"Fitbit calorie adjustment"

faburizu
faburizu Posts: 32 Member
edited November 13 in Fitness and Exercise
I've read several other threads on this issue and I am clueless so if you respond, please speak in very simple terms (I'm so bad at numbers).

Today I did a pretty intense cardio routine. I logged 30 minutes of cardio in my exercise diary (352), and I realized that my fitbit calorie adjustment added "323". Is fitbit just adding the same thing twice? In which case should I disable that calorie adjustment from my diary?

I don't know what the negative adjustment does and I enabled it the other day and it took away like 300 calories for no reason and left me negative. It says in the settings that the negative setting is only if you don't wear your fitbit always. But I always have it on.

I know the numbers will never be -exact- but having an extra 300 calories is enough to mess things up I think.

Replies

  • subversive99
    subversive99 Posts: 273 Member
    If you have a fitbit linked you should log your exercise in the fitbit app or portal, not on mfp, or it will get counted twice.
  • gracielynn1011
    gracielynn1011 Posts: 726 Member
    I agree.

    When I got my fitbit, I set my activity in MFP to sedentary, and log any nonstep activity in the fitbit app. Non step activity is something like strength training, or a workout dvd. So far that has been working out for me. By logging in fitbit app, it carries over to MFP without counting it twice.
  • faburizu
    faburizu Posts: 32 Member
    Thank you!!!
  • faburizu
    faburizu Posts: 32 Member
    edited February 2015
    Grrr. I just deleted the MFP one and the fitbit one is up to like 600. That seems super high. Do you think this is right?

    It seems like it's adding the projected calories of doing aerobics plus what it "senses" I'm doing .
  • subversive99
    subversive99 Posts: 273 Member
    edited February 2015
    The 'extra calories earned' from Fitbit to MFP is a bit of an interesting thing. It seems to basically assume you are going to keep moving at the same pace that you have been moving. So, for example, if you get up and do some early morning exercise (either step type exercise which the fitbit tracks pretty accurately, or manually entered exercise in fitbit), and say you see that you now have 300 "extra" calories earned. Now, if you go to work and sit on your butt for 8 hours and don't move at all, try refreshing the MFP diary page every so often. You will see that "extra" number gradually decrease as it recalculates your expected daily TDEE. Also, when you go to bed, you might see that you've earned 500 extra calories for the day but when you wake up in the morning and check your data from yesterday, you may have only earned 375 extra calories. In my mind, I think of it sort of like how if you get a big bonus at work, the government taxes you on that bonus as if you make that much money all the time. MFP does a little bit of a similar thing with earned exercise calories.

    Anyway, I can't answer your question regarding the 600 because I don't know what you've done today, but it's not uncommon for me to "earn" more than 600 extra calories in a day (not that I necessarily eat them). I would say now that you know what you're doing, only enter stuff in Fitbit tomorrow and see what happens. It takes a bit of getting used to but it's fine once you get your head wrapped around it.
  • adiyaya80
    adiyaya80 Posts: 3 Member
    Just reading this and I have to admit I am confused too. If my fitbit logs my movement when running, do I then not bother adding my run to the MFP exercise log? Thanks in advance.
  • subversive99
    subversive99 Posts: 273 Member
    adiyaya80 wrote: »
    Just reading this and I have to admit I am confused too. If my fitbit logs my movement when running, do I then not bother adding my run to the MFP exercise log? Thanks in advance.

    If you are using a fitbit and have it linked to MFP, you shouldn't be logging exercises in your MFP exercise log at all. Log them in fitbit portal.

    As far as running, fitbit is counting your steps, so I personally don't think there's any reason to add running as a specific exercise in the fitbit portal.

  • WandaVaughn
    WandaVaughn Posts: 420 Member
    I know this is an old thread, but it was something I was searching, anyway. I hope somebody sees this.

    I have MapMyRun and it's linked with MyFitnessPal and my UP Jawbone. I took a lunchtime walk and my diary had an entry for MapMyRun, a number of steps and calories burned added automatically. So I don't have to manually add my 32 minute walk at 3.0 mph. Right?
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