Fitbit calories are a joke
Jthanmyfitnesspal
Posts: 3,522 Member
When i eat them all back, I don't lose weight.
Thinking of un-linking the apps.
Opinions?
Thinking of un-linking the apps.
Opinions?
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Replies
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Are you logging your exercise in myfitnesspal? I have my Charge HR synced to my account and I find that if I just go by the calories it gives me instead of logging the actual exercise that's a better estimate. I think sometimes it double counts; plus I'm not sure the calories myfitnesspal wants to give me for various exercises matches up to what I actually did, even with the HR monitor. It's easier writing down my exercise in my journal anyway.
Now if you're just talking about the Fitbit estimation being too high by default ... Well that's a horse of a different color0 -
With a hrm? Or just basic step tracking?
My Garmin never gives me more than 300 calories extra and that's on a day with an hour at the gym, an hour of tennis and 2 hours of volleyball. But I don't have a hrm and it only counts the steps. So I'm having the opposite problem.
How many does it say you are burning? What's your age/height/weight? What intensity are you moving?0 -
What is it set to? I start my day with 800 calories on my hr and then after running, lifting, walking and living I'm at 1900. I eat 200 under that0
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I was going to say something snide but then decided to try not being adversarial.
The calories your fitness band are tracking are an approximation. Keep that in mind.
If I were you I would incrementally step down your calorie consumption until you find a balance that leaves you satiated, with plenty of energy, and losing 1 - 2 pounds per week.0 -
Meh. Mine is very accurate. I used it to help with my 30 lb loss and am now using it to maintain. I always eat all the calorie adjustments. I know many others have had similar results.
OP what is your calorie target set at? What activity level? What kind of Fitbit do you use, what kind of exercise do you do, what kind of calorie burns is it giving you? How long have you been using it? Is everything consistent between MFP and FitBit (same goal, red)? How accurate is your food logging?0 -
Do you weigh all your food?0
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Mine is pretty accurate as well, as long as I log accurately.0
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I also think mine overestimates my calories burned for a day (particularly when doing intentional exercise), but it's not by a massive amount. That being said, I do find the step count part of the device to be quite accurate.0
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Um, if you eat all your Fitbit calories, you are eating at maintenance and will not lose. Because Fitbit is showing you how many calories you burned that day. So if you eat the same number of calories you burn, you are in maintenance. Eat fewer calories than Fitbit is showing to lose weight.
My Fitbit gives me ~2200 calories per day. I eat ~1900 calories per day. If I ate ~2200 calories per day, I would maintain my weight, not lose.0 -
This assumes that the Fitbit is calculating calories burned correctly, which in his case it may not be.quiksylver296 wrote: »Um, if you eat all your Fitbit calories, you are eating at maintenance and will not lose. Because Fitbit is showing you how many calories you burned that day. So if you eat the same number of calories you burn, you are in maintenance. Eat fewer calories than Fitbit is showing to lose weight.
My Fitbit gives me ~2200 calories per day. I eat ~1900 calories per day. If I ate ~2200 calories per day, I would maintain my weight, not lose.
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quiksylver296 wrote: »Um, if you eat all your Fitbit calories, you are eating at maintenance and will not lose. Because Fitbit is showing you how many calories you burned that day. So if you eat the same number of calories you burn, you are in maintenance. Eat fewer calories than Fitbit is showing to lose weight.
My Fitbit gives me ~2200 calories per day. I eat ~1900 calories per day. If I ate ~2200 calories per day, I would maintain my weight, not lose.
I assume they have the apps linked and FitBit is piping in what should supposedly be 'extra' exercise calories? That's what they mean, it's giving them a step adjustment.
However, as the owner of a new Jawbone UP3 I have also unsynced mine and now just manually add exercise. It was giving me some truly bonkers numbers. The UP app still thinks I burn like 3500 calories a day, exercise and rest time included. If only.0 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »
This assumes that the Fitbit is calculating calories burned correctly, which in his case it may not be.quiksylver296 wrote: »Um, if you eat all your Fitbit calories, you are eating at maintenance and will not lose. Because Fitbit is showing you how many calories you burned that day. So if you eat the same number of calories you burn, you are in maintenance. Eat fewer calories than Fitbit is showing to lose weight.
