Fitbit - exercise calories?
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jaabee11
Posts: 322 Member
Hi, I've had a Fitbit Zip for a few weeks now and I'm enjoying it but I've only just started syncing my MFP diary and exercise. I can't work out why the exercise burn is loads higher than it should be. I've entered 100 calories of exercise today on MFP but FitBit have entered it as 411. I can't work it out?
Any ideas?
Any ideas?
0
Replies
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The fitbit also takes into account your BMR which is probably where that number is coming from.I have my Fitbit hooked up to MFP but I don't really pay attention to exercise calories that it adds back in. What I do is find my TDEE (or you can also do out your BMR and then complete the Harris Benedicts formula.... basically the same thing) then create my deficit in order to lose some weight. The I basically just look at the amount of calories I've consumed not net calories, it made me crazy trying to figure out how many calories I should eat back etc.
Also, if you're tracking with a fitbit don't log your exercise in MFP or it'll double count things. If you want to log something that the fitbit doesn't track well I found logging it in your fitbit dashboard works best, then it's just added into your exercise calories that fitbit sends over.0 -
Definitely sounds like the double counting problem to me! Let fitbit record anything like walking or jogging, if there's something fitbit isn't going to think is exercise like yoga then its okay to log in mfp but make sure to put start and end times in!
You might also be getting a 'calorie adjustment' if the fitbit estimate for how many calories you will burn that day is higher than the one mfp use you get some extra calories which you will see as 'exercise'.
As long as you're not double logging you should be fine to eat everything you're being told to!0 -
I have the fitbit flex, as it keeps track of all my activity I do not log my exercise unless it is something more low impact like pilates or yoga. If my exercise is anything where I am moving alot, fitbit logs that for me. I also run using runkeeper, which is synced to MFP and fitbit, this way it doesn't count my running calories twice. I would recommend getting on the fitbit website and filling out your complete profile with height and weight and reading up on your style of fitbit. I didn't understand all the things I could track there until I read up on it. Hope this helps!0
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Thank you for the responses. Some great information there.
I had a look and it says in MFP exercise section that it is a FitBit calorie adjustment. I also checked FitBit and I do have my profile filled in.
I'm going to start recording exercise in FB and see if that helps but will definately try looking into the information about the Zip.
thanks0 -
Go to help section on MFP site and browse until you find info on Fitbit. It will explain how it all works.0
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Fitbit accounts for everything including breathing and just being alive, that is why. My fitbit manual explained all of it, but I have "One", not Zip.0
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The principle is the same.Fitbit accounts for everything including breathing and just being alive, that is why. My fitbit manual explained all of it, but I have "One", not Zip.0 -
MFP calculates your daily calorie goal using your basal calorie burn rate for your height and weight (ie I burn ~1800 cals a day being sedentary). On days when you're more active than that, you get an "exercise calorie adjustment" based on your FitBit. It's an awesome system!
I have the Zip and I only go by the MFP adjustment, I don't track exercise additionally in MFP or Fitbit. (I keep track of my exercise/running goals in a separate spreadsheet) My goal is to get the most possible steps each day- often 15,000, but 10,000 minimum. I do it with long walks, running, and Zumba classes. It's made me so much more active- yay! I love an excuse to take a walk now, and it forces me to work out every day, even if it's just a long walk. I love seeing a bigger adjustment at the end of the day! I don't eat back the calories daily but I do have one "high" cal day on the weekends when I go out (~2000+) so I use a lot of my exercise cals from the week then.
If you do something like pilates, yoga or strength training where you aren't stepping but you are doing some extra calorie burn, you could add it separately like some have said -but put in the times for sure so it doesn't double-track. But those don't burn many calories so I probably wouldn't bother tracking it separately, personally. Fitbit tracks the major calorie-burning active things!0 -
Fitbit will add extra calories based on your activity level. It also takes calories away if you haven't been active.. It's really very clever!
Like others have said, don't log on MFP if your Fitbit is synced, you'll have too many then.
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It will only take calories away if you opted into the negative calories option.Fitbit will add extra calories based on your activity level. It also takes calories away if you haven't been active.. It's really very clever!
