Need help figuring out your TDEE? Get a Fitbit.

It gave you 13000 steps during your bumpy car ride?? I haven't heard of it doing that many before!

well... it may be because i keep it clipped to my bra, so when things are bumpy um... yeah lol. I had the same thing in the fall when I went on an off-road jeep ride.

For those who commented that we can account for that later on by adjusting that number via the web site, yes absolutely, on those days when it's this obvious. but the fact that it's sensitive enough to give me 13000 for car ride, leaves me with the impression that there are other, more subtle inaccuracies on a normal day to day basis.

If you know when you are driving and see a major inaccuracy of 13000 steps during that time, it will be pretty obvious that it's picking up bumps, I think? If you know you sat from 9-12 P.M. and it says you walked 13000 steps, there is something wrong with the device.

yes, but if you read the end of what I wrote, I address that: the fact that it's sensitive enough to give me 13000 for car ride, leaves me with the impression that there are other, more subtle inaccuracies on a normal day to day basis.

I drive over an hour a day on back roads...your fitbit is broke if its giving you 13000 steps...mine don't. I have a fitbit and a HRM and I like my fitbit more...it clips on and no one knows I'm using it but me...I have been using it since February when my weight loss slowed for almost 2 months...I have loss weight steadily since I started using it...it is so accurate that I know mathamaticly within .2 of a pound how much I will weigh before I get on the scale...

I guess what I'm saying is call fitbit because yours is malfunctioning!!!

Do you eat exactly what it says you need to eat?

It gave you 13000 steps during your bumpy car ride?? I haven't heard of it doing that many before!

well... it may be because i keep it clipped to my bra, so when things are bumpy um... yeah lol. I had the same thing in the fall when I went on an off-road jeep ride.

For those who commented that we can account for that later on by adjusting that number via the web site, yes absolutely, on those days when it's this obvious. but the fact that it's sensitive enough to give me 13000 for car ride, leaves me with the impression that there are other, more subtle inaccuracies on a normal day to day basis.

If you know when you are driving and see a major inaccuracy of 13000 steps during that time, it will be pretty obvious that it's picking up bumps, I think? If you know you sat from 9-12 P.M. and it says you walked 13000 steps, there is something wrong with the device.

yes, but if you read the end of what I wrote, I address that: the fact that it's sensitive enough to give me 13000 for car ride, leaves me with the impression that there are other, more subtle inaccuracies on a normal day to day basis.

I drive over an hour a day on back roads...your fitbit is broke if its giving you 13000 steps...mine don't. I have a fitbit and a HRM and I like my fitbit more...it clips on and no one knows I'm using it but me...I have been using it since February when my weight loss slowed for almost 2 months...I have loss weight steadily since I started using it...it is so accurate that I know mathamaticly within .2 of a pound how much I will weigh before I get on the scale...

I guess what I'm saying is call fitbit because yours is malfunctioning!!!

Same here. Not a single step while driving.

And definitely call Fitbit. They have a ridiculously awesome customer service reputation. I've heard many stories of them sending out replacements for washed fitbits, lost fitbits, slightly wiggy fitbits, etc.

lol there is nothing wrong with it. this happened on 2 occasions, both in VERY bouncy vehicles. I was bringing up the extremest example of inaccuracy that I have experienced to back up my opinion that while it's a great tool it's may not always be spot on accurate (so maybe its off by only a few hundred, not 13000... that's still a lot when you are trying to lose) Because of this, I would not rely solely on the Fitbit for figuring out how much I should eat.

Even if everyone's steps were off by a few hundred per day (as I said, that's never happened to me - I've seen 20-30 steps a few times but never more than that, and I check frequently because the "steps while driving" thing is a known issue), the potential to be off by a few hundred steps really can't represent more than a small number of calories. I just spot checked a few days on my Fitbit dashboard, and compared a few days with a couple hundred steps difference, and my calorie burn is maybe 80 calories different between them one way or the other (in fact, one day with more steps even has less calories than another with less steps). I would think the potential to be off in accounting for your food is much greater than that., and I would argue that 80 calories, even 80 calories per day, isn't "a lot," compared to other methods.

Losing weight is not an exact science. No one is saying ANY method is 100% accurate. But having ANY picture of your daily activity is going to be more accurate than a shot in the dark. Relying solely on my Fitbit for calorie burns sure as heck seems a lot more accurate than relying solely on an online calculator to tell me how much to eat based on whether I *think* I'm "lightly active" or "moderately active."

