Confused on calorie burned

Eeyoresbabe
Eeyoresbabe Posts: 3
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all,

I am confused how the calorie burned works. I have a FitBit that I linked up. What confuses me is that MFP has a set amount for me to burn daily then my FB calories are subtracted from that, and the difference is my calorie burnd. Example if FB says I burned 2717, MFP says I needed to burned a baseline of 2467, it' difference of 250 extra calories added to count. I get this ok.

Here is where I get confused If I don't use my FB and just enter in my calories burned and exercises, the full amount is subtracted from my food. I.e. If I worked out and burned 100 calories swimming. The entire 100 is subtracted.

Why the difference? Shouln't there be a baseline built into MFB for entering calories like in scenario one?

Thanks to anyone that understands what I trying to ask!
Holly:smile:

Replies

  • herebeeri
    herebeeri Posts: 39 Member
    I don't use fit bit myself but my understanding is that it's tracking your total burned calories for the day whether you're just going about your daily routine, sitting down, or exercising. It sounds like MFP understands this so it offsets the whole lot against your calories consumed. However the standard way that MFP works is to give you a calorie allowance that covers all your usual daily activity (the just being alive, going to work etc bit) with a deficit so you lose weight, but then allows you extra calories to compensate for exercise done on top of that. So with the fitbit way you're telling MFP that your burned all your standard calories + 250 extra whereas the standard MFP way just assumes you're burning all your standard calories every day and the exercise calories you add are therefore always extra.

    Does that make sense?
  • Eeyoresbabe
    Eeyoresbabe Posts: 3
    Thank you.
    I still don't get the difference, unless it's showing differently as I have the fitbit linked. I think I will sit back down with my friends and their accounts and see how their tracking looks based on mine.

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