New FitBit (Charge HR) Question

No, just if you're going to log an exercise into MFP, add the start time so that the apps can align and not count activity twice.

ETA: sometimes I'll remember to push the button, and sometimes I wont. You can always go back and add your walk if you have the start time, duration and distance.

On its own MFP doesn't know what exercise you are doing unless you log a fitness activity.

In your settings under "Fitness Profile" there is an "activity level" setting that gives MFP an estimate of your background level of activity and somewhere for you to put a guesstimate of how much exercise you intend to do, plus a weight-loss goal. It uses these along with your height, weight, gender to calculate a calorie deficit to reach your goal. These are the headline figures on the home page.

If you add in Fitbit Charge HR it measures your actual steps and heart rate 24/7 and calculates your actual activity level (well an estimate of it) so when it synch with MFP and difference between MFP's guesstimate, and FitBit's measured activity is added as an adjustment in MFP.

All the above happens without pressing any buttons.

If you press the FitBit button to start/stop an activity you get extra information, like an estimate of how many calories you burned during a walk, along with graphs of heart rate for that activity in the FitBit dashboard. This "activity" will also appear in MFP as exercise, but it would have been in the fitbit adjustment if you didn't press any buttons.

Log your food in MFP as it has a much better database of foods, and a barcode reader which makes things easier. The actual foods you ate will be logged in MFP, and the calorie and nutrient figures will synch back to FitBit dashboard without logging the actual food types.

If you do something like going for a swim, you can't wear your FitBit, so you need to log this manually in MFP.

I use the MapMyWalk app on my phone to log walks, this logs your route as a map, and start/stop times, and all this synchs to FitBit and MFP, so it appears in MFP as calories expended, and FitBit produces a nice graph of heart rate and calories per minute which adds to your motivation, but if you didn't FitBit would still log it along with your all-day activity in the FitBit adjustment sent to MFP.

So, in summary, just wearing your FitBit will log your activity during the day and pass it to MFP so your calorie estimate should be the correct regardless. Pressing the start/stop button, or using another app like MayMyWalk will create an "activity" with extra information like a graph of heart rate/calories burned which is motivating. You should never have to log an activity twice. You only need to manually log activities you can't wear your FitBit for.

I'll add another piece to the equation - other apps. I use Runkeeper to track outdoor activities (hiking, walking, running).

Here's how it works... IF you log activity on MFP with an app that knows the start time (like Runkeeper), then it will calculate calorie adjustments properly.

IF you log activity on MFP manually, then you need to set a start time in order to calculate calorie adjustments properly.

Fitbit sends to MFP with times included in the data file. Let's say that you logged an activity of hiking w/ 15-20 lb. pack starting at 1:12pm for 68 min. and calories burned are 450. When Fitbit sends the data, it knows how many steps you took, but doesn't know that you were carrying a pack. So let's say Fitbit thinks you burned 390 calories during that time. Your Fitbit calorie adjustment for just those 68 min. (390 calories) will not happen in MFP. It will instead adjust the 450 calories based on your exercise entry, and Fitbit will adjust for the other 1,372 min. of the day.

What if you don't put the right start time on your activity in MFP? Let's say you were sleeping and not moving from midnight to 1:07am, but you put your hike in at 12am and MFP calculated 450 calories. Fitbit calculated 390 calories from 1:12pm to 2:19pm. Assuming no other Fitbit activity, you will have 840 calories from exercise for the day (450 manual entry + 390 Fitbit)... which is wrong. Without knowing the time you started your activity, MFP cannot adjust the Fitbit data that comes in and calculate your calories burned properly.

The easier way is, if there is no other purpose to log activities manually on MFP, then don't. Some of us use apps that log to MFP, and there is value to using Runkeeper. But just as it is important to weigh most of your food to log calories in properly, it is also important to understand your tools to record calories out properly.

LisaMighton wrote: »

Holy moly confusing to me

If you can't understand that, then just don't log activities on MFP. Connect Fitbit and use the calorie adjustments that come from Fitbit.