My Fitbit burned calories is so wrong!

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mc_hudd
mc_hudd Posts: 47
in Fitness and Exercise
So, last night I looked at my Fitbit app to see what my stats were. My calories burned were about right sounding, this was about 8 p.m. Later, I ate some Wheat Thins & decided to log them. Something looked weird in MFP, I had way too many calories remaining! I made sure everything had a fresh sync & looked again. Fitbit was now telling me that I had burned 1800+ calories, on a day that I hadn't done much at all! After investigating, I turned off the calorie estimation to see if that would help. On the web, my dashboard says the correct amount of calories burned, 1400, but the app still hasn't changed! Is there any way to change this? I definitely won't enable calorie estimation again!

Replies

  • nanook37
    nanook37 Posts: 64 Member
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    You need to turn MFP to sedentary so that it assumes you won't burn any calories from activity but instead gets the activity from the FitBit - If you add burned calories to MFP it will also go to the FitBit...
  • mc_hudd
    mc_hudd Posts: 47
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    Thank you for your reply, @nanook37, but if you'll re-read my post, I don't really see how your reply is a solution. My issue is with Fitbitb not MFP. MFP is just doing what Fitbit tells it, since I have the 2 synced with each other. I do, however, have sedentary set as my activity level in MFP. But again, not sure how this would help with anything.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    Unless you're 3 feet tall or in a coma, you burned more than 1400 on a day on which you happened to be alive.

    1800 (or more) sounds closer to correct for your normal daily TDEE
  • jd5351
    jd5351 Posts: 116 Member
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    ^^This.

    You burn calories just by being alive. Sounds about right to me. Your exercise calories increase the amount that is burned.
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
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    that sounds like it could be accurate. That doesn't mean you eat that much extra. That is your daily calorie burn.
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,496 Member
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    According to my BodyMedia I burn about 2000 calories even on a sick day. Are you sure 1800 isn't correct?
  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    The Fitbit tracks all calories burned for the day, even the ones burned just sitting down and doing nothing or sleeping.
  • Nedra19455
    Nedra19455 Posts: 241 Member
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    I am home sick today -- I have literally not left my house and just walking around my small house and staying in bed, my Fitbit says I've burned over 1,500 calories. My daily calorie burn "goal" is over 2,600.

    I would guess that your 1,800 is accurate. How many did MFP say you earned? I am "lightly active" and Fitbit/MFP awards me with 200-600 extra calories a day when I am active. Sometimes I am surprised when I see the bonuses, but they never feel excessive to me. I feel hungry on those active days if I don't eat some of them back.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    Understanding what a device reports is important when claiming it is wrong.
  • mc_hudd
    mc_hudd Posts: 47
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    Unless you're 3 feet tall or in a coma, you burned more than 1400 on a day on which you happened to be alive.

    1800 (or more) sounds closer to correct for your normal daily TDEE

    The reason I don't agree with this is because on Sunday, I took about 600 more steps than I did on Monday, .26 miles more than Monday. Sunday it says I burned 1599 calories. Also, when you click on the calories burned on the app & it brings up the horizontal graph, the number there is 1461. So, it's reporting 1 number in 2 different places & a much higher one on the dashboard of the app. ?????

    Also, unless I'm outside doing yard work, etc., my typical burn is around 1600, sometimes less if I'm being really lazy! My Fitbit figures that I burn 52 calories per hour just being alive. That would be a total of 1248 in a day. So, yeah, I believe on my lazy days, which yesterday was, 1461 is probably about right!
  • mc_hudd
    mc_hudd Posts: 47
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    According to my BodyMedia I burn about 2000 calories even on a sick day. Are you sure 1800 isn't correct?

    Wow! Unless my Fitbit has been wrong from day one, I only burn about 2000 calories on my most active days! A few days ago, I burned 2187 by walking 4.5 miles.

    Not sure what size all of you are, but as I understand it, that does make a difference. I'm 5'5" & ~120 lbs. Every BMR or TDEE calculator I've tried agree with the others. MFP & Fitbit both agree on the numbers. Like I said, unless everything I've been using has been wrong, yesterday's reading was definitely wrong.

    Is there anyway to post pics?
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,496 Member
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    According to my BodyMedia I burn about 2000 calories even on a sick day. Are you sure 1800 isn't correct?

    Wow! Unless my Fitbit has been wrong from day one, I only burn about 2000 calories on my most active days! A few days ago, I burned 2187 by walking 4.5 miles.

    Not sure what size all of you are, but as I understand it, that does make a difference. I'm 5'5" & ~120 lbs. Every BMR or TDEE calculator I've tried agree with the others. MFP & Fitbit both agree on the numbers. Like I said, unless everything I've been using has been wrong, yesterday's reading was definitely wrong.

    Is there anyway to post pics?

    I'm not great at posting pics, so I will let someone else advise on that. I am about 5'4" and my weight bounces between 130 and 135. It was 132 at my last official weigh-in. On my most active days I tend to burn 2300-2600. I feel pretty confident that my numbers are correct as I wore the BodyMedia for a year and my weightloss was very close to what it predicted (i.e as long as I stuck to the calories it quoted I lost at the rate I'd set). You may be more active than you think. Of course, the only way to know for certain is trial and error. What happens if you go by those numbers - will you lose, gain or maintain?
  • SKME2013
    SKME2013 Posts: 704 Member
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    According to my BodyMedia I burn about 2000 calories even on a sick day. Are you sure 1800 isn't correct?

    Wow! Unless my Fitbit has been wrong from day one, I only burn about 2000 calories on my most active days! A few days ago, I burned 2187 by walking 4.5 miles.

    Not sure what size all of you are, but as I understand it, that does make a difference. I'm 5'5" & ~120 lbs. Every BMR or TDEE calculator I've tried agree with the others. MFP & Fitbit both agree on the numbers. Like I said, unless everything I've been using has been wrong, yesterday's reading was definitely wrong.

    Is there anyway to post pics?

    I have also the fitbit (One) and I agree on your data. Mine says pretty much the same and I am 5'6" @ 125 lbs. I reach over 2000 cal per day if I work out for two hours, one in the gym and the other doing a brisk walk.

    It might have been just a glitch with the app software. I had this before and the next day it corrected itself.

    Hope you can sort it.
    Stef.
  • mc_hudd
    mc_hudd Posts: 47
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    I have also the fitbit (One) and I agree on your data. Mine says pretty much the same and I am 5'6" @ 125 lbs. I reach over 2000 cal per day if I work out for two hours, one in the gym and the other doing a brisk walk.

    It might have been just a glitch with the app software. I had this before and the next day it corrected itself.

    Hope you can sort it.
    Stef.

    Thanks for your reply! I finally feel like someone understands what I'm saying! ????

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