conniejohnsondaugherty wrote: »

Ugh! This is so frustrating!

It's not syncing. So I repeated the same steps and still it will not sync.

lol yea join the club. Hopefully it will just start working again, usually within a few days.i
I found if I Unlink, sign out, relink, sign out, sign out again, sometimes that will force it to re-sync correctly, once. lol.

Within 5 seconds of my Fitbit finally getting to sync to computer, my steps were shown in the Check-in page, daily burn was read correctly in Exercise tab, and Food diary showed the adjustment too. Fitbit had of course received the food entered.

I don't use the apps at all.

heybales wrote: »

Within 5 seconds of my Fitbit finally getting to sync to computer, my steps were shown in the Check-in page, daily burn was read correctly in Exercise tab, and Food diary showed the adjustment too. Fitbit had of course received the food entered.

I don't use the apps at all.

You've posted this same exact thing in multiple threads where people are complaining of an issue with syching. Clearly, you were not experiencing the synching issue, but there were many of us who clearly WERE having an issue. You telling us you're not having the problem doesn't really help in any way whatsoever.

Someone had suggested this (I don't remember who) and it actually works.
Rather than unlinking/relinking your accounts over and over again, you can do this instead:

Enter an activity on the Fitbit side. For example, I entered a 15 minute driving activity.
MFP then IMMEDIATELY received an updated calorie adjustment.
Then I deleted the activity on the Fitbit side, and MFP IMMEDIATELY received the new adjustment.
It was explained that Fitbit thinks it has already synched the adjustment with MFP when it really hasn't. So by entering an activity on that side, it forces the sync.

In my opinion, much easier "fix" than unlinking/relinking your accounts repeatedly.

traci9028 wrote: »

I've just started using my Fitbit in the last week and have had numerous problems, including errors reading calories, not showing steps, not syncing, etc. Is it really worth it or is there a much easier, user-friendly tracker out there? I know for many people, it probably works great but I get sooooo frustrated, especially when I don't have time to troubleshoot problems. I'm ready to return it, if they'll take it back. I'm getting stressed. Thanks for any suggestions.

If your frustrations are just with the MFP/Fitbit linkage (and not the Fitbit itself), I'd suggest waiting a few more days. I know it gets frustrating when it's not working (I've had mine linked for over 2.5 years and so I've figured out a few workarounds and can quickly tell when the data is wonky and what I can do about it, but it's still crazy annoying), but when it IS working, it's a really really great tool. It does occasionally get messed up, but I would say that it typically only happens a few times per year for a few days at a time. I try not to let 10 days of annoyance spoil 355 days of really good, useful information, you know? It sucks that this is your first impression, and I can totally see why you'd be ready to give up, but maybe just wait it out and give it a chance.

Thanks Barbie. That helps. I have figured out how to force a sync (MFP said to put in a dummy workout, then delete it - or connect to the fitbit app on my phone to get it going) but will it eventually do it on it's own? Also, I walked over 3000 steps yesterday and the calories burned on MFP keeps changing. How can I tell what it's supposed to say? First, it said 166 calories burned (that was yesterday afternoon), then it changed to -27 before bed. This morning, it said -33, (that was all after setting it down and not wearing it). Then, after putting it on today, that figure from yesterday changed again to -14. Not sure why or what it should be. Any suggestions?

traci9028 wrote: »

Thanks CM9178. It looks like everyone really likes the Fitbit, when it's working, but when it's not, there's really nothing to do but fight with it? I'm sorry you have so many problems with it. I seem to be having problems too but maybe once I get more familiar with it, I hope there will be fewer. Do you know why the calories burned keeps changing (from yesterday). It's not reliable but I don't know how else to figure out how many the steps burn.

Here is how it works in my head and from my calculations over 8 weeks has been pretty accurate. You also have had to allow for negative calories in your settings. I could be way off but it works for me.

MFP calculates based on information you give it. Height, weight, sex, age and activity level (sedentary, active, etc.) factor into how many calories you burn in a day. Other methodologies call this Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). For the sake or argument let's say that it is 2200 calories per day. This is different from BMR which is base on your height, weight, sex and age in a still state for 24 hours. Let's say your BMR is 1800. That is a 400 calorie difference based on normal activity.
Your Fitbit also calculates the average amount of calories burned in a day and updates incrementally over the day even if you do nothing. That is why you will wake up with no steps and calories already burned on your Fitbit. If the activity from your Fitbit does not equal the amount of activity expected, in this case, let's say at 6PM which would be 75% of a day or 300 extra calories (18 hours or .75/day x projected 400 extra activity calories =300), you get the negative adjustment. Theoretically, if you only had 250 activity calories at that point you would have around a negative 40 calories adjustment from the Fitbit on MFP (50 cal deficit x .75 of the day)

Once you have a few weeks in you will be able to calculate how accurate this is and be able to make some mental adjustments like I did. When people declare that they want to lose 10 pounds in the next 30 days, they don't realize they just committed to a net 'gain' of 1167 calories per day over what their TDEE is. You can decide what ratio of less calories and more activity to use. I use a 50/50 split on 500 calories a day. 250 less calories and 250 more burned.

The negative adjustment gives you a sense of where you are in terms of your goal at a given point during the day.

Your suggestion to log activity on Fitbit and it will sync with MFP the steps isn't working for me.

At first around Saturday night or Sunday nothing synced. Then I unlinked/relinked the accounts and I got steps for Saturday synced. Then Sunday and yesterday MFP data was sent to Fitbit but nothing from Fitbit back to MFP. Then today no data is being synced again either way. This is obviously affecting several people and I wonder if it has to do with the negative calorie checkbox they introduced.

rdcfe wrote: »

This whole thread makes me so frustrated and sad. I've been using FitBit and MFP for about two years. The two together were ideal! Then last year, they stopped syncing. Sometimes forcing a sync would work, sometimes it wouldn't. And even when it did work, it only sync'd as of that specific time, it wouldn't update until I forced a sync. (When I say "forced a sync" - I mean I would unlink and relink the accounts.) The two haven't sync'd on their own in almost a year now.

I upgraded my FitBit in early December (bought a One) to one that would sync with my phone so it would update all day long. I was really hoping that might fix the problem. Not only do they not automatically sync, they won't even sync when I force it. I know it's not just an issue of I just don't have an adjustment to be made because in the past food that was logged in MFP would come over to FitBit, that doesn't even happen anymore.

I wish I had some idea of what the issue is. Is it FitBit, is it MFP? I'm nearly ready to call it quits with MFP and just start logging my food at FitBit. That makes me sad since I think MFP is so much better at tracking food than FitBit. I know FitBit is a "free" service (free in the sense, we pay with our information) and I would gladly pay for a service that worked better (as long as I didn't have to see ads). At least with FitBit, it all works, I've already paid and I don't have to see ads (hopefully my info isn't being sold).

*sigh*

Have you ever reached out to MFP or Fitbit customer service? It's one thing when they have these wide outages that last a few days, but if you haven't been able to sync for a year, there's obviously something specific wrong with your account(s). Start with an email to one, they may tell you to go to the other, but that's what they're there to resolve. Don't sit silent and frustrated for that long - get someone to help you.

Mine synced yesterday but as of today it's not any word?