FitBit help

eyecandyrayce
eyecandyrayce Posts: 260 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I just got a fitbit and could use some advice.

My daily calorie limit is set to 1400 calories. My fitbit is set to burn 2184 calories per day before it counts anything over that as extra burned calories. Should the fitbit be set to a goal of 1400 calories or should I be doing some calculations to include base resting calories in my 1400 or is the 1400 from MFP including base resting calories? I might be over complicating this in my head.

Yesterday I climbed 21 flights of stairs and my fitbit says I burned 58 calories. That just doesn't seem right.

Any advice from experienced fitbit users would be appreciated.

Replies

  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    IMO, pick 1 - either the fitbit or MFP - and use that as your guide. I never had luck trying to make the 2 work together.

    And the fitbit isn't a calorie counter... don't use to track calories burned over short periods of time.
  • mandimahoney5
    mandimahoney5 Posts: 93
    Did you use the app and log that as " going up stairs" ? If not try that. Enter time started and duration. That will then replace ant steps done at that time with the exercise.

    As for using both programs. Make sure you have calculate steps on in MFP and set it to enable negative adjustments.

    I only use for it for input of exercise and my steps. mFP then pulls that data over. I do not pay attention to the calories part on Fitbit. I did set it as close to the MFP settings as I could but I don't enter food in to it
  • eyecandyrayce
    eyecandyrayce Posts: 260 Member
    MFP is bad for tracking short bursts of activity. My stair climbing doesn't even take a minute to do but those steps count as calorie burn over my usual sit in a chair all day which is my default activity level. Ignoring it is an option since I don't eat back the calories I burn but I would still like to see those calories burned.
  • 111YoYo111
    111YoYo111 Posts: 213 Member
    My fitbit went back because of the ridiculous inaccuracies. $17 to send it back too!
  • eyecandyrayce
    eyecandyrayce Posts: 260 Member

    When I calculate my BMR I get 1537.75. Should that be my base calorie burn on Fitbit?
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    eyecandyrayce wrote: »
    MFP is bad for tracking short bursts of activity. My stair climbing doesn't even take a minute to do but those steps count as calorie burn over my usual sit in a chair all day which is my default activity level. Ignoring it is an option since I don't eat back the calories I burn but I would still like to see those calories burned.

    You did 21 flights of stairs in under a minute???
  • eyecandyrayce
    eyecandyrayce Posts: 260 Member
    jacksonpt wrote: »
    eyecandyrayce wrote: »
    MFP is bad for tracking short bursts of activity. My stair climbing doesn't even take a minute to do but those steps count as calorie burn over my usual sit in a chair all day which is my default activity level. Ignoring it is an option since I don't eat back the calories I burn but I would still like to see those calories burned.

    You did 21 flights of stairs in under a minute???

    No.. in short bursts of 3 flights of stairs through the day. I get up to go to the bathroom, go up 3 flights of stairs and back down and then head into the bathroom. This only takes a few minutes at most and is harder to track. My heart rate is only up for a few minutes at most so entering the total of all that time seems inaccurate.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Nothing is going to work well when looking at 1-2 minute intervals of time. I'd suggest you do this - spend a week doing your stairs and see what your average daily calorie burn is. Then spend a week NOT doing stairs and see what your average is... then compare those 2 numbers.
  • jchurch9
    jchurch9 Posts: 20 Member
    I don't use my Fitbit to track calories. I use it more to track my activity and to motivate myself to move more. I track my exercise and calories in MFP.
  • eyecandyrayce
    eyecandyrayce Posts: 260 Member
    jacksonpt wrote: »
    Nothing is going to work well when looking at 1-2 minute intervals of time. I'd suggest you do this - spend a week doing your stairs and see what your average daily calorie burn is. Then spend a week NOT doing stairs and see what your average is... then compare those 2 numbers.

    Good idea. I'll do that :smile:
  • eyecandyrayce
    eyecandyrayce Posts: 260 Member
    jchurch9 wrote: »
    I don't use my Fitbit to track calories. I use it more to track my activity and to motivate myself to move more. I track my exercise and calories in MFP.

    I'm starting to think I should just stick with this. The fitbit is definitely motivating me more and it isn't like I eat my calories back (I use them for cheat meals on the weekend but try to watch that I don't go way over what I earned). The extra stairs can just be bonus and left off. I'm just obsessed with numbers and traceable activity.
  • eyecandyrayce
    eyecandyrayce Posts: 260 Member
    For now I did a simple calculation. The resting calories that fitbit uses for no activity is 1 calorie a minute. I calculating that in a day to 720 calories + 1400 per day in calories I'm eating = 2120 calories. I've set that as my base for now which is close to what fitbit had me set to.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    eyecandyrayce wrote: »
    I just got a fitbit and could use some advice.

    My daily calorie limit is set to 1400 calories. My fitbit is set to burn 2184 calories per day before it counts anything over that as extra burned calories. Should the fitbit be set to a goal of 1400 calories or should I be doing some calculations to include base resting calories in my 1400 or is the 1400 from MFP including base resting calories? I might be over complicating this in my head.

    Yesterday I climbed 21 flights of stairs and my fitbit says I burned 58 calories. That just doesn't seem right.

    Any advice from experienced fitbit users would be appreciated.

    Do you have MFP and Fitbit linked? If so, in MFP go to My Home, Goals. See 'Calories Burned from Normal Daily Activity'? That is the value that your Fitbit is comparing to (not the 2184 you see on the Fitbit Dashboard) to decide when you've earned a Fitbit Adjustment here.

    Where did you see 58 calories? Is that how much over 2184 you burned? Ignore the 2184. It's a nonsense calorie goal that Fitbit puts up there just to give you a calorie burned goal. It doesn't affect anything.

    Fitbit doesn't assign calories to climbing stairs, except the steps part. Climbing is resistance, which it doesn't detect. The floors value is from an altimeter but it doesn't affect calories burned because it can go nutty from weather conditions.

  • eyecandyrayce
    eyecandyrayce Posts: 260 Member
    edited October 2014
    WalkingAlong wrote: »

    Do you have MFP and Fitbit linked? If so, in MFP go to My Home, Goals. See 'Calories Burned from Normal Daily Activity'? That is the value that your Fitbit is comparing to (not the 2184 you see on the Fitbit Dashboard) to decide when you've earned a Fitbit Adjustment here.

    Where did you see 58 calories? Is that how much over 2184 you burned? Ignore the 2184. It's a nonsense calorie goal that Fitbit puts up there just to give you a calorie burned goal. It doesn't affect anything.

    Fitbit doesn't assign calories to climbing stairs, except the steps part. Climbing is resistance, which it doesn't detect. The floors value is from an altimeter but it doesn't affect calories burned because it can go nutty from weather conditions.

    This is what I was looking for. Thank you :smile:

    My MFP is linked to my fitbit. The 58 calories was here on MFP coming over from my fitbit. I was ignoring the 2184 because it wasn't right but I assumed that the calories coming over from fitbit to MFP was based on that 2184 and was causing me to be off on calories burned in steps for the day from fitbit. But you have explained that so I know it is all well.

    I appreciate the info.

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