Zumba calories burned...MFP vs Fitbit One

stefaniem76
stefaniem76 Posts: 37 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I really appreciate any clarity here. I wear a Fitbit One tracker that I sync to MFP. If I manually enter my 1 hour of Zumba into MFP it says I burn 849 calories. Yet my Fitbit One says I'm only burning 529... This is such a huge difference, so I'm so confused. I definitely go mid-high intensity. Anyone else have this problem? How did you figure it out? An I may e doing something wrong with the Fitbit One?

Thank you!

Replies

  • xclassiqx
    xclassiqx Posts: 28 Member
    Hi,
    I would definitely go with the Fitbit estimate. I do zumba and burn around 400-500+ calories for a 50 minute workout according to my Polar monitor. MFP tends to overestimate quite a bit.
  • stefaniem76
    stefaniem76 Posts: 37 Member
    Thanks :). My concern is that I have always underestimated my calories burned and didn't eat enough to lose weight, with such a big difference I didn't want to eat too much or too little lol
  • lisadwelley
    lisadwelley Posts: 16 Member
    Go with the fitbit for sure. My last three Zumba classes burned 430, 421, and 520.
  • stefaniem76
    stefaniem76 Posts: 37 Member
    If you don't mind me asking, what is your weight? I'm 210 pounds and every site I entered my weight it's between 700-900 calories burned. About 500 for 150lbs.
  • lisadwelley
    lisadwelley Posts: 16 Member
    I currently weigh 247.

    Also, I use a Polar heart rate monitor....so my numbers are very accurate.
  • moondawg14
    moondawg14 Posts: 249 Member
    Generally, it's usually better to trust "boots on the ground" (ie, your physical device that was there during your exercise.) rather than an estimate from a software application.

    When you put in "45 minutes of exercise" an application assumes you were hard at it for 45 minutes... while your fitbit realizes that you stopped to tie your shoe, stopped to get a drink of water, stopped to listen to your instructor.... etc.
  • mimstero
    mimstero Posts: 119 Member
    Go with your Fitbit for sure. MFP greatly exaggerates calories burned. I used think that I was burning tons of calories riding my bike at at pretty good pace, but even at that, it's only 5 or so calories a minute per my heartrate monitor. MFP says I burn like 10.....not!
  • silken555
    silken555 Posts: 477 Member
    Is Fitbit a good monitor? I've been inundated with different brands and I just don't know what to choose...O_o

    Also, are there any that can go in the water?
  • AlyssaJoJo
    AlyssaJoJo Posts: 449 Member
    When I walk I wear my fitbit one and my HRM. My HRM always has me burning more than my fitbit.
  • meredithkrueger
    meredithkrueger Posts: 38
    I have a Polar FT4 (watch with chest strap) and it is AWESOME!!! I am 211 lbs and did 48 minutes of Zumba tonight and burned 349 calories. I have noticed that the watches without the chest strap overestimate the calories burned, some by double the amount.
  • browneyes97
    browneyes97 Posts: 98
    I agree, go with the Fitbit. I have a Bodybugg and burn about 600 calories for an hour of zumba. I weigh 200lbs.
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
    Im 193..my polar hrm says I burn between 500 and 800 calz per 50 minutes of zumba..just depends on the instructor.
  • Bettyeditor
    Bettyeditor Posts: 327 Member
    I really appreciate any clarity here. I wear a Fitbit One tracker that I sync to MFP. If I manually enter my 1 hour of Zumba into MFP it says I burn 849 calories. Yet my Fitbit One says I'm only burning 529... This is such a huge difference, so I'm so confused. I definitely go mid-high intensity. Anyone else have this problem? How did you figure it out? An I may e doing something wrong with the Fitbit One?

    Thank you!

