This is all very confusing to me

claremaigheo · August 2015

I have a Vivosmart bracelet that's attached to MFP. Does that mean that I should NOT enter exercise walking time because the steps are reported from the Vivosmart into MFP and it's all accounted for? My bracelet says just under 3000 steps today and 875 with a flame next to it, which I think means calories burned today but the MFP app says I gained 10 calories today due to exercise. I have no idea what that means.

Should I never enter walking into MFP if I'm wearing the Vivosmart?
I don't see any status updates that I walked X steps today in my feed. Should I see that info there? Since, I don't, i don't understand how it registers this information.

Thanks for any help. I'm adding foods every day and using the Vivosmart to get in shape but am having a very rough time understanding if these things are working properly and what I should and should not enter into the exercise page.

dubird · August 2015

If your activity tracker is counting your calories burned and sending the result to MFP, then you don't need to add it to MFP. I don't know about the Vivosmart, but I know Fitbit has an exercise mode, so even when I do an actual exercise, Fitbit takes care of it. If your Vivosmart tells MFP that you've burned enough calories today to meet your normal goal, it will add on extra calories you burn. For example, say your goal is 1400 a day on MFP. This INCLUDES your deficit, so if you just meet that goal, you'll lose weight. But, if over the course of the day, you burn 2000 a day, that's over what your daily goal is, so Vivosmart will add that extra to MFP, giving you extra calories to eat back. I hope this is making sense! ^_^;

I do know there's been some issues with syncing, that might be why you don't see anything right away. I also know that Fitbit tracks calories as well, and will tell MFP if I've got extra for the day. But it calculates during the whole day, so the only time I'm getting a good accurate reading of my calories left is in the evening.

One thing, though, does your Vivosmart have a heart rate monitor?

editorgrrl · August 2015

claremaigheo wrote: »

My Vivosmart bracelet says just under 3000 steps today and 875 with a flame next to it, which I think means calories burned today but the MFP app says I gained 10 calories today due to exercise. I have no idea what that means.

Should I never enter walking into MFP if I'm wearing the Vivosmart?
I don't see any status updates that I walked X steps today in my feed. Should I see that info there?

Steps do not post to your feed. A ten-calorie adjustment means you've burned 10 calories more than your MFP activity level (sedentary, lightly active, etc.). Enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

Do not log any step-based activity. Log non-step exercise (like swimming or biking) either in Vivofit or in MFP—never both. Exercise logged in MFP overwrites your Vivofit burn during that time.

If you want your Vivosmart activity to appear in your newsfeed, post a status update.

claremaigheo · August 2015

I enabled the negative calorie adjustments but truthfully, I don't understand what that means. I read the explanation next to the checkbox but still have no clue what any of it means.

When you say "post a status update" do you mean, every time I want my steps to appear I have to manually add it? Does not doing that (seems a waste of time if not automatically collected and posted) have any negative effect on things being tracked?

The bottom of the calorie page says I've earned 3 calories from exercise today. I have no idea where that information is coming from. Is there any way to find out how many steps results in what number calories added? I have just under 3k steps today and that number doesn't sound right.

My Vivosmart does not have a heart rate monitor.

Thanks for the help.

SueInAz · August 2015

claremaigheo wrote: »

I enabled the negative calorie adjustments but truthfully, I don't understand what that means. I read the explanation next to the checkbox but still have no clue what any of it means.

When you say "post a status update" do you mean, every time I want my steps to appear I have to manually add it? Does not doing that (seems a waste of time if not automatically collected and posted) have any negative effect on things being tracked?

The bottom of the calorie page says I've earned 3 calories from exercise today. I have no idea where that information is coming from. Is there any way to find out how many steps results in what number calories added? I have just under 3k steps today and that number doesn't sound right.

My Vivosmart does not have a heart rate monitor.

Thanks for the help.

Negative calorie adjustments happen when you aren't as active as your Vivofit expects you to be. In other words, you weren't moving much so it takes away some of the calories you can eat for the day to maintain the calorie deficit you specified in your goals. (If you set MFP to lose 1 pound per week, you must eat 500 calories less than you burn every day. Your maintenance calories - 500 calories = your daily MFP calorie goal.) If you want to be sure that you aren't eating too much on days where you aren't as active, the negative calorie adjustments are important. I find that seeing a negative number there makes me get up and move around.

Yes, if you're letting the Vivofit calculate your calories, you'd have to manually enter any exercise that you do that you want your MFP friends to know about. It doesn't affect anything else. If you don't care if anyone knows, there's no need to enter anything.

If you use the mobile version of the MFP app, it will show you how many steps Vivofit is telling it you've taken. The 3 extra calories you've "earned" so far today simply means that the Vivofit thinks you are moving just a little bit more than you normally do. I don't know of a way to find out Vivofit's formulas and that's what is doing the calculations.

editorgrrl · August 2015

claremaigheo wrote: »

I enabled the negative calorie adjustments but truthfully, I don't understand what that means.

When you say "post a status update" do you mean, every time I want my steps to appear I have to manually add it?

The bottom of the calorie page says I've earned 3 calories from exercise today. I have no idea where that information is coming from.

1. Your default MFP calorie goal is activity level minus deficit. Adjustments are the difference between your Vivosmart burn & your MFP activity level. Without negative adjustments, you'll never eat at a true deficit on days you burn fewer calories than your activity level. (But they'll never put your calories below 1,200.)

2. Posting your Vivofit exercise as a status update is entirely optional. (Some people enjoy the accountability—&/or the "likes.") Never log your exercise in MFP as 1 calorie just to have it post to your feed, though.

3. Click the "i" in a blue circle next to the adjustment to see the math MFP used to calculate it: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/exercise/diary

dubird · August 2015

claremaigheo wrote: »

I enabled the negative calorie adjustments but truthfully, I don't understand what that means. I read the explanation next to the checkbox but still have no clue what any of it means.

When you say "post a status update" do you mean, every time I want my steps to appear I have to manually add it? Does not doing that (seems a waste of time if not automatically collected and posted) have any negative effect on things being tracked?

The bottom of the calorie page says I've earned 3 calories from exercise today. I have no idea where that information is coming from. Is there any way to find out how many steps results in what number calories added? I have just under 3k steps today and that number doesn't sound right.

My Vivosmart does not have a heart rate monitor.

Thanks for the help.

I personally don't have negative adjustments on my Fitbit. What I did was monitor my calories burned for a couple of weeks doing normal things (excluding exercise), took the average of that and applied the deficit. Then, entered that in MFP and Fitbit. So, all things being equal, on an average slow day, what's on MFP is my goal. When I go beyond that during work or class, that will show up as extra calories for the day. That's much more easier for me in planning my day!

Also, without a heart rate monitor, the calorie burn rate is not as accurate as it could be. It's working off any stats you entered, but it still uses averages to calculate it. A heart rate monitor isn't 100% accurate, but it's much closer. How many steps equal a calorie burned is not a set number. It depends on how fast you're going, if you're going uphill, etc. There's a LOT of variables involved, which is why a HRM helps get a better reading.

CasperNaegle · August 2015

I set my calories with my common exercise (4-6 hours of weight lifting) in mind. I don't let anything my Microsoft band or MFP gets adjust the calories for me. I don't think these are accurate enough in tracking to adjust my calories based on it. I have been successful in reducing my weight and body fat, so it works well for me.