Yes the Fitbit charge HR is accurate

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  • Kimegatron
    Kimegatron Posts: 772 Member
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    Are you adding up the calories in the MFP reports, and subtracting that from the calories burned in the fit bit activity report, then coming up with the number, THEN dividing that number by 3,500?
  • elkhunter7x6
    elkhunter7x6 Posts: 88 Member
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    Kimegatron wrote: »
    Question, where did you get to the "calories consumed" amount? Did you just add it all up yourself?

    From the weekly Fitbit reports.

  • Bshmerlie
    Bshmerlie Posts: 1,026 Member
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    Kimegatron wrote: »
    Question, where did you get to the "calories consumed" amount? Did you just add it all up yourself?

    Yes I'm a little anal so I have a spread sheet and log how many calories I consume each day and also log how many calories I burn each day. Of course the scale ultimatley determines how I am actually doing. Over a span of six weeks if I am actually burning more than I am consuming scientifically speaking I will lose weight.
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,495 Member
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    Bshmerlie wrote: »
    Mouse_Potato wrote: »
    I am really glad to read this post because when I saw what the Fitbit gave me for a simple dog walk I was convinced it was on crack. People in the forums are always saying that walking doesn't burn much, but the Fitbit thinks otherwise! :smiley:

    All my exercise is walking. I try and hit 10,000 steps a day but sometimes it is only around 5,000. It does also matter how much you currently weigh. Someone who weighs 300 pounds would burn much more than someone who weighs 200 pounds. I'm 5'5 and weigh 210 pounds. I typically burn about 2300 calories per day for my typical day. As I loose weight I'm expecting that burn amount to drop. So if I want to continue at my current pace I will either have to eat less or exercise more.

    I usually get between 12,00 and 18,000 steps a day, but I am down to that last few pounds, so I did not expect it to burn very much (5'4" 123 pounds). My typical day is 2000-2100 calories burned. It makes a huge difference whether or not I get my steps in. A sedentary day can mean as few as 1700-1800 calories burned and I like eating far too much for those numbers!
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
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    Bshmerlie wrote: »
    Kimegatron wrote: »
    Question, where did you get to the "calories consumed" amount? Did you just add it all up yourself?

    Yes I'm a little anal so I have a spread sheet and log how many calories I consume each day and also log how many calories I burn each day. Of course the scale ultimatley determines how I am actually doing. Over a span of six weeks if I am actually burning more than I am consuming scientifically speaking I will lose weight.

    Did you go through mfp adding up 7 days for 6 weeks or did you get the weekly Fitbit report that's a summary for the week?
  • Cocoa1020
    Cocoa1020 Posts: 197 Member
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    Sweep79 wrote: »
    Thanks for this. I only got mine yesterday and was worried it seem to be showing a lot more activity than it should... But I am also very diligent when it comes to logging and weighing so fingers crossed. I am a little scared to trust it and have closed down tonight with a large deficit as a result!

    the more you wear it the more accurate it becomes. i wear mine everyday and only take it off to shower (which is when i charge it)
  • cupcakesplz
    cupcakesplz Posts: 237 Member
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    Thanks for the post OP.
    I woke up this morning and I wasn't going to wear mine today.
    I haven't lost weight for the week I had it.
    I thought that maybe I have been eating to much? Or it could be that I have up my exercise.

    I will give it one or week and will tighten my logging.
  • Kimegatron
    Kimegatron Posts: 772 Member
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    SO I got my Fitbit like 2-3 weeks after I started "logging".. Still eyeball mostly everything, I am so so so so lazy with the scale, but I do weigh my fruits. Anyways, I counted up all of my calories taken in, then I counted the calories burned since I started the Fitbit. For the days that I didn't have it, I just estimated 2,000 calories burned. I came up with pretty much almost exactly what I have lost. This is kind of cool :D:D Thanks for this!
  • Flookbird
    Flookbird Posts: 81 Member
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    Merkavar wrote: »
    Bshmerlie wrote: »
    Kimegatron wrote: »
    Question, where did you get to the "calories consumed" amount? Did you just add it all up yourself?

