New Fitbit Charge HR owner - food logged into MFP syncs to Fitbit;Fitbit workouts don't sync to MFP

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bossfan55
bossfan55 Posts: 11 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I apologize in advance for asking what may be the same question that others have asked, but I'm somewhat baffled and now wondering if what I'm trying to do is even possible. I just got the Charge HR and I am very pleased with it - once I followed the directions about arm placement during exercise, it has been very consistent with my chest strap monitor. I'm trying to figure out how to have MFP reflect the workouts that I have recorded on my Fitbit.

Before I got the Fitbit, I would workout using the chest strap and record it using MapMyFItness (when I say recording, I mean automatically using Record a Workout rather than entering it manually). It would then sync with MFP, which is where I would enter my food, and I would see on MFP the exercises that I did with the calories burned from those exercises.

Basically, I want to do the same thing with my Fitbit - I want to track my workout on my Fitbit, either by tracking a run on the app, or by using exercise mode on the wristband (primarily P90X exercises, some of which are very step movement intensive and some are more weight intensive, with realtively little step movement). So my goal is to do what I did with the MMF and MFP syncing - log my food in MFP, record my workout on the Fitbit, and when I open MFP to log food I can see how I'm doing calorie-wise for the day.

What I have done is connected the Fitbit to both MMF and MFP, and set MFP to record steps from Fitbit. I log my food in MFP and it shows up in the Fitbit app, which is what I want. But, workouts I record on the Fitbit do not appear in MFP under exercises. For a run, for example, the steps that Fitbit recorded during the run get logged with my total steps in the Fitbit calorie adjustment line on MFP. But, the actual exercise that I did does not get listed in MFP, and I don't think, but am not sure, that the calories from the run (as opposed to the calories that would be burned by just walking that number of steps) get listed in MFP. And, non-step-intensive exercises, like P90X, that record in the Fitbit app as burning calories, don't appear in MFP.

I've tried to address this by disconnecting and reconnecting the apps to each other, and by deleting and reinstalling the apps. Is what I am trying to do - have exercises recorded on the fitbit, whether or not they are step-involved, show up as exercises on MFP along with their calorie burn - even possible and, if so, what I am doing wrong?

Thanks, and sorry for the length of this post!

Replies

  • slinke2014
    slinke2014 Posts: 149 Member
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    When I synced to my fitbit it said explicitly to log all additional exercise on MFP. It won't work if you log it on the fitbit website.
  • slinke2014
    slinke2014 Posts: 149 Member
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    your workout will get added to the fitbit site when you log it here.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    If you want your Fitbit exercise to appear in your newsfeed, post a status update. MFP sends water + aggregate meal data to Fitbit; Fitbit sends your TDEE to MFP.

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

    Set your goal to .5 lb. for every 25 lbs. you're overweight: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided

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

    Ignore your Fitbit calorie goal and follow MFP's, eating back your adjustments. No need to log any step-based activity—your Fitbit is tracking it for you. Log non-step exercise (like swimming or biking) either in Fitbit or in MFP—never both. Exercise logged in MFP overwrites your Fitbit burn during that time.

    You can learn more in the Fitbit Users group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
  • bossfan55
    bossfan55 Posts: 11 Member
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    editorgrrl wrote: »
    No need to log any step-based activity—your Fitbit is tracking it for you. Log non-step exercise (like swimming or biking) either in Fitbit or in MFP—never both. Exercise logged in MFP overwrites your Fitbit burn during that time.
    Thanks! I did all of those things - I guess my question is, for the step-based activity that Fitbit is tracking (without me manually logging it in), does it appear in MFP other than in the fitbit calorie adjustment line that lists total steps; i.e., does it appear as a line describing the activity (running, for example) and the resulting calorie burn? If so, that's what I'm not seeing.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    edited July 2015
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    bossfan55 wrote: »
    For the step-based activity that Fitbit is tracking (without me manually logging it in), does it appear in MFP other than in the fitbit calorie adjustment line that lists total steps; i.e., does it appear as a line describing the activity (running, for example) and the resulting calorie burn?

