FITBIT and TDEE Calculations

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Ladybug1250
Ladybug1250 Posts: 366 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok so I was just calculating my TDEE points and I think I'm off slightly. I think I'm getting a higher total that I should. If anyone uses a fitbit do you feel like your daily total calorie burn is accurate?

Mine fluctuates daily but on an ideal day I burn about 2200 total calories. My TDEE calculations are higher that that at about 2475. I know I would deduct 20% from either number but I'm more inclined to use the Fitbit as a more accurate number.

Thoughts?
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Replies

  • SkinnyGirlCarrie
    SkinnyGirlCarrie Posts: 259 Member
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    I use a fitbit and would be interested in other's answers as well since I have wondered about this too...
  • eatrunlaughlive
    eatrunlaughlive Posts: 17
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    Bumping since I'm always curious for fitbit opinions
  • Fit_Housewife
    Fit_Housewife Posts: 168 Member
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    I would go with fitbit. I just got my fitbit and it says I burn more than any tdee calculors.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    I find most TDEE calculators are high.

    Depending on which one you are using it could be as much as 200-300 calories over.

    I would go with the fitbit for now and adjust as necessary.

    Or use this calculation based on actual results.*** you have to be weighing solids and logging accurately for this to work tho.

    total calories consumed+(pounds lost x 3500)/#days....(typically 2-3 weeks worth of data)
  • lisiloulah
    lisiloulah Posts: 125 Member
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    I don't have a Fitbit so I can't make claims to their efficiency, but TDEE calculators make calculations based on general activity levels and assuming your calorie burns are average. I would assume the Fitbit is more accurate as it's based on your actual activity level.

    Would be interested to see other people's opinion though!
  • mabelbabel1
    mabelbabel1 Posts: 391 Member
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    I've had my fitbit for about a year or so and have found its TDEE to be pretty spot on for me.
  • Ladybug1250
    Ladybug1250 Posts: 366 Member
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    I've had my fitbit for about a year or so and have found its TDEE to be pretty spot on for me.

    nice! Thanks for posting.

    I lost mine for like 4 months (when we moved) then finally found it again and have been using it daily. The worst is when I forget it and it messes up my whole day!! but overall I love that it keeps track of everything for me. I just really need to make sure I get my 10k steps in if i'm doing TDEE cause otherwise it seems that I will be eating too many calories.

    Oh and I need to stay consistent!! Wish me luck :-)
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    I have had my FitBit for about a year now. I find it to be pretty accurate as far as the daily burn goes and through some tweaking, I think I got everything set up pretty consistently between it and MFP. MFP thinks my maintenance calories are about 1925, with my activity level set at active (something else I had to tweak after I got my FitBit). FitBit says my calories burned is about 2100/day. I set MFP at lose 0.5 lb/week so it took a 250 cal deduction from my maintenance number, so around 1675. I eat back my FitBit calorie adjustment (~200-300) so I actually usually consume more like 1900-2000 cals, which is a consistent calorie deficit from the FitBit TDEE number.

    I lost at 0.5lb/week doing this, and am now in maintenance. I haven't changed the numbers though, since I took a long vacation and have had a pretty lax summer as far as calories go - so I put back on a couple pounds. Once I lose those again, I will probably raise my goal up but leave a little room for margin of error and monitor from there.

    Long story short - yes I trust the FitBit numbers more than a calculator - while it isn't perfectly accurate, I think it knows better than the numbers I am plugging into a spreadsheet.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    I go by Fitbit's #s. I also don't have any sort of non-step activity that I need to log. I have been linked to MapMyWalk and such in the past - now I use that for GPS but don't have it connected to Fitbit or MFP because its burn rates are higher and seems better to use the more conservative approach.

    I think that Fitbit would be 'off' in a low way if you do aggressive activity. It can't tell how hard you're working so seems to use # of steps per minute in estimating burn. In theory, it would give the same reading if you're on a treadmill at 4.0mph 0 incline vs 4.0mph 10 incline. But you'd burn more with the 10 incline.
  • julesg100
    julesg100 Posts: 109 Member
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    This is helpful to me too, since I'm using my Fitbit burn as my TDEE. Today I did my HIIT workout on the treadmill on an incline, so I will log it on the Fitbit site using my HR monitor's calorie number. If I understand this correctly, since I am putting the time I started and the length of time, it will not double-count the activity.
  • andielyn
    andielyn Posts: 233 Member
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    Got a Fitbit Flex yesterday as a gift and have a few questions that I though seasoned users might help me with. First, I have always used a Polar HRM so this is a change for me.

    Sounds like folks here think that the TDEE is much more accurate on the Fitbit but it's calculating that at least 300 calories higher than other calculators and unless I missed it it didn't have a place to input activity level. Does the Fitbit start out with a general calculation and then adjust it as it gets to know your activity level?

    How does it do with activities like biking and the elliptical? Those are my two main exercise activities and I'm hard pressed to see how it can measure my calorie burn/effort like my HRM does.

    What are folks' experience with the sleep function?

    Does anyone use it routinely in their pocket? I'm not a big fan of the wristband.

    Thanks for any help you may offer. ~Andielyn
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    It tells your activity from its accelerometer, so no manual 'activity level' input.

    It might track your elliptical, see what it does. It won't track your biking. You'll need to manually log that.

    I didn't like the bracelet either so I got a One instead.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    Got a Fitbit Flex yesterday as a gift and have a few questions that I though seasoned users might help me with. First, I have always used a Polar HRM so this is a change for me.

