by 1000 calories. It sucks but its the only way (right now ) to be somewhat accurate. After I raised my goal in MFP, my adjustment decreased to 600 calories (where is should be based on my BodyMedia estimate). So unfortunately I can only use MFP as a calorie logger now because all the reports are now inaccurate. BodyMedia does fill that void to an extent, they have awesome and very detailed reports BUT I hope they fix this so I can go back to using MFP like I am used to.
  • KabbyGU
    KabbyGU Posts: 158 Member
    Yep...figured I wouldn't be the only one on here going...???
    Love the idea, just needs a few tweaks in the formula!
  • brits111383
    brits111383 Posts: 55
    Okay, folks! I think I have it. What you should do is take your BodyMedia calorie adjustment in the Exercise Diary, open it up and subtract your desired deficit. The BodyMedia calorie adjustment is based on maintenance calories, not weight loss goal categories.

    For example, yesterday my BodyMedia calorie adjustment was 930 calories. I opened up this entry and subtracted 500 calories, making the Bodymedia calorie adjustment 430 calories.

    I think this method should work without disrupting the syncing between both programs. I'll report back if I discover problems, though.
  • brits111383
    brits111383 Posts: 55
    I think this method of subtracting the Bodymedia calorie adjustment by your desired deficit should work.

    These are my numbers for yesterday (Tuesday)

    MFP Exercise Diary
    BodyMedia calorie adjustment 930 calories - 500 desired calorie deficit (I manually removed these calories) = 430 calories

    MFP Food Diary
    Totals 1,823 cals
    Your Daily Goal 1,940 cals
    Remaining 117 cals
    (500 calorie desired deficit I manually removed from the Bodymedia calorie adjustment in the MFP exercise diary + 117 calories remaining in the MFP Food Diary = 617 calories in deficit)

    Bodymedia Activity Manager
    Calories burned 2,440 calories
    Calories consumed 1,822 calories
    Calorie balance 618 calorie deficit

    One calorie off can't be that bad! I'm wondering if there are rounding differences between the two programs that cause this issue.
  • _Kitten_Kate
    _Kitten_Kate Posts: 520 Member
    bump...
    going to come back after ive worn mine to see how to tweak...
  • BarbellCowgirl
    BarbellCowgirl Posts: 1,271 Member
    Thanks for this! I've been trying to figure out how to use both to get the best calorie adjustment .
  • kyunda
    kyunda Posts: 340 Member
    bumping for my synch later
  • Gizziemoto
    Gizziemoto Posts: 430 Member
    bump for reading
  • Gizziemoto
    Gizziemoto Posts: 430 Member
    I am just going to keep eating my goal 1700 here and 1730 on BMF. This site addes in your exercise calories. I want to lose weight not maintain, which this is set at. So if I burn more than I eat good for me.
  • KabbyGU
    KabbyGU Posts: 158 Member
    Read on another post from an MFP guy that they are working on this problem.
  • shorty35565
    shorty35565 Posts: 1,425 Member
    Nothing is even happening on my mfp or BM after I synced them :|
  • Gionni
    Gionni Posts: 77 Member
    I got email from support this morning.

    Hello Walter,

    Our team has found a bug that we believe is affecting our calorie estimates for Striiv, MIO, and BodyMedia users. We're working to address this and hope to see the estimated calories come down to expected values in the next day or two.

    So sorry for any confusion. We'd love to have had all our ducks in a row at launch, but some issues only come to light once folks are actually using new features. We hope to have everything ship-shape for you very soon.

    Regards,
    Tom
    MyFitnessPal Staff
  • Gionni
    Gionni Posts: 77 Member
    Ok guys.. it appears to be fixed. NOW I get an adjustment in MFP based on my MFP maintenance number minus my BodyMedia Activity Management calorie estimate. In my case (2780-3282=502). I do see it adjusting properly now !! Good luck!!
  • butterflygurl89
    butterflygurl89 Posts: 45
    Yes, I'm having the same problem.

    Until this is fixed, I am just planning on doing it the old fashioned way (logging anything over what MFP expects me to burn as exercise calories). It still syncs the food you input with bodymedia, so it's doing half the work. :smile:

    Thanks for this note! I just ordered a bodymedia today and now I'll know how to track everything when it arrives.
  • cloudwatcher7
    cloudwatcher7 Posts: 4
    how do you use the body media?? I am starting out and would loe love the help

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