I use Digifit to record my HR workouts - my fitbit is on all the time ... MFP is my food diary. I sync digifit to fitbit then fitbit to MFP. Important.. No direct connection between digifit and MFP... Let fitbit work it out... The time I use my HRM - basically during my cardio workouts - fitbit lets those calories burned trump theirs... Then It all goes over to MFP... Remember to set your activity level at sedentary... I assume run keeper and digifit act the same... Good luck.

I use Digifit to record my HR workouts - my fitbit is on all the time ... MFP is my food diary. I sync digifit to fitbit then fitbit to MFP. Important.. No direct connection between digifit and MFP... Let fitbit work it out... The time I use my HRM - basically during my cardio workouts - fitbit lets those calories burned trump theirs... Then It all goes over to MFP... Remember to set your activity level at sedentary... I assume run keeper and digifit act the same... Good luck.

One problem can easily occur with setting activity level on MFP as sedentary if it's actually a decent amount more with or without exercise.

The amount of deficit allowed stops at NET 1200 eating goal.

So someone could have a reasonable 2 lb weekly weight loss goal for their amount to lose, but MFP in cutting off at 1200 could be only allowing 750 on that sedentary setting.

But a more honest setting of Lightly Active say would allow the 1000 deficit, and then the adjustments coming in from Fitbit or smaller. Meaning you can plan your eating day better.

You should set the MFP activity level to whatever is closest to your Fitbit daily burn on non-exercise days. Even a slight negative adjustment on non-exercise days would be better than big adjustments all the time even on non-exercise days.

So what your saying is if your at the low end - say at 1200 calorie allotment - then setting yourself at sedentary and opting for a 2 pound a week loss option then the default MFP setting will not allow you a true net calorie allotment because it cannot go below the bottom default setting... Then how can changing the activity setting to lightly active which increases the total allotment be a more accurate setting? - with the qualifier that you are using FitBit or DigiFit or RunKeeper to tell MFP what your activity level truly is. I understand what your saying about your HRM application may not be entirely accurate and obviously you have done a bit of research.. in my own limited and albeit short sided experience Digifit HRM and rFitBit has been spot on... I usually row intervals - @ 5000 meters very other day (concept 2) with my wahoo blue hr - I do 30 mins cardio split between treadmill and elliptical under HRM and usually get between 10000 - 12000 steps on my fitbit seems like my fitbit cal adjust. Is around 750... Seemed like when I was entering it into MFP manually before I got my HRM it was way too high. Hopefully my weight loss will continue to be accurate but if it starts to fall off and as I start to be more specific with my training I'm gonna hit you up about your method to tweak the calorie ranges.. Thanks

Sample lady - BMR 1560, uses Sedentary on MFP, but actually is Lightly Active on non-exercise days according to Fitbit.
Has 70 lbs to lose and could support 2 lb weekly loss for a bit as being reasonable.

So, here's what happens.
BMR 1560 x 1.25 sedentary factor = 1950 non-exercise maintenance for MFP.
1950 - 1000 deficit = 950 except MFP stops at 1200 eating goal, so only 750 deficit.

Day of activity with no exercise comes across from Fitbit, end of day. Total burn 2200.
Fitbit 2200 - 1950 MFP estimate = 250 positive adjustment

Eating goal 1200 + 250 = 1450 new eating goal
Still only 750 deficit (2200 - 1450)

This same effect happens when you have actual exercise too, whether logged on MFP replacing Fitbit's estimate, logged on Fitbit replacing their estimate, or Fitbit's estimate. You'll never get more than that 750 deficit.

But, if Lightly Active is selected.

BMR 1560 x 1.4 Lightly Active factor = 2184 non-exercise maintenance for MFP.
2184 - 1000 deficit = 1184 except 1200 is used, only 984 deficit. (dang, should've used better numbers to end up at 1200, oh well!)

Same day of activity from Fitbit 2200.
2200 - 2184 = 16 cal positive adjustment

1200 + 16 = 1216 eating goal.

So 2 points in my mind, for those it's reasonable for, you get your full deficit, or at least closer.
And what's easier to plan on, 1200 for non-exercise days, or 1200 plus a positive adjustment that could vary, but will always be there?

