MFP VS. FitBit Calories

dennyman100
dennyman100 Posts: 25 Member
edited November 14 in Health and Weight Loss
Is there a topic or does anyone know about the difference between both MFP and FitBit's (FB) calories? I am going to put my routine below as the example to what I am having trouble figuring out.

I generally make my food for the next day before going to bed (this includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks), and I log it all onto MFP. This syncs with FB, so when I first wake up FB shows that I have eaten way to much food. I work out at the gym in the morning then I walk or run the dog in the afternoon. I have it set up that FitBit tells MFP what exercises I have done through out the day.

When I log my activities for the day at night, all of a sudden FB says I am WAYYYYY under my calories and need to eat over 1000 in order to remove my deficit. MFP says however that I am fine (it generally says I could eat more but I cannot as I am typically full). There is no way I can fit in anymore food throughout the day or I feel as if I would burst.

So my question, should I ignore what FB is saying about being way under in calories or just continue on?

Cheers,

Replies

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    When everything is set up correctly, they should come out to about the same (maybe 50-100 calorie difference). At least that's how mine work. Now sometimes, fitbit is a little slow on updating the food section with the calorie intake reported by MFP.

    I would check to make sure:
    • All your stats are the same on both sites
    • You have the food plan tile set to the same deficit as MFP

    Outside of that, just double check Fitbit's food log area and see if your most recent logged foods are there. Sometimes there is a bit of a delay. Oh and sometimes fitbit's app will tell you, that you have more calories than you do. It's a glitch. Mine has told me a few times that my total intake should be more than I burned for the day (example 4000 when I only burned 2000). The glitch only seems to be with the app. I've never seen anything like it on the actual dashboard.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    First thought: what activities are you logging and what are you basing the calorie count from? It sounds to me like Fitbit is assessing your calorie burn based on tracking steps, etc. - then you're logging activities of a higher calorie burn.

    I have used Fitbit + MFP for over a year, and it can be confusing to read the different #s because they're calculated in different ways.

    A.
    MFP takes my stats, activity level and predicts I'll burn ~1750 per day. That works out to about 73 per hour. MFP seems to think I will have a steady burn rate of 73 per hour, but of course some hours I'm higher and some hours (like when sleeping) I'm lower.

    B.
    I have Fitbit set to sedentary, so it calculates what I've burned so far as of the last sync and estimates BMR for rest of the day. Meaning my actual burn # will be higher based on movement. If I sync and go to bed, I won't move more.

    C.
    When MFP gets the info from Fitbit's last sync, it says: Fitbit says you have burned X as of 9:45am. There are 14.25 hours left in the day, so you're going to burn another 14.25 x 73 (see part A above) total. That is then compared to the 1750 MFP predicted, to see if I've earned any extra.

    D.
    Fitbit, looking at the app, shows calorie info in 2 ways. It says 588 in/578 out You are In the Zone or 1588 in/578 out You are over. This in/out is as of RIGHT NOW. So if you prelog you're going to be over, until your calories burned reaches a higher # - typically later in the day. Then it shows calories left as either a positive or negative #. This calories left is based on Fitbit's prediction of end of day #s. Which is more useful than the over/under line in my opinion. It means based on what I've logged and what I've moved so far: this is what would be left if I did nothing else today. So move more, or not, depending on needs...

    Note - I do not log any activities, as mine are all step based. If you're walking a mile in 15 minutes and Fitbit estimates your calories burned as (example only) 80 for that time, then you log on MFP that you burned 200 calories for that same 15 minutes - Fitbit is going to use the 200 instead of the 80. It will not double up by counting both - but if you rely on inflated burned #s the devices are going to tell you to eat more.


  • dennyman100
    dennyman100 Posts: 25 Member
    I dont log any activities into MFP, I just let FB do its calculations and then send that info to MFP. All of the numbers seem to be exactly the same on each site. It doesn't really bother me as I typically just go off of what MFP says and I figured FB was probably over calculating what exercises I do. So, I'll deal with it and just continue on burning that fat and losing some weight.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited March 2015
    Out of curiosity - what do you have your weight loss goal set to? .5 pounds per week, 1, 2? Just thinking of the #s. Based on your profile stats your BMR is in the neighborhood of 1900/day. Then activity, exercise. Seems reasonable that you could be burning 3000-3500 per day.

    I'm not saying you need to eat more - that's for you to do determine based on energy levels, etc. But if you have a .5-1 pound goal (I see you have 20 pounds left to lose) then its not surprising the apps are saying you should eat more. Its a math equation. 3500 - 500 (for 1 pound) = 3000, and you're eating around 2000.

    Also reasonable: if you have MFP set to a sedentary, and you are actually active when Fitbit syncs: its going to shoot up your exercise calories. Again, not really a 'concern' but its the way the system works.
  • dennyman100
    dennyman100 Posts: 25 Member
    1.5 lbs a week is what I have it set as and lightly active is what I have the activity level set as.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    dennyman100 wrote: »
    1.5 lbs a week is what I have it set as and lightly active is what I have the activity level set as.

    20 pounds to go.....1.5 pounds a week is pretty aggressive.

    Between 25-40 lbs set to lose 1 lb range
    Between 15-25 lbs set to lose 1 -.50 lb range
    Less than 15 lbs set to lose 0.5 lbs range
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited March 2015
    I won't spout the standard 'if you have x pounds you should have y goal'. In my opinion each has to find his/her own way.

    Truth? Men burn more than women. My husband likes to rub it in. He has 50 left to lose, but when he is putting in a 1-2 hour workout on top of daily (lightly active lifestyle) activity he can burn 4000 a day. He's a little heavier than you, and a little older - two factors which roughly cancel each other out I think. (In comparison, I'm at maintenance and rarely hit 2000 burned in a day.)

    Options:
    1. Keep going as you are, but listen to your body's cues to know if you need to eat more occasionally.
    2. Lessen the cardio, which will decrease daily calories burned, and increase strength training during that time.
    3. Eat more and lose at a slower rate

    Some combination of 1 & 2 is probably the best idea. Though realize that at some point you'll need to find a balance between how much you work out, and how much you eat, in order to maintain. As you lose weight you will burn less, so partially it works itself out.
  • dennyman100
    dennyman100 Posts: 25 Member
    Ya i just put a post up about my exercise routine ( http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10113865/am-i-overdoing-it#latest ) because I was wondering if maybe my routine was to rigorous for my current goals.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited March 2015
    Something's goofy - FitBit added 1500 calories of exercise to your log yesterday, which is extremely not-right. :smile: Need to knock a zero off of that number, basically.

    Your routine isn't "too rigorous" - don't have to worry about that.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Fitbit calorie adjustment is not just for 'exercise'. Its for total daily calorie burn being more than MFP's predicted calorie burn. So if I say I'm lightly active in MFP but am truly very active in real life, I'm going to have a big adjustment. The Fitbit # is lifestyle/activity + exercise while using MFP without a tracker: you'd log some calories for exercise and hope/assume your activity level was correct.
    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    Something's goofy - FitBit added 1500 calories of exercise to your log yesterday, which is extremely not-right. :smile: Need to knock a zero off of that number, basically.

    Your routine isn't "too rigorous" - don't have to worry about that.

  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    1500 calories is 20 *miles* of "lifestyle" for a 200-pounder. The number is flat out wrong.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    I'm pretty sure the FitBit adjustment is wrong, but I'm not sure how far off it is. It is on the high side.
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