fitbit calorie burn count

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  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    ASKyle wrote: »
    I didn't sync Fitbit with MFP.

    If you do, don't log exercise on MFP, as you will be double counting your exercise.

    I got the Fitbit to make me walk more (I have a desk job), and MFP to track calories.

    @ASKyle - The bolded statement is incorrect. I made a video to show why this is incorrect below. I logged a workout with 1 calorie burned on MFP. Look at what happens to the calorie burn graph on Fitbit, it vanishes. Logging 1 calorie burned on MFP literally wiped out my calorie burn, including BMR, for the time period.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8duevx9y9TY&feature=youtu.be
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
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    Well, since you had the time to make that, do whatever you want!

    I should add that I don't log exercise calories ever, at all, so I don't care.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    ASKyle wrote: »
    Well, since you had the time to make that, do whatever you want!

    I should add that I don't log exercise calories ever, at all, so I don't care.
    @ASKyle
    .....I'm sorry I didn't make it just for you. I made it over a month ago to help someone else. Just thought I'd inform you that logging exercise doesn't end up double counting. Logging calories on MFP will overwrite Fitbit's calorie burn for that duration. Which is what the video shows. The reason I pointed that out is because I've seen people log there exercise here with "1" calorie burn because they had the same thought you did (that it would double count), but what happens is really they wipe out the calories burned for that period of time.

    That's fine that you don't log exercise calories, but I was just correcting misinformation for others who may happen to read your post and I tagged you so that you would know for future reference that it doesn't double count.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I've got myself set as sedentary in mfp, but it's on personalised on my fitbit page.
    Should I also set fitbit to sedentary? ?
  • trusty48
    trusty48 Posts: 75 Member
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    ASKyle wrote: »
    I didn't sync Fitbit with MFP.

    If you do, don't log exercise on MFP, as you will be double counting your exercise.

    I got the Fitbit to make me walk more (I have a desk job), and MFP to track calories.

    This is what I do too- I have a Fitbit Charge HR and keep that data separate from MFP.

    Decided to do it this way because I find that the Fitbit tends to overestimate my calories burned.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited April 2015
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    I actually log my exercise through Fitbit. It is my activity tracker and MFP is my food tracker although the food is synced to Fitbit giving me actual calorie burn.

    I guess I do things backwards but it works well that way.. Fitbit never over estimates my calories and seems to be spot on.

    And both MFP and Fitbit are set to sedentary and the BMR's are 100 calories difference this is because the deficit in Fitbit will only allow 200, 500 and 750 (nothing in between).

    Edited to add: sedentary is used in Fitbit to use the Calories in Calorie Out function/tile. Personalized does not allow you to see this tile on your dashboard.
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,659 Member
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    I just got a FitBit Charge HR a little less than a week ago. I sync'd it to MFP. I wear the FitBit Charge all day and it logs my daily burn; I log my food with MFP, but with the sync, MFP adjusts for the calories. I'm amazed at how accurate the FitBit Charge is. My daily calories turn out to be between 1350-1500, pretty much what my TDEE is estimated as. MFP adjusts for my deficit, so I'm usually eating in the 1200 range.
  • aliasproject
    aliasproject Posts: 1 Member
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    dsieda wrote: »
    Any suggestions could help. Wondering if I should get the HRM as well, or if that would interfere.

    Adding your exercise to MFP while using a synced fit it device leads to double counting of calories burned.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    aliasproject wrote: »
    dsieda wrote: »
    Any suggestions could help. Wondering if I should get the HRM as well, or if that would interfere.
    Adding your exercise to MFP while using a synced fit it device leads to double counting of calories burned.
    @aliasproject
    Not with Fitbit. As long as you input the correct start time and duration there is no double counting. See video I posted above. Logged workouts overwrite Fitbit calorie burns (even the BMR estimate).
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    @shadow2soul do you recommend setting fitbit to sedentary if you have mfp at sedentary? My fitbit is set to personalised and mfp sedentary
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,370 Member
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    I didn't think you could set your fitbit to sedentary - surely it's whole purpose is to decide that for you? As long as you have negative adjustments enabled in MFP then you won't overeat on lazy days whatever your activity level is set for in MFP because it'll adjust downwards rather than up.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    WaterBunnie wrote: »
    I didn't think you could set your fitbit to sedentary - surely it's whole purpose is to decide that for you? As long as you have negative adjustments enabled in MFP then you won't overeat on lazy days whatever your activity level is set for in MFP because it'll adjust downwards rather than up.

