fitnesspal vs fitbit
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jd13blue
Posts: 3 Member
I haven been using fitnesspal for a few months now and love it. I'm down about 40lbs but still have a ways to go. I recently bought a fitbit to help me track my workouts. My problem is that there is a difference of about 1,000 cals between the 2. Which do I go by?
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You have to remember that the fitbit also calculates you resting calories. For example when you wake up look at your fitbit app and you will see that you burnt so many calories while sleeping. Add me if you like0
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I haven been using fitnesspal for a few months now and love it. I'm down about 40lbs but still have a ways to go. I recently bought a fitbit to help me track my workouts. My problem is that there is a difference of about 1,000 cals between the 2. Which do I go by?
You can link them and Fitbit will add any extra calories to your goal.
One thing you should think about, are you losing at a rate which is faster than you set your MFP goal to?
It is very possible and not all that unusual for people to pick an activity level that is too low. I'm at lightly active right now, but could probably get away with the next level up. On a day I workout, my adjustment can be close to 1000 from my fitbit and on days I don't it's can be anywhere from 200-500.
edit: Oh and unless you actually set up the "Food Plan" on Fitbit, it is showing you maintenance calories.
@Swoopette - MFP does too. It's part of your "Daily Activity Calorie Burn" which can be found on your goal page. It's based on BMR + calories for whatever activity level you selected. They take a deficit off of this number to give you a goal.
The main difference between MFP and Fitbit is how exercise is represented. On MFP, exercise is added in a way that you have to "NET" your goal. On Fitbit, it just increases your calories you consumed showing you a total consumption number.
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I'm glad you are posing this question. I am getting interested in a fitbit as well. I tried a pedometer for walking, but it was cheap and after a week stopped working. I still am not sure where my calories should be at and would like to know as close as possible what I should or could be eating w/ my workouts and such. I use my laptop for Mfp and don't use a phone. jd13blue thanks for asking this question. I will follow this thread to learn more. Hope more info comes up on it.0
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I think you must go for the one you are satisfied with most .0
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I've been trying to follow the Fitbit one this week since it adds all burnt cals. But I haven't really lost anything. I do have the 2 synced, but they are still a little off. Thanks for the info everyone. I'm hoping maybe it's just an adjustment week.0
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If I went by what my fitbit told me I would be 400 pounds.... ok not really.... but I don't trust it... at all - it gives me way over estimated calorie burns, maybe because it can't account for recovery heart rate time and stuff like that - I had it synced to MFP for a while but then I started gaining weight and was having a hard time seeing all those "extra" calories it was saying I could eat back and not doing it...so I disconnected them. I basically use it just to track my steps, which again, i find really, really silly yet I'm obsessed with it. I think MFP over estimates calorie burns a little too, but not as much as my Fit Bit (I have the HRM) ... maybe just test it out for a week and see how you feel - chances are its somewhere in between the two but yeah, you might have to try it out and see what happens0
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JD13blue please update us on your findings. I'm going to purchase a fit bit today and am curious as to which one i should follow.0
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I've been using MFP forever and have had a FitBit Flex since June 2014. I let MFP calculate and recommend my calorie intake (1200 / day). I also have a desk job and spend (a lot) of time on my butt so I've set my activity to Sedentary. So MFP has calculated for me a one lb / week schedule. The FitBit will set you on a different schedule depending upon your selections rather than automatically setting you to a goal.
When you setup FitBit Food Plan (like Shadow2Soul suggested), you can decide how difficult you want the program to be and the food adjustment will vary depending upon your selection. Right now my FitBit Food Plan is set to "Very Hard" and it matches the MFP numbers almost on the nose.
Feel free to add me if you need some "friends" - //www.fitbit.com/user/2QZ59V0 -
jd I use both. I really just use my fitbit to track my steps and my sleep (when I remember to). But I defer to MFP for my food/weight management. I subscribe to the belief that the more tools that you have the more apt you are to be successful. And have found that the two linked and working together have provided me a good picture of my day. Great job on your loss already and best wishes for more success.0
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The answer to your question. Neither of them are 100% accurate. Calculating how many calories your body is burining is fairly complex and neither system has all of the information.0
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I've been trying to follow the Fitbit one this week since it adds all burnt cals. But I haven't really lost anything. I do have the 2 synced, but they are still a little off. Thanks for the info everyone. I'm hoping maybe it's just an adjustment week.
What I do is this (I have a Fitbit Flex):- Set up Fitbit & MFP with the same food plans (250cal deficit/lose 0.5lb/week)
- Activity level on MFP is set to Sedentary
- Log exercise in Fitbit (for now this is just my runs since my Flex doesn't always get the right start time for the workout. I don't log the brisk walks I do on rest days)
- Follow the calorie goal on MFP - ignoring the one given to me by Fitbit as it changes based on my activity level and I may eat too much if I look at it at the wrong time
I don't think they're going to exactly match unless you do custom goals. I think this difference is caused by the two apps calculating calories a bit differently - MFP is NEAT and I think Fitbit is TDEE?? Someone else may be able to clarify that a bit.
