Calorie Burn Monitor help

ZombieBubbles
ZombieBubbles Posts: 110 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm a little frustrated. I've been so excited about getting the Fitbit Flex, and now that I have it I'm second guessing it. I wanted something I can wear that will tell me how many calories I've burned during my various workouts and be accurate. I also liked the idea of it syncing up with my phone and MFP. I also don't want to wear a chest strap. Well it seems the flex just tells me what I've burned over all through the day and not for specific things which completely defeats the purpose of what I need. The other features of it are cool but keeping track of my sleep is not high on my priority list. I do have a cheap wrist watch that I got from Walmart that tracks my calories burned during my various workouts but I question it's accuracy. What should I do? Should I keep this $100 wrist band? I really just want a wrist watch type thing that will accurately tell me calories burned during my various exercises and snyc up with MFP and phone if possible. :grumble:

Replies

  • nicoleagafitness
    nicoleagafitness Posts: 100 Member
    This would be my advice for this situation....you should only wear it either ...
    A) When you're NOT working out, to log calories burned
    or
    B) When you are working out, and not during the entire day so that you see what you've burned.

    I suggest B or return it.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Put it into sleep mode to create an activity record. The activity record will then be able to tell you: start time, duration, calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled. It however will not be very accurate for non step based activities.

    Example:
    2qvfwg3.jpg
    **You can also manually add in the activity records later, if you forget to put it in activity mode. It won't change any information. You will need to know your start time and end time to manually enter it.

    It is still going to tell you your total calories burned for the day, but with the activity records you can see what it thinks you burned while you were doing certain workouts. The activity record in the screenshot I posted was manually created after the fact. I forgot to turn it on before my walk. It however doesn't know that I was pushing my 2yr old in his stroller and had my 4 month old in a carrier on my chest. It also can't account for the hills. So the calories are based on how many steps/distance I traveled in the time frame selected.

    edit: Oh and the calories the activity record shows are gross not net. So it's the calories you would burn doing nothing during that time frame (BMR...for me its about 16 cals every 15 mins) + your activity calories.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    When the two sites sync however, logged exercise/activity records from Fitbit's site will not be transferred over. You will get an adjustment instead. The adjustment is:

    Fitbit Tracked Daily Calorie Burn - (MFP estimated Daily Calorie Burn Before Exercise + MFP Logged Exercise) = +/- adjustment

    Example:
    25hq2wk.jpg

    I don't log exercise on MFP. Everything exercise related is logged on Fitbit only. Adjustments are updated every time you sync your fitbit (sometimes MFP is a little slow with it). Fitbit will estimate what you are going to burn for the full day based on what your calorie burn is at the last sync. For that reason your adjustment can increase/decrease throughout the day. The adjustment will take into account your exercise and any extra calories burned from activity beyond what MFP estimates (based on activity setting).
  • rainbowblu
    rainbowblu Posts: 119 Member
    You might want to check out the body media armband, it records all activities. You will have to wear the arm strap all day, but that's easier than a chest strap and you can check the watch/app all day too. I have the old body media and it was O.K. that was before everything had an app and before I had MFP so I had to log all of my meals on there which was annoying-the database was not as great as MFP.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    I wanted something I can wear that will tell me how many calories I've burned during my various workouts and be accurate.

    There is no such machine.
  • ZombieBubbles
    ZombieBubbles Posts: 110 Member
    There may not be be but I just want something that is as close as possible.
  • ZombieBubbles
    ZombieBubbles Posts: 110 Member
    Thank you so much. I'm gonna give it a couple of days to see how it goes. If it's not working out then I'm gonna just return it. I have a sports line watch that tells me calories burned during just exercises that Ill compare with. I know it's not very accurate but it at least gives me some kind of ball park figure.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I didn't see it specifically mentioned.

    The Fitbit's will get about 85% of your day correct for calorie burn, the other 15% depends on what you do.

    It's obviously step based, since that's what it measures.

    If, if, you have the stride length correct, it can the be very accurate for walking and running level, since it knows of no incline.

    Other step based stuff is almost as good.

    But you'll need to manually log the non-step based stuff. Swimming should be obvious, rowing, lifting, biking, elliptical, stair climber, ect.

    And you might compare how much you burn daily to how much you burn in any 1 workout. What % of time are those workouts compared to the time in a week?
    What % of calories are those weekly workouts compared to what you burn in a week.

    Use the Sport Line (HRM?) along with it, when you manually log the non-step based stuff, you replace whatever Fitbit is estimating for calories.
    For strength training, just use the database entry since more accurate than HRM too, may seem low compared to cardio, but that's true.

    And if you want to see how close or bad your Sport Line is for estimating calorie burn - test it if you have treadmill access.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/774337-how-to-test-hrm-for-how-accurate-calorie-burn-is
  • rhtexasgal
    rhtexasgal Posts: 572 Member
    I like the graphs that Fitbit reports creates. For instance, if I want an accurate calorie burn for when I am on the elliptical since the actual machines tend to be off, I just look at the calorie graph the Fitbit creates for one of the reports and check the calorie burn for that specific span of time. For instance, I always do cardio from 5:30-6:00 a.m. so I check the graph for that time period and add up the calories. I do weight training from 6:00-6:30 a.m. so I can also get a good estimate of calories burned at that time.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    There may not be be but I just want something that is as close as possible.

    Hmm. Why don't you like the chest strap? After a while of using it you tend to forget it's there. I've never owned a fitbit type device but I hope that the given suggestions work great. That said I do think you purchased the wrong kind of device because the HRM is better for exercise, while the activity tracker is better for all day step based activity
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    There may not be be but I just want something that is as close as possible.

