Steps?

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morganinspires
morganinspires Posts: 20 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey everyone! How accurate is the step counter in relation to the calories it accounts for? I walked less than 3,000 steps yesterday.. Yes I'm aware that's not enough. I had class all day, however it recorded that's it's equivalent to 115 calories? Is this accurate? I don't want to eat more if this number isn't correct. Let me know what you think.

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  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
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    Seems right. I have an UP2. I sat all day at work yesterday. Only had 2,400 steps. The app tells me my active calories are 30 for the day. I've noticed if I'm not taking a walk to the bank, or running an errand and my step count is low, my active calories will be under 50. But if I get 3000 steps and its bc I walked to the bank, the walking duration was longer, I'd get 100 calories.
  • Chrissy292018
    Chrissy292018 Posts: 57 Member
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    I'm not so sure that's right the other day I walked 3000 steps and I was at 42 calories or maybe mine is off
  • kdcomstock89
    kdcomstock89 Posts: 54 Member
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    That's going to depend on what you have your activity level set at. If you have it set to sedentary that seems about right.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    morganinspires wrote: »
    Hey everyone! How accurate is the step counter in relation to the calories it accounts for? I walked less than 3,000 steps yesterday.. Yes I'm aware that's not enough. I had class all day, however it recorded that's it's equivalent to 115 calories? Is this accurate? I don't want to eat more if this number isn't correct. Let me know what you think.

    You have to keep in mind that your activity level is going to account for steps...how many would depend on your activity level. A sedentary activity level I believe accounts for up to 5,000 steps per day so your calories from those 3,000 steps would already be accounted for in your activity level and included in your targets.

    You only are supposed to eat back calories for exercise and activity that is beyond your established activity level on MFP...otherwise you'd be double dipping.
  • Meganthedogmom
    Meganthedogmom Posts: 1,639 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    morganinspires wrote: »
    Hey everyone! How accurate is the step counter in relation to the calories it accounts for? I walked less than 3,000 steps yesterday.. Yes I'm aware that's not enough. I had class all day, however it recorded that's it's equivalent to 115 calories? Is this accurate? I don't want to eat more if this number isn't correct. Let me know what you think.

    You have to keep in mind that your activity level is going to account for steps...how many would depend on your activity level. A sedentary activity level I believe accounts for up to 5,000 steps per day so your calories from those 3,000 steps would already be accounted for in your activity level and included in your targets.

    You only are supposed to eat back calories for exercise and activity that is beyond your established activity level on MFP...otherwise you'd be double dipping.

    May I ask where you get this information from? I started a thread basically asking for this information and got 0 response. Would like to know what they consider sedentary, lightly active, etc. in relation to steps.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited January 2016
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    You have to keep in mind that your activity level is going to account for steps...how many would depend on your activity level. A sedentary activity level I believe accounts for up to 5,000 steps per day so your calories from those 3,000 steps would already be accounted for in your activity level and included in your targets.

    You only are supposed to eat back calories for exercise and activity that is beyond your established activity level on MFP...otherwise you'd be double dipping.
    May I ask where you get this information from? I started a thread basically asking for this information and got 0 response. Would like to know what they consider sedentary, lightly active, etc. in relation to steps.

    I don't have MFP's numbers....but here is a general calculator

    http://www.fitnessforweightloss.com/rate-your-activity-level-based-on-steps-per-day/

    The way a FitBit works is it compares your stated activity level against your actual activity level and then gives more calories for going over.....or takes them away (if negative adjustments are enabled) when you don't reach it.
  • morganinspires
    morganinspires Posts: 20 Member
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    So don't eat the extra calories that the app subtracts for you? Just stick with the daily amount that is calculated? I guess I don't really understand what you're trying to say. I did choose a sedentary activity level even though I am relatively active because I want to be smaller faster.
  • nini2033a
    nini2033a Posts: 1 Member
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    I believe to some extent, it also matters how much you weigh. A 300 pound person will burn slightly more than a 100 pound person doing the exact same thing because the 300 pound person has to carry more weight. Not sure if its true but I read it somewhere and it makes sense because when I walk a mile, I am pulling a large weight with me every step and my kid who weighs 1/3 my weight as an adult only carries 1/3 the weight with her on her muscles.
  • JoshuaPaulRamey
    JoshuaPaulRamey Posts: 1 Member
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    How do you turn off the step adjustment feature? I'd like a set amount of calories per day.
  • drwilseyjr
    drwilseyjr Posts: 225 Member
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    morganinspires wrote: »
    I did choose a sedentary activity level even though I am relatively active because I want to be smaller faster.

    If you chose your goal as losing weight, then you should be honest with the app and set your activity level to mirror your actual level. You're going to lose the weight if you're eating at a deficit and being active.

    If you're eating at too much of a deficit, you're going to run into problems both with energy, hunger, and keeping disciplined to your intake.


  • kathrynjean_
    kathrynjean_ Posts: 428 Member
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    For what it's worth, I have a Fitbit and my activity level is set to "lightly active". I usually get positive calorie adjustments from Fitbit anywhere after 3500-4000 steps. So I tend to think the sedentary setting for MFP is less than that whereas they consider 5000ish steps to be more "lightly active".
  • ROBOTFOOD
    ROBOTFOOD Posts: 5,527 Member
    edited March 2016
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    @morganinspires Seems correct. My garmin recorded me @ 37,840 for my 16mile run up mtns. 2,400cal.

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