Calorie count in Garmin Connect
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Mine don't always match and I am not sure why. I am happy just be under on both.0
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Things have gotten better since this thread was started... Garmin Connect and MFP now sync activities/calories burned (from GC->MFP) and calories consumed (from MFP->GC).
One major caveat though... it seems that the default profile setting for Time Zone in MFP is set for Pacific Time, and if you are not in that time zone, having the time zone off between your Garmin and MFP will really mess up the syncing algorithms. I found that step/calorie counts were not updating when they should from GC->MFP because it thought the activity happened in the future, and it wouldn't pick it up until the activity looked like it was in the past. It was also causing workouts to be double counted because it would not realize that the workout happened at the same time as the steps/HR based calorie burn, so it would not know to subtract the workout calorie adjustment from the regular GC calorie adjustment.
I have found that the BMR estimate varies from source to source. Using an online BMR calculator, I got a number X. Garmin Connect, based on my all day heart rate monitor on my Vivosmart HR, says it is on average X+100. MyFitnessPal thinks it is X+200. Since the number from Garmin is in the middle of the three sources, and also it is measured based on my heart rate rather than estimated purely on weight, I go by that number rather than what MFP has come up with.
I still get calories remaining discrepancies between GC and MFP that I can't fully explain. Other than the 100 calories difference in BMR they ought to be the same I would think, but MFP is consistently telling me I have anywhere from 200 to 400 calories extra per day compared to GC, which I haven't been able to explain yet. Now that I have resolved the time zone issue this past weekend I am going to keep an eye on things for the next week and see what the difference is now.0 -
Things have gotten better since this thread was started... Garmin Connect and MFP now sync activities/calories burned (from GC->MFP) and calories consumed (from MFP->GC).
One major caveat though... it seems that the default profile setting for Time Zone in MFP is set for Pacific Time, and if you are not in that time zone, having the time zone off between your Garmin and MFP will really mess up the syncing algorithms. I found that step/calorie counts were not updating when they should from GC->MFP because it thought the activity happened in the future, and it wouldn't pick it up until the activity looked like it was in the past. It was also causing workouts to be double counted because it would not realize that the workout happened at the same time as the steps/HR based calorie burn, so it would not know to subtract the workout calorie adjustment from the regular GC calorie adjustment.
I have found that the BMR estimate varies from source to source. Using an online BMR calculator, I got a number X. Garmin Connect, based on my all day heart rate monitor on my Vivosmart HR, says it is on average X+100. MyFitnessPal thinks it is X+200. Since the number from Garmin is in the middle of the three sources, and also it is measured based on my heart rate rather than estimated purely on weight, I go by that number rather than what MFP has come up with.
I still get calories remaining discrepancies between GC and MFP that I can't fully explain. Other than the 100 calories difference in BMR they ought to be the same I would think, but MFP is consistently telling me I have anywhere from 200 to 400 calories extra per day compared to GC, which I haven't been able to explain yet. Now that I have resolved the time zone issue this past weekend I am going to keep an eye on things for the next week and see what the difference is now.
This is some good info. I'll just add my experiences as well to see if any gaps can be filled. If I log workouts on my Windows Phone from MFP then it messes up. Based on what you are saying it does use Pacific Time and I can't change it any MFP settings. I then have to go back in on the web or my ipad to change the dates and resync to Garmin. Then everything lines up.
I haven't experienced the problem with steps coming over. I am in EST timezone and it generally comes over, I might just have to wait 10-15 mines.
Now the BMR discussion has been around for a while. Basically Garmin's BMR isn't a true BMR. They take the true calculated BMR and add 20% (estimated activity) to it and call it your BMR. Otherwise, the BMR I get from other calculators comes closely to the true BMR in Garmin. Not this other number they give you.
Garmin now syncs my calorie goals with MFP. I have premium and my calorie goals change every day. Garmin is able to pick it up and work out the active calories. However, the number that gets sent back to MFP is always lower (100-200). Haven't been able to explain why I get cheated of those calories. I don't have negative adjustment on. Maybe I need to look into what MFP says my BMR is.0 -
Thanks for the discussion on this. I'm experiencing a similar discrepancy between Garmin Connect with Vivosmart HR and MFP. Around 200-300 calories lower in activity that comes through to MFP.
Interested in the time zone issue which I can imagine being an issue. I'm based in the UK and both Garmin and MFP seen to agree on GMT so no obvious discrepancy there.0 -
Ok I dug into it a bit more since I hate not having the answers for this after a year.
1) I went back to yesterday where there is a complete set of day available (no forecasting for the rest of the day). You can see this if you go to MFP exercise on the web, click the (i) next to the Garmin adjustment and it tells you how it calculates the adjustment
2) I entered some of my exercise through MFP. This went to Garmin and then Garmin added on the extra calories earned through out the day to provide an Active Calories number (Active Calories Report)
3) The Total Calories Report then adds the Active Calories earned to the Garmin calculated BMR to provide a Total Garmin Connect Calories Burned that is moved over to MFP
4) MFP seems to then somehow calculate a number for me (based on the goal I set plus some other factor - I am maintaining so I don't know what), and adds the exercise within MFP to come up with a MyFitnessPal Calories Burned Number
5) The Garmin Connect Calorie Adjustment is equal to Step 3 - Step 4
The problem seems to be that Garmin calculates my BMR as 1896 whereas MFP uses my goal + some other type of adjustment that comes out to be 1997. Therefore, I lost a 100 calorie credit.
Hopefully you can follow along and see if you get the same type of thing with your own numbers. I'm accustomed to it now and it's just a little safety net so I probably won't mess with my numbers.
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I'm not even able to get the Garmin Connect app on my Android phone to pick up the calories I enter in MFP. I have to open Connect on the internet, let that update, and then the calories will magically appear on my phone. But not on the "My Day" screen, only on the Calories In/Out page. Does anyone have any thoughts on why that might be happening?0
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paulag1955 wrote: »I'm not even able to get the Garmin Connect app on my Android phone to pick up the calories I enter in MFP. I have to open Connect on the internet, let that update, and then the calories will magically appear on my phone. But not on the "My Day" screen, only on the Calories In/Out page. Does anyone have any thoughts on why that might be happening?
Sounds a bit strange. I know sometimes it take a little time for the information to show up on every screen. I used to log into the web as well when ever I needed to perform a manual sync. However, I realized that if you click on the little apple (consumed) on my day and go to Calories In/Out Details, you can actually do a manually sync from there as well. I don't have an Android but on my Windows mobile, there is a refresh circle at the bottom of the screen that I can click and on my ipad I drag my finger down on the screen and it refreshes. One of those two options should work for Android.0 -
I'd been wondering about this, as the Garmin Adjustment is huge! Though it seems to be assuming I'll maintain the same rate of work throughout the rest of the day - even while asleep!! I'd forgotten that MFP's adjustment to goal was about 500 Calories, as it sets my goal about 1600. So it assumes my usage, based on telling it I'm a computer programmer, is 2100.
So given cycle commuting and popping out at lunch time (20 miles total today, some towing children in the trailer) its estimate of around 3100 for today may not be that mad? I just see a target of 1600 and an estimated actual of 3000 and note huge discrepancy! It will be interesting to see on Wednesday when I'm next weighed how much I may have lost, then work out that in pounds per week and multiply by 500 to get it in Calories per day.0