And reminder, I qualified all of this with sedentary not being correct, but your activity is always more for non-exercise days.

I'm not saying that if Fitbit is showing sedentary level on non-exercise days you should select Lightly Active instead - I said if that is your actual level of activity is better advantage to select correctly and honestly.

So the jumps for those non-exercise days are:
1.25 - Sedentary
1.4 - Lightly Active
1.6 - Active
1.8 - Very Active

So if she walked the dogs every morning and night for 30 min, that's part of daily activity, and while a form of exercise (not really pushing the body if you've been doing it though, so .....), it would be better to include that in non-exercise day activity.
So perhaps for our lady Fitbit even on non-exercise days shows 2420.

Lightly active would be starting estimate 2184.
Active would be 2496.

It would be better to select Active, take the potential 76 cal negative adjustments on non-exercise days, and get full deficit while eating goal is 1496 on non-exercise days.
Exercise days with something more would then increase that correctly.

FP Exercise tab so I deleted it. Then I noticed that the Fitbit took out the calorie burn entirely. I know that you need to enter the time of your workouts accurately so Fitbit can adjust, but I am just so confused as to what I should really be entering at that point. I read something that suggested unlinking MFP and Runkeeper because it may have been doubling the workout, so I did that. I guess I need a suggestion as to which to listen to (as I said earlier, I'm thinking the HRM) and any other suggestions you may have about using all of those tools together.

Anything you log on MFP (or that another service logs for you) is excluded from the Fitbit Adjustment. MFP calculates the Fitbit Adjustment. It is intended to correct your activity level by accounting for activity (or inactivity) that MFP has not other way of knowing about. MFP already factored in anything you log on MFP, so there is no need to include it in the adjustment. The adjustment is for activity/time outside your MFP logged workout.

About the double counting... You do only want to log the workout once. It doesn't matter whether it is through Runkeeper (or other app) or you manually log it. But you want it only listed once in your MFP and Fitbit logs. If you link runkeeper and manually log it, you will double count. I suggest picking one and sticking to it consistently for a while. Ideally whichever you feel is most accurate.

Then how can changing the activity setting to lightly active which increases the total allotment be a more accurate setting?

I would say your fitbit and Digifit estimates will be more accurate in terms of your real activity.

But here's the thing... MFP always starts with an estimate of what you burn outside of exercise based on the activity level you chose and your BMR stats (as Heybales explained). I am just saying this as I am not sure it was explicit enough. So MFP starts with this estimate--which may or may not be true (likely less true than your Fitbit/Digifit). MFP deducts your deficit off this starting estimate. If that calculation puts you below 1200, it just sets you for 1200 NET (and a lower deficit). But MFP still uses that lower activity level for a standard for the calories it adds to your allowance. The calorie burn MFP assumes (by the end of the day) should be accurate compared to fitbit's estimate. It is just that the deficit MFP allows will never be higher than what is allowed for your stats based on the sedentary activity level. In my case, if set to lose one pound a week, my MFP allowance will be lower set to "lightly active" than to "sedentary". The reason is at "lightly active", MFP allows a higher deficit and it uses a slightly higher activity level as the standard in calculating my Fitbit adjustment. Even if I have one day a week (maybe two) that falls short of this level, I lose weight faster set at lightly active (if following MFP's allowance). I hope that makes sense. It is kind of counter-intuitive in some ways, it is just a matter of understanding how MFP calculates your starting net allowance.

Thanks guys! So I'm a believer. I'll tweak those settings a bit and see what happens. When I first got my HRM I spent a lot of time working on my HR zones. I'm on a mild beta blocker which makes stock settings a bit inaccurate. After a lot of experimentation I believe I'm real close to my own personal sweet spot which gets me as close as possible to an accurate cal expenditure with Digifit. So I am a believer in digital customization however I wish the app developers would make such customization more user friendly. Thanks again.

If you want a real test of cal burn as applied to your possibly variant it sounds like HR, try this.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/heybales/view/getting-your-personalized-calorie-burn-formula-663625