Why is my FitBit adjustment so high?
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I took a look and I do not have that listed under preferences. Maybe the HR is different?0
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Hey!! I'm wondering if anyone can answer this question... How does FitBit calculate the calories you should be burning in any given day? I think it's the BMR??? I'm asking because it changes every once in a while. For example the past few days its been steady at 2283, but before that it was at 2184.
Also, does this mean I should be burning more calories than this estimate? I'm worried that I'm not burning enough calories since I average a burn of about 2200 per day.
I've generally been following MFP's calories of 1200 per day + whatever extra calories I gain from exercise.
I'm new to fitbit so I'm still trying to figure this out.
Thanks!!0 -
DanielleMesa wrote: »I took a look and I do not have that listed under preferences. Maybe the HR is different?
The calorie estimation option has been removed for new accounts starting at some point on the Settings page.
You reach the same option in Food logging section, Food plan - settings button.
Personalized (calorie estimation enabled) - uses prior day's history estimate daily burn, and therefore eating level. Lacking a recent sync, also reports that daily burn up to that point to MFP.
Sedentary (CE disabled) - uses daily burn estimated to be barely above BMR, and therefore eating level too. Lacking a recent sync, also reports that to MFP.
So if you sync often - doesn't matter, always being adjusted to recent sync anyway.
If you don't sync often - and depending on equal your average day is to another, this could be big or small adjustments that give you a surprise later.
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CountessKitteh wrote: »Fitbit also adjusts itself throughout the day. If you ran 5 miles in the first 2 hours you were awake, it's going to give you a HUGE adjustment thinking you'll maintain that same activity level all day. If you spend the day sitting at a desk/only doing normal office walking around and then check back in by late afternoon, Fitbit will probably have drastically reduced its original prediction. Mine does it all the time, since I hit the gym first thing in the morning and confuse the little bugger.
Actually no, that's not true at all.
Either on Fitbit itself as you mention, or on MFP.
On Fitbit, your per minute burn rate is based either on barely above BMR (calorie estimation off), or on historical average of many days (CE on).
So if you did big workout and then synced, you be given that big calorie burn and correct eating level.
Now if you waited to sync until evening, you'd be given a minute burn based on either option above.
But NOT based on the burn up until the first sync.
Likewise on MFP, if it received that first sync after your workout, rest of the day is assumed to be equal to whatever activity level you selected on MFP.
Until a new sync comes across and says otherwise to do math with.
You likely have CE enabled, and don't sync often during the day with your device.
So Fitbit is reporting to MFP a larger calorie burn based on past days averages all day until that next sync.0 -
Hey!! I'm wondering if anyone can answer this question... How does FitBit calculate the calories you should be burning in any given day? I think it's the BMR??? I'm asking because it changes every once in a while. For example the past few days its been steady at 2283, but before that it was at 2184.
Also, does this mean I should be burning more calories than this estimate? I'm worried that I'm not burning enough calories since I average a burn of about 2200 per day.
I've generally been following MFP's calories of 1200 per day + whatever extra calories I gain from exercise.
I'm new to fitbit so I'm still trying to figure this out.
Thanks!!
It estimates starting with BMR. And then all steps add calories to that.
So indeed, it's underestimating.
When awake, you burn more - RMR.
When standing no steps you burn even more.
When digesting/processing food you burn more (about 10% of calories eaten).
All those are given sleeping time BMR level burn.
So yes it changes - you can't duplicate your actions every day. That's why it's a daily activity tracker.
And that calorie adjustment is not just exercise.
You could have no exercise and be very active and big adjustment.
You could have big exercise and sleep tons more and have none.0 -
Thank you Heybales!
