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My exercise calories from fitbit seem high, is it accurate and do I eat them?

Fit4Penny
Fit4Penny Posts: 75 Member
edited November 13 in Social Groups
I am confused! I have MFP setup as sedentary, to lose 1 pound a week and for negative calorie adjustments. I mainly walk or do the elliptical machine for cardio so I don't log this exercise at all and let fitbit handle it. The calories that I get from fitbit for exercise seems high. I average approximately 18-20K steps a day and that generally reports exercise calories of 900-1100. Does that seem high? Should I be eating some of these calories back?

Replies

  • Mojofilter
    Mojofilter Posts: 14 Member
    For that many steps, no. That seems low to me but I'm a 15 stone male.
  • Fit4Penny
    Fit4Penny Posts: 75 Member
    Maybe it would be helpful to have my stats as well:

    43 year old female
    5'2
    134 pounds
  • agratzy
    agratzy Posts: 114 Member
    Mine seems high as well! Example: I've only walked 4,000 steps today but it says I have burned 166 extra calories! ah! It's throwing me off.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    Your Fitbit burn is your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), aka your maintenance calories. Your MFP calorie goal is your activity level minus your deficit. Your adjustments are the difference between your Fitbit burn and your MFP activity level.

    I eat back all my adjustments. I lost the weight & have maintained for seven months. Trust your Fitbit for several weeks, then reevaluate your progress.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Fit4Penny wrote: »
    I am confused! I have MFP setup as sedentary, to lose 1 pound a week and for negative calorie adjustments. I mainly walk or do the elliptical machine for cardio so I don't log this exercise at all and let fitbit handle it. The calories that I get from fitbit for exercise seems high. I average approximately 18-20K steps a day and that generally reports exercise calories of 900-1100. Does that seem high? Should I be eating some of these calories back?

    That adjustment is NOT just exercise.

    It's the difference between MFP's estimate of sedentary daily burn with no exercise - and whatever you actually did that Fitbit saw, exercise or not included.

    Were you willing to blindly eat MFP's recommended calories without understanding how it came about in the math?

    Why not when you burn more and daily burn increases?
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