Using fitbit and myfitnesspal

I generally let fitbit track everything, and logged exercise on fitbit's site. What I found happens is if you log exercise on myfitnesspal, calories would get counted on MFP, then again in the fitbit calorie adjustment. In other words, calories burned would get double-counted

I use my fitbit as a stand alone tool and do not link it to MFP. I log my exercise on MFP and use the fitbit for traking of daily steps and a few other items.

I track on MFP. I manually add my exercice calories. Usually what happens is that FitBit gives me a few hundred more cals for the day, and when I add the exercise calories, it substracts calories from the FB estimate and it comes to the same amount of calories anyways. Not sure if it makes sense, lol, but it seems to work for me.

Ex: FitBit gives me 260 calories for the day from my daily activity, before my MFP exercise. When I add my MFP exercise (let's say it's 200 calories) then I have a remaining 60 calories listed by FitBit, for my normal daily activity. But I set everything to sedentary and just add whatever I do that day... It may be different if you're not set as sedentary.

I have linked the two and they talk to each other. It's magic. I think I found settings on the MFP side to NOT record the calories burned, just the exercise. But it's all magic. My menopause brain has forgotten how I did it.

I don't take my Fitbit Zip in to the pool.

I tap my Fitbit when I am in a wifi zone once a day. I have noticed if I DON'T sync for a few days sometimes I lose the previous days' counts.

If you enter excercises in MFP and have either a Jawbone or a Fitbit, there is no double-counting...this is a myth that keeps getting repeated, and it's wrong. I enter my excercise into MFP and there is no double-counting with a Jawbone. Here's why.

Say you eat 2,000 calories in a day (nice round number).

And you log 500 calories of exercise in MFP (whatever kind you want, doesn't matter).

Then in my MFP, if you are set up for weight-maintenance, you are expected to burn 2,100 calories per day. (That's 1,600 sitting on your *kitten*, and 500 say doing 10,000 steps).

So MFP would log (at the end of the day):

2,100 (goal) - 2,000 (food) + 500 (exercise) + Jawbone/fitbit adj. = 600.

And you're above 0, so you're good for the day.

But the reason why there is no double-counting is based on how the jawbone/fit adj. works.

Assume everything else the same above.

And you walk all day, and burn 1,000 calories walking (no idea if this is realistic).

MFP says "He or she will burn 2,600 calories today (2,100 goal + 500 exercise that you entered)"

But Jawbone/fit says "His resting burn is 1,600 calories plus I'm logging 1,000 for the steps he or she took". Total is 2,600. But you also enter 500 calories of exercise into Jawbone/fitbit as well. Now total is 3,100 burned.


3,100 (calories burned) - 2,000 (food) = 1,200

But then the majic happens.

MFP and Fitbit/Jawbone talk and MFP gives you a Jawbone/fitbit adj. of 600

So,

2,100 (goal) - 2,000 (food) + 500 (exercise) + 600 (Fitbit Adj). = 1,200.

THE SAME NUMBER - NO DOUBLE COUNTING.

Now, if you did not enter the exercise into MFP, your exercise from Jawbone/fitbit would just show up as a 1,100 adjustment and the result would still be the same.

I hope that clears things up. Go ahead, enter your exercise in both apps.

Glenn

geojeepgirl wrote: »

same here... I let my fitbit adjust my calories on mfp and dont log my activity on mfp so it doesnt double count. If I want to keep track of what exercises I do.. I use the Note section or add it to my fitbit side.

No double counting. If you don't enter in MFP, just shows up as an "adjustment" instead. But the result is exactly the same.