Fitbit Calorie Adjustment wrong

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Replies

  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    So it sounds like with that setting they perhaps were hoping to duplicate the Fitbit method of watching steps and figuring out increased calorie burn from them.

    So I could see that MFP Calories burned going higher in that case - but they screwed up still with that method by not having the base NET calories going up too if they did proper deficit math.
    Or perhaps that combo works correctly when there is no 3rd party app/device syncing in.

    Anyone still have Fitbit disconnected to see if the setting of steps to MPF (instead of Fitbit) causes an increase to Food Diary base eating goal when MPF app syncs?
    Or perhaps they create their own Exercise adjustment then and it's supposed to work similar to the way Fitbit adjustment is supposed to work.
  • adamcfc94
    adamcfc94 Posts: 2 Member
    Following this topic as I am having the same problems with varying MFP calories when they should be constant. May be stupid, however I cant find 'more' on the iphone app? I have a charge HR, and the current workaround from you guys seems to be:

    "What has fixed it for me through several syncs was the suggestion above to go to the app (I'm on iPhone), More, Steps and select Fitbit. Previously I had "Don't track steps" selected."

    However like I said, I cant find the 'more' part in the menu?
  • mrschikin
    mrschikin Posts: 45 Member
    edited February 2016
    Lourdesong wrote: »
    In the IOS app under the "more" menu, I went to "steps" and saw Fitbit was not selected, instead "don't track steps" was selected. So, I changed it to track steps with Fitbit, and the adjustments have been correct for about 1/2 hour now. MFP burn number has stayed the same at 1770 at every sync.

    I did this too! I almost never use the app -- I tend to use the website -- so I never even though to check. But I saw this post and went to the app and made the change, and so far it seems to have fixed the problem for me.


    This change also worked for me. If you're still having trouble, please give this a go.
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    adamcfc94 wrote: »
    Following this topic as I am having the same problems with varying MFP calories when they should be constant. May be stupid, however I cant find 'more' on the iphone app? I have a charge HR, and the current workaround from you guys seems to be:

    "What has fixed it for me through several syncs was the suggestion above to go to the app (I'm on iPhone), More, Steps and select Fitbit. Previously I had "Don't track steps" selected."

    However like I said, I cant find the 'more' part in the menu?

    At the bottom right of the app. (Home is bottom left.)
  • seabrzjo
    seabrzjo Posts: 27 Member
    The fact that this topic was started a week ago and the issues are STILL not resolved had me question my renewed membership. As a test yesterday, I went back to my past site (SP), linked by FitBit and my exercise info has synced correctly every two hours -- including SLEEP (love this!) -- yesterday and today.

    So adios, MFP. There are so many great, friendly members on MFP that I leave saddened, but managing my weight loss is my top goal.

    Lastly -- MFP IT Support needs to be replaced. I have worked in IT Support for almost 20 years for very well known international database/apps company. Our Fortune 20 companies would have been on CNN if we had allowed these problems to go unresolved for this long.

    Blessings and best wishes to the good members on MFP.
  • ziggy2006
    ziggy2006 Posts: 255 Member
    The fix mentioned in prior posts seems to have resolved this issue for me as well. I made all of the changes yesterday, and things remain correct today.

    I did not make the change in the app, however. I changed the setting on the website. (Apps--->Steps, then select Fitbit Tracker). I did check, and the changed setting shows up on the app as well, so I don't think it matters where you make the change. The original setting was Don't track steps.

    I also went back and fixed the past couple of weeks in my exercise diary by logging in a cardio exercise, which caused things to be recalculated using the appropriate numbers. I am relieved to have this issue resolved with such a simple fix.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    ziggy2006 wrote: »
    I did not make the change in the app, however. I changed the setting on the website. (Apps--->Steps, then select Fitbit Tracker). I did check, and the changed setting shows up on the app as well, so I don't think it matters where you make the change. The original setting was Don't track steps.

    Wow. Until you just posted this, I had no idea that setting even existed on the website! I suspect most other MFP users don't know it either.

    I made this change (on the app) last week and can report that my syncing has behaving itself since then. So it appears to work as a fix. I'd suggest to anyone reading this thread to try this.
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
    seabrzjo wrote: »
    The fact that this topic was started a week ago and the issues are STILL not resolved had me question my renewed membership. As a test yesterday, I went back to my past site (SP), linked by FitBit and my exercise info has synced correctly every two hours -- including SLEEP (love this!) -- yesterday and today.

    So adios, MFP. There are so many great, friendly members on MFP that I leave saddened, but managing my weight loss is my top goal.

    Lastly -- MFP IT Support needs to be replaced. I have worked in IT Support for almost 20 years for very well known international database/apps company. Our Fortune 20 companies would have been on CNN if we had allowed these problems to go unresolved for this long.