    A Fitbit is only a glorified pedometer. Its designed to capture daily activity, NOT workout activity. It only captures steps and stairs. It can't possibly know how hard you are working or how high your heart rate goes. People who wear a Fitbit use it to give them their BMR+NEAT burn every day, but in order to add your workout burn onto that to get a true TDEE for the day, you have to log your workouts separately. Most people who wear a Fitbit use a HRM for workouts, then log the HRM calories in MFP. If you have Fitibit and MFP accounts connected, then Fitbit will alter its record for the day with the HRM calories that you logged.

    I started with a Fitbit, but now I wear a BodyMedia Fit too. The BMF has sensors against my skin so it can measure how hard I work via body heat and sweat levels. So I don't have to have a separate HRM in addition.
  • pr1ncessg1ory
    pr1ncessg1ory Posts: 3 Member
    I may be the only one here to say I go with MFP over fitbit Zip. After my 50 minute Zumba class (and I am high intensity) my fit bit only says 140 cal burned, MPF says 593, which is closer to my HR monitor. I'm not sure why my fitbit Zip is so low, but so far I'm not really impressed with using it. It doesn't give a very accurate estimate of calories burned in my opinion. I guess, since it is only taking number of steps her minute into account, it can't really factor in the additional movement, arms, hip shaking and jumping around, etc.
  • scrapjen
    scrapjen Posts: 387 Member
    Wow - that is low. How many steps are you getting? I started Zumba this year and was initially disappointed after hearing people say "Oh I burned 600+ calories in my hour class". I wear my Polar HRM and my Fitbit and always compare the stats. Sometimes they are close, sometimes they are over 100 calories apart. My Fitbit is pretty much always higher than my Polar. One time, my Polar only gave me 175 calories for an hour class!

    Who knows what estimates are correct... I keep an album of all my Zumba stats, it's just interesting to look back and compare all the numbers (steps, minutes "in the zone", calories) ... it can vary SO much, but then again the classes and my efforts vary as well. I've included the link if you anyone wanted to peek ...
    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1416235018633723.1073741841.100007417148882&type=1&l=405a1022cb

    I was happy today & yesterday, when both my Fitbit and HRM estimated over 400+ for my hour of zumba ... not always the case!
  • codycsweet
    codycsweet Posts: 1,019 Member
    I really appreciate any clarity here. I wear a Fitbit One tracker that I sync to MFP. If I manually enter my 1 hour of Zumba into MFP it says I burn 849 calories. Yet my Fitbit One says I'm only burning 529... This is such a huge difference, so I'm so confused. I definitely go mid-high intensity. Anyone else have this problem? How did you figure it out? An I may e doing something wrong with the Fitbit One?

    Thank you!

    A Fitbit is only a glorified pedometer. Its designed to capture daily activity, NOT workout activity. It only captures steps and stairs. It can't possibly know how hard you are working or how high your heart rate goes. People who wear a Fitbit use it to give them their BMR+NEAT burn every day, but in order to add your workout burn onto that to get a true TDEE for the day, you have to log your workouts separately. Most people who wear a Fitbit use a HRM for workouts, then log the HRM calories in MFP. If you have Fitibit and MFP accounts connected, then Fitbit will alter its record for the day with the HRM calories that you logged.

    I started with a Fitbit, but now I wear a BodyMedia Fit too. The BMF has sensors against my skin so it can measure how hard I work via body heat and sweat levels. So I don't have to have a separate HRM in addition.

    Yes it is a pedometer however when I compare my calorie burn with my hrm the calorie burns are really close so for me the Fitbit is a good burn indicator much better than MFP generic burns. I'm 194 lbs 5 ft 3 in and my burns for a 55 min class are anywhere from 425 to 530 depending on the instructor and intensity. And for me it is soo much more than a "glorified pedometer". It's a great motivator and realization on how little I was moving.
  • favoronme
    favoronme Posts: 8 Member
    i do Zumba almost ever Monday If my work schedule permitted it i would be doing it 3 days a wek which would really help my weigh and help tone my flabs.shout out to Bryon Mr Zumba at Kroc center

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