    Yes I'm a little anal so I have a spread sheet and log how many calories I consume each day and also log how many calories I burn each day. Of course the scale ultimatley determines how I am actually doing. Over a span of six weeks if I am actually burning more than I am consuming scientifically speaking I will lose weight.

    Did you go through mfp adding up 7 days for 6 weeks or did you get the weekly Fitbit report that's a summary for the week?

    If you go to your Fitbit dashboard it will give you an average burn and average intake for the past 30 days.

    Subtract the intake from the burn to get your average deficit.

    Multiply this by 30 to get your total deficit.

    Divide the total deficit by 3500 to get the predicted number of pounds list if everything has been accurate.
  • BradandLibby
    BradandLibby Posts: 14 Member
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    Yesterday I made the same spreadsheet too, using 13 weeks of data. I'm fascinated by the data, and so far it did prove that my food logging and Fitbit calories used are fairly accurate. My actual weight loss was about the same as my "should be" weight loss. But right now I'm set to lose at 1.5 pounds per week, or a deficit of 5.250 calories per week; so there's potential for a pretty big range of error. It will be interesting to see how accurate my logging/Fitbit will be when the deficit is much smaller. But for now the math is working out, and that makes my numbers heart happy.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Bshmerlie wrote: »
    Hornsby wrote: »
    I would assume the accuracy would rely heavily on the types of activities/exercises the user is doing, no?
    Possibly. I'm walking on a treadmill.

    So it's using the pedometer over the HRM ...makes sense

    My fitbit zip is accurate too ...over rolling 6-8 weeks checks over the last year I have lost / maintained generally as expected

    It's the HRM function of fitbits (and other watches) that I am dubious of ...as in yet to be convinced
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    I have the Surge and so far it's come out really close (considering some inaccurate logging on my part).
    Since March 1st:

    Total weight lost- 23.4 lbs
    Expected Loss - 24.7 lbs
    Average Total Burn according to Surge- 2534.15
    Estimated Actual Average Burn - 2460.34
    total burn: 410533
    total intake:324038

    Now I have recently tightened up my logging a bit and the results so far with increased logging accuracy on my part:

    Total weight lost from 7/2 to 8/9 - 5.3 lbs
    Expected Loss - 4.5 lbs
    Average Total Burn according to Surge- 2588.69
    Estimated Actual Average Burn - 2655.69
    total burn:100959
    total intake:85022

    I let my Surge pick up everything. I even go under Exercise mode and select weights on my lifting days. While I have tightened up my logging, I'm still not perfect and given that fact I'd say the Surge has been fairly accurate for me.

    As for tightening my logging, on July 2nd I started logging the crystal light I drink and my diet MTN Dew (guess at calories based on the fact that a 24 oz bottle is around 10 calories, but a can is labeled as 0). Just a couple days ago, I also started logging my sweetener packets. I still go out to eat from time to time though at places that don't have calorie information available and as a result I'm still not perfect with the logging.
  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
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    editorgrrl wrote: »
    The only way to gauge the accuracy of any device is to trust it for several weeks, then reevaluate your progress. I was shocked how many calories Fitbit said I could eat. But I lost the weight—and kept it off.

    Yep, this is my experience too. Between MFP logging, Fitbit reporting, Withings weighing, Trendweight analyzing, and waistband shrinking, all data points agree with each other fairly conclusively, for me.
  • rosebette
    rosebette Posts: 1,660 Member
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    I think the fitbit itself is probably fairly accurate, since I try to eat below whatever it says and am maintaining. The way it syncs with MFP is weird. For instance, I did a 45 minute strength/aerobic combo, plus an hour on the treadmill. MFP gave me 244 calories, but by lunchtime had taken them all away, then put them back.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    rosebette wrote: »
    I did a 45 minute strength/aerobic combo, plus an hour on the treadmill. MFP gave me 244 calories, but by lunchtime had taken them all away, then put them back.

    MFP recalculates your adjustment every time you sync your tracker with Fitbit. You can click on the adjustment in your diary to see the math MFP used to calculate it—and the time.

    My adjustments were wonky at first, but they got better—as if MFP was "learning" my routine. Also, I log exercise in Fitbit—never MFP. It'll take trial & error to find what works for you.

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