    The problem is that "as close as possible" is not very close. So what's the point? You may as well just use MFP numbers and divide by 2 or 3 or 6.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I like the graphs that Fitbit reports creates. For instance, if I want an accurate calorie burn for when I am on the elliptical since the actual machines tend to be off, I just look at the calorie graph the Fitbit creates for one of the reports and check the calorie burn for that specific span of time. For instance, I always do cardio from 5:30-6:00 a.m. so I check the graph for that time period and add up the calories. I do weight training from 6:00-6:30 a.m. so I can also get a good estimate of calories burned at that time.

    You ever counted the steps seen by the Fitbit, because most when they do discover it only sees half the steps, like just the right leg going down.
    This is dependent on how much motion you put in to it, and your incline, you could be stepping big time and getting full step count.

    The problem is the formula for step count is still for walking and running, doesn't apply to elliptical at all.

    So no - it's not "accurate" for that. In fact, in their FAQ's you'll find elliptical mentioned as one of those non-step based activities it's best to manually log for better accuracy.

    Not sure how you think lifting can possibly have any decent estimate of calories burned, considering you can stand there and do a whole set and not get 1 step in for all kinds of lifts. That's probably the worst estimate besides swimming, when you leave it in the locker.
  • ZombieBubbles
    ZombieBubbles Posts: 110 Member
    The chest strap I'm worried about it slipping and as a female with 34DDD I'm worried about the girls getting in the way if you know what I mean. It's a neat gadget and it does have some features I like, but unfortunately it isn't what I was looking for. I'm considering either getting the polar ft7 or one of the better sportline watches. I didn't want to have to do a chest strap, but doesn't seem any other way around it.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    The chest strap I'm worried about it slipping and as a female with 34DDD I'm worried about the girls getting in the way if you know what I mean. It's a neat gadget and it does have some features I like, but unfortunately it isn't what I was looking for. I'm considering either getting the polar ft7 or one of the better sportline watches. I didn't want to have to do a chest strap, but doesn't seem any other way around it.

    My HRM has a chest strap. When wearing it you pull it tight to the rib cage and wear it under/right below the band for your bra. I'm a 38F and haven't had any issues with the strap. I prefer to slide mine under the band for my sports bra so that my bra doesn't end up sliding between the band and my chest.

    There are even some sports bras that are designed for a HRM to be put into the band of the bra.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    The chest strap I'm worried about it slipping and as a female with 34DDD I'm worried about the girls getting in the way if you know what I mean. It's a neat gadget and it does have some features I like, but unfortunately it isn't what I was looking for. I'm considering either getting the polar ft7 or one of the better sportline watches. I didn't want to have to do a chest strap, but doesn't seem any other way around it.

    Sorry to be immature but there's no way around it here - I don't know about huge ones, but the girls actually help hold the strap in place. An excellent location for it is just underneath the sports bra band in a lot of cases. I actually suspect more ampleness would yield better results. :bigsmile: Also if the strap is too loose, the readings won't be transmitted correctly. One of the troubleshooting guides I saw actually said the strap should be stretched 6-8 inches from its normal length before clasping it in order to get a nice reading from your heart. As I lose inches that's one of the things I have to remember to try is to take the strap in another half inch or so

    As for the readings and calories, you'll have to do your own research as to how you want to use them. I eat back most of my calories from the hrm and have been losing at the pace predicted by MFP. In my case I did crank up the max HR to 197, which does give lower numbers. Other prefer to deduct their maintenance calories divided by 24 to get a "net" calorie burn reading, or just eat back only about 50-75% of the calories given by the hrm. It's truly been one of my favorite fitness purchases that I've used just about every time I work out. Only time I don't use it is when I forget to bring it with me or when my strap needed to be replaced. I have an FT4.

    I think fitbit can be great - it's just all about steps and getting moving more, usually throughout the day. Many owners say it's helped them get to numbers like 20,000 or 25,000 steps per day because they are motivated seeing those numbers. I just like to go hard in the gym and come back to nap time, which is why an all day activity tracker wouldn't really suit my personality at this time
  • SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage
    SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage Posts: 2,668 Member
    The chest strap I'm worried about it slipping and as a female with 34DDD I'm worried about the girls getting in the way if you know what I mean. It's a neat gadget and it does have some features I like, but unfortunately it isn't what I was looking for. I'm considering either getting the polar ft7 or one of the better sportline watches. I didn't want to have to do a chest strap, but doesn't seem any other way around it.
    I'm a 34DD and my Garmin chest strap works just fine. I don't even know it's there and the girls don't cause an issue
  • ZombieBubbles
    ZombieBubbles Posts: 110 Member
    Thanks all who have responded and were very helpful.:smile: I posted in the help forum on the fitbit site and not one person responded.:grumble: My BF thinks I should keep the fitbit since I do like everything else on it and just use my sportline for the certain exercises I need it for. I'm considering it at the moment. We shall see what happens while I'm doing first day of lvl 3 Ripped in 30. It's gonna be a rough morning. :laugh:
  • Angierae75
    Angierae75 Posts: 417 Member
    I log my exercise in Endomondo, which reports to MFP, which reports to Fitbit. I eat back about half of my exercise/adjusted calories. It's working for me so far. Endomondo tells the fitbit during what time you were exercising, so it knows.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    I have a fitbit for step based activity and wear it every day ,,,I used to log workouts on MFP and half the calories...now I wear a HRM for workouts and log those instead because the previous way a killer workout earned me about the same amount as 10000 steps (between 350 and 450 cals)

    You don't feel the band, you slip it under your sports bra or bra

    But I'm taking it with a pinch of salt it's an HRM, no machine measures calories used that accurately
  • ZombieBubbles
    ZombieBubbles Posts: 110 Member
    I decided to keep my flex after all. I do enjoy the other features on it. I'm gonna use my sport line watch for my other activities. For now this will work.

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