    Blessings and best wishes to the good members on MFP.

    Well you do have to do what works best for you, however, I wouldn't let an issue with a fitness tracker keep you away from using MFP if you were see good results from it. I tried SP for a day and didn't like the layout at all as compared to here. There were too many ads both within the SP App and online. There were also a lot of other unnecessary info on the main page and App that I felt took away from the whole point of why I would use the site, which is a quick glance at my calories. I know MFP has ads to for those who don't have a Premium membership, but even with them, the site maintains a clean look without a lot of junk taking up space from the calorie count info itself. I also find that the community suport base here on MFP is much larger than SP. I think MFP will eventually get the sync bugs worked out and everything will work as it should with the Fitbit tracker...
    Just my 2¢ :)
  • benevempress
    benevempress Posts: 136 Member
    Thank you to everyone who posted that the Apps>Steps setting (either on the app itself or on the webpage) needs to be reviewed to ensure the Fitbit checkbox is selected. Apparently one of the MFP "updates" installed an option of "Don't track steps" and checks that box by default. I didn't know it was there until I read this board.

    It kind of makes a weird sort of sense that if your settings say "don't track steps" and fitbit sends data over when you've told the system not to track steps that it would make things behave unexpectedly. Now that I've checked mine (and it was saying "don't track steps") and changed it to Fitbit, things look more normal except for one day which I can't get to sync any fitbit data at all. But it is a lot better than the wildly changing numbers I was getting before.

    I add my voice to the rest suggesting that everyone LOOK to see if your "Apps>Steps" is set correctly.
  • Lourdesong
    Lourdesong Posts: 1,492 Member
    segacs wrote: »
    ziggy2006 wrote: »
    I did not make the change in the app, however. I changed the setting on the website. (Apps--->Steps, then select Fitbit Tracker). I did check, and the changed setting shows up on the app as well, so I don't think it matters where you make the change. The original setting was Don't track steps.

    Wow. Until you just posted this, I had no idea that setting even existed on the website! I suspect most other MFP users don't know it either.

    I didn't know either, I had even tried to find something on the website that was similar to the fix via the app and I couldn't figure it out. Felt bad that the only fix that seemed to be working for people required access to the app.

    Good find @ziggy2006

  • CoachJen71
    CoachJen71 Posts: 1,200 Member
    segacs wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    I was kind of hoping it would retroactively adjust, but maybe it is just on a go forward basis.

    You can kind of force it to retroactively adjust the past few days by inputting a 1-calorie 1-minute cardio exercise manually on those days. Then, the Fitbit adjustment should recalculate, and then you can delete the 1-calorie adjustment.

    This doesn't always work. But it's worth a try.

    Not seeing a change yet. Was there a delay between input and adjustment?
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    No, for me it happened pretty much immediately. But it seems to be finnicky.
  • CoachJen71
    CoachJen71 Posts: 1,200 Member
    I just see a -3 cals exercise adjustment reflective of the 1 min cardio.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    CoachJen71 wrote: »
    I just see a -3 cals exercise adjustment reflective of the 1 min cardio.

    Yeah that didn't work for me either. What I ended up doing was figuring out how far off my MFP cals burned was for the last few days and did a manual exercise adjustment to add that back in.
  • CarolPre
    CarolPre Posts: 1,862 Member
    Tonight, my extra calories changed from 299 after I logged my dinner to 9 when I went back in to approve my food diary. Crazy!
  • adamcfc94
    adamcfc94 Posts: 2 Member
    Orphia wrote: »
    adamcfc94 wrote: »
    Following this topic as I am having the same problems with varying MFP calories when they should be constant. May be stupid, however I cant find 'more' on the iphone app? I have a charge HR, and the current workaround from you guys seems to be:

    "What has fixed it for me through several syncs was the suggestion above to go to the app (I'm on iPhone), More, Steps and select Fitbit. Previously I had "Don't track steps" selected."

    However like I said, I cant find the 'more' part in the menu?

    At the bottom right of the app. (Home is bottom left.)

    There we go, I knew it was something simple! New to this forum and MFP/fitbit tracking, but I was looking for the 'more' menu on the fitbit app :| as I dont use the MFP app.

    Just changed the steps on the MFP website, and gone back and added a 1 calorie 1 minute exersize and everything is now as it should be. Big thank you to everyone who has contributed to finding a fix!
  • Mpol2
    Mpol2 Posts: 442 Member
    Bless you people... I have been so frustrated for the last week about this ridiculous "now you see them, now you don't " for the calorie adjustmention on my FinessPal. Have tried your fix....fingers crossed.
  • WilsonFilson
    WilsonFilson Posts: 83 Member
    Just checking back in. The fix seems to have worked for me. Continued correct all day yesterday and still today. No more finicky adjustments.
  • Noot30
    Noot30 Posts: 54 Member
    Just changed mine. Fingers crossed, thanks for pointing the change out.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    I'm rather dismayed at the continued silence from the support team on this issue. They should at least acknowledge the bug, and suggest the possible workaround until such time as they implement a fix.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    segacs wrote: »
    I'm rather dismayed at the continued silence from the support team on this issue. They should at least acknowledge the bug, and suggest the possible workaround until such time as they implement a fix.

