My fitbit just came in the mail

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micqs
micqs Posts: 186 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi guys! Looking for users who have a HRM and a fitbit. Since the fitbit automatically syncs up with MFP how does general exercise work? I wear a heart rate monitor during my exercises to get a better idea of how hard I'm pushing and a more accurate calorie burn than MFP predetermined numbers. How does logging my workouts work with the auto sync of the fitbit (flex)? Do I take the fitbit off during my workouts, not use my HRM, use both?

Thank you in advance!!

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  • notreallychris
    notreallychris Posts: 501 Member
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    I have a fitbit flex. any calories burned over your BMR will automatically sync with Myfitnesspal after you connect them. I think if you were to manually add an exercise, it will deduct from your Fitbit calories burned (so it doesn't deduct double the calories), I think!
  • STrooper
    STrooper Posts: 659 Member
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    I have both. I allow Fitbit to take care of the general walking stuff. For more intense workouts or workouts where Fitbit does not really work all that well, I use my HRM.

    The only thing to be careful about is how you link stuff. There are some programs that can link to both Fitbit and to MFP. Beware of the double count because you can end up with that situation. For example, I use Digifit's iCardio with my HRM (most of the time). It also reports directly to Fitbit and to MFP. Fitbit will see the data from both and double count (and add back the calories. Either link it to only one program or go delete the information in one of them. iCardio gives a more complete dataset to Fitbit so I typically delete the MFP report from the Fitbit activities so that Fitbit reports back correctly to MFP.

    Hope you enjoy it. I purchased my Fitbit before moving on to an HRM.
  • Bekahmardis
    Bekahmardis Posts: 602 Member
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    I have a FitBit Flex as well. When I first got them sync'd up, I set up my FitBit like I normally would using their calculations and based on what I wanted to lose. Then I set my MFP goal to just above my BMR. My FitBit then added in all the extra calories that I burned from exercise and I ate them all back. I only had about 7 pounds left to lose but it only took me another month and a half (going slowly and carefully) to finish that. I've been on Maintenance since June and it's working fabulously for me! I currently have my MFP goal set to my "sedentary" level and my FitBit is now set to "Personalized" so it takes the past 30 days into consideration as it figures out what I should be eating versus what I have been eating and my weight. It's awesome!!
  • micqs
    micqs Posts: 186 Member
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    As far as I know, my HRM does not sync with anything. If it does, I don't know about it. Lol. I do the TDEE method in terms if eating so I generally eat 1750 cals total a day. This includes eating back exercise cals. I notice that the fitbit changes the cal maximums (I think) depending on my activity level. Should I go by fitbit or continue with the way that I have been? Sorry for the questions! It's a brand new technology for me that doesn't come with a great manual! It might be one of those things I have to figure out by doing.
  • Bekahmardis
    Bekahmardis Posts: 602 Member
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    If you want to continue doing the TDEE method, don't sync the two accounts at all. Simply double-check your numbers on the FitBit site every once in a while to make sure your TDEE matches up with what you *think* it should be. Otherwise, base it on your goal plus eating back the exercise calories - you can really only do one. :)

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