Claire8614 wrote: »

Hello

I have recently bought myself the fit bit hr watch, i previously had the fit bit flex but wanted to upgrade.

What are your thoughts on the calorie adjustment accuracy, I work in a office and do not walk around a lot, its currently recorded about 2500 steps and fit bit has added a extra 194 calories to MFP diary... it seems a bit high!

What do you think?

Thanks

Claire

Your new device looks at your HR through out the day, not just steps. Check your dashboard and look at the heart rate, if you do other things, shopping, cleaning house, chasing after kids, etc. you burn more than just the steps could account for, read the FAQ section on accuracy to understand it all better.

AND editorgrl has it right, follow her advice

dnagirl712 wrote: »

I wear mine on my left arm, and I noticed that I was getting a lot more steps in a set period than I actually took. Apparently I do a lot more with my left hand than I had thought. I went into my settings and adjusted it to "dominant" which is less sensitive so it doesn't count some of the extra non-step movements. This has helped me to improve the accuracy of my Charge HR a lot.

Hmm. I wonder if I actually stuck it on my dominant hand and then made the appropriate setting if it would be lower as well? Might try this. Right now have a Pebble and Charge HR both on my non-dominant hand, looks goofy but does keep Charge HR further up my arm as they suggest.

dnagirl712 wrote: »

I wear mine on my left arm, and I noticed that I was getting a lot more steps in a set period than I actually took. Apparently I do a lot more with my left hand than I had thought. I went into my settings and adjusted it to "dominant" which is less sensitive so it doesn't count some of the extra non-step movements. This has helped me to improve the accuracy of my Charge HR a lot.

I'm going to do this. The other day I reached for something while the app was open and noticed it counting steps, but I was sitting down.

Don't overthink the accuracy of your step count—it's only a metric. All that matters is the accuracy of your Fitbit burn.

The only way to gauge the accuracy of your Fitbit is to trust it for several weeks, then reevaluate your progress. I wear my Fitbit 24/7, gesticulate a lot, eat back 100% of my adjustments—and I lost the weight & have kept it off for a year.

5 extra steps out of 100.
1000 extra steps out of 20K steps.

I'm betting some of the extra steps, and probably not extra steps, aren't seen as full force steps, so you also aren't getting the actual distance the step carries you - which means less calorie burn given to it.

So that's 5% overage on steps.
But what is that % overage, if any, on distance?
Could be none.

Hung up though, or wanting to confirm they are using the best?
Hung up means you aren't doing anything else because this one potential issues stopped you in your tracks.
Curious and interested in best estimates doesn't mean hung up though.

After all - what's the purpose of even trusting the Fitbit in the first place for awhile, compared to just MFP?
To get better numbers, right? And sooner rather than later.
Otherwise, just use MFP and do the same thing, wait a month, and adjust.
Or why log non-step exercise when recommended, could just wait and see.

I think the biggest improvement is the fact your seasonal changing activity level can be instantly seen within a week.

A woman with a BMR that literally changes during the month - needs a months worth of data before you can discern something. By the time you discern something - that past month may no longer apply to the upcoming month.

But if you had your Fitbit ready with best ability to operate correctly in the first place, and best processes to help it do so - then you are ready to go and can stop worrying about it.

For everyone that is so totally average that the Fitbit gives figures just about right on for all the averages it uses - you've got probably another person where that just isn't the case. And why wait a month to discover that if you don't need to.

So I agree that none of this should cause a person to get "hung up" and stop doing whatever is useful, much of what is done is already to improve the estimates, so why not ask and discuss and correct to help it go that bit further that could indeed matter greatly to someone's progress not waiting a month at a time to adjust?

In the process you discover some doesn't matter to that person's routine, but that same thing may matter greatly to another person's routine. Not-withstanding flights of stairs not mattering at all. ;-)