fitbit is an expensive pedometer imo

The fitbit adds in your steps and will adjust your calories on MFP if used properly. It's not going to record cycling since you're not stepping when you're cycling. If you want to record cycling calories, record them on MFP. If you do an exercise class, record it in MFP. The fitbit WILL automatically transfer your walking/running extra calories to MFP. Read through the fitbit user forums if you're confused about how it works, but it is not "bullocks".

MFP will "back out" your fitbit calories if you record other exercise in a time period where you had steps recorded in fitbit. Fitbit will also transfer IN your calories from exercise you record in MFP. In my experience, they work quite well together.

I do not really understand the OP and it seems like more research should have been done before they made this purchase. To get the most out of the fitbit logging and overriding the devices calories completely defeats the purpose of the device. Fitbit is just another way, or as i like to call it a second opinion about your Tdee. When I say TDEE i really mean just that your TOTAL energy expenditure, not your expenditure before exercise. Wear it very day and do not log activities or as i do for record keeping, you can record your activity as 1 calorie burned. Before the fitbit i was using myfitness pal and all the various equations to try to determine my TDEE. I got the fitbit to compare what It thought my tdee was vs what my other method of estimation would give me. When you try to override the fitbit because you think you burned more than it said you did, you are defeating the purpose of the device. It even says this in the manual. Obviously the fitbit is not going to be as accurate in calorie estimation for certain activities but then again what is? Hrms are great for cycling, fitbit one at least cannot be used for swimming, nothing seems that great for estimating calories burned by weightlifting. The point is you can compare your calorie burns using myfitness pal estimations + your hrm activities to what fitbit thinks your tdee and use it as a second opinion. Personally, I love the device. For me when staring out it was really impossible to tell if i was sedentary, lightly active, active etc. The calorie difference between these different settings is huge and guessing wrong either to low or to high can have a huge impact on achieving your goals. Like many i chose to be conservative and pick sendentary at first before i became more confident to change up to lightly active. The fitbit was my second opinion and wearing it has given me the confidence to adjust my calories up because i am much closer to "active" on most days. Is it perfect, and is it the best choice for a cyclist? Probably not, but for a walker or a runner or someone who just doesn't know how active they are at say, their workplace, this is great.

I hear what you are saying OP. I almost always have a negative calorie adjustment here on MFP no matter what exercise I do, except when I walk more than 7500 steps a day and get a workout in also.

Most days I walk less than or close to 5000 steps. I burn about 500 in fitness related activities. By the end of the day MFP will tell me I have earned and extra 350 or 400 cals (100-150) less than what I did in my fitness activity. But because I have a sedentary desk job that I do for about 8-10 hours a day, I dont earn my TDEE-500 cals a day (as I have mine set for).

I use my HRM to figure out my fitness cals burned and fitbit for the rest of the day.

I would get frustrated with it sometimes but its been about 6 weeks since I have had the fitbit. I have lost 8 lbs since I started wearing it and syncing it with MFP. I am a believer and will use this thing to help me achieve and maintain my goals.

It might just be a pedometer to you, but for me its a pedometer that helps me figure out how much I am supposed to eat, keeps track of my activity on the days that I am more active than usual, helps motivate me to be more active on the days that I am really inactive, and reminds me that if I want to eat more, I need to move more to I dont go to far over my daily allotment.

I'm set to sedentary on here and effectively block out 2 hours every Wednesday night when I'm in the pool (aqua aerobics and swim after) and log that here using the burn rate I would have got if I logged it through FitBit's site because I think that is more realistic than MFP's burn rates. I do the extra walk to and from the pool on top of my usual work day steps but yes instead of getting extra calories on top for that walking it does take some calories off of me because it had already guessed at my activity for the 2 hours the device was sat in my locker.

You can't expect step credit for time you have blocked out for cycling and surely you'd rather not overeat exercise calories?

I've noticed that a lot of people without a fitbit on sedentary will log every little bit of exercise they do for the extra calories not realising that sedentary does not mean inactive, it just means you go about your usual day but don't move about much at work! Don't be logging normal cleaning and cooking people!!

Fitbit allows you to 'cheat'. It is a con.
Use a HRM so you know exactly what cals u burn for activities not just walking to the kitchen to make toast. and adjust your diet accordingly in conjunction with your daily 'lose weight' calories target.

Just walking about and stuff are your 'bonus burns'; don't track those, get off your *kitten* and walk/run/swim/cycle.

Fitbit allows you to 'cheat'.

Not really. As I posted above, fitbit has me at only 1847 calories per day (on lazy day and this number hasn't changed since I got it), where MFP at the lowest setting has 2010 (this number is slowly decreasing, but the gap was even larger when I first got my fitbit). If I were to just go by MFP, I'd be over eating. I don't see how on earth, fit bit subtracting calories is "cheating." It also motivates me to move more. There are even days were I have done a 20 min workout and still end up with a negative adjustment from fitbit. The device is just cruel sometimes.

I'm confused by your last statement.

Just walking about and stuff are your 'bonus burns'

so walking shouldn't be counted

but then you say:

get off your *kitten* and walk

O.o But you just said walking is just a "bonus burn" and shouldn't be tracked....:indifferent:


When fitbit plus a HRM gives me around 200 less calories a day than MFP plus a HRM would, I really don't see how it is a "con" and "allows you to cheat"

Fitbit allows you to 'cheat'. It is a con.
Use a HRM so you know exactly what cals u burn for activities not just walking to the kitchen to make toast. and adjust your diet accordingly in conjunction with your daily 'lose weight' calories target.

Just walking about and stuff are your 'bonus burns'; don't track those, get off your *kitten* and walk/run/swim/cycle.

I use my HRM while working out, I also wear my Fitbit while working out. I actually get less burn with my HRM. SO I log that.


As for walking being an extra bonus burn....I walk over 20km a day..... bonus my *kitten*. I walk all day every day just because I can't sit down. Who the hell are you to tell people it's not exercise. JUST walking 6km to the supermarket & back IS exercise. JUST walking 23km to get mascara. JUST walking 17km to the further supermarket cause they dont have something at the closer one. JUST walking 15km to a DR appointment. JUST walking up 109 flights of stairs while waiting for appointment.

JUST walking is actually quite a goo idea. I started by walking, an during winter it's ALL I'm doing....Walk at Home is JUST walking.... tell those people that JUST walking is a bonus burn.


If it's working for people then why do you care what people do?

TAKING A LEAD FROM YOU HERE WITH INAPPROPRIATE USE OF CAPS.
THE DISTYANCES YOU ARE TALKING ARE NOT NORMAL WALKING DISTANCES; THESE SHOULD BE LOGGED IN ENDOMONOD OR WHATEVER, I AM ON ABOUT EVERYDAY WALKING AND STEPS...WHAT A DIV!

Last sentence was REALLY unnecessary!!

I can't speak to your experience, or settings, or what-have-you.... but for me personally I have had great success with my FitBit Zip. I use it in tandem with MFP and have been able to really monitor how active I am and adjust my daily nutrition goals accordingly. I know a coworker of mine (we have them thru a work program) had issues with his, but he found he had some settings input incorrectly and once he refreshed them he was able to use it properly. Good luck!