Where are my "steps calorie adjustments" going!?

Dancetherapist
Dancetherapist Posts: 33 Member
edited November 13 in Fitness and Exercise
Sometimes MFP will tell me I've burned a certain number of calories based on the steps it perceives I've taken, and it will list it up top with the exercise calories....then later in the day those calories-from-steps will disappear...what's goin' on? For example, today it said I had burned 148 calories after walking like 10,000 steps then 2 hours later it changed it to 85 calories, even though by then I had walked even more steps.

Replies

  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
    I was confused about that too. I work out early mornings and earn calories bc I run. It gives you those calories assuming you will be active the rest of the day. Once getting into work and sitting all day, the earned calories dissipate. I've earned 250 calories and it's gone down to 10 by bedtime.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    tzarba wrote: »
    I was confused about that too. I work out early mornings and earn calories bc I run. It gives you those calories assuming you will be active the rest of the day. Once getting into work and sitting all day, the earned calories dissipate. I've earned 250 calories and it's gone down to 10 by bedtime.

    I'm assuming if you already ate those 250 exercise calories back by bedtime. That doesn't mean you over ate by 250 cals?? It just looks bad in your diary, as those dreaded red numbers will appear.

    Like last night I went to bed being 50 calories over, when I got up this morning it had shot up to over 200 calories! !!!!

  • FiftyFootClown
    FiftyFootClown Posts: 6 Member
    I'm having this issue too, should I eat the earned calories or not?
  • demoiselle2014
    demoiselle2014 Posts: 474 Member
    Are you tracking your exercise in MFP as well? When I go on a morning run, fitbit syncs with MFP Forest. It will give me 250 calories. But later in the day my running app syncs, and the fitbit calories drop to zero because the run now has those calories.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    Sometimes MFP will tell me I've burned a certain number of calories based on the steps it perceives I've taken, and it will list it up top with the exercise calories....then later in the day those calories-from-steps will disappear...what's goin' on?

    For example, today it said I had burned 148 calories after walking like 10,000 steps then 2 hours later it changed it to 85 calories, even though by then I had walked even more steps.

    Adjustments are the difference between your projected burn & your MFP activity level. Click on any adjustment to see the math MFP used to calculate it.
  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
    @christinev297 I don't pay attention to the calories earned or eat them back. I don't even track workouts in MFP. I use jawbone and enter activities in that app. Working on a recomp so I eat at maintenance. If I go over bc I wanted wine or something else unplanned, I make up for it by decreasing later. If I went based on calories earned back by early am, I'd be over every day!
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I pay attention to every single calorie burned. As one of the main reasons I exercise is so I can eat more :tongue:
  • lisaabigail
    lisaabigail Posts: 8 Member
    I use a MisFit and it is exceptionally enthusiastic, apparently yesterday I burnt 824 calories walking over 13,000 steps which I don't think is right so how.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
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    If you click on the info beside your adjustment (as you can see by the snip I have included...the calories burned are based on "full day projection" and it will change as the day goes by....taking into account all activity.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    I use a MisFit and it is exceptionally enthusiastic, apparently yesterday I burnt 824 calories walking over 13,000 steps which I don't think is right so how.

    If your adjustment is 824 calories, you burnt 824 calories more than your MFP activity level. Click on the adjustment to see the math MFP used to calculate it.

    If (and only if) you enable negative calorie adjustments in your diary settings, you can increase your activity level. You'll still be eating the same number of calories—you'll just start with more in the morning, then get smaller adjustments.
  • jluningh
    jluningh Posts: 3 Member
    It shouldn't work like this though, it makes no sense. Let's say it estimates 200 calories burned based on my steps. I then add an hour on a stationary bike, which obviously has nothing to do with steps calculated by my phone, and that burns 400 calories. Why would the step calories then be reduced to zero? Because in this scenario, without fail, my total calories burned for the day is reported as 400, not 600.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,578 Member
    This is why I almost never eat up all my calories - I'm afraid of going over
  • tara_not_tarra
    tara_not_tarra Posts: 4 Member
    jluningh wrote: »
    It shouldn't work like this though, it makes no sense. Let's say it estimates 200 calories burned based on my steps. I then add an hour on a stationary bike, which obviously has nothing to do with steps calculated by my phone, and that burns 400 calories. Why would the step calories then be reduced to zero? Because in this scenario, without fail, my total calories burned for the day is reported as 400, not 600.

    Exactly! I've been researching this and all I see is the folks from the app explaining it away and everyone seems to accept it (except you, @jluningh), but it just doesn't make any logical sense. Why should calories be taken away if I walk to the moon and then go to a spin class when I get back? What am I missing?
  • mythachite
    mythachite Posts: 2 Member
    Has this been solved? I'm having a similar issue here.

    I'm trying to add calories I burned using a sitting desk elliptical but every time I do it negatively affects calories earned by steps. Obviously, exercise at a sitting elliptical isn't counting toward steps so why the impact as if it were? I've even tried lying about the time the exercise happened to see if logging it at a time I wasn't stepping at all cleared it up, but that didn't help... Any ideas? The whole thing is pretty irritating.
  • yellowman115
    yellowman115 Posts: 1 Member
    I'm not understanding this either. MFP is set to a sedentary lifestyle. Sitting on my butt all day should always but the same number of calories. Before the bike ride I just took, I had earned about 500 calories from steps. My bike ride earned me another 800 calories. Why would riding my bike discount all of the calories from the steps I took? This makes no sense.

    Also, negative calorie adjustments are turned off.
  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
    jluningh wrote: »
    It shouldn't work like this though, it makes no sense. Let's say it estimates 200 calories burned based on my steps. I then add an hour on a stationary bike, which obviously has nothing to do with steps calculated by my phone, and that burns 400 calories. Why would the step calories then be reduced to zero? Because in this scenario, without fail, my total calories burned for the day is reported as 400, not 600.

    Exactly! I've been researching this and all I see is the folks from the app explaining it away and everyone seems to accept it (except you, @jluningh), but it just doesn't make any logical sense. Why should calories be taken away if I walk to the moon and then go to a spin class when I get back? What am I missing?

    Right? I just don't get it.
  • charlenechaz
    charlenechaz Posts: 49 Member
    edited June 2017
    Has anyone found an answer to this?

    I'm having the same issue.

    Sedentary, 15K+ steps walked (shows as a deduction of -1401cals for this rather than addition of any cals), short jog +50 cals and spinning 500+.

    My standard calories for 1lb loss pw is 1390. How in the heck am I now over my calories if I've been more active than usual??? So in total 740cals deducted in total. I guess MFP added the spinning and jog and deducted all 15K steps I took. How does this work out?!

    Edited to add... -826 cals left over after eating 1,3XX cals. Just... how?
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