Steps vs exercise calories

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Replies

  • xcaranicolex
    xcaranicolex Posts: 38 Member
    ..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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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 -
  • Protranser
    Protranser Posts: 517 Member
    leblanc_tracy wrote: »
    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.

    OMG thank you! I was annoyed at the mental math I'd have to do when looking over my "banked" calories to use over the weekend. <3
  • aniqa109
    aniqa109 Posts: 364 Member
    Im still confused:( if i walk more steps than my daily amount..that counts as exercise??
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
    I never eat back any calories that are allowed due to taking steps. Actually, my activity feed doesn't register any calories unless I've taking more than about 8K steps because it subtracts the burn I get from my workouts and I have my activity level set at very active.

    My opinion is that steps one takes are simply activities of daily living and not anything that should be considered extraordinary physical effort.
  • thankyou4thevenom
    thankyou4thevenom Posts: 1,581 Member
    aniqa109 wrote: »
    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)

    The steps are counted as 'exercise' because you're still burning then off as part of your daily movement.
    So if your MFP thinks you burn 2000 cals a day and gives you a deficit of 500 to lose. You'd eat 1500. That's make your weekly deficit 3500.
    Fitbit goes, hang on they're actually burning 2500 daily. Gives you them back as an adjustment of +500. If you don't eat them your actual daily deficit is 1000 cals. That makes you weekly deficit 7000 cals.


    TL;DR version. If your fitbit is giving you calories, you're burning more than you think you are daily.
    In other words you've got your activity level wrong.
  • aniqa109
    aniqa109 Posts: 364 Member
    Thankyouuuuuu that makes sense now!
  • Glinda1971
    Glinda1971 Posts: 2,328 Member
    edited August 2015
    aniqa109 wrote: »
    Im still confused:( if i walk more steps than my daily amount..that counts as exercise??

    To Fitbit it does. I've lost 30 lbs so far, over 20 since I got my Fitbit and my rate of loss is consistent with the extra calories Fitbit gives me.

    I'm set at sedentary and my Fitbit starts giving me calories at about 3,000 steps.

    To hit 10,000 steps I actually have to go for a walk, most days for at least 45 minutes to top up my steps. So that many steps is definitely not part of my regular living my life activity.

  • aniqa109
    aniqa109 Posts: 364 Member
    Which fitbit is best?is fitbit charge good?
    I have a step counter app on my phone but i easily get 10,000 steps without additional walks
  • darkriver2012
    darkriver2012 Posts: 21 Member
    I only use the excercise element the bit that says that you have certain amount of active minutes. I do 50 minutes of delibrate walking which was 5500 steps and I got back 81 cals.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
    I eat back most of my fitbit adjustments and have had no trouble losing weight. I stopped logging all step based exercise while wearing the fitbit. I also wear it while horseback riding and just let it do its thing. The only thing I do that I log is hoof trimming since it is physically intensive but with few steps. I log that as "Horse grooming" so I know it is probably really underestimating. But it works for me. I'm losing weight. :)

    All of the Fitbit trackers are great. The Flex has some issues with batteries that sometimes fail to keep a charge and bands that break easily but the company is really good about sending replacements. Choose the one that fits your needs. I have the Flex. I like it, in spite of having had to deal with a bad battery.

    A friend of mine has the Charge HR and likes it but the thing is much larger and I think I would not like a larger bulky item on my wrist. I don't even like to wear jewelry.

  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    aniqa109 wrote: »
    Which fitbit is best?is fitbit charge good?

    Which Fitbit you choose is entirely a matter of personal preference. They all calculate your TDEE and sync with MFP.

    Charge HR is only, what, $20 more than Charge, but it has a secure buckle (like a watch) rather than a flimsy clasp. My Flex fell off, so I upgraded to Charge HR. And it has a heart-rate monitor.
  • aniqa109
    aniqa109 Posts: 364 Member
    Thankyou for yr help
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