To add, because I forgot - I would agree that it's possible an HRM can be more accurate for exercise alone, depending on the type of exercise you're doing. Or maybe not. But even if it is, how do you accurately gauge your burns for the other 163 hours per week? That's what the Fitbit excels at.

Thank you everyone for your input. I'm going to order the Flex, can't wait to start using it.

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Same here. Not a single step while driving.

And definitely call Fitbit. They have a ridiculously awesome customer service reputation. I've heard many stories of them sending out replacements for washed fitbits, lost fitbits, slightly wiggy fitbits, etc.
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I was actually going to post this when I finished the thread. I love my fitbit but recently noticed an issue with syncing. I have an old model (the Ultra) which isn't available anymore. Fitbit's customer service walked me through several potential fixes over a couple of days but no luck. So what did they do? They decided to ship me a new Fitbit ONE! I couldn't be happier with the service, especially since I bought mine through Amazon months ago and at a discounted price

I have a fitbit and a heart rate monitor and between the two I know exactly how many calories I burn each day. The fitbit measures calories burned by movement and also includes just being alive. Also, when I use my heart rate monitor it blocks out the calories from the fitbit (when you specify the time you start your workout and how many minutes you worked out) so it's very accurate. I have found that MFP over estimates how many calories I burn during exercise. Having both a fitbit and a heart rate monitor is the best way to go!!

I actually bought a FitBit One after reading this thread last week. I had been planning on waiting for the Flex, but when I got the email from FitBit that it was available, it was already sold out in my area. So I decided on the One, and I'm glad I did. I love it! And I really love that it has a display. I use a Droid that doesn't sync, so I can only sync with my computer or my iPad. Not being able to see my progress throughout the day would drive me crazy with the Flex.

I'm really enjoying how the FitBit syncs with MFP. I burn a whole lot more calories than I thought I did just through my regular daily activity. I have a very sedentary job, but as it turns out, I'm not that sedentary after all!

I highly recommend this gadget!

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I'm thinking about getting one. The Flex seems best for me but it isn't available in Germany just yet. The website won't give me a price yet, either. Can you tell me how much you guys paid for it?

The Flex costs the same as the other FitBits: roughly $100 on Amazon (at least here in the U.S.).

I actually bought a FitBit One after reading this thread last week. I had been planning on waiting for the Flex, but when I got the email from FitBit that it was available, it was already sold out in my area. So I decided on the One, and I'm glad I did. I love it! And I really love that it has a display. I use a Droid that doesn't sync, so I can only sync with my computer or my iPad. Not being able to see my progress throughout the day would drive me crazy with the Flex.

I'm really enjoying how the FitBit syncs with MFP. I burn a whole lot more calories than I thought I did just through my regular daily activity. I have a very sedentary job, but as it turns out, I'm not that sedentary after all!

I highly recommend this gadget!

I did too! Unfortunately for me, I'm a whole lot MORE sedentary than I thought I was.....but at least with the FitBit, I know for sure and can take steps (literally) to be more active.

I love my Fitbit One. I purchased the Ultra in Feb 2012 and I upgraded to the One last fall.

Here's my Fitbit story.

I'm a bit of a data geek so I took a little time when I first got my Fitbit to estimate my stride length in order to get the best estimate of miles walked. I'm walker and especially love walking half marathons. Last summer, I tripped over an old tree stump and from that single accident developed severe arthritis in my right hip. My walking and movement in general has plummeted since then.

I met with an orthopedic surgeon on Monday to discuss treatment options and showed him my graph of my Fitbit data over the last 15 months. It showed I was walking 5.5 miles a day on average in Feb 2012 and am down to 2.3 miles a day now. I could tell the graph made an impact on him. He's recommending me for hip replacement surgery.

I will never be without my Fitbit.

Seriously thinking about getting one, so this may help make decision. Thanks!

So my month graph says I burned 60000 cals in the last month and ate 31000 calories (I'm doing 5:2). Now that I'm maintaining, MFP has my TDEE as 1600. I'm trying to stick to that, don't eat my exercise cals. Does that sound about right?

Just a reminder in case it matters to you (because it does to me) but the Flex doesn't count stairs climbed...

...and based on above, may not count steps when you aren't swinging your arms.

So I get how it adjusts MFP, but does it save those numbers from day to day? Suppose on Monday, I should eat 2000, and on Tuesday I should eat 2100. When Tuesday adjusts, does it change Monday's goal as well? Or at the end of the week will MFP tell me I am way under/over?