Fitbit calories burned-help!

ellis888
ellis888 Posts: 10
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi guys,
I use the MobileTrack feature of the Fitbit app on my iPhone 5s and seem to be having an issue with the calories burned estimate.
I have noticed that if, near the end of the day, I restart my iPhone, the calories burned increases by a lot.
For example, yesterday the app showed I had burned 2877 calories after walking around 9000 steps (with some additional exercise of 577 calories added manually). I then restarted the iPhone and the app showed I had burned 3501 calories-the steps were still at the same number (around 9000).

This is important for me because I eat the calories that Fitbit estimates, so I'm confused how much to eat!
I can post screenshots of this happening later if it happens again.
Any help would really be appreciated.
Cheers

Replies

  • ellis888
    ellis888 Posts: 10
    Here are the screenshots from the app before and after restarting my iPhone 5S. Please help!

    Fitbit_1.png
    http://s29.postimg.org/ynt9a7cqf/Fitbit_1.png

    Fitbit_2.png
    http://s29.postimg.org/o29dy76ev/Fitbit_2.png
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    How long had it been since the app updated from your fitbit before you shut down the phone? Fitbit calculates calories burned based on activity (# of steps, activity level, etc) and time (BMR/TDEE). If the app didn't sync with the phone for a half hour or more, the resync at startup would cause the number to jump.
  • hon918
    hon918 Posts: 24 Member
    Did you manually add exercise on the day of the screenshots as well? If your fitbit and MFP accounts are linked, fitbit will take any info. you put into MFP. In your first example; 2877 + 577 = 3454, pretty close to the 3501 when you restarted the phone.
  • ellis888
    ellis888 Posts: 10
    Thanks for your help.
    The app had updated and synced with the website just a few seconds before I restarted the iPhone, I checked the 'Account' tab to ensure this had happened. It almost seems like the algorithm to calculate the calories burned is not being calculated correctly until I restart the phone. I'm very confused! Any other ideas?

    The Fitbit support isn't being any help at the moment.

    I didn't manually add exercise on the day of the screenshots, only on the first example.

    I will post further screenshots later if it happens again today.
  • luckydays27
    luckydays27 Posts: 552 Member
    Did you manually enter the cals burned on MFP or FB? On the app or on the website?

    There is often a delay between MFP and FB. there is sometimes a delay from app to website. Even when they have "synced" there is still delays. Lots of new users since Jan 1 so the system is bogged down.

    For me, I notice the most delays when its around 4pm Pacific time. The delays can go on until 6 or 7 pm. I figure its all the users just getting off work and syncing when they get home from the East coast. Then central time, then Mountain, and finally when it gets to Pacific time things have settled out.
  • ellis888
    ellis888 Posts: 10
    Yeah, I've been noticing the big delays too, but I'm not sure if the issue is related.
    In the first example I manually entered the cals burned with the Runtastic Road Bike app, which syncs to MyFitnesspal, which then syncs over to Fitbit.
    However, the issue also occurs on days when I have not entered any manual exercise at all (this was the case when I took the two screenshots I posted). Therefore, it doesn't seem related to the manual exercise.
  • ellis888
    ellis888 Posts: 10
    I have just restarted my iPhone again and the same issue is continuing.

    BEFORE RESTART:

    Fitbit_3.png

    AFTER RESTART:

    Fitbit_4.png

    I have not added any manual exercise today. Which value do you think seems correct for me? I'm a young male, so I have a relatively high BMR.
  • luckydays27
    luckydays27 Posts: 552 Member
    What does FB website say to eat? Before the restart of the phone and after?
    What does MFP tell you to eat? Before the restart of the phone and after?

    Have you tried to removed the App completely from your phone and then reinstalled? maybe there is a glitch in the app. I use the android app and have never had this issue.

