FAQ - Syncing, logging food & exercise, calorie adjustments, activity levels, accuracy
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I a little lost on this thread. I have a Fitbit surge and it syncs my steps when I work out but if I go for a run or spin or choose weight lifting for an exercise the diary cardio exercise section ever show the activity just the steps and calorie burn. I want my MFP friends to see my work out. Is there something else I need to select or is this the way it's set up? Fitbit surge, iPhone 6+0
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Make a wall post about your workout - look at my profile as example.
Workouts do NOT come over to MFP.0 -
I got my flex just over a year ago and it's been working fine - I didn't use it for about 3 months and since then, I've had issues with my calorie output coming from FitBit into MFP.
PREFACE: MFP suggests that I intake 1400 calories to lose 2lbs per week to account for my sedentary life style.
When I used it before and I sat around all day, my Flex would recognize that I have done nothing all day and adjust MFP so that I should only take in ~900 calories instead of the usual 1400 calories. This is what I want to happen - I want my Fitbit to punish my by being lazy.
NOW what happens is that my fitbit's output calories which just automatically takes into account the calories I burn in a day just sitting doing nothing, applies THAT to MFP, and so even when my fitbit has been sat on my desk all day, it sends that info over to MFP and MFP thinks I've burned extra calories and says I should take in ~2,000+ even though I have literally sat around all day.
I have tried resetting my Fitbit (with the reset button on the back), I've reinstalled the Fitbit app on my phone, I've disabled and renabled the Negative Calorie Adjustment on my MFP settings - nothing has helped. Any advice?
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A FAQ is not the place to do troubleshooting - outside the topic of the faq, and not many people see it.
Repost your own topic in main group, and add further details about looking at the total calorie burn on Fitbit and if it matches what has been reported to MFP at various points during the day.0 -
Hello,
I am sure this question has been asked so forgive me for asking again! I just purchased the Fitbit Zip yesterday and today will be the very 1st day using it. Can someone tell me exactly what I need to add to MFP and what I need to add to the Fitbit sight such as food,exercise etc? I want to make sure I am doing it the right way for Fitbit Zip to work properly to my advantage. Thanks0 -
Questions 2 and 3 in the FAQ actually. Read it carefully.
It is step based obviously since no HRM, so understand the stuff related to the step-based devices.
As to general syncing, there is already a FAQ for that, so I didn't repeat any of it.0 -
Sorry if this has been asked before, but I just got the Charge HR and had a question about the Food and the "zones". It tells me that i am "in the zone" but in the next line down, it says that I have 445 calories to go. If i log another food in MFP that is less that this 440, it tells me that I am over budget. What do you guys follow as far as calorie intake? I am just confused as to why it tells me 440 more to eat but when i put it in, it tells me i am over. Thanks!1
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Forget Fitbit for calorie goals - follow the advice of the FAQ - MFP for calories eating goals, Fitbit for calorie burning goals.
Get rid of all tiles on Fitbit related to eating goals - useless actually if syncing with MFP.0 -
They are synced together. They are fairly close calorie wise, so does this mean that I can follow either and be right on track?0
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Fitbit has no bottom level to eating goal, but otherwise you could.
Where are you logging the food at?0 -
MFP is the only place i am logging food. it is transferring over to the fitbit side.0
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Are the adjustments that fitbit are sending MFP fairly accurate? maybe my activity level is a little more than what I thought originally?0
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Just so I'm not missing anything, I briefly read through the Faq's. I own a Charge HR- I plan on doing a SPIN class tonight, and because that is an aerobic activity- there's no need to log that in manually since I'd be using my start and stop button on my Charge.
However, on other days when I'm take Pilates classes- since it's not technically an aerobic class- I should be manually logging that in right?
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MFP is the only place i am logging food. it is transferring over to the fitbit side.
Are the adjustments that fitbit are sending MFP fairly accurate? maybe my activity level is a little more than what I thought originally?
So you are already in MFP, and looking at more detail, and being shown a calorie eating goal and amount remaining - why not just use it?
Really decently accurate for at least the 23 hrs of the normal day.
Your 1 hr of exercise may depend on what device and what the exercise is. The FAQ gets in to that when talking about what to manually log and when and why.0 -
Just so I'm not missing anything, I briefly read through the Faq's. I own a Charge HR- I plan on doing a SPIN class tonight, and because that is an aerobic activity- there's no need to log that in manually since I'd be using my start and stop button on my Charge.
However, on other days when I'm take Pilates classes- since it's not technically an aerobic class- I should be manually logging that in right?
Pilates should have a slightly elevated enough HR that it will start giving a higher calorie burn you are getting, the problem will likely be the steps will be so infrequent it may drop out of exercise mode figuring your HR is elevated for other reasons besides exercise.
