why did my exercise calories change?

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kindrabbit
kindrabbit Posts: 837 Member
edited March 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
Earlier this evening I had earned 100 calories from exercise (my fitbit is attached to my phone which has mfp). I haven't trained today so that is from the dog walk, housework etc. I planned my evening meal so that I ate exactly enough to leave me with 50 caloires (the 50% of exercise calories that is recommended)

I've just got in from my evening shift, my phone has connected to the internet and I now only have 7 calories from exercise which means I am -40 something!! how is that fair?

what happened?

Replies

  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    I suspect that the software assumes that you are going to burn some number of calories through normal activity. If your normal activity isn't as high as what it assumes, then it will subtract calories.
  • sodakat
    sodakat Posts: 1,126 Member
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    Yes, I think TimothyFish is right. For example, this morning I wore my Fitbit when I walked and it showed extra calories that I earned. But I took it off at noon to charge it and didn't wear it this afternoon. When I looked at my Food Diary on MFP to add supper calories I noticed my earned calories were gone. Apparently Fitbit decided I was too sedentary this afternoon and it adjusted negatively.

    It may readjust before midnight, depending on how active you are tonight, btw.

    55835802.png
  • kindrabbit
    kindrabbit Posts: 837 Member
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    how is that fair? It's gives me calories, I'm gonna eat them! lol. Then it took them away! As you can see, I'm quiet upset! How are we supposed to eat to our recommended limit if it changes them before the end of the day?

    Oh well, will have to train especially hard tomorrow.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Karen_libert wrote: »
    how is that fair? It's gives me calories, I'm gonna eat them! lol. Then it took them away! As you can see, I'm quiet upset! How are we supposed to eat to our recommended limit if it changes them before the end of the day?

    Oh well, will have to train especially hard tomorrow.

    The thing is that until midnight it is guessing at what your full day's calorie burn will be at midnight based on whatever the burn was at your last sync. The activity level you have selected on MFP has a small impact on the estimate.

    Example, mine currently-
    Sedentary : 2527
    L Active: 2579
    Active: 2644

    In other words, it looks at what your burn is on fitbit based on your last sync and then assumes you will be whatever activity level you selected on MFP till midnight.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Fitbit assumes you're going to continue with the same activity level for the rest of the day. It's giving you a projected burn, but it adjusts the projection throughout the day based on activity or lack thereof. If you exercise a lot first thing and then sit on your butt for the rest of the day you'll lose part of the calories you earned. I usually have to leave myself about 80 calories when I go to bed because it'll take some away while I'm sleeping.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
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    Karen_libert wrote: »
    how is that fair? It's gives me calories, I'm gonna eat them! lol. Then it took them away! As you can see, I'm quiet upset! How are we supposed to eat to our recommended limit if it changes them before the end of the day?

    Oh well, will have to train especially hard tomorrow.

    I guess by not using a fitbit and just estimating your TDEE via websites and/or actual raw data? At least, that's what I do. No use at all for a fitbit when I can just make adjustments based off of real-world data.
  • kindrabbit
    kindrabbit Posts: 837 Member
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    sodakat wrote: »
    Yes, I think TimothyFish is right. For example, this morning I wore my Fitbit when I walked and it showed extra calories that I earned. But I took it off at noon to charge it and didn't wear it this afternoon. When I looked at my Food Diary on MFP to add supper calories I noticed my earned calories were gone. Apparently Fitbit decided I was too sedentary this afternoon and it adjusted negatively.

    It may readjust before midnight, depending on how active you are tonight, btw.

    55835802.png

    I hadn't planned on being active tonight but might have to wake hubby up ;) Gotta earn those calories somehow!
  • kindrabbit
    kindrabbit Posts: 837 Member
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    If you exercise a lot first thing and then sit on your butt for the rest of the day you'll lose part of the calories you earned.

    This is pretty much what I do on rest days. I do the school run and walk the dog, then do a physical job for 2-4 hours. then its home and just general pottering.

    Lesson learned!
    Thanks guys :)
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Karen_libert wrote: »
    If you exercise a lot first thing and then sit on your butt for the rest of the day you'll lose part of the calories you earned.

    This is pretty much what I do on rest days. I do the school run and walk the dog, then do a physical job for 2-4 hours. then its home and just general pottering.

    Lesson learned!
    Thanks guys :)

    I'm the same way. I workout and run around first thing in the morning and the rest of the day I work a desk job. Fitbit will also learn your routine to a certain extent and your estimates will be closer. You'll also learn about what you burn on exercise days and rest days so that you can plan better.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    If you don't like it there's a way to fix the Fitbit settings so it doesn't happen. I forget the details since I haven't had my account connected to my Fitbit for a while, but check the Fitbit group.
  • clubbybear
    clubbybear Posts: 30 Member
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    Yes, same here. If I stop moving and go to bed at 10pm, I will lose about 60-80 exercise calories overnight since I didn't move between 10pm and midnight. That's based on getting 300-500 exercise calories during the day. I knew it was going to happen from reading about FitBits before I got mine, so it doesn't bother me.

  • kindrabbit
    kindrabbit Posts: 837 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    If you don't like it there's a way to fix the Fitbit settings so it doesn't happen. I forget the details since I haven't had my account connected to my Fitbit for a while, but check the Fitbit group.

    It says negative adjustment disabled. should I change it? I suppose if I make it so it doesn't change it then I'll never know if I go over my allowance. It's better that I know when I mess up.

  • jkal1979
    jkal1979 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    If you don't like it there's a way to fix the Fitbit settings so it doesn't happen. I forget the details since I haven't had my account connected to my Fitbit for a while, but check the Fitbit group.

    Go into the diary settings and uncheck the enable negative calorie option.

    Here is the link to the Fitbit group on here. There is a lot of good info on how it works with MFP.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users

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