    Sounds like folks here think that the TDEE is much more accurate on the Fitbit but it's calculating that at least 300 calories higher than other calculators and unless I missed it it didn't have a place to input activity level. Does the Fitbit start out with a general calculation and then adjust it as it gets to know your activity level?

    How does it do with activities like biking and the elliptical? Those are my two main exercise activities and I'm hard pressed to see how it can measure my calorie burn/effort like my HRM does.

    What are folks' experience with the sleep function?



    Does anyone use it routinely in their pocket? I'm not a big fan of the wristband.

    Thanks for any help you may offer. ~Andielyn

    I can help :) I have my flex for 9 months - I find it spot on for TDEE and have been losing and now maintaining nicely on it (ate at 20% deficit to lose 1/2lb per week - 20% covered inaccuracies in logging my food)
    .
    The sleep function is only useful in that it tells you if you were restless/woke up during the night - some people find that useful, me not so much cos I sleep like a baby lol.

    It wont know/count biking at all - you'll have to enter that workout manually via mfp - just know that mfp over estimates the cals burned, so if you're eating back cals, eat around 50% to keep yourself right.

    You really need the HRM to find our your proper calorie burn for really active workouts so use that for elliptical/biking to compare.

    I don't log any other exercise as fitbit gives me a lovely TDEE as long as I get around 14000 steps in per day = 2200. I like this number cos I eat around 1800-2000 cals, gives me room for error.

    You don't have to wear it on your wrist, although you could lose it? I have strapped mine around my bra (in the middle at front) when I am wearing something pretty and don't want the wristband to ruin my look - yep, I'm a bit vain that way LOL

    ps you did put in your stats to fitbit website/account? - height/weight/age etc? if so, it'll calculate from those.

    Enjoy your Flex :)
  • andielyn
    andielyn Posts: 233 Member
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    Thanks so much for the help. If I also wear an HRM for biking or the elliptical or other strenuous workouts and input the calories manually, will it double count if I am also wearing the Fitbit, or will the manual input override the Fitbit calculations for that period of time?
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    Fitbit will make adjustments when you manually enter another workout ☺
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
    Options
    Got a Fitbit Flex yesterday as a gift and have a few questions that I though seasoned users might help me with. First, I have always used a Polar HRM so this is a change for me.

    Sounds like folks here think that the TDEE is much more accurate on the Fitbit but it's calculating that at least 300 calories higher than other calculators and unless I missed it it didn't have a place to input activity level. Does the Fitbit start out with a general calculation and then adjust it as it gets to know your activity level?

    How does it do with activities like biking and the elliptical? Those are my two main exercise activities and I'm hard pressed to see how it can measure my calorie burn/effort like my HRM does.

    What are folks' experience with the sleep function?



    Does anyone use it routinely in their pocket? I'm not a big fan of the wristband.

    Thanks for any help you may offer. ~Andielyn

    I can help :) I have my flex for 9 months - I find it spot on for TDEE and have been losing and now maintaining nicely on it (ate at 20% deficit to lose 1/2lb per week - 20% covered inaccuracies in logging my food)
    .
    The sleep function is only useful in that it tells you if you were restless/woke up during the night - some people find that useful, me not so much cos I sleep like a baby lol.

    It wont know/count biking at all - you'll have to enter that workout manually via mfp - just know that mfp over estimates the cals burned, so if you're eating back cals, eat around 50% to keep yourself right.

    You really need the HRM to find our your proper calorie burn for really active workouts so use that for elliptical/biking to compare.

    I don't log any other exercise as fitbit gives me a lovely TDEE as long as I get around 14000 steps in per day = 2200. I like this number cos I eat around 1800-2000 cals, gives me room for error.

    You don't have to wear it on your wrist, although you could lose it? I have strapped mine around my bra (in the middle at front) when I am wearing something pretty and don't want the wristband to ruin my look - yep, I'm a bit vain that way LOL

    ps you did put in your stats to fitbit website/account? - height/weight/age etc? if so, it'll calculate from those.

    Enjoy your Flex :)

    boy after reading this I am glad I got the jawbone...I can enter activities into it, based on activity, level of intensity, duration.

    and it's good to wear all the time on my wrist...everyone asks me where I got my new bracelet they love it.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    You can enter all your activity details in either MFP or the Fitbit site.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I find the Fitbit pretty accurate for me. I input activities that it doesn't pick up, like biking. So I'd be inclined to go with it as your starting place. Also, the TDEE calculations vary depending on which calculation you use, whether you know body fat or not, and how activity is estimated (unless Fitbit which can use what you actually do). Either way, you should start and then adjust based on results.
  • Equus3nMom
    Equus3nMom Posts: 42 Member
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    How do you all set up your Fitbit and MFP synchronizing when using TDEE vs MFP calculations?

    I don't know where I should log my exercise - FitBit or MFP? I know they synch, but is there an advantage or accuracy factor with one over the other?

    Should I set MFP to "sedentary" and then log ALL activities from my day job along with my targeted cardio exercise (I haven't logged strength training) to get a range of TDEE for the week and weekend? Or leave MFP as I have it, on "Active" (though I think I'm Very Active hence I got the FitBit) Right now I've lost over 14 pounds in 29 days so almost a half pound a day average and 4" off my waist in that time. I'm not hungry. Though I would say I sometimes feel a bit deprived. ;-)

    Any thoughts, experiences, or opinions are appreciated. Trying to navigate my way through all this. Thanks in advance.
  • lindaw66
    lindaw66 Posts: 258 Member
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    bump

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