My Fitbit gives me ~2200 calories per day. I eat ~1900 calories per day. If I ate ~2200 calories per day, I would maintain my weight, not lose.
If he's neither gaining nor losing while eating them all, it's calculating them pretty accurately.0 -
Mine seems to work fine. I only take the walking & cardio class burns the HR automatically picks up on; my yoga and lifting don't really register and I don't log or track them. I'm sure I burn some extra calories but I figure those even out any logging inaccuracies from the food side.
I use it everyday to pick the deficit that feels most comfortable and I continue to lose anywhere from .5-1.5 lbs a week...1 -
Keep in mind the Fitbit is counting your basic metabolic calories burned as well. You burn calories just by sitting on the couch watching T.V. To lose weight you shouldn't eat back the calories you burn...whether the fitbit is giving accurate or inaccurate "extra calories" or not. In order to lose weight you must burn more than you eat. To eat back the calories you burn is only going to help you "maintain" your current weight. So even if you un-link the fitbit and MFP apps, if you enter the exercise on MFP and then eat back the calories it says you burn, you will still not lose weight. I found the following link that may be helpful for you! Good Luck in your HEALTHLY LIFESTYLE JOURNEY!
https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/906763-why-am-i-not-getting-a-fitbit-calorie-adjustment-0 -
Case in point. Regular day of walking around at work gives me 11k steps, 580kcals, according to mfp based on fitbit link. I also did a killer 40 min circuit training workout, for which mfp gave me another 450 kcals or so based on manual entry in mfp app. I think both estimates are too high.0
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Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Case in point. Regular day of walking around at work gives me 11k steps, 580kcals, according to mfp based on fitbit link. I also did a killer 40 min circuit training workout, for which mfp gave me another 450 kcals or so based on manual entry in mfp app. I think both estimates are too high.
Are you saying your exercise adjustment in MFP was 1030 cals? What are your stats: height, weight, goal weight, calorie allotment? What activity level are you set at in MFP? Are the goals set up consistently in both systems (i.e. Lose 1 lb/week)?0 -
I've been losing a good 2lbs average using my Fitbit, which is what I want, so mine is very accurate. However, there's something wrong happening between my Fitbit account and MFP that makes MFP give me at least 200 more calories than I really burned, and claims it's from FB. If I ate what MFP told me to I would NOT be losing what I wanted to.
Since what I do is consistent, I looked at a past week and saw that I was burning a steady 2500 calories a day. So I've been getting my steps/exercise to burn 2500 a day and eating 1500 calories and ignoring what MFP says to eat since it's wrong. Working so far.0 -
ForecasterJason wrote: »
This assumes that the Fitbit is calculating calories burned correctly, which in his case it may not be.quiksylver296 wrote: »Um, if you eat all your Fitbit calories, you are eating at maintenance and will not lose. Because Fitbit is showing you how many calories you burned that day. So if you eat the same number of calories you burn, you are in maintenance. Eat fewer calories than Fitbit is showing to lose weight.
My Fitbit gives me ~2200 calories per day. I eat ~1900 calories per day. If I ate ~2200 calories per day, I would maintain my weight, not lose.
If he's neither gaining nor losing while eating them all, it's calculating them pretty accurately.brittanykfolsom wrote: »Keep in mind the Fitbit is counting your basic metabolic calories burned as well. You burn calories just by sitting on the couch watching T.V. To lose weight you shouldn't eat back the calories you burn...whether the fitbit is giving accurate or inaccurate "extra calories" or not. In order to lose weight you must burn more than you eat. To eat back the calories you burn is only going to help you "maintain" your current weight. So even if you un-link the fitbit and MFP apps, if you enter the exercise on MFP and then eat back the calories it says you burn, you will still not lose weight. I found the following link that may be helpful for you! Good Luck in your HEALTHLY LIFESTYLE JOURNEY!
https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/906763-why-am-i-not-getting-a-fitbit-calorie-adjustment-
Good points. I misread what he said. For some reason I thought he was saying that when he eats what it says he burns that he gains weight.0 -
I have lost 18 pounds using my Fitbit linked with my Fitnesspal which is a significant amount for me seeing as I did not have a lot to lose to start with (I am now at my goal weight). I think they are very accurate, at least with the HR monitor. I would take another look at your settings or the accuracy of your portion sizes, maybe.0
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you have to eat less than what the Fitbit is giving you
Fitbit is your total daily burn plus exercise.....eat 500 less daily for approx 1lbs weight loss.