But at least you'd have the start of an activity, and could indeed manually log it using same start time, your own known duration.0 -
Hi there,
Firstly excellent FAQ, has cleared up a lot for me but one wee niggling point.
I have a fitbit flex which I wear all day every day. When I go to the gym I take it off and leave it in my locker as I wear my polar ft4 HRM...after my workout I take off the polar watch and put my fitbit back on.
I've been doing this the last 4 weeks and I log what the polar ft4 says i've burned and the time I done it on MFP.
However after reading all of this, should I just keep my fitbit on whilst at the gym, alongside my polar ft4, then log the exercise manually on the Fitbit app?
At the gym I do cardio and weights on different days. Cardio includes rowing/cycling/crosstrainer which (if i've understood your FAQ) wouldn't pick up correctly?
Hope this makes sense. I'm even starting to confuse myself now!0 -
Nevermind! The penny has finally dropped and i've figured it out!
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Just so I'm not missing anything, I briefly read through the Faq's. I own a Charge HR- I plan on doing a SPIN class tonight, and because that is an aerobic activity- there's no need to log that in manually since I'd be using my start and stop button on my Charge.
However, on other days when I'm take Pilates classes- since it's not technically an aerobic class- I should be manually logging that in right?
Pilates should have a slightly elevated enough HR that it will start giving a higher calorie burn you are getting, the problem will likely be the steps will be so infrequent it may drop out of exercise mode figuring your HR is elevated for other reasons besides exercise.
But at least you'd have the start of an activity, and could indeed manually log it using same start time, your own known duration.
Thank you!
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Hi HeyBales !
Thanks for all the useful information above !! I seem to still be having a sync issue. All of my food/ calorie intake is pulling from MFP to the Fitbit app. But it is not pulling from Fitbit to MFP. I have done what you stated above multiple times. Disconnected and reconnected from both apps With shutdown as well but it's still not connecting. Any other advice ?! Thanks !!0 -
Use the group topic section where people will actually see your question - but better yet, read one of the several topics that is already posted daily about it.0
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Thanks for all the info, haybales! I can not, for the life of me, find "applications" on the fitbit android app. I found account > settings, but nothing there for apps.0
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In the web account, never seen the app be the start of linking accounts together.0
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Ah. thanks!
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Hi! Thanks for all the great info on here. I would just like to clarify that I am using the fitbit and mfp correctly.
I'm logging food only on mfp. I got that part.
When I go for a run or jog, should I be using the timer on the fitbit itself? Or the tracker through my phone? If I use both, it logs both on the fitbit app.
So if I'm wearing my fitbit, it does the calorie adjustment here. Does that mean I don't have to log that exercise manually on mfp? I don't want to double dip.
Thanks!!!!!0 -
You can use the timer, if HR model it's needed to start the per second HRM, which will increase accuracy. In any case - don't you want to review your workouts later to confirm you are actually improving?
That activity record that is created is only way to view stats for just the workout - otherwise buried in the daily stats.
Skip the tracker, that creates a manual workout that overrides whatever the Fitbit device came up with.
As FAQ starts out - don't manually log on MFP.
It wouldn't double-dip anyway - just unneeded and potentially overwriting more accurate data.0 -
Thanks!!!!!!!1
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I just got a zip last night. I am technologically dumb, and not very savvy when it comes to fitness. I honestly do not understand what the calorie deficit is... I have tried and tried, but all I know, is that I am getting close to mfp daily calorie goal, and I went for a 1 mile walk last night... I need an adult!0
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kimmablethecannibal wrote: »I just got a zip last night. I am technologically dumb, and not very savvy when it comes to fitness. I honestly do not understand what the calorie deficit is... I have tried and tried, but all I know, is that I am getting close to mfp daily calorie goal, and I went for a 1 mile walk last night... I need an adult!
Deficit means eating fewer calories than you burn. Your default MFP calorie goal is activity level minus deficit (250 calories for every .5 lb. per week).0 -
So basically just trust the fitbit and mfp and youll lose weight still?0
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First, thanks for the FAQ, it really helps a lot. I just got a Charge HR today as a birthday present for myself. I've read through this whole thread and have one more clarification question. Most of my exercise is running or walking. I get that I should push the button on the Charge HR before I start, and then again when I'm finished; apparently that helps with the accuracty of the reading. What I'm not clear about is whether I need to go into the app to do something afterwards. And if so, which app, Fitbit or MFP? I am a former Jawbone UP24 user and I never did anything except wear it and it would count my activity and then give me more calories if I earned them; I'm not familiar with pushing the buttons then having to go into the app to do something else. 0