    No.
  • bossfan55
    bossfan55 Posts: 11 Member
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    editorgrrl wrote: »
    Log non-step exercise (like swimming or biking) either in Fitbit or in MFP—never both.
    One last question - for the non-step based workouts I do, I have a pretty good sense of the calorie burn based from the chest strap HRM I've been using. But, my understanding is that, for lack of a better term, this number "includes" what my BMR would be. So, if my BMR is about 1 cal/minute (which is consistent on my Fitbit sleeping calorie counts and a BMR calculator), and a 55 minute non-step workout records on the chest strap as 500 cal, would I record in the Fitbit app 500 cal or 445 cal (or, is it too insignificant a difference to worry about)?

    Thanks again!

  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    bossfan55 wrote: »
    For the non-step based workouts I do, I have a pretty good sense of the calorie burn based from the chest strap HRM I've been using. But, my understanding is that, for lack of a better term, this number "includes" what my BMR would be.

    Exercise logged in MFP overwrites your Fitbit burn during that time. Both your HRM burn & your Fitbit burn include BMR, so you don't have to do any math. Just log your burn.

    But check first to see if you can sync your HRM with Fitbit: https://www.fitbit.com/apps
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
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    My exercises don't show up in MFP except as extra calories burned. But that's all I care about. If you want them to show up as actual exercise, what you need to do is NOT let your Fitbit log activites as exercise. I.e., don't hold the button to start exercise mode. Instead, note the time started and how long an exercise lasted, as well as the calories burned for that time, and enter it on MFP, using the start time. Fitbit will grab that time and log that specific time period as exercise for it's records. That way it shows up on both but you only actually enter it once.
  • bossfan55
    bossfan55 Posts: 11 Member
    edited July 2015
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    Post deleted
  • bossfan55
    bossfan55 Posts: 11 Member
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    editorgrrl wrote: »
    Both your HRM burn & your Fitbit burn include BMR, so you don't have to do any math. Just log your burn.

    In that case, I'm wondering what causes the calorie burn discrepancy when I've used both a chest strap monitor and the Fitbit to track my run. Right after I got the Fitbit, I ran 28 minutes. The chest strap showed 152 average BPM and 388 calories (recorded on MapMyFitness). The Fitbit showed 153 average BPM and 288 calories (tracked in the Fitbit app). The two devices were obviously right on target for the heart rate, but the calorie burns were very different. I assumed that the difference was because the chest strap monitor included BMR while the Fitbit "filtered out" BMR. But, even that wouldn't have worked out since my BMR is about 1 cal/min, so there still would have been a pretty big discrepancy in the calorie burn. Any thoughts as to the reason for the discrepancy? Thanks!
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    bossfan55 wrote: »
    I ran 28 minutes. The chest strap showed 152 average BPM and 388 calories (recorded on MapMyFitness). The Fitbit showed 153 average BPM and 288 calories (tracked in the Fitbit app).

    Any thoughts as to the reason for the discrepancy?

    Nope. Try asking in the Fitbit Users group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
  • KCBollard
    KCBollard Posts: 23 Member
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    So what exactly is the answer to this question? I, too, am wondering why a logged/tracked workout on the Charge HR, such as a run, will not sync as an actual workout with MFP or even MapMy...
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    edited August 2015
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    KCBollard wrote: »
    I, too, am wondering why a logged/tracked workout on the Charge HR, such as a run, will not sync as an actual workout with MFP or even MapMy...

    1. The only thing you will see is a Fitbit calorie adjustment in your diary. That's just how it works. As I said above, you can always post your Fitbit exercise as a status update.

    2. Sync MapMy to Fitbit, not to MFP. That way MapMy sends your info to Fitbit, Fitbit sends your TDEE to MFP, and MFP adjusts your calories accordingly.

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