Syncing with Fitbit... helpful?

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uakhcsom
uakhcsom Posts: 4
in Fitness and Exercise
I recently purchased a Fitbit Force (no, I'm not getting a rash and it is definitely accurate). It's great for monitoring daily activity and providing incentive take the stairs and get more steps in per day. It also tells you how many calories you burn (total, not just intentional exercise) each day.

I only log exercises/calories burned on MyFitnessPal when I do them intentionally. I don't log walking if I happen to be running around doing errands all day, nor do I log when I walk to and from class (I did for a while, but I found that I used it as an excuse to consume more calories when I didn't feel I really did anything to deserve it).

I decided today to sync my Fitbit to MyFitnessPal. MyFitnessPal is telling me that I exercised 423 calories worth, but although I am more active in my daily life than an average person, giving myself an extra 423 calories seems like quite the stretch when I haven't even hit the treadmill today.

Does anyone else have any input/insight to this? I've disconnected the sync for now. With my current method, I'm losing an average of 1.5 lbs a week (with zero cheats) and I don't think I should be allowing all the extra calories.

Replies

  • ImpishVanity
    ImpishVanity Posts: 224 Member
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    I have a force as well and I let it sync to MFP. There is also a setting that "allows negative adjustments" - this way there is no double adding of calories burned. That's how I have it and it works pretty well I'd say. Running around all day is still burning calories, so there's no reason to fear that. Just keep an eye on your total calories burned and make sure you have a deficit of no more than 1000 cals at the end of the day (for 2lb a week loss)
  • lindsayomalley
    lindsayomalley Posts: 32 Member
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    I did the same today, too! I would say, set your mental caloric intake and stick with it. For example, my MFP has a food goal of 1500 that I stick with. FitBit believes you should shoot to have a 250 deficit but really, the most important thing is: calories in < calories out. Hope this helps!
  • uakhcsom
    uakhcsom Posts: 4
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    Thank you for all the input!

    Running around IS burning calories, yes, but I'm the kind of person that will see a little wiggle room and rip a huge hole instead. So I'm a bit nervous about that.

    As for maintaining what I think I should have, that seems helpful, but I'd almost rather not have it there at all.

    New thought, though...
    Sundays I'm usually on my bum all day grading and writing papers. If I burn/walk/move way less than is expected (I average at least 12,000 steps minimum, but last Sunday I only got to 4,500) will it take calories away from me?
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    What does the math come out to when you factor in the fitbit calories earned through exercise? 1.5 lb per week is a daily net deficit of about 750 calories. If you set your activity level too low MFP won't properly calculate your recommended intake for the planned rate of loss.
  • ImpishVanity
    ImpishVanity Posts: 224 Member
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    I just always keep my calories in lower than the calories out and don't stress too much if it's not the deficit I want, as long as it's a deficit
  • uakhcsom
    uakhcsom Posts: 4
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    I changed my settings from 'Lightly Active' to 'Active'. It made a HUGE difference (it also said I could eat more (a lot more), so I just upped my per week lbs loss preference to make my calorie limit the same as it was).

    I will try this and see how it works. Thanks for all the tips!
  • uakhcsom
    uakhcsom Posts: 4
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    That's a great mindset to have!
  • day213
    day213 Posts: 18 Member
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    I am having trouble figuring this out too. I have my Flex and MFP linked and I feel like the calories burned it adds are way too high. For instance, I just started jogging 3 weeks ago. It's saying that in a 35 minute jog (fairly slow - 5.1) I'm burning 700+ calories. I still keep to the calories I think I should be eating to about 1200 -1300 but it throws me off when I look at the numbers.

    Perhaps I need to adjust my activity level?

    EDIT: I think I misread my MFP info.
  • kristy6ward
    kristy6ward Posts: 332 Member
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    I've had my fibit synced with mfp for about a month. I love it so far. I log all food and intentional exercise with mfp but pay attention to the calories in/out and food plan on fitbit. Exercise logged on mfp cancels out calories burned during the same time frame on fitbit through the sync so nothing is doubled up. I have negative calorie adjustments turned off currently, I don't like the idea of it "stealing" my food. But it hasn't been a problem since I pay attention to my activity.
  • kristy6ward
    kristy6ward Posts: 332 Member
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    I am having trouble figuring this out too. I have my Flex and MFP linked and I feel like the calories burned it adds are way too high. For instance, I just started jogging 3 weeks ago. It's saying that in a 35 minute jog (fairly slow - 5.1) I'm burning 700+ calories. I still keep to the calories I think I should be eating to about 1200 -1300 but it throws me off when I look at the numbers.

    Perhaps I need to adjust my activity level?


    You might have to check to see if your stride lengths for running and walking are correct in your fitbit settings. The very rough estimate for calories burned running is 100 cals per mile.

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