Fitbit charge hr

Frakage
Frakage Posts: 8 Member
edited November 29 in Social Groups
Do I need to log my workout with mfp if the fitbit already tracks it?

Replies

  • NancyN795
    NancyN795 Posts: 1,134 Member
    Nope. I never log any exercise in MFP, even if my Fitbit can't track it (yoga, for instance). I only log exercise in Fitbit.

    The FAQ found in the stickies has this information, and lots more. Here's a handy link: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10098937/faq-syncing-logging-food-exercise-calorie-adjustments-activity-levels-accuracy/p1
  • Frakage
    Frakage Posts: 8 Member
    If I do an exercise bike workout id need to log that on mfp tho right?
  • d_thomas02
    d_thomas02 Posts: 9,055 Member
    Nope again. Your Charge HR will take care of the calories burned and report it to MFP (assuming you have linked the two) regardless if you create a workout for it in FitBit app or not.
  • NancyN795
    NancyN795 Posts: 1,134 Member
    You can let your Charge HR handle the bike workout (as d_thomas02 said), or, if you want to log it manually, you could log it in Fitbit (which would be my choice, if I didn't want to just let my Charge HR's data stand) or, if you really, really want to, you can log it in MFP, but my understanding (and my experience) is that MFP's method of estimating exercise calories is inferior to Fitbit's.
  • mathiar86
    mathiar86 Posts: 26 Member
    Hi I just bought a Charge HR yesterday. I have a similar question. I've been using MFP for years and have been enjoying the step tracking feature on my iphone.

    I recently played a round of golf (18-holes, walked the whole course). My steps on my phone said 12,000 steps and MFP credited me with 651 calories.

    1. If I log "Golf" and the appropriate time on Fitbit will it recognize the HR/steps taken during that time and adjust accordingly? ie. I don't want it to add 400 calories of "golf" to the 650 calories that MFP credited me with for the 12000 steps, 90% of those were from the golf exercise.

    2. As OP mentioned above, if I'm wearing my Fitbit HR and go for a 10km bike ride, if I put in "cycling" in Fitbit and the time I did it, will the fitbit recognize that the HR during the time period corresponds to the time I put in for cycling and adjust calories and send the exercise data to MFP?

    I plan on using MFP for diet/calories and fitbit for exercise tracking exclusively. As someone pointed out above, there are numerous reports that Fitbit excels at exercise calories over MFP.
  • NancyN795
    NancyN795 Posts: 1,134 Member
    @mathiar86: I'd recommend reading the FAQ found in the stickies, if you haven't already. It will answer a number of your questions.

    For golfing, I think letting your Fitbit handle it is probably the way to go, since it is pretty much just walking, so the step detection and HR measurements should cover it, and not log it manually. You could push the button to create an activity record and then relabel it as Golf, or see if it will automatically detect the activity.

    MFP shouldn't be separately crediting you with 650 calories for the 12000 steps, though, unless your step source is set to your phone, rather than your Fitbit. I have no idea what effect that will have - I suspect it won't be good. If you're using a Fitbit for tracking your exercise then you should have MFP set to use it as the step source as well. I don't know if MFP has fixed it yet, but the step source bug causes MFP to calculate wildly wrong numbers if you have your Fitbit account connected to MFP but don't have Fitbit set as your step source.
  • mathiar86
    mathiar86 Posts: 26 Member
    @NancyN795 thanks for reply.

    I think I realized what I had done with the MFP. When I first got the Fitbit I was too excited and didnt change the tracker in MFP from iPhone to Fitbit tracker. I played the round of golf a few hours BEFORE I got the Fitbit, so all my steps were recorded on the phone. 12,000 steps were added to MFP.

    I've since gone back and changed the source of steps in MFP to Fitbit tracker. I also created an activity and timed it with when I played golf in the Fitbit app. Since then the stats have changed and there was no doubling up of the calories. I was still credited with calories from the steps in MFP but it was just one-off of several hundred calories.