    I would eat what MFP says as I rarely if ever look at the FB app or dashboard. I have been using MFP and FB for 9 months now and have always stuck with MFP. I have lost 45 of my 68 going this route so that is what I would do
  • reaganblundell
    reaganblundell Posts: 7 Member
    How do the numbers on the app compare to the numbers on the fitbit website before and after you restart your iPhone?
  • TipTopMMR
    TipTopMMR Posts: 89 Member
    Does the time on your phone match the time on your fitbit? I had this issue once, with my computer. The time on my computer was wrong and, as a result, I got WILD calorie counts.
  • ellis888
    ellis888 Posts: 10
    As shown in the latest screenshots, FB showed to eat 2385 cals (2179+206) before restarting the iPhone, then this jumped to 2803 cals (2179+624) after restarting the iPhone. This is obviously the total calories for the day to eat after I have walked 8,500 steps as I have in the screenshots.
    MFP tells me to eat 2220 calories at a sedentary setting (but 8,500 steps isn't sedentary so I get a positive adjustment).

    The number on the app is the same before the restart as on the website, and then after restarting the app, the calories increase, it syncs again with the website and the number on the website also jumps up to match the new number on the app after restarting-so it appears to sync with the website as it should.
  • turomfp
    turomfp Posts: 2
    The original poster referred to the Fitbit app's MobileTrack. This is the new function of the app that uses the M7 motion chip in the iPhone 5s instead of Fitbit hardware.

    I use MobileTrack and have also seen inflated numbers after restarting Fitbit's app. My guess was that the app was reading the M7 chip twice, or in some other way losing track of what it had already accounted for when it was restarted.
  • ellis888
    ellis888 Posts: 10
    The original poster referred to the Fitbit app's MobileTrack. This is the new function of the app that uses the M7 motion chip in the iPhone 5s instead of Fitbit hardware.

    I use MobileTrack and have also seen inflated numbers after restarting Fitbit's app. My guess was that the app was reading the M7 chip twice, or in some other way losing track of what it had already accounted for when it was restarted.

    You may be correct here! Would you therefore advise me to stick to eating the calories the app shows before the restart? I'd be interested to know if Fitbit is aware of the issue. It's interesting that upon restarting a second or third time however, the calories do not continue to increase. I wonder if the algorithm being used is not being calculated correctly.
  • ellis888
    ellis888 Posts: 10
    Here is another example, from today. I took these screenshots at the end of the day:
    BEFORE RESTART:
    Fitbit_5.png

    AFTER RESTART:
    Fitbit_6.png

    MFP tells me to eat 2220 calories per day when I am set to 'Sedentary' in the activity level settings.
    My BMR is around 1,800.

    If I enter my TDEE values into an online calculator (http://thefastdiet.co.uk/how-many-calories-on-a-non-fast-day/), I get:
    Sedentary: 2134
    Lightly active: 2445
    Moderately active: 2756
    Very active: 3068
    Extremely active: 3379


    As you can see, before the restart, it is telling me to eat around 2,500 calories after walking 10,000 steps. After the restart, it is telling me to eat 3030 calories. There's no difference in the other stats, such as steps or distance, between the two images.

    I am really wondering if 10,000 steps therefore matches a lightly active TDEE, or a very active TDEE.
    Obviously this is quite confusing as I could be severely undereating if it's wrong.

    Thanks again for any help.
  • luckydays27
    luckydays27 Posts: 552 Member
    What happens if you dont reset the phone. As in, what does the the app say on the next day? Can you look back to prior days to see what the total cal intake should have been.

    If you are getting 10K steps pretty regularly, you are not from sedentary.

    Sedentary is for people like me who sit at a desk all day, do general walking around the house and office, and who most likely drive nearly all the places they go. I think on my sedentary days that I get no FB adjustment on MFP (meaning I am burning the same amount as my sedentary MFP settings think I should be burning), I walk about 4000 steps. As I get closer to 10K steps, I am getting adjustments of more than 250, which for me is a little more than the difference between sedentary and lightly active.

