Steps vs exercise calories

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  • cld111
    cld111 Posts: 300 Member
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    Merkavar wrote: »
    Marilyn0924 wrote: »
    Protranser wrote: »
    5'9 male, 186 lbs, 37 years old. MFP is set to sedentary, negative calories enabled
    Monday (Jogging morning and walking evening) 23413 steps -> 1691 calories
    Tuesday (walking morning and evening ) 20873 steps -> 1140 calories
    Wednesday (Jogging morning and walking evening) 19798 steps -> 1266 calories
    Today (walking morning and evening) 20302 steps -> 1098 calories

    There was an update for the android app today, and since that update, I'm now seeing two fitbit calorie adjustments instead of my usual one. One is listed for 554 calories, one is listed for 1098 calories. The website shows only 1098 calories for exercise, but the phone app is doing 1098 + 554. Dunno why that is...

    If you're averaging over 10k steps daily, you should set your activity level to lightly active. You are definitely NOT sedentary! ;)

    With a fitness tracker thing attached does it matter?

    It will adjust up or down based on his actual steps.

    Yup! I keep mine at sedentary even though I'm not because I know it'll adjust to my level of activity for the day.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    edited July 2015
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    Marilyn0924 wrote: »
    If you're averaging over 10k steps daily, you should set your activity level to lightly active. You are definitely NOT sedentary!

    If (and only if) you enable negative calorie adjustments in your diary settings, choosing an activity level is entirely a matter of personal preference: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    Increasing your activity level gives you more calories to start with, then smaller adjustments. You're still eating your Fitbit burn (which is TDEE) minus deficit.

    You can learn more in the Fitbit Users group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    I have the Fitbit One - which of course does not use HR during cardio. But otherwise I'd assume technology to be at least similar.

    Once I hit maintenance I learned that I needed to eat at/above my Fitbit TDEE or I kept losing weight.

    My One is not wrist-worn though. The thing I'd worry about: getting extra 'steps' if you move your arms alot. Missing steps if you're holding a shopping card handle, or otherwise not swinging your arms in a normal walking motion. Not sure if those would be issues for you, or if so they might even cancel out.
    xcaranicolex wrote: »
    hey everyone, I'm using a fitbit hr for step counting and was wondering how accurate my exercise calories are. For example today so far I'm at about 14000 steps and it's given me an additional 1200 calories to eat. Granted I don't eat them all back but it seems like a lot. I have my activity set to sedentary so the steps should (in theory) give me calories based on my actual activity any given day. Could someone else give me an example of their steps to exercise calories for comparison?? Thanks!

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Ps-I'm set to lightly active and I tend to earn an extra 200-400 calories for hitting 11k-12k steps.
  • xcaranicolex
    xcaranicolex Posts: 38 Member
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    Hey everyone. I work as a nurse so no I'm definitely not sedentary but because on days off I am generally less active I like the idea of it adjusting based on my activity for that day rather than a generalized one. I enabled negative calories (what exactly does that mean btw?) as suggested and my stats are 5'1 and 133 lbs. If I am doing any exercise I record it differently so my steps should, in theory just be my daily movement. Right? Haha perhaps this explains my weight loss slowing down?
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited July 2015
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    Negative calories ONLY matters if you set your activity level higher than you actually need.

    Lets say you set it to lightly active and MFP thinks you'll burn 2000 calories per day. But you take the day easy, binge watching your favorite show and you don't do much else. Fitbit may show you only burned 1750. If your MFP goal is based on the 2000, with a 500 calorie deficit MFP will tell you to each 1500. If you have negative calories enabled, you'll see a -250 from Fitbit, telling you to eat 1500-250 or 1250.

    If you do not enable negative calories, you'll just see a 0 adjustment when you don't move enough. So you'd still think eating at 1500 was going to give you the desired deficit.

    If you always get an adjustment greater than 0, then negative calories don't matter for you. Note: if you check early in the day you may see a negative. I often see this because I get the majority of my activity in the evening. But I know to move enough to balance it out.
  • JanetMMcC
    JanetMMcC Posts: 410 Member
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    Flookbird - I wonder if some of the variation in calories assigned by the tracker for the same number of steps has something to do with speed? More calories/step would make sense if, say, a higher percentage of steps were brisk or even running.
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
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    xcaranicolex wrote: »
    hey everyone, I'm using a fitbit hr for step counting and was wondering how accurate my exercise calories are. For example today so far I'm at about 14000 steps and it's given me an additional 1200 calories to eat. Granted I don't eat them all back but it seems like a lot. I have my activity set to sedentary so the steps should (in theory) give me calories based on my actual activity any given day. Could someone else give me an example of their steps to exercise calories for comparison?? Thanks!

    That sounds very high to me. First off, it's been said on other threads that a sedentary person is assumed to take about 5000 steps a day, so if you shave that off, you're down to 9000 steps, which is about 4.5 miles. An average of 100 calories a mile would mean 450 extra calories. Maybe more if you are heavier and taller, but I really think 1200 is way too high. Even if you didn't subtract the 5000 sedentary steps, 14000 steps is about 7 miles (about 700 calories). Again *maybe* more depending on your stats.
  • Flookbird
    Flookbird Posts: 81 Member
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    JanetMMcC wrote: »
    Flookbird - I wonder if some of the variation in calories assigned by the tracker for the same number of steps has something to do with speed? More calories/step would make sense if, say, a higher percentage of steps were brisk or even running.

