Calorie adjustments
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all5days
Posts: 5 Member
I was wondering if there is a way to prevent fitbit from posting positive calorie adjustments based on activity level. I linked my fitbit to mfp so that the food diary would sync back to the fitbit app, I really don't want it to show me that I've earned more calories 
Its too tempting to consume them! lol
Its too tempting to consume them! lol 0
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The only ways to do this are to either manually delete the adjustment every day or purchase MFP Premium, which enables you to not add exercise/activity tracker calories to your intake. But if you're following MFP's goals, you are supposed to eat them back.0
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I eat according to TDEE, so I don't like to see the adjustment either. I have to go in and manually delete the entry.0
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You're supposed to consume them. If you've set up MFP to lose at an appropriate rate then not eating them means you're creating a deficit that is too big, which is counterproductive in the long run. If you want to leave some uneaten because you're lousy at logging your food, or because you've systematically determined that Fitbit overestimates how many calories you burn, then find a way to compensate that won't result in eating too little and damaging your metabolism. Fitbit overestimates somewhat for me (determined by several months of obsessive logging and comparing actual results with expected results) and I don't want to obsessively log my food all the time, so I add some Quick Add calories every day to compensate. Then, I eat most of my adjustment.
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On the days I exercise I just "listen" to my body. If I'm hungry I eat my exercise calories.0
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can't you just into "steps" on the MFP app and click "don't track steps".0
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Christine_72 wrote: »can't you just into "steps" on the MFP app and click "don't track steps".
I wouldn't think so. Steps aren't calories. MFP's calculation of your Fitbit adjustment doesn't use steps at all. Plus, MFP recently had a bug where if you had a Fitbit linked but "Don't track steps" selected, then the "MyFitnessPal Calories Burned" number in that calculation was way too high and kept changing. They say they've fixed that, but I still wouldn't trust it.0 -
A different question ... Still under exercise ... Why is it when I have a calories adjustment from Fitbit (due to steps) and then add swimming per say on MFP ... It takes it from my adjustment like it doesn't give me extra calories just subtracts from my Fitbit cals???? I.e. 466 earned via Fitbit swam ADDiTIOnAL 266 total cals earned 200 ?!!!0
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Do I add extra sport activity only via Fitbit?0
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lemonychild wrote: »A different question ... Still under exercise ... Why is it when I have a calories adjustment from Fitbit (due to steps) and then add swimming per say on MFP ... It takes it from my adjustment like it doesn't give me extra calories just subtracts from my Fitbit cals???? I.e. 466 earned via Fitbit swam ADDiTIOnAL 266 total cals earned 200 ?!!!
It does this so you don't double count the calories for any given time period. So Fitbit estimates how many calories you burn in any given time period, let's say 1 hour. If you didn't log your exercise on MFP and just let Fitbit provide your adjustment for the hour, it would give you x amount of calories. However, when you go in and manually log a workout in MFP for that same hour, MFP will give you y amount of calories, but since your Fitbit adjustment already counted those, your Fitbit adjustment should actually be x-y for the hour. Does that make sense?0 -
@lemonychild : I only add exercise on Fitbit. (Read the FAQ, it explains lots of these sorts of things.) missblondi2u is right, that if you log exercise in MFP, it overwrites your computed calorie burn from Fitbit for that time, resulting in a lower Fitbit adjustment. I would recommend that you experiment with logging an exercise in MFP and then looking at the "calories burned" graph in Fitbit, and the math that MFP uses to to compute your Fitbit calorie adjustment (look at this before and after you log the exercise). Then, delete it and log the same exercise, with the same calorie burn in Fitbit and again look at the graph in Fitbit and the math in MFP.
