Fitbit help needed

squirrelzzrule22
squirrelzzrule22 Posts: 640 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm sure this has been asked before but search didnt give me anything on point.

I have a fitbit zip. I run daily and lift five days a week. I walk to and from school, the courthouse, jail, coffee, etc. Fitbit is synced with MFP. What if any exercise do I need to record in MfP to get an accurate calorie reading for the day? Negative adjustments are on. So far I've been logging gym time but not activity that is "normal" so the walking around I don't log, even though its often a mile or two per day. But today logging a run and lifting and a little circuit I did at home felt like way too many calories burned.

Does fitbit "know" when I'm up and about and increase my calories accordingly? If so, do I need to tell MFP when I exercise? Do I need to log when I lift since that is not really step-based? How does the whole logging what time the exercise started at work?? Help,please fitbitters!!!

Replies

  • squirrelzzrule22
    squirrelzzrule22 Posts: 640 Member
    Bump! Help please!
  • gwenr
    gwenr Posts: 139 Member
    I would post this in the 'fibit users' group. I'm sure they'll be able to help you there. I have a flex, but I've only been using it a month, so I don't feel qualified to answer. Good luck!
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    Never log step based activity. (That's what Fitbit is for.) Log non-step based activity (like swimming or spinning) either in Fitbit or in MFP--never both. If you choose to log them in MFP, you'll be asked for start & end times. Then MFP will override your step data during that time.

    In my opinion, you shouldn't log lifting. The calorie counts & burns are all just estimates. Consider any lifting burn a "cushion" to help correct any misestimation, ensuring you're really eating at a deficit.

    Everybody's different. It will take some trial & error to find what works for you.

    Edited to add an exercise adjustment explanation I wrote in MFP's "Fitbit Users" group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/1307-fitbit-users

    When you set up your MFP account, you specified an activity level: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided MFP used your answer, plus your age, sex & height, to estimate how many calories you burn every day (your TDEE). Then you set your weight-loss goal, and MFP subtracted the appropriate deficit to calculate your daily calorie goal.

    Once you link an activity tracker to your MFP account (via the "Apps" tab at the top of every page), you start getting calorie adjustments. If your tracker says you burned more calories than MFP estimated, you get a positive adjustment (meaning more calories to eat). If you enable negative calorie adjustments and you burn less than the MFP estimate, you will lose calories. (But negative calorie adjustments will never drop your daily calories below 1,200.)
  • squirrelzzrule22
    squirrelzzrule22 Posts: 640 Member
    Never log step based activity. Log non-step based activity (like swimming or spinning) either in Fitbit or in MFP--never both. If you choose to log them in MFP, you'll be asked for start & end times. Then MFP will override your step data during that time.

    In my opinion, you shouldn't log lifting. The calorie counts & burns are all just estimates. Consider any lifting burn a "cushion" to help correct any misestimation, ensuring you're really eating at a deficit.

    Everybody's different. It will take some trial & error to find what works for you.

    Edited to add an exercise adjustment explanation I wrote in MFP's "Fitbit Users" group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/1307-fitbit-users

    When you set up your MFP account, you specified an activity level: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided MFP used your answer, plus your age, sex & height, to estimate how many calories you burn every day (your TDEE). Then you set your weight-loss goal, and MFP subtracted the appropriate deficit to calculate your daily calorie goal.

    Once you link an activity tracker to your MFP account (via the "Apps" tab at the top of every page), you start getting calorie adjustments. If your tracker says you burned more calories than MFP estimated, you get a positive adjustment (meaning more calories to eat). If you enable negative calorie adjustments and you burn less than the MFP estimate, you will lose calories. (But negative calorie adjustments will never drop your daily calories below 1,200.)

    This makes much more sense thank you very much!! Its eye opening because a day with a hard workout is definitely less calories on fitbit than what MFP would have given me logging the activity so I think it will help me not overeat!

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