And this of course when you weigh all your food on a food scale right and use the right entry's
just saying
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In other words your Fitbit is working excellent because when you eat it all back and you stay the same weight you eat exactly at maintenance level....so very accurate of Fitbit.0
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quiksylver296 wrote: »Um, if you eat all your Fitbit calories, you are eating at maintenance and will not lose. Because Fitbit is showing you how many calories you burned that day. So if you eat the same number of calories you burn, you are in maintenance. Eat fewer calories than Fitbit is showing to lose weight.
My Fitbit gives me ~2200 calories per day. I eat ~1900 calories per day. If I ate ~2200 calories per day, I would maintain my weight, not lose.
The fitbit shows *BOTH* the (estimated) number of calories you burned for the day, and the number of calories you can eat for the day. Most days I burn around 2200-2400 calories but it never tells me I have that many calories to eat (usually it's about 1400-1900 to eat). So yes, you should be able to eat what fitbit "allows" you for the day, which will be a different number than what it shows you burned for the day (provided also that you have set up fitbit to guide you to a calorie deficit).
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Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Case in point. Regular day of walking around at work gives me 11k steps, 580kcals, according to mfp based on fitbit link. I also did a killer 40 min circuit training workout, for which mfp gave me another 450 kcals or so based on manual entry in mfp app. I think both estimates are too high.
Actually those calories sound about right. It is more likely you are failing to log accurately then it is your fitbit isn't reporting an accurate burn. I am maintaining now, and eat pretty close to my TDEE that fitbit computes, works out fine. Although I leave a few hundred calories to account for little things like olive oil I used in the pan with my chicken or the lick of the peanut butter knife. I guess though it is easier to blame fitbit for not losing the weight you want...0 -
Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Case in point. Regular day of walking around at work gives me 11k steps, 580kcals, according to mfp based on fitbit link. I also did a killer 40 min circuit training workout, for which mfp gave me another 450 kcals or so based on manual entry in mfp app. I think both estimates are too high.
So that's the issue. You don't log any exercise in MFP because it gets double counted. All exercises need to be logged in Fitbit and all food in MFP. I weigh nearly 240 and I never get an adjustment larger than 450 calories for 11k steps unless I have a pretty hard incline workout or a run. Average walking cadence is 100-110 steps per minute, so if you consolidate 11k steps in one session you are talking about 100 or more minutes of walking. At my weight, I do believe 4.5 calories per minute (270/hour) is a believable burn for walking.
I have eaten back every single calorie of the adjustment and it has been spot on for my weight loss down to the 0.1 of a kilo. Keep in mind I have been calculating my own adjustment since the communication between Fitbit and MFP went bonkers a while ago registering either very low or very high burns. How I calculate it? I know my maintenance calories on MFP are 2260. In the morning of every day I go to Fitbit, look at my burn for the previous day (calories burned) then subtract my maintenance, then eat back yesterday's extra calories today.
Example:
Here is yesterday..
My total calories burned was 2686
2686 - 2260 = 426 calories is my yesterdays eat-back adjustment, and I'm going to eat back all or most of these calories today.
To get your MFP maintenance calories you go to Goals>View Guided Setup, make sure you are set to sedentary and pick "Maintain my current weight" for a goal then "Update Profile". Here is how my success screen looks.
Follow the same steps or edit manually to set it back to your desired weight loss plan and don't forget to recalculate maintenance every time you lose 5 or so pounds.
It takes a bit more work, and I don't get to eat my day's adjustment immediately on the same day, but I don't trust the communication between MFP and Fitbit anymore, and I'm not bothered by the 10 seconds it takes to calculate my adjustment manually.
