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Calories burned on HR seem way too high
Naruya8
Posts: 48 Member
I just got my new Charge 2 on saturday so I've not tested it very long, but the calorie count on it seems WAY off. The BMR on it seems correct for my height/weight (1555) but then the calories burned when simply walking a bit are way too high.
Saturday, I went shopping for a few hours that got me around 10k steps in total. I also did a kickboxing workout (268 cals) and went biking (219 cals) and Fitbit calculated 3000 (!!!) calories burned that day. That just can't be right, when my BMR is only 1555 I should've burned 1445 cals with exercise according to Fitbit. Subtract the kickboxing and biking (which is way higher intensity than the walking) from that and that leaves 958 calories burned for walking +/- 10.000 steps.
Has anyone else had this problem? I've Googled for a bit and it seems it was a problem back when the first Charge HR was released too, but I couldn't find a solution. I love the Fitbit and the app but it seems when it takes the constant HR into account when you're not very fit it just overestimates by a WAY too high number. If I ate what Fitbit is telling me I can eat, I'd gain an incredible amount of weight in a very short time. I know it serves as a motivational tool, but I really like the statistics and when they're incorrect by that much, I just don't see the point of it at all.
Saturday, I went shopping for a few hours that got me around 10k steps in total. I also did a kickboxing workout (268 cals) and went biking (219 cals) and Fitbit calculated 3000 (!!!) calories burned that day. That just can't be right, when my BMR is only 1555 I should've burned 1445 cals with exercise according to Fitbit. Subtract the kickboxing and biking (which is way higher intensity than the walking) from that and that leaves 958 calories burned for walking +/- 10.000 steps.
Has anyone else had this problem? I've Googled for a bit and it seems it was a problem back when the first Charge HR was released too, but I couldn't find a solution. I love the Fitbit and the app but it seems when it takes the constant HR into account when you're not very fit it just overestimates by a WAY too high number. If I ate what Fitbit is telling me I can eat, I'd gain an incredible amount of weight in a very short time. I know it serves as a motivational tool, but I really like the statistics and when they're incorrect by that much, I just don't see the point of it at all.
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From what I've seen, you gotta give it time to get your general stats down before you can trust the calorie burn. Set MFP to 'Sedentary', and FitBit to adjust activity level based on historical data. (I forget what the option is, it's the other button besides 'sedentary'. Make sure negative adjustments are available on MFP, and I'd just wait it out for a few weeks.
I've had my Charge HR hooked up for about a month and I've only recently started trusting what it says as far as what I should be eating extra, because it's not an extra 1000+ calories like you're getting!0 -
Thanks for your reply! I'll just wait it out a bit then and hopefully it'll get better. Untill then I'll just stick to what I was eating before and I should be fine.
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Thanks for your reply! I'll just wait it out a bit then and hopefully it'll get better. Untill then I'll just stick to what I was eating before and I should be fine.
I felt the same way when got my charge. Now don't allow fitbit steps to count on MFP towards exercise. I use my steps to know how to set my activity level and eat what MFP gives me 7 days a week. Only adding logged exercise from my 3 evenings of aikido. I look at my Fitbit TDEE number at the end of the day and usually have eaten 1000-1200 less than I have burned for the day(usually around 3500). I don't really think they sync quite right and was finding my adjustments to be high no matter what activity level I selected. It was kind of weird. I don't think Fitbit is wrong. Just that it and MFP are not exchanging information very well.
At least that has been my experience.0 -
I did the math and it actually does check out. The calories MFP gives you is TDEE based on the activity level you enter. Fitbit starts out with BMR and adds to that whenever you move around, which gives you a more accurate reading each day. Fitbit then sends those calories to MFP and overrides them (that's what the adjustment is). So if MFP says you burn 2000 a day and Fitbit ends up at 23.59 with 2100 burned, you'll get a Fitbit adjustment of 100 calories. (If you were on maintenance that is) This works the other way too.. if you actually burn less than 2000 calories you get a negative adjustment.
The problem I have with the Charge 2 is that the calories at the end of the day are just too high. I've had activity trackers for years and have been eating according to those numbers, and it has always checked out in terms of weight loss. Fitbit now gives me up to 1000 more calories burned at the end of the day on days I do exactly the same as before. So normally I'd burn around 2000 calories on and average day and now Fitbit says I burn 3000. If I would listen to it and eat accordingly I'd gain weight rather than lose.
I just think it's overestimating calories burned when my heart rate rises a bit. When I sit on the couch doing nothing but watching TV and my heart rate rises a bit for whatever reason, it'll show way more calories burned, even though I did absolutely nothing. It does this all day long so you get a way higher number in general.0 -
Is there a way to not let the Fitbit step count adjust my calories on MFP while still getting the nutrition and weight information synced to the Fitbit app?shadowfax_c11 wrote: »I felt the same way when got my charge. Now don't allow fitbit steps to count on MFP towards exercise. I use my steps to know how to set my activity level and eat what MFP gives me 7 days a week. Only adding logged exercise from my 3 evenings of aikido.
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I have Surge which is also with HRM and it took it about 2 weeks to start calculating calories correctly, in the beginning it was also overestimating. Give it some time.0
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Is there a way to not let the Fitbit step count adjust my calories on MFP while still getting the nutrition and weight information synced to the Fitbit app?
You can't access it on the web page but if you use the app on your phone go to the button on the top left and tap it. You should see a panel slide out that lists Home, Diary, challenges etc. Scroll down to steps. Check the box that says don't track steps.
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shadowfax_c11 wrote: »You can't access it on the web page but if you use the app on your phone go to the button on the top left and tap it. You should see a panel slide out that lists Home, Diary, challenges etc. Scroll down to steps. Check the box that says don't track steps.
Yes, that's what I was looking for, thanks a lot! Now we just wait a while and hopefully it'll get better. Untill then I'll use MFP's estimate and register my workouts, so I should be fine. 0 -
shadowfax_c11 wrote: »
Actually, you can. Go to the Apps tab, and near the top, on the right, you can select Steps.0 -
I did the math and it actually does check out. The calories MFP gives you is TDEE based on the activity level you enter. Fitbit starts out with BMR and adds to that whenever you move around, which gives you a more accurate reading each day. Fitbit then sends those calories to MFP and overrides them (that's what the adjustment is). So if MFP says you burn 2000 a day and Fitbit ends up at 23.59 with 2100 burned, you'll get a Fitbit adjustment of 100 calories. (If you were on maintenance that is) This works the other way too.. if you actually burn less than 2000 calories you get a negative adjustment.
The problem I have with the Charge 2 is that the calories at the end of the day are just too high. I've had activity trackers for years and have been eating according to those numbers, and it has always checked out in terms of weight loss. Fitbit now gives me up to 1000 more calories burned at the end of the day on days I do exactly the same as before. So normally I'd burn around 2000 calories on and average day and now Fitbit says I burn 3000. If I would listen to it and eat accordingly I'd gain weight rather than lose.
I just think it's overestimating calories burned when my heart rate rises a bit. When I sit on the couch doing nothing but watching TV and my heart rate rises a bit for whatever reason, it'll show way more calories burned, even though I did absolutely nothing. It does this all day long so you get a way higher number in general.
It'll get that part figured out after about a week of seeing what your restingHR is.
Then it'll know when the HR gets up to say 100 - you aren't really exercising and do NOT start the HR-based calorie burn.
The double whammy the first week is also getting better estimate of the HR-based calorie burn - which is likely inflated too - especially if overweight but fit from prior exercise.0
This discussion has been closed.