Any Users with FitBit As Well?

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phsiao1214
phsiao1214 Posts: 6 Member
in Getting Started
Hi guys,

I just started using MyFitnessPal along with my FitBit Charge HR, and upon syncing, I noticed that the calories burnt from my FitBit counts as a -428 (Exercise) under my Exercise Diary of MyFitnessPal. Shouldn't it be +428 instead because i'm not actually taking in calories, but instead, I'm burning calories? If I'm burning calories, why am I closer to reaching my goal of 2,630 calories?

So basically the equation is like this:

2630 (Goal) - 1755 (Food) - 428 (Exercise) = 447 (Remaining)

Shouldn't the correct equation be:

2630 (Goal) - 1755 (Food) + 428 (Exercise) = 1303 (Remaining)

For those with FitBits, please chime in. This is very confusing!

Replies

  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    Check out our fitbit group, all the answers to your Questions are there.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
  • zdanr
    zdanr Posts: 3 Member
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    No, the food taking in is positive, because you are adding it (to your body). The calories are negative, because you burned them or subtracted it from your body.

    You get a weekly report also, which tells you how you have done.

    I thought at first that you had to punch in every exercise, but it does it for you by your heart rate, steps, etc. You only have to punch in an activity if you happen to do them when you are not wearing your Fitbit...like swimming is a prime example.
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
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    It appears you're getting a large negative adjustment. My question is what is your activity level set to on MFP? If you've set it to Lightly Active or higher, that could be a reason for such a large negative adjustment as it's adjusting your calories to be at a deficit since your actual activity level is less that what you've chosen.
  • phsiao1214
    phsiao1214 Posts: 6 Member
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    synacious wrote: »
    It appears you're getting a large negative adjustment. My question is what is your activity level set to on MFP? If you've set it to Lightly Active or higher, that could be a reason for such a large negative adjustment as it's adjusting your calories to be at a deficit since your actual activity level is less that what you've chosen.

    It is set to Light Activity as I will start lifting weight 3x a week and plan to jog 2x a week for 30 mins (jogging around 170 calories burned I think).

    I'm a bit confused as to what you said about caloric deficit. If I'm using FitBit connected to MFP, wouldn't it accurately pinpoint how active I am exactly instead of relying on fixed calories burned based on activity level?
  • phsiao1214
    phsiao1214 Posts: 6 Member
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    Here's a photo of the adjustment due to discrepancy between MFP and FitBit.

    If my goal on MFP is set to increase 1lb/week and 2380 is my goal daily calories, how many calories should I be consuming now?

    2swzytexvdkl.jpg
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
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    That's exactly what's happening. Since Fitbit only projects you burning a total of 1470 calories for the day and your lightly active setting on MFP projects you burning 1885 calories per day, you're actually burning less calories than MFP assumes you would be, so you're getting a negative adjustment. It's letting you know that you should be eating less based on the discrepancy in the activity level you've chosen.

    It's up to you, but I've found the best way to utilize my Fitbit with MFP is to set my activity level to Sedentary and set my Fitbit food plan to Sedentary as well. It starts you off with a smaller amount of calories for the day and by the end of the day you have a much greater positive adjustment. How long have you been using the Charge HR? What are your calorie burns at the end of the day via the data?

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