    I think I may take your point and do an activity log from now on with the stopwatch feature when playing sports. I just wish the Fitbit would recognize it automagically....but I guess I didn't pay enough for those features ;)
  • NancyN795
    NancyN795 Posts: 1,134 Member
    Actually, it may recognize it automagically. I don't know, because I haven't played golf more than a dozen times in my life and the most recent was more than 30 years ago. It will automatically detect some things - walks, runs, "aerobic workouts" (such as Zumba), biking, "sport" and elliptical. I know it does fine detecting walks and runs, but there is a bug (I assume it is a bug) that causes it to not give a distance when it auto-detects those, so I usually use the button. But, I'm not sure if golfing will have enough continuous walking to be detected. I know shopping doesn't get detected as a walk. It also detects when I do Zumba (since distance isn't meaningful for that, I don't mind that it doesn't give a distance). I haven't tried biking since they added the feature (or elliptical ever) and I'm very fuzzy on what "sport" is but it's never detected it for me (fair enough, I don't think I've done anything that qualifies).
  • Owlfan88
    Owlfan88 Posts: 187 Member
    Fitbit often will auto recognize my walks, but mislabel them as sport. If I notice it, I will usually correct it, but I'm not sure it makes much difference if I don't.
  • mathiar86
    mathiar86 Posts: 26 Member
    @NancyN795 yeah just noticed that it logged a 22:18 walk for me when I walked to the markets in the morning. Your right though, it may not log golf since I walk for about 2-3min which can be strenuous given the undulating terrain but then stop for about 2min to play the shot (or look for my ball...). I think I'll just use the stopwatch method for golf or other similar activities.

    My next issue now is the battery life and a slight tilt in the LCD under the display. Can't tell when I look at it, but noticed when I took a picture to send to a friend. Also can only tell when call notifications are on since it slides from R --> L and the bottom 1mm is effected. Not a major issue but my OCD may get the better of me...

    Battery life I'm hoping is just because its a new toy and I'm constantly checking it and syncing with my phone. I think I must have synced to my phone at least 10 times in 2 hours yesterday and something similar this morning. Hopefully as I get used to having it the novelty will wear off and I'll only check once or twice. I had charged it to full (presumably, does it ever say "full"?) and this morning I had low battery on the app.
  • NancyN795
    NancyN795 Posts: 1,134 Member
    I don't think the LCD should be tilted under the display. Mine certainly doesn't look tilted and on the rare occasion that I get a call notification (I just don't get a lot of calls), I can read it fine. You may need to contact Fitbit and see if it should be replaced.

    Battery life... hard to say if it's not working as it should. I don't think I've ever gotten the 5 days they advertise, but it isn't a big problem for me, so I don't care. I charge mine about every other day, which is usually before I get a low battery notice. I think I generally get a low battery notice at between 2.5-3 days. You can tell it is full when it is plugged in and the battery symbol you see when you push the button is fully filled in and not changing.
  • NancyN795
    NancyN795 Posts: 1,134 Member
    @Owlfan88 - I don't think relabeling actually changes anything but the label.
  • mathiar86
    mathiar86 Posts: 26 Member
    Yeah @NancyN795 I didn't think it was normal either. Problem is I bought my Fitbit on eBay as a BNIB sealed item. I have no suspicions that it was tampered with, the packaging was quite obviously brand new when I got it. However in terms of proof of purchase thats where I'll have trouble since I doubt Fitbit will recognize that as a legitimate product purchase. At the moment the tilted screen isn't noticeable; like I said, if I start taking pictures of the screen and sending it my friends...then I'll notice it :wink:

    Battery, no idea. Woke up again this morning and synced, have "low" on my app. I'm hoping this will get me through the day and I'll let it die completely tomorrow and give it a full charge.
  • NancyN795
    NancyN795 Posts: 1,134 Member
    @mathiar86: You're probably out of luck getting warranty service. I bought a couple of Fitbit Ones off eBay and when the battery in one of them died, that was that. Fortunately, I'd given the other one to my sister and she had decided that a Fitbit wasn't for her, so I just got it back from her and used it. It was a relatively inexpensive way to learn that I got a lot of value from a Fitbit, so when I washed that One, I took the plunge and ordered a Charge HR (the One came back to life, I gave it to a friend, and over a year later it still works).

    My husband and I are suspicious that some of the Fitbits that show up on places like eBay are devices that didn't quite pass quality inspection for some reason (marginal battery, slightly tilted display, ...) but somehow got out of the reject bin and onto the black market.

    If your battery continues not even lasting a whole day, you could try doing a reset (plug it in and hold the button until you see the version number). That might make a difference. Or, it might not, but it won't do any harm.
  • mathiar86
    mathiar86 Posts: 26 Member
    edited February 2016
    Thanks @NancyN795. I'm sitting on the "low battery" warning now and have been all day, so far no issues. I turned off All Day Sync as well, so I'm not sure if that made a difference. I also only synced maybe 4 times today (I went on a hike and left the phone in the car ;)

    I guess I'll find out tomorrow if the battery dies on me in the middle of the day...

    Edit: just got the low battery warning on the Fitbit. Phone said battery empty when I synced before bed. Then I clicked the button on CHR and it showed the battery warning. I've plugged it in, will probably just sleep without it on tonight and have it fully charged in the morning. Last charged it Saturday morning I think? Will see how long this charge gets me...
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