Understanding Fitbit
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stephaniechukwu31
Posts: 112 Member
If someone could help on clarification on how to read my Fitbit. Hopefully give me a reason not return it 
I'm having trouble understanding how it counts my calories.
And just generally on how to use the darn thing.
I have a Fitbit charge HR
I'm only interested in Fitbit related responses anything else will not be entertained.
Thank you!
I'm having trouble understanding how it counts my calories.
And just generally on how to use the darn thing.
I have a Fitbit charge HR
I'm only interested in Fitbit related responses anything else will not be entertained.
Thank you!
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Replies
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*not*0
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stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »If someone could help on clarification on how to read my Fitbit. Hopefully give me a reason not return it
I'm having trouble understanding how it counts my calories.
And just generally on how to use the darn thing.
I have a Fitbit charge HR
I'm only interested in Fitbit related responses anything else will not be entertained.
Thank you!
https://staticcs.fitbit.com/content/assets/help/manuals/manual_charge_hr_en_US.pdf0 -
http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/How-does-Fitbit-know-how-many-calories-I-ve-burned
What questions do you have about how to use it? Most of us just strap it on our wrist and charge it when it gets low (taking it off to shower).0 -
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10098937/faq-syncing-logging-food-exercise-calorie-adjustments-activity-levels-accuracy/p1
For such a general question, you should probably read the sticky posted on the Fitbit user group.0 -
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I'm at the gym right now.
I'm on the stair master. Or whatever it's called so far I burned about 300 more calories in the first 30 mins. But my Fitbit didn't account for the actual stairs I'm climbing.
Also I guess it goes into the net calories again. So I guess this post has two different questions.
What are the calories that the Fitbit account for? For instance I wake up and the fit bit is already counting calories burned even though I have done nothing significant. So, where do I factor those calories burned into my net calories?
For example I normally burn 800-1000 calories a day for 6 days.
Anything over that, that my Fitbit accounted for where do I calculate that?
I'm just trying to learn where to factor all the "work" I've done so I don't over do it nor under do it.0 -
When I say "normally" I mean my regime before I restarted and what I'm doing now. This week won't be six days it will be five.0
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stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »I'm at the gym right now.
I'm on the stair master. Or whatever it's called so far I burned about 300 more calories in the first 30 mins. But my Fitbit didn't account for the actual stairs I'm climbing.
Also I guess it goes into the net calories again. So I guess this post has two different questions.
What are the calories that the Fitbit account for? For instance I wake up and the fit bit is already counting calories burned even though I have done nothing significant. So, where do I factor those calories burned into my net calories?
For example I normally burn 800-1000 calories a day for 6 days.
Anything over that, that my Fitbit accounted for where do I calculate that?
I'm just trying to learn where to factor all the "work" I've done so I don't over do it nor under do it.
Did you read the links (at least two) that were posted here from the Fitbit FAQ about how Fitbit Charge HR calculates your calories? You can check my post above if you didn't get a chance to look at it yet.
Fitbits probably won't measure the stairs you climb on a stairclimber machine. But if you begin activity (by pressing the button on the left) before beginning your workout, it will use your heartrate to determine how many calories you are burning in a session. This is useful for exercise machines.0 -
stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »I'm at the gym right now.
I'm on the stair master. Or whatever it's called so far I burned about 300 more calories in the first 30 mins. But my Fitbit didn't account for the actual stairs I'm climbing.
Also I guess it goes into the net calories again. So I guess this post has two different questions.
What are the calories that the Fitbit account for? For instance I wake up and the fit bit is already counting calories burned even though I have done nothing significant. So, where do I factor those calories burned into my net calories?
For example I normally burn 800-1000 calories a day for 6 days.
Anything over that, that my Fitbit accounted for where do I calculate that?
I'm just trying to learn where to factor all the "work" I've done so I don't over do it nor under do it.
The Fitbit counts the calories you burn all day long. Total energy expenditure, not just the calories you're burning when exercising. If you set your MFP settings to allow calorie adjustments, and link your Fitbit, the math all gets done for you, and you don't have to worry about logging your exercise in either place.0 -
You are over complicating this more than you need to. The fitbit does not count steps if your arm isnt moving. You can put it into Exercise mode, but if you are more after the total caloric burn then you shouldnt worry about steps as much IMO.
You burn calories breathing, sleeping, heart beating, brain functioning etc, so that is where those calories that fitbit calculates before you even wake up come from. If I were you, I would look at the Average that fitbit says I have burned over the last 1-4 weeks, and figure out what you want to subtract from that for your deficit. (Cal Burn - desired deficit = daily cal intake)
So for me for example: over the last week I burned just over 20,000 calories with an average of 2861 per day. Since I have almost 130lbs to lose I am set for 2 lbs per week loss (-1000 cals per day) So i would try to eat around 1860 cals per day.
If you are not losing where you would expect after 3-6 weeks, then your calculations could be off, or your logging might need to be more accurate. Make sure that you logging your weight and adjusting your average TDEE along the way because as you get lighter your body needs less.0 -
ColinsMommaOC wrote: »You are over complicating this more than you need to. The fitbit does not count steps if your arm isnt moving. You can put it into Exercise mode, but if you are more after the total caloric burn then you shouldnt worry about steps as much IMO.