    @WaterBunnie - it's for the food plan tile. You have 2 options when you look at the calories you can eat on Fitbit:
    1. Personalized : "Uses your past activity history to estimate your calorie burn for the day and increases or decreases if you're more or less active than usual."
    2. Sedentary: "Starts out low and lets you earn calories as you are active throughout the day.
      Note: with this setting you can start the day with a very low calorie estimate."
    It doesn't have to do with calories burned, just the area that shows what you can eat. The sedentary setting only gives you calories to eat as you earn them and the personalized gives you an estimate at the beginning of the day based on your history.
  • MommyMichelle1234
    MommyMichelle1234 Posts: 25 Member
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    Weezoh wrote: »
    Once you link your fitbit to MFP when you enter cardio on MFP it asks you the time in addition to the duration; it then automatically removes tracked activity by the fitbit in that period. If you're walking or running you probably don't need to bother; but anything else you'll log as normal and MFP/FB will work it out for you. You don't actually need to log anything on fitbit (and it's much less confusing that way) because of the automatic syncing.

    What about activities also logged on Map My Fitness? Like biking or gym workouts? Will all three apps link and sync? Like.... if I leave the fit bit on while biking and use map my ride, will fitbit automatically calculate for that time frame? Or would I have to enter that info on the fitbit app instead of mapmyride?

    I like using map my fitness because of the gps capabilities.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    christinev297 wrote: »
    @shadow2soul do you recommend setting fitbit to sedentary if you have mfp at sedentary? My fitbit is set to personalised and mfp sedentary

    @christinev297 - Don't worry about it unless you like to look at your fitbit dashboard to see what you can eat. If you do turn it on, for a large portion of the day it will say you can eat less than MFP will, so it can be helpful to have it turned on if your adjustment shrinks at the end of the day. Hopefully I'm not making that too confusing. An example:

    Fitbit set to Sedentary @ 8:26 AM - 634 calories is what I can eat as of right now.
    I haven't synced since I got up, so right now the calories to consume is based on my BMR minus a 750 calorie defict. As I start moving around this number will increase.
    Fitbit set to Personalized @ 8:31 AM - 1371 calories is what I can eat as of right now.
    Here Fitbit is estimating based on my history that even though it hasn't tracked movement as of the last sync, that from my history I will burn enough to eat at least this amount today. Now as the day goes on, it will change this estimate based on whatever my activity is like at the time of the sync. So if I'm active, it could end up giving me a higher estimate than I what I really need and end up taking away calories later. With the Sedentary setting, whatever the calories to eat tile shows is safe to eat, the number will only increase and you will never have the shock of losing calories later.
    MFP set to Lightly Active - 1230 calories before Fitbit Adjustment
    Since the Fitbit Adjustment is estimated by MFP, MFP will probably be giving you more calories to consume until the end of the day. It's similar to the Fitbit Personalized setting.

    Other than that, I recommend leaving 100-200 calories (or whatever you usually lose from your adjustment on MFP uneaten).
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,370 Member
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    shadow2soul wrote: »
    WaterBunnie wrote: »
    I didn't think you could set your fitbit to sedentary - surely it's whole purpose is to decide that for you? As long as you have negative adjustments enabled in MFP then you won't overeat on lazy days whatever your activity level is set for in MFP because it'll adjust downwards rather than up.

    @WaterBunnie - it's for the food plan tile. You have 2 options when you look at the calories you can eat on Fitbit:
    1. Personalized : "Uses your past activity history to estimate your calorie burn for the day and increases or decreases if you're more or less active than usual."
    2. Sedentary: "Starts out low and lets you earn calories as you are active throughout the day.
      Note: with this setting you can start the day with a very low calorie estimate."
    It doesn't have to do with calories burned, just the area that shows what you can eat. The sedentary setting only gives you calories to eat as you earn them and the personalized gives you an estimate at the beginning of the day based on your history.

    Ah that's what you meant. Has no bearing on the calories you end up with on MFP though either way.

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    WaterBunnie wrote: »
    shadow2soul wrote: »
    WaterBunnie wrote: »
    I didn't think you could set your fitbit to sedentary - surely it's whole purpose is to decide that for you? As long as you have negative adjustments enabled in MFP then you won't overeat on lazy days whatever your activity level is set for in MFP because it'll adjust downwards rather than up.

    @WaterBunnie - it's for the food plan tile. You have 2 options when you look at the calories you can eat on Fitbit:
    1. Personalized : "Uses your past activity history to estimate your calorie burn for the day and increases or decreases if you're more or less active than usual."
    2. Sedentary: "Starts out low and lets you earn calories as you are active throughout the day.
      Note: with this setting you can start the day with a very low calorie estimate."
    It doesn't have to do with calories burned, just the area that shows what you can eat. The sedentary setting only gives you calories to eat as you earn them and the personalized gives you an estimate at the beginning of the day based on your history.

    Ah that's what you meant. Has no bearing on the calories you end up with on MFP though either way.

    Pretty much. It's useful for people who eat all their fitbit adjustment only to wake up and be told they went over. With the Sedentary setting they can check Fitbit to see where they are at calorie wise and if they eat all the calories they are allotted before bed according to Fitbit's tile, then they shouldn't wake up to being told they went over. It should put them either under or right at their goal. Hopefully that makes sense.

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