Still Don't Get How MFP Uses Apple