You burn calories breathing, sleeping, heart beating, brain functioning etc, so that is where those calories that fitbit calculates before you even wake up come from. If I were you, I would look at the Average that fitbit says I have burned over the last 1-4 weeks, and figure out what you want to subtract from that for your deficit. (Cal Burn - desired deficit = daily cal intake)
So for me for example: over the last week I burned just over 20,000 calories with an average of 2861 per day. Since I have almost 130lbs to lose I am set for 2 lbs per week loss (-1000 cals per day) So i would try to eat around 1860 cals per day.
If you are not losing where you would expect after 3-6 weeks, then your calculations could be off, or your logging might need to be more accurate. Make sure that you logging your weight and adjusting your average TDEE along the way because as you get lighter your body needs less.
Thank you.
What about car rides? Does any one else find it annoying that you have to account for the time you're driving just seems tedious.0 -
I think the last thing I don't understand is net calories. Some people from my previous post tried to explain I still don't get it also to many replies. This time I'm going to research on what I don't understand then expand on that.0
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stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »
Thank you.
What about car rides? Does any one else find it annoying that you have to account for the time you're driving just seems tedious.
You burn calories sitting in the car. You burn calories sitting on the couch. You burn calories eating. You burn calories taking a shower, sleeping, brushing your teeth... So no, I dont account for when I am just driving because my heartrate is what is telling fitbit how many cals I am burning. Nothing is going to be 100% accurate. But I think the margin of error for fitbit is considerably less than personal guesstimates and online calculators that only ask for a few stats and base their answers on the average person.
If you are worried it is logging extra steps then take it off and put it in your purse or pocket. It will assume you are just burning BMR cals for the time it is not on and should not log any extra for you.0 -
You're planning on eating 1200 calories and burning 800-1000 calories from exercise. That gives you 200-400 NET calories. That's not enough to live on.0
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net calories only applies if you are using MFP's calorie goal method. Net calories = daily intake - intentional logged exercise cals. What I recommended above means you are targeting your own calorie intake goal and not logging additional exercise. So you just want Gross Calories to equal TDEE-deficit.0
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kshama2001 wrote: »You're planning on eating 1200 calories and burning 800-1000 calories from exercise. That gives you 200-400 NET calories. That's not enough to live on.
blah. I am out of it today. I didn't even notice it was the same OP.
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ColinsMommaOC wrote: »stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »
Thank you.
What about car rides? Does any one else find it annoying that you have to account for the time you're driving just seems tedious.
You burn calories sitting in the car. You burn calories sitting on the couch. You burn calories eating. You burn calories taking a shower, sleeping, brushing your teeth... So no, I dont account for when I am just driving because my heartrate is what is telling fitbit how many cals I am burning. Nothing is going to be 100% accurate. But I think the margin of error for fitbit is considerably less than personal guesstimates and online calculators that only ask for a few stats and base their answers on the average person.
If you are worried it is logging extra steps then take it off and put it in your purse or pocket. It will assume you are just burning BMR cals for the time it is not on and should not log any extra for you.
I do take it off. I only wear it when I know I'm doing heavy activity. In the car it still adds steps, miles, and calorie burn.0 -
Honestly I would just like a formula on how to calculate net calories.
Because my mind is just not registering what you all are saying concerning how to calculate.
Preferably.
A formula that consists of.
TDEE
BMR
Calorie deficit
Calorie consumed
Fitbit calories ( I guess this ties into BMR and TDEE, but I honestly don't know)
= net calories.
So for example my BMR is 1753
If I decided to stay in bed all day I would burn that much that much I understand.
So what's my TDEE in that same scenario and how does that factor or does it not matter? All these extra variables are confusing me.
My BMR is 1753
I eat 1200 out of 1753 and exercise an additional 800
Does that mean I have a net of -247?
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I did some reading bc I was having issues w/ steps being added while driving and since I commute 2+ hrs a day I didn't want to count all those steps. Also my flights of stairs is messed up sometimes too.
http://support.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/How-does-my-tracker-work-while-I-m-driving-in-a-car0 -
stephaniechukwu31 wrote: »Honestly I would just like a formula on how to calculate net calories.
Because my mind is just not registering what you all are saying concerning how to calculate.
Preferably.
A formula that consists of.
TDEE
BMR
Calorie deficit
Calorie consumed
Fitbit calories ( I guess this ties into BMR and TDEE, but I honestly don't know)
= net calories.
So for example my BMR is 1753
If I decided to stay in bed all day I would burn that much that much I understand.
So what's my TDEE in that same scenario and how does that factor or does it not matter? All these extra variables are confusing me.
My BMR is 1753
I eat 1200 out of 1753 and exercise an additional 800
Does that mean I have a net of -247?
This really depends on which "net calories" you're trying to define.
If you're using what MFP calls net calories it's:
Calories consumed - Exercise calories (or Fitbit calorie adjustment) = Net Calories. (Food minus exercise, easy peasy.)0
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