One more thing that might go wrong is that your adjustment can be blown out during the day, especially if you have predictive adjustment turned on in Fitbit. Fitbit would assume you are going to be just as active for the rest of the day and give you blown out adjustments that level out and decrease by midnight. Another reason why previous day's adjustment would be more accurate. You can remedy that to some extent by going to "Food Plan" in Fitbit and picking "Sedentary" instead of "Personalized"
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This appears to be a clear cut case of a device being blamed for user error.
FWIW -- I don't sync my Fitbit with MFP. It seems to cause a LOT of confusion. I've had my Fitbit since August, so I have a very good idea of what my average TDEE is. My goal since I've been in maintenance for a couple of months has been to eat at or slightly below that average TDEE. And (again FWIW) I've been slowly losing weight since doing that. So I tend to think Fitbit slightly under estimates my TDEE, although the weight loss could be due to over estimating my calorie intake. Either way, the bottom line is that IME assuming no user error (which includes having stride length/height/weight/age entered correctly and the device is worn properly) I do NOT think Fitbit overestimates TDEE.0 -
I hear a lot of disagreement with my premise. I'm surprised. I though a lot of people would agree with me! Although, you can question my intake monitoring, I'm pretty good at that. BTW, I have a Fitbit Charge HR and the accounts are linked for calories and steps.
The problem is that I do a number of workouts that the Fitbit does not track well, including swimming and circuit training. For my leg workouts, I use the the Precor Adaptive Motion Trainer (AMT) and Elliptical trainer at the gym. The Fitbit agrees somewhat with the elliptical, but significantly underestimates the AMT. In all cases, including swimming, I like wearing the fitbit because it tracks my heart rate, which is useful to see later. (I know that Fitbit does not recommend taking it swimming, but it seems to work OK.)
The solution (according to what understand from the MFP site) is to enter workouts into your MFP diary using calorie estimates (if available), letting MFP do the estimate otherwise. It is supposed to help if the workout timing is accurate. MFP is then supposed to do the accounting, subtracting the calories from the Fitbit tally. I think this process is imperfect and the total is often too high in my case.
I do not like entering exercise on the fitbit app. I had too many frustrations and gave up.
Finally, I submit the fact that I am tracking steps both with the fitbit and with Samsung "S Health" included with my phone. In every case, the Fitbit estimates far more steps than S Health, typically by around 20%. You can chalk that up to the fact that the Fitbit records a step for certain arm motions in addition to steps. (It counts a few steps even when I'm driving to work.)0 -
I trust my Fitbit estimates more than, MFP or MapMyExercise. For example, I do a lot of eliptical and Fitbit calories will show 250-300 calories less than MFP for an hour workout. The fitbit data tracks closer with my actual weight loss. Of course my exercise is different than yours. That might also make a difference.
One user error I had at first syncing the two apps was making sure height and weight loss goals were the same in both programs. Yours are probably correct, but something you could double check.0 -
Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
Finally, I submit the fact that I am tracking steps both with the fitbit and with Samsung "S Health" included with my phone. In every case, the Fitbit estimates far more steps than S Health, typically by around 20%. You can chalk that up to the fact that the Fitbit records a step for certain arm motions in addition to steps. (It counts a few steps even when I'm driving to work.)
Well I have the opposite issue with S Health, when it's in my pocket counting steps it records about 1.5x as many as the Charge HR (6000 opposed to a far more realistic 4000 for a schoolrun yesterday). Plus remember that the Fitbit is recording steps 24/7 while the phone is only recording when it's being carried.
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I stopped losing weight when I got my Fitbit. After nearly 2 years I ditched it and went back to TDEE.0
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I never lose weight when I eat back exercise calories either, so I stopped doing it and just used the TDEE method. I still use my fitbit for general activity level tracking, but I ignore its calorie adjustments.
MFP isn't any better, by the way. Every time I entered a spin class you'd think it was the Apocalypse. I got so sick of the shrieking red text telling me I had to eat a wildebeest or die that I just tactfully stopped discussing my exercise habit with the tracker.1
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