TDEE and Fitbit

I've had my Charge HR for a little over six months. From the stats I've compiled I'd say mine is pretty accurate, and if anything it slightly under-estimates my TDEE. I do wear it on my non-dominant wrist and have it set as if I'm wearing it on my dominant one, and I tried very, very hard to make sure my stride length was accurate when I set it.

I have the surge, personally, and mine estimates my TDEE at almost 4000 kcal/day. I know from experience adjusting intake and macros that this is not accurate. My maintenance is closer to 2800. I'm pretty sure the discrepancy is the HR monitor as it always says my lifting is about 1000 kcal/hr which is crazy.

blues4miles wrote: »

BecomingBane wrote: »

I have the surge, personally, and mine estimates my TDEE at almost 4000 kcal/day. I know from experience adjusting intake and macros that this is not accurate. My maintenance is closer to 2800. I'm pretty sure the discrepancy is the HR monitor as it always says my lifting is about 1000 kcal/hr which is crazy.

Or did you ever think maybe you are just a beast?

I'd love to think that, but know it's not accurate. I'm really just an overgrown kitten... with rabies.

Standard advice by the Fitbit community is to tell the charge HR that you are one inch shorter than you actually are, wear it on your non-dom hand but tell it you're wearing it on the dominant hand, and accurately measure and input your gait length to increase all around accuracy. This has worked very well for me, I have the C.HR

tisadell wrote: »

How do you accurately measure and input gait length? I have made the other adjustments to see if there's a difference in what it says I burn. Thanks for all the input guys!

You measure your gait length on a track or some known distance. I did mine in my house, using a measuring tape I counted out 16ft. However many steps you take in that space, walking as normally as possible, divided by the distance = your gait length per step (an average anyway). You can also use a track, as that's more accurate. I don't recommend the treadmill method at all.

You input gait length (referred to as step length on the fitbit app/website) on the settings page, same place you can alter your other stats like height and weight.

tisadell wrote: »

Hey all,
Just wondering how accurate Fitbit Cahrge HR is at figuring out my TDEE? I have worn it for about 40 days now and I have averaged my daily calorie burns and got right around 2500 calories. Is this pretty accurate? Also, how accurate is the calories burned on the Fitbit?

Have you been tracking your food intake over that same period of time?

If so, go to your Fitbit profile on a PC (not the dashboard, but your actual profile page on the website).
There you will see a 30 day average burn and a 30 day average intake.
Average Burn - Average Intake = average Deficit
Average Deficit * 30 = Total Deficit
Total Deficit/3500 = Expected Loss or Gain
How does the expected loss or gain compare to what actually happened with your weight?

Lost more? It might be underestimating a bit or you could be overestimating your food logs.
Lost less? It might be overestimating or your logging could be a little inaccurate (not using a food scale for example could cause underestimation of calories consumed). If it's overestimating, you could try making yourself an inch shorter in stats and see what happens a month from now.
Lost about the same or exactly what is expected? Then your all good.

I don't know your stats, so I can't say how accurate 2500 is or isn't for you. I know that for myself, when I'm actively going to the gym and staying active, my TDEE can range from 2100 - 2500 according to my Surge (which has proved to be accurate for me).