I'd also recommend that you look at the difference between logging swimming in MFP vs. Fitbit. For an hour of leisurely swimming, MFP wanted to give me more than double the calories! (489 vs. 220) That's why I use Fitbit to log exercise. MFP over-estimates, sometimes by huge amounts.0 -
Ok. I really appreciate the explanation & now will add swimming on Fitbit
So now I have a follow up question. U said an estimate for the hour? Does that mean I actually haven't "earned" that adjustment ... Truly earned it? Fitbit is estimating my earnings aka calorie adjustments0 -
Everything is an estimate. Everything. The food you log, the calories that MFP thinks you'll burn, the calories that Fitbit thinks you have burned. Everything. But, some estimates are better than others. Fitbit's estimates of the calories you burn are based on better data than MFP. MFP just has your stats, chosen activity level and any manually logged exercise to base its estimate on. Fitbit has a much better idea because it also has data about how active you actually are. But, neither program knows how you in particular differ from the people who were used to come up with the numbers and algorithms they use. If you've damaged your metabolism over the years by excessive calorie restriction combined with not enough exercise, or if you have a higher percentage of body fat than the typical person of your height, weight and gender, then you'll burn fewer calories than estimated. If you're really muscular and have always been fit, you'll probably burn more calories than estimated.
So, yes, you earned that adjustment. But only time will tell how accurate your adjustments are. I burn fewer calories than Fitbit estimates (plus, I hate being a crazy person about logging my food to the gram all the time), so I have to allow for that. I did do the crazy person food logging for a several months last year, so I know that it's not just bad food logging that causes me to lose weight more slowly than predicted. I'm contemplating doing the crazy food logging thing again soon for a month or two (you have to do it for at least a month to get enough data).0 -
OK, I'm late to this party and am new to the Fitbit. I work out using Insanity some days and weight training on others. I have synced a Fitbit Blaze with MFP. I am looking to drop a pound a week for about 2 months.
So when I complete exercise, am I supposed to add it manually into MFP or not? Thanks for any help, I'm still trying to figure it all out!0 -
betheriver wrote: »OK, I'm late to this party and am new to the Fitbit. I work out using Insanity some days and weight training on others. I have synced a Fitbit Blaze with MFP. I am looking to drop a pound a week for about 2 months.
So when I complete exercise, am I supposed to add it manually into MFP or not? Thanks for any help, I'm still trying to figure it all out!
You can if you want, but many of us find it easier (and a better calorie estimate) by logging exercise in Fitbit.0 -
betheriver wrote: »OK, I'm late to this party and am new to the Fitbit. I work out using Insanity some days and weight training on others. I have synced a Fitbit Blaze with MFP. I am looking to drop a pound a week for about 2 months.
So when I complete exercise, am I supposed to add it manually into MFP or not? Thanks for any help, I'm still trying to figure it all out!
I'm not sure about Insanity - the HR monitor on your Blaze may handle that fine, but I don't know enough about it to be sure. The HR algorithms work best for steady state cardio. However, I know that you need to enter weight training manually, because the HR formulas don't work for that. But, you don't need to enter either exercise in MFP - Fitbit should do better at estimating calories burned. However, entering things in the strength training section of MFP doesn't affect your calorie burn estimate (I don't think), so if you want to, I think you can record things there as well just to keep track of what you're doing.
BTW, if you really only need to lose 8 pounds, a pound a week is probably faster than you should try to lose it, especially if you're also trying to build muscle at the same time. The guideline I've learned is a maximum of 1/2 pound a week for every 25 pounds you have to lose. So, a more realistic goal for someone who wants to lose 8 pounds would be 1/2 pound a week.0 -
When you say "logging exercises in Fitbit" I'm not sure what you mean. Isn't the calories burned logged automatically with the next sync?0
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"logging exercises in Fitbit", in this case, means manually logging exercise that isn't detected automatically. Individual exercises are not transferred from Fitbit to MFP, just aggregate calorie burn and step data.0
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I think I'm getting it, but it seems very convoluted to me. I wish it was a more streamlined process.
I also feel Fitbit is pretty generous when giving back calories for steps. I find it hard to believe that I used more calories walking around Home Depot and Costco than I did during my weight training yesterday!0 -
betheriver wrote: »I think I'm getting it, but it seems very convoluted to me. I wish it was a more streamlined process.
I also feel Fitbit is pretty generous when giving back calories for steps. I find it hard to believe that I used more calories walking around Home Depot and Costco than I did during my weight training yesterday!
Walking definitely burns more calories than weight training, which are negligible.0 -
Make sure that your stride length is correct in your Fitbit settings. If it is too long, you will get more calories for walking than you should. But, weight training is more of a long term benefit, I think, than a short term calorie burning exercise.0
