Anyone using Fitbit!

Options
tnlindsey2015
tnlindsey2015 Posts: 2 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I synced my Fitbit to MFP, but not sure it accounts my steps as calories burned.
Anyone having a problem with this or please help if I'm doing something wrong....!

Replies

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Options
    Fitbit's calorie burn adjustment is more than just steps.

    To get a positive adjustment (calories added to your day), your Fitbit Calorie Burn has to be higher then the calorie burn MFP gives you for whatever activity level your profile is set at.
    If you have negative adjustments enabled in your diary settings, Fitbit will subtract calories when you don't meet MFP's expectation.
  • kgeiger61
    kgeiger61 Posts: 1 Member
    Options
    Works good for me.
  • marshaarnett65
    marshaarnett65 Posts: 1 Member
    Options
    How do I use it
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    Options
    tnlindsey2015 wrote: »
    I synced my Fitbit to MFP, but not sure it accounts my steps as calories burned.
    Anyone having a problem with this or please help if I'm doing something wrong....!

    Connect your accounts at http://www.myfitnesspal.com/fitbit

    Enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    You can learn more in the Fitbit group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
  • cyronius
    cyronius Posts: 157 Member
    Options
    MFP works out your days energy expenditure without any knowledge of what you're up to. It has to rely on your guesstimated TDEE and guesstimated energy burn from various workouts. It may be close, but it's only an educated guess.

    Fitbit however uses your steps (and arguably better energy burn equations for workouts) to give you a *better* estimation of your days energy expenditure. It too is only an estimate, but it's a better estimate than MFP.

    MFP then adjusts its estimate to bring it in line with the Fitbit estimate (that's what the adjustment you see on the MFP exercise diary is for)
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
    edited May 2015
    Options
    I have my lifestyle set to Sedentary on both, keep it on my non-dominant wrist but have it set to dominant. That's the setup that seems to be working best for me. I don't know which one you're using, I have one with a heart rate montior, that seems to do a better job of calculating your calories burned if you've entered your data on the fitbit site correctly. It's not perfect by any means, but it's a TON closer than trying to guestimate with MFP.
  • Bobbykins1
    Bobbykins1 Posts: 18 Member
    Options
    I've had so many problems with fitbit that I'm about ready to trash it. I have the flex and originally set it up on my iPad. I couldn't get it to connect to MFP and it was completely off with my steps and distance--walking the dog over a route measured with car speedometer at .4 miles, fitbit would give me about 350 steps and distances varied from .05 miles to .2 miles; walking inside it would give me up to 200 steps for a trip to the kitchen or bathroom instead of the 20-40 for a roundtrip to either. It did give me a record of sleep that seemed reasonable when I compared it to my CPAP data. I was advised to set it up also on my laptop to allow me to link it to MFP and did so. On the laptop it now picks up my calorie info from MFP but steps and distance are still way off and to get sleep data I have to specifically set it when I go to bed and upon awakening. It seems less accurate. When I check on the iPad I cannot get sleep figures, MFP calories are not shown, and steps, calories burned are different from what the dashboard shows on the PC. I've had little success in getting help/advice from fitbit so I've apparently wasted $100. I hope you have better luck.
  • bunsen_honeydew
    bunsen_honeydew Posts: 230 Member
    Options
    > to get sleep data I have to specifically set it when I go to bed and upon awakening.

    Yes that is how it is designed to work. I knew this before I bought it.

    Mine is one you wear on your torso, those are more accurate than the wrist worn ones. It's not magic!
  • Lovestoscrapbook
    Lovestoscrapbook Posts: 295 Member
    Options
    Love my fitbit! I'd be lost without it.
  • tnlindsey2015
    tnlindsey2015 Posts: 2 Member
    Options
    Thanks for the info y'all! I'll try to tweak it like some of you have suggested.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    Options
    MFP posted an announcement yesterday (Thursday) that no steps were syncing correctly from any partner apps—including Fitbit: http://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1996035--steps-not-showing-correctly---update

Categories