Like others have said, don't log on MFP if your Fitbit is synced, you'll have too many then.0 -
Be sure to set your activitiy level in MFP to sedentary. As fitbit tracks it all.
On days where I walk quite a bit I get adjustments like 400-500 calories, too. You can burn a lot in one day! By setting MFP to sedentary and accurately tracking your daily calory burn with the fitbit you can get very close.
I only log exercise I do if it's not walking and can't be tracked by fitbit. However, I log this exercise on the fitbit webpage and not on MFP. That way, on my MFP only the fitbit adjustment shows up, also taking into account any extra exercise I may have done.
So basically:
MFP to sedentary
Only log activities on fitbit
And you're good to go!0 -
You people are fantastic, thanks for the help. I'm starting to get my head around it now and wow, has my walking improved!0
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Be sure to set your activitiy level in MFP to sedentary. As fitbit tracks it all.
On days where I walk quite a bit I get adjustments like 400-500 calories, too. You can burn a lot in one day! By setting MFP to sedentary and accurately tracking your daily calory burn with the fitbit you can get very close.
I only log exercise I do if it's not walking and can't be tracked by fitbit. However, I log this exercise on the fitbit webpage and not on MFP. That way, on my MFP only the fitbit adjustment shows up, also taking into account any extra exercise I may have done.
So basically:
MFP to sedentary
Only log activities on fitbit
And you're good to go!
Hi All!
New FitBit Zip user here...but I'm still confused.
I started using it yesterday afternoon (love it, BTW), but after I did my 35 minute jog on the treadmill, I only got a net calorie adjustment of 81 cals on MFP...when in fact I burned like 331 on the treadmill. So I added the jog on MFP and then of course had the activity recorded in my FitBit. Am I doing something wrong? Sorry for the dumb question...just want to make sure I'm doing it right and not double logging. So if I have the FitBit tracking my activity, etc, and use MFP for food diary, will that be enough to track all burned calories? Thanks in advance for the help!0 -
Be sure to set your activitiy level in MFP to sedentary. As fitbit tracks it all.
On days where I walk quite a bit I get adjustments like 400-500 calories, too. You can burn a lot in one day! By setting MFP to sedentary and accurately tracking your daily calory burn with the fitbit you can get very close.
I only log exercise I do if it's not walking and can't be tracked by fitbit. However, I log this exercise on the fitbit webpage and not on MFP. That way, on my MFP only the fitbit adjustment shows up, also taking into account any extra exercise I may have done.
So basically:
MFP to sedentary
Only log activities on fitbit
And you're good to go!
Hi All!
New FitBit Zip user here...but I'm still confused.
I started using it yesterday afternoon (love it, BTW), but after I did my 35 minute jog on the treadmill, I only got a net calorie adjustment of 81 cals on MFP...when in fact I burned like 331 on the treadmill. So I added the jog on MFP and then of course had the activity recorded in my FitBit. Am I doing something wrong? Sorry for the dumb question...just want to make sure I'm doing it right and not double logging. So if I have the FitBit tracking my activity, etc, and use MFP for food diary, will that be enough to track all burned calories? Thanks in advance for the help!
In for the response - I had the same issue. The FitBit dashboard showed I burned over 1,000 calories one day but when I synched with MFP it gave me 47 exercise calories.0 -
So i have a question.
I got Fitbit Flex today and i managed to sync it with MFPL. well i do most of my activities in GYM either elliptical machine or treadmill for 30 to 45 minute normally its mix of both. The question is do i have to log this activity in MFPL or Fitbit will take care of it?
thank you All0 -
I'm disagreeing with the advice not to log your exercise. The Fitbit adjustment adjusts for that, too. For example, last night I did 50 minutes of circuit training. My Fitbit adjustment when I was done was very high. I logged the exercise, and the Fitbit adjustment dropped dramatically (for a bit more than the calorie burn my workout had.) That is why once you sync the two, MFP asks you for start time on your workout.
What I *don't* do is log my exercise in both Fitbit and MFP - that will double count it.0
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