I've been eating back as many calories as I want, up to 100% of the ones I earn, and that's been working just fine for me for weight loss so far!
~Lyssa
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I've been trying to follow the Fitbit one this week since it adds all burnt cals. But I haven't really lost anything. I do have the 2 synced, but they are still a little off. Thanks for the info everyone. I'm hoping maybe it's just an adjustment week.
Give it a few weeks. If you give it 4 weeks your Fitbit profile page will have an 30 day average calorie burn and a 30 day average intake. If you subtract the 2 numbers, you should get your average daily deficit. Multiply that by 30 to figure out what Fitbit thinks your deficit should be for 30 days and divide by 3500 to come up with the weight you should have lost if Fitbit is correct. Compare that number to your actual loss. That will show you approximately how accurate the calorie burn is for you. An example:
Avg 30 Day Burn : 2570
Avg 30 Day Intake : 1997
Avg Daily Deficit : 573 (2570 -1997)
Total 30 Day deficit: 17190 (573 * 30)
Expected loss: 4.911xxxx (17190/3500)
Actual loss: 3.7lbs
Typically, my actual loss comes out closer to my expected loss. These past 30 days however, there have been a few black holes where I was literally just taking a wild *** guess. So my 30 day intake average is actually probably not all that accurate. Really need to avoid the new Asian Buffet in town (the food is so good, but most isn't labeled so I can't look it up in the database and there is no calorie information for it online since they don't even have a website). I think I went there 4 or 5 times in the last 30 days.0 -
I've been using MFP forever and have had a FitBit Flex since June 2014. I let MFP calculate and recommend my calorie intake (1200 / day). I also have a desk job and spend (a lot) of time on my butt so I've set my activity to Sedentary. So MFP has calculated for me a one lb / week schedule. The FitBit will set you on a different schedule depending upon your selections rather than automatically setting you to a goal.
When you setup FitBit Food Plan (like Shadow2Soul suggested), you can decide how difficult you want the program to be and the food adjustment will vary depending upon your selection. Right now my FitBit Food Plan is set to "Very Hard" and it matches the MFP numbers almost on the nose.
^^ This.
I also log my food and water in MFP and let my FitBit log my activity. FitBit only measures step based activity (unless you get the heart rate monitor one). So if you do any strength conditioning, cycling, swimming, etc then you need to manually log it. I try to eat back only 1/2 my activity calories.0 -
I've been trying to follow the Fitbit one this week since it adds all burnt cals. But I haven't really lost anything. I do have the 2 synced, but they are still a little off. Thanks for the info everyone. I'm hoping maybe it's just an adjustment week.
I have a jawbone and it gives me a base of 1200 calories a day then adds as I move around/exercise.
I have it synced with MFP. Today so far I have logged my entire day of meals and according to my Jawbone have 214 steps (haven't updated it since this morning) but I am currently 523 calories over what my Jawbone says I should eat (all day is logged) but I have mfp set at 1800 calories...and by the end of the day (based on yesterday) I could have eaten an extra 148 calories and still lost weight...I didn't mind you as I know what I can and can't eat and currently at a 1/2lb a week deficit.
Long story short use MFP to track calories...let Fitbit record your movement and eat back your exercise calories per your fitbit...MFP is pretty good at setting calories for weight loss.0 -
shadow2soul wrote: »I've been trying to follow the Fitbit one this week since it adds all burnt cals. But I haven't really lost anything. I do have the 2 synced, but they are still a little off. Thanks for the info everyone. I'm hoping maybe it's just an adjustment week.
Give it a few weeks. If you give it 4 weeks your Fitbit profile page will have an 30 day average calorie burn and a 30 day average intake. If you subtract the 2 numbers, you should get your average daily deficit. Multiply that by 30 to figure out what Fitbit thinks your deficit should be for 30 days and divide by 3500 to come up with the weight you should have lost if Fitbit is correct. Compare that number to your actual loss. That will show you approximately how accurate the calorie burn is for you. An example:
Avg 30 Day Burn : 2570
Avg 30 Day Intake : 1997
Avg Daily Deficit : 573 (2570 -1997)
Total 30 Day deficit: 17190 (573 * 30)
Expected loss: 4.911xxxx (17190/3500)
Actual loss: 3.7lbs
Typically, my actual loss comes out closer to my expected loss. These past 30 days however, there have been a few black holes where I was literally just taking a wild *** guess. So my 30 day intake average is actually probably not all that accurate. Really need to avoid the new Asian Buffet in town (the food is so good, but most isn't labeled so I can't look it up in the database and there is no calorie information for it online since they don't even have a website). I think I went there 4 or 5 times in the last 30 days.
I LOVE YOU! Thanks for showing and explaining this! I always wondered how to check it and figure out if im on track and despite multiple google searches, i could never figure it out.
Lol so love you! That is all0
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