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So I made my activity level to very active and made my adjustments with the negatives and it fixed everything... I only have 235 extra from my day... I am a pe teacher and I am always on my feet and it was giving me in the 1000 so i would suggest that you take theses steps0
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Just kidding for some reason it just shot up to 8000
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Find it confusing too, cause the calories MFP gives me are always less the Fitbit. Also Fitbit seems to overestimate exercise calories.0
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I have been noticing this adjustment from Fitbit too, I don't log my food over there in Fitbit, and don't see the option to change it from Sedentary, etc ....I simply ignore the extra calories it gives me and only count the ones added in MFP for my exercise ...0
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Yes - you've could have / should have been eating more for however long you've been using MFP.
- Sounds like your Fitbit is letting you know you are more active.
Then again, you don't say which Fitbit device. If HR version, then the calorie burn based on HR for lifting is inflated, those formulas are for steady-state aerobic, not non-steady-state anaerobic like lifting is.
So manually log Weights on fitbit or Strength training on MFP for that time.
Calorie burn is smaller, but that is correct.
Still sounds like you are more active than you think.
And since fat loss requires a reasonable deficit - make it so.
Unreasonable gives you muscle loss - to be avoided.
And no, MFP subtracts what it thought you'd burn with no exercise from Fitbit daily burn, to make the calorie adjustment.
So if MFP thought you'd burn more (and you do), it means the adjustment is smaller.
You can plan the day better.
Yikes, now I'm a bit confused. I have an HR. My most common exercise session is crossfit, which is a combo of cardio and lifting. So, is it overestimating the burn and therefore making too big an adjustment because of the HR increase from the lifting?0 -
joelschneider45066 wrote: »I have been noticing this adjustment from Fitbit too, I don't log my food over there in Fitbit, and don't see the option to change it from Sedentary, etc ....I simply ignore the extra calories it gives me and only count the ones added in MFP for my exercise ...
Then why are you syncing the tools?
Fitbit is the tool to give you a better idea of what you burn daily, so you can eat less than that by a reasonable amount, and hopefully just lose fat, and not muscle too.
MFP is trying to correct it's figures with Fitbit's better ones, but you are ignoring those corrections.
Why even use it then?0 -
Yes - you've could have / should have been eating more for however long you've been using MFP.
- Sounds like your Fitbit is letting you know you are more active.
Then again, you don't say which Fitbit device. If HR version, then the calorie burn based on HR for lifting is inflated, those formulas are for steady-state aerobic, not non-steady-state anaerobic like lifting is.
So manually log Weights on fitbit or Strength training on MFP for that time.
Calorie burn is smaller, but that is correct.
Still sounds like you are more active than you think.
And since fat loss requires a reasonable deficit - make it so.
Unreasonable gives you muscle loss - to be avoided.
And no, MFP subtracts what it thought you'd burn with no exercise from Fitbit daily burn, to make the calorie adjustment.
So if MFP thought you'd burn more (and you do), it means the adjustment is smaller.
You can plan the day better.
Yikes, now I'm a bit confused. I have an HR. My most common exercise session is crossfit, which is a combo of cardio and lifting. So, is it overestimating the burn and therefore making too big an adjustment because of the HR increase from the lifting?
How much time is spent doing the lifting amongst the cardio, or how long is a session?
Also, crossfit only has a potential WOD that is strictly like lifting right, enough rest to really do it heavy? Otherwise rests are brief and reps are high - preventing heavy lifting.
So that makes the inflation not as bad.
1 hr is only 4.2% of the day's time. If it's inflated 100 calories over reality, that's not really that bad. True lifting can really shoot the heart rate up though, and it can take 2-4 minutes for it to lower to not even resting level, despite the fact you have been standing or sitting or walking slowly for 2-4 minutes, doing nothing that requires that high HR.0 -
Thank heybales. Most of the lifting is within the WOD, which is also got a lot of high intensity cardio components. Like today's WOD included kettle bell swings, which seem to me to combine both lifting and cardio. Although sometimes there is a separate lifting section for 10-15 minutes. It's showing up as less than what I was estimating before, so it shouldn't be a problem overall.0
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jumblejups wrote: »I have this same question so I'm jumping on here (sorry ).