    That would make sense to me, but on non-working days I tend to get a higher percentage of my steps from on the spot jogging. Saying that, when I'm walking around at work I am pretty quick about it! I guess I'll just have to trust it to do its thing! I've maintained for 7 months using my fitbit calories as a guide - I tend to eat a few hundred below my goal, but I'm not very accurate with logging, understand that my swimming calories are probably overestimated and when I have a night out I don't log anything I eat/drink as I hope the deficit earned during the week will make up for it!
  • aniqa109
    aniqa109 Posts: 364 Member
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    Can i just ask...arent your steps part of your daily movement and they arent counted as exercise so you dont eat back the calories ( if that makes sense)
  • xcaranicolex
    xcaranicolex Posts: 38 Member
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    ..okay so any calories I get from my steps shouldn't be eaten? I would've thought they would be bc they aren't exercise calories really, wouldn't they be added as sort of a addition to my original calorie goal since it my daily activity? For example since I'm set at sedentary if I walk a lot I should eat them bc they would reflect me being at an active level? (BTW I dunno what exactly changed but fitbit updated and today I am just under 10,000 and it's given me around 400 extra calories so far..I think it fixed itself)
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    When I first got my fitbit I was averaging 2000-2500 steps a day. Now I'm between 20,000-25,000 everyday, so for me anything over 2,500 IS deliberate exercise.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    edited July 2015
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    xcaranicolex wrote: »
    So any calories I get from my steps shouldn't be eaten? I would've thought they would be bc they aren't exercise calories really, wouldn't they be added as sort of a addition to my original calorie goal since it my daily activity?

    Your Fitbit burn is TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), the calories necessary to maintain your current weight. If you eat less than that, you will lose weight.

    If (and only if) you enable negative calorie adjustments in your diary settings, eating back your adjustments means you're eating TDEE minus deficit.

    But you still have to log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Logging works.
  • mykidsrock76
    mykidsrock76 Posts: 23 Member
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    rosebette wrote: »
    OP, are you getting 1400 additional calories for exercise, or is that what your fitbit is showing at the end of the day (or MFP is giving you for calorie goal after syncing with fitbit)? With the fitbit HR, the calories shown are your TDEE, your burn for the entire day, not "exericse calories."

    Can you please explain this? I have the Charge HR and MFP is showing 1,055 exercise calories so far for today, which includes a workout this morning burning almost 700 calories. My calorie goal set by MFP is 1200.
  • jeepinshawn
    jeepinshawn Posts: 642 Member
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    Im 38, level set to sedentary and at 9970 steps my fitbit adjustment to myfitness pal's calories shows 520 calories. I don't worry much about the calorie adjustments, just something to keep in mind if you ask me, they are usually over stated anyway so unless you are trying to gain or maintain weight, I don't think I'd purposely eat much of them back.
  • cld111
    cld111 Posts: 300 Member
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    jeepinshawn wrote: »
    Im 38, level set to sedentary and at 9970 steps my fitbit adjustment to myfitness pal's calories shows 520 calories. I don't worry much about the calorie adjustments, just something to keep in mind if you ask me, they are usually over stated anyway so unless you are trying to gain or maintain weight, I don't think I'd purposely eat much of them back.

    I don't find this to be true at all. I can eat them and still lose weight. It's the reason why I get so many steps. I want to eat more!

  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    cld111 wrote: »
    jeepinshawn wrote: »
    Im 38, level set to sedentary and at 9970 steps my fitbit adjustment to myfitness pal's calories shows 520 calories. I don't worry much about the calorie adjustments, just something to keep in mind if you ask me, they are usually over stated anyway so unless you are trying to gain or maintain weight, I don't think I'd purposely eat much of them back.

    I don't find this to be true at all. I can eat them and still lose weight. It's the reason why I get so many steps. I want to eat more!

    Snap! the more you exercise, the more you can eat :lol:

  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
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    My exercise walking shows up as active minutes on my dashboard. I divided those by the distance I walked to find the speed and then calculated the calorie burn. For me it is very accurate. I also have a spread sheet where I do CI(from mfp total gross)-CO (Fitbit calories burned)=weight change. Over a month I had lost within 10% of what is predicted by the formula. I lost 10% more, this probably due to my forgetting to put it back on after a shower and going about housekeeping etc.
  • leblanc_tracy
    leblanc_tracy Posts: 11 Member
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    Protranser wrote: »

    There was an update for the android app today, and since that update, I'm now seeing two fitbit calorie adjustments instead of my usual one. One is listed for 554 calories, one is listed for 1098 calories. The website shows only 1098 calories for exercise, but the phone app is doing 1098 + 554. Dunno why that is...

    There is a way to erase the extra entry. Go back to that day and press the edit button (crayon icon). Scroll down to the exercise tab and chose the one you want to remove.

    I had to do the same thing earlier today. I also ended up removing the higher calorie fitbit adjustment since I know that my adjustments always drop by half by the next morning.
  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member
    edited August 2015
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    I set mine to sedentary because my activity is so variable - 10,000 steps will give me around 300 calories (female, 64, 147#) and about 4.6 miles (I have shorter legs so stride length is shorter than many people's probably is) - I have negative adjustments set and I noticed I just "lost" 13 calories because my mileage is lower than yesterday's was at this time. All in all, though, it seems to be consistent with the amount of calories eaten and what happens with my weight. I would let your weight loss be your guide, ultimately.

    Edited to add that FB steps all count as "activity" which has an impact on calorie burn for the day. It all works out in end - depending on how you set your activity levels makes a difference with the amount of calorie adjustment you'll get -

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