    Agreed. A stickied announcement with possible workarounds would be helpful. Are any other activity trackers having issues?
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    Finally, an acknowledgment that there's a problem, at least: https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/en/portal/articles/2315186-fitbit---mfp-s-total-daily-energy-expenditure-calculation-incorrect

    No fix yet, but at least after more than 6 weeks they're admitting there's a problem. That's worth something, right?
  • MrAstro
    MrAstro Posts: 24 Member
    edited February 2016
    I also tried the fix mentioned here regarding fitbit steps in the IOS app.

    It does seem to work now after a day.

    The big question is why did it ever go wrong in the first place requiring me to tick that box in the IOS app. It worked fine for months without this issue.

    Someone at MFP has fiddled with something or unticked a parameter on everyone's profiles.
  • ziggy2006 wrote: »
    The fix mentioned in prior posts seems to have resolved this issue for me as well. I made all of the changes yesterday, and things remain correct today.

    I did not make the change in the app, however. I changed the setting on the website. (Apps--->Steps, then select Fitbit Tracker). I did check, and the changed setting shows up on the app as well, so I don't think it matters where you make the change. The original setting was Don't track steps.

    I also went back and fixed the past couple of weeks in my exercise diary by logging in a cardio exercise, which caused things to be recalculated using the appropriate numbers. I am relieved to have this issue resolved with such a simple fix.

    TY!!!! I have a Windows Phone, and none of the phone app suggestions applied to me. I do have a version of MFP, but it does not have that setting. I had simply given up on this issue and was just logging food here and making note of my Fitbit burn.
  • CoachJen71
    CoachJen71 Posts: 1,200 Member
    None of the workarounds seem to do the trick for me. *beyond annoyed*
  • new issues arising tonight! my mobile app shows a different amount for calories consumed then my desk top version. The missing butter on my bagel at lunch is the culprit, I have synced but the mobile app just dosnt want to keep the entry
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    ziggy2006 wrote: »
    The fix mentioned in prior posts seems to have resolved this issue for me as well. I made all of the changes yesterday, and things remain correct today.

    I did not make the change in the app, however. I changed the setting on the website. (Apps--->Steps, then select Fitbit Tracker). I did check, and the changed setting shows up on the app as well, so I don't think it matters where you make the change. The original setting was Don't track steps.

    I also went back and fixed the past couple of weeks in my exercise diary by logging in a cardio exercise, which caused things to be recalculated using the appropriate numbers. I am relieved to have this issue resolved with such a simple fix.

    Interesting - I don't use the app and uninstalled after their last update was sending me alerts about how many days people had logged in (and that was only alert) - my setting on web account was already correctly set as Fitbit Tracker.
    I guess that's why I haven't experienced these issues.

    That is really sad the way they are addressing this and other bugs.

    With workaround - they don't need to figure out immediately why it happens to screw things up with it though it seems it shouldn't touch those figures anyway.
    They can figure out their spaghetti code later - they now have means to cause the issue though by putting setting wrong to make that easier.
  • space_case
    space_case Posts: 89 Member
    Not sure if this is the same issue or I'm just not understanding how it works, but my UA calories burned in MFP is completely off from what my fitbit app shows. Yesterday for example it says my estimated brun from UA was like 3200 but in fitbit my end of day was 2500. I had about 250 cals of nonstep activity logged in mfp, but even that wouldn't make up for the difference. It's been like that at least the last few days too. By the time I sync the morning after shouldn't those #s match?
  • davp70
    davp70 Posts: 4 Member
    heybales wrote: »
    With workaround - they don't need to figure out immediately why it happens to screw things up with it though it seems it shouldn't touch those figures anyway.

    As someone who does use the app, I would like to see it fixed asap - not by some unintuitive workaround. It shouldn't be broken, and I should be able to trust the headline figures the app tells me - well at least trust that MFP hasn't randomly applied some spurious adjustment.
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
    davp70 wrote: »
    heybales wrote: »
    With workaround - they don't need to figure out immediately why it happens to screw things up with it though it seems it shouldn't touch those figures anyway.

    As someone who does use the app, I would like to see it fixed asap - not by some unintuitive workaround. It shouldn't be broken, and I should be able to trust the headline figures the app tells me - well at least trust that MFP hasn't randomly applied some spurious adjustment.

    Hopefully they'll fix it soon for those of you that rely on the numbers. If not, Fitbit has their own calorie tracking feature that you can use.