    How long have you been using this app? Are you gaining or losing? If you are gaining, go for the lower number, if you are losing, go for the higher number. If you are maintaining, eat what you have been...

    Just like any fitness tool out there, they set the stage, its up to you and trial and error to determine the outcome. Given the disparity of the numbers, I would most likely eat at the lower number for two weeks and see what the results are. If you are supposed to be at maintenance and you lose 2 lbs (assuming you eat up to the number it gives you) then you know you are under eating. If you stay the same, then thats the correct number. The alternative is to eat the higher number, wait two weeks. if you gain 2 lbs, then its the wrong number and you are overeating. If you stay the same, its spot on.

    500 cal a day deficit is not severely under eating, especially if you are not hungry or feel like you really need the additional cals. If thats the case, then yes, you need to eat them because you are in fact hungry. 500 cal a day deficit is a decent number for weight loss and the worst that can happen is you will lose 1 lb a week. (500 cals x 7 days = 3500 cals = 1 lb weight loss). Its not terrible to gain or lose a pound or two, especially when testing something such as this.

    Good luck to you though. I hope you figure out what is best for you and how the app works.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    I have had instances where I open the FitBit app, it sync's, and then if I click on any of the stats (say calories), it jumps up. It is like even after it has sync'd it had not completed updated the screen.
  • ellis888
    ellis888 Posts: 10
    What happens if you dont reset the phone. As in, what does the the app say on the next day? Can you look back to prior days to see what the total cal intake should have been.

    If you are getting 10K steps pretty regularly, you are not from sedentary.

    Sedentary is for people like me who sit at a desk all day, do general walking around the house and office, and who most likely drive nearly all the places they go. I think on my sedentary days that I get no FB adjustment on MFP (meaning I am burning the same amount as my sedentary MFP settings think I should be burning), I walk about 4000 steps. As I get closer to 10K steps, I am getting adjustments of more than 250, which for me is a little more than the difference between sedentary and lightly active.

    How long have you been using this app? Are you gaining or losing? If you are gaining, go for the lower number, if you are losing, go for the higher number. If you are maintaining, eat what you have been...

    Just like any fitness tool out there, they set the stage, its up to you and trial and error to determine the outcome. Given the disparity of the numbers, I would most likely eat at the lower number for two weeks and see what the results are. If you are supposed to be at maintenance and you lose 2 lbs (assuming you eat up to the number it gives you) then you know you are under eating. If you stay the same, then thats the correct number. The alternative is to eat the higher number, wait two weeks. if you gain 2 lbs, then its the wrong number and you are overeating. If you stay the same, its spot on.

    500 cal a day deficit is not severely under eating, especially if you are not hungry or feel like you really need the additional cals. If thats the case, then yes, you need to eat them because you are in fact hungry. 500 cal a day deficit is a decent number for weight loss and the worst that can happen is you will lose 1 lb a week. (500 cals x 7 days = 3500 cals = 1 lb weight loss). Its not terrible to gain or lose a pound or two, especially when testing something such as this.

    Good luck to you though. I hope you figure out what is best for you and how the app works.


    Looking back at previous days, if I don't restart the phone, the calories remain the same the next day, without jumping. Also, if I manually close the app itself on the iPhone, then reopen it, the calories also remain the same.
    I've been using the app for around a month now and my weight has stayed roughly the same.

    So far today (I have not yet restarted the phone), the app shows I have walked around 4,500 steps (mainly while shopping) and is telling me to eat 2074 calories in total for the day. As MFP tells me to eat 2220 calories at a sedentary setting, it will mean I will end the day at midnight with a negative adjustment of about 146 calories with walking 4,500 steps.

    I find this strange, as I would have thought 4,500 steps would put me at about my sedentary calories from MFP, rather than a negative adjustment (I realise the negative adjustment of 146 calories isn't too much).

    When I restart the phone, I will let you know whether the adjustment changes.

    Thanks for your help and advice, you are correct in that you say it is just a tool, I am just interested in whether it is a bug in the software.

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