Also when it comes to eating adjustment calories, do FitBit users eat back all of the calories? When I've read about exercise calories on MFP the general idea has been to eat at least 50% back, but I think part of that is because MFP can overestimate calorie burns, so I'm guessing the FitBit adjustment calories might be more reliable and therefore recommended to eat them...?
I don't want to go aggressive and not eat at the right level for me - part of the reason why I got the Flex in the first place - so I want to make sure I'm doing this sensibly
Because this eat back calories thing was puzzling, and I couldn't find anything about it on reliable medical sites like the CDC, I went to the M.D. I trust most. I asked my Internist what to do about the "eat back calories burned through exercise" thing. His instruction is that I am to eat healthily to get vital nutrients, and not to eat back calories burned through exercise, and to follow the NIH and CDC guidelines for nutrition and exercise. They have really good sections on dieting on their sites.
At 1200 calories consumed per day, I can hit most of the nutritional goals; less than that, I'd have trouble meeting them. He's looked at my diaries; I trust him. I follow what he and my gastroenterologist say to do.
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Sadly, unless you know how to describe what MFP is doing, most Dr's are going to say exactly that.
And rarely have I seen anyone describe it correctly because they don't actually understand it either.
The fact is you take a deficit off what you burn daily. If that happens to include exercise or not is irrelevant.
You burn X one day, you eat 500 less.
You burn Y one day, you eat 500 less.
You burn Z one day, you eat 500 less.
That will cause a 1 lb weekly weight loss goal, constantly eating 500 less than you burn total daily.
So if you want any kind of good exercise workout to get really sucky because you are not feeding it well, by all means create an unreasonable level of deficit on exactly the days when you exercise and should eat more to fuel your workouts.
Don't expect the exercise to create much in the way of body improvements, not compared to fueling it correctly.
Of course, if exercise is merely walking, which most have done since being a kid, you aren't exactly going to be making much in the way of transformation anyway, nor are you burning that much extra daily.
And those guidelines you mention are for bare minimum for everything.
So if doing things with the least possible that you must do is what you think will help you the best - by all means continue on.
- You'll get out of it what you put in to it.
If you think you'd like your time and energy spent really trying to change the body to the max, then you need to fuel it to the max that still allows fat loss.0 -
I just started using a fitbit flex and I'm glad I stumbled across this group. I've read through this discussion and I'm pleased to see I've been using it correctly. But now I also understand it a little better. Thanks heybales!
Can you clarify something for me though? When I first synced MFP to fitbit it told me to still enter workouts in MFP, and it added a start time to any cardio exercise (this option wasn't in MFP before I added the fitbit). I do mostly strength training (I lift things up and put them down like a meathead like you described in one of your posts above), but I occassionally run with my dogs. Do you know if MFP ignores the calories gained from fitbit because you enter them manually in MFP? It certainly seems too.
I'm very surprised with how accurate it all seems to be, without having a HR monitor. It's helped me a lot in the past week and a half. It got me back on track and helped me realize I need to eat a bit more. I'm much more active than I thought, and my workouts have improved thanks to the extra calories. But my fear is that this is a newby gainz type situation because I just got back on track after a couple months away from tracking, and my gainz (weight loss) is going to stall.0 -
Do you remember where those instructions are to log all workouts in MFP - been trying to find that but no one remembers?
When manually entered in MFP or Fitbit for that matter, it overwrites whatever Fitbit estimated for calorie burn - hence the requirement for start and duration time.
It's not so much as ignore them by MFP, but since it already knows about them, it subtracts them out from whatever Fitbit provides as daily burn figure. Which that figure already has that manually logged workout too.
If you keep reasonable deficit, shouldn't be a need to stall. Of course first thing body does when deficit is unreasonable, is usually slow you down. Some of that shows up as steps going down. Fidgeting and such won't be notice of course.0
