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Am I over counting?

kmpssbl
kmpssbl Posts: 5 Member
edited November 8 in Social Groups
I just synced my Fitbit Flex and My Fitness pal app last night. When I am exercising on the treadmill or running outside, should I count those calories burned from my Heart Rate Monitor? My fear is I'm over counting bc those steps are also being recorded. I hope this ? makes sense. Just trying to get the most accurate count calorie burn possible. Thanks for the help.

Replies

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    When you log exercise (either here or on fitbit), it will ask for start time and duration. It asks for that information so it can replace what fitbit thought you burned for that time period with whatever calories you input.
    This is what I do when I want to use calories from a HRM:
    -put flex into sleep/activity mode (this is going to create an activity record b/c of the movement)
    -do my workout as usual
    -take flex out of sleep/activity mode
    -sync flex
    -look at fitbit activity log
    -the activity record shows my exact start time & duration
    -I use the information from the activity record to log my workout with calories from my HRM
    -then I delete the activity record
  • kmpssbl
    kmpssbl Posts: 5 Member
    edited November 2014
    Thank you!! Very helpful. One other question. Why do you need the activity record at all to log your workout? Can't you just input calories burned from your HRM?
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited November 2014
    You can, I just use it so I know the exact time my workout started and exact time it ended. I'm a little scatter-brained and generally can't remember that much information until I can log it (1hr long workouts and generally don't get to my computer/phone until 15 mins or so after I'm done).
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited November 2014
    If you have a HRM that keeps a record of start time and duration, then no you don't need to do anything with Fitbit to remind yourself of the start time/duration.

    Another tidbit.

    If you manually log that from MFP - it replaces the calorie burn only.

    If you manually log that from Fitbit (walking/running only) - it replaces the miles, calories, and steps. Steps are calculated from your input miles and setting of stride length. They may go up or down.

    Also, before you trust the HRM over the Fitbit, especially a Fitbit with manually corrected stride length so distance is known better.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/774337-how-to-test-hrm-for-how-accurate-calorie-burn-is

    Depending on if you have incline or not (Fitbit not aware of incline and extra calories burned), Fitbit may be more accurate than your HRM, because it is basically using that more accurate formula.
  • kmpssbl
    kmpssbl Posts: 5 Member
    edited November 2014
    heybales wrote: »
    If you have a HRM that keeps a record of start time and duration, then no you don't need to do anything with Fitbit to remind yourself of the start time/duration.

    Another tidbit.

    If you manually log that from MFP - it replaces the calorie burn only.

    If you manually log that from Fitbit (walking/running only) - it replaces the miles, calories, and steps. Steps are calculated from your input miles and setting of stride length. They may go up or down.

    Also, before you trust the HRM over the Fitbit, especially a Fitbit with manually corrected stride length so distance is known better.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/774337-how-to-test-hrm-for-how-accurate-calorie-burn-is

    Depending on if you have incline or not (Fitbit not aware of incline and extra calories burned), Fitbit may be more accurate than your HRM, because it is basically using that more accurate formula.


    Thanks for the link to the article. I'll have to try the test. I think I'll stick with the HRM monitor for now. I typically run and weight lift during my 60 min workout.
  • kmpssbl
    kmpssbl Posts: 5 Member
    edited November 2014
    shadow2soul wrote: »
    You can, I just use it so I know the exact time my workout started and exact time it ended. I'm a little scatter-brained and generally can't remember that much information until I can log it (1hr long workouts and generally don't get to my computer/phone until 15 mins or so after I'm done).

    So you log your workout into Fitbit, not MFP right?
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    kmpssbl wrote: »
    shadow2soul wrote: »
    You can, I just use it so I know the exact time my workout started and exact time it ended. I'm a little scatter-brained and generally can't remember that much information until I can log it (1hr long workouts and generally don't get to my computer/phone until 15 mins or so after I'm done).

    So you log your workout into Fitbit, not MFP right?

    Yep. I used to log on MFP, but then experienced a glitch when the sites would talk to each other. The glitch was putting my workouts at the wrong time. After it happened a few times, I decided I didn't want to have to double check that it transferred like it was suppose to all the time. The main difference is that it doesn't post to your newsfeed that you worked out.
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