First day with FITBIT - HELP!!!

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islandlifenc
islandlifenc Posts: 107 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok, I'm trying to figure out how to optimize using my new Fitbit One with MFP. I didn't get it until this afternoon, but it was actually about 7pm before I put it on tonight. I wanted to see how it worked to track steps, stairs, etc..

It already had a certain number of calories estimated before I even put it on, which I assume was based on my setting it up with my age, height, etc.., and the time of day, but of course my step count only started when I put it on.

It's now 11:10pm and I have 2,339 steps registered — about 1,100 of which were a walk down to the beach access at the end of my street and back home again. I have it syncing to MFP and was curious about the negative adjustments thing, so I turned it on to see what would happen, and it has shown me MAJORLY (by about 177!) in the negative for my calories today.

Is the negative figure because I didn't put the thing on until so late this evening so it has no record of my steps from the time I got up this morning until then? Will I likely see a positive figure tomorrow?

Also, should I change the MFP activity level to SEDENTARY? I had done a search about the negative adjustment topic and see a lot of people saying you should set your MFP to SEDENTARY.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Replies

  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
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    I don't have the negative adjustments on.... I hate it. I have fitbit set to personalized & here set to very active cause that's what I am. Only use the calories from here, not fitbit, only log food & exercise here..... otherwise it would double up if you do it on there as well.

    Relax, it's hard to work out at 1st but then it's just simply making sure you get enough steps in. I really only use it for the steps & the small amount of calories it places back here for me to eat. Cause anything OVER the amount MFP have given you or you earn from exercise (logged exercise) will be placed in here from your Fitbit steps.
  • angelsingin4jc
    angelsingin4jc Posts: 34
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    I honestly have no idea about the FitBit. I have a Polar HRM so it tells me how many cals I burn when I work out. I basically only commented on this so you KNOW people are reading it. I just wish I had something valuable to add! <3
  • ShandaLeaS
    ShandaLeaS Posts: 136 Member
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    I just got mine last night and am giving it a few days of 'user/gadget' adjustment, LOL. I think as long as all of your logging is done in one place its ok but then again I may be wrong! Time shall tell!
  • Hair_gossip
    Hair_gossip Posts: 2 Member
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    I have had my fit bit zip for a few months now, love it but hate the Negative adjustment so turned it off. Noticed that every morning it it states 561 calories burned before even registering a single step. Also that it seems to be about 100 steps off. Only log food & exercise on MFP or it will doubleup. Good Luck!!
  • islandlifenc
    islandlifenc Posts: 107 Member
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    Thank you for taking the time to respond, ladies!

    This is helpful information. Now that it's just gone past midnight here on the east coast, I'm not looking at that ugly red number anymore.

    I will make sure I only track food and activity at MFP and only use the Fitbit to log my steps/stairs (and possibly sleep, not sure if I'll like that yet, though.)

    One of the main reasons I bought one is so that I can feel more confident about the activity level I should have MFP set at.

    Hopefully, tomorrow will give me some good data so that I can get a better idea of where I'm at and where I need to be.

    Thanks again, friends!
  • amandademanda1
    amandademanda1 Posts: 3 Member
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    I'm a little confused about this as well. I got my fitbit on Thursday and I have steps logged but it's still registering as 0 calories burned at the end of the day. What do I do?
  • epfenick
    epfenick Posts: 112 Member
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    I'm a little confused about this as well. I got my fitbit on Thursday and I have steps logged but it's still registering as 0 calories burned at the end of the day. What do I do?

    Is it syncing to your computer correctly? I just got mine on Thursday as well. I thought I had gone through all the steps correctly....setup my account, etc. When I logged into Fitbit on the computer, it had all my demographics, but none of the steps or calories I had burned. The Fitbit itself had calories, but they didn't seem to jive with what I know my BMR is. I decided to go through the initial setup again and this time it worked. Now I have lots of information and it all looks a LOT more accurate.
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
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    I'm a little confused about this as well. I got my fitbit on Thursday and I have steps logged but it's still registering as 0 calories burned at the end of the day. What do I do?


    IF it's stating that here that you have burned 0 calories it means you have not burnt more than MFP gave you at the start of the day & need to do more in order to see it as more than 0. I only get 0 from Fitbit when I've worked out more than Fitbit gave me and I log the workout here. You ONLY get credited for Fitbit calories when it's OVER the MFP calories.
  • amandademanda1
    amandademanda1 Posts: 3 Member
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    OK I think I got it now. The calculation was confusing me. At first I thought it wasn't syncing but it is. Thanks for the help guys!
  • MySlimGoals
    MySlimGoals Posts: 754 Member
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    Hi, I have the fitbit one. I have negative adjustments on and I have continued to lose weight. It's good because when you're sitting on your bum all day or not active enough it reduces your MFP calorie allowance so you eat less (to make up for not moving enough). I don't log any activity on MFP anymore unless I'm doing an exercise that the Fitbit is unable to detect (such as Spinning in the gym - it just thinks I"m sitting down for that one). I also log weight training on MFP because it has no idea what I'm doing. But when I"m out running and walking it does it's thing and talks to MFP which logs it all automatically when I come back to the computer. I log all my food on MFP as normal and it works great. I have both MFP and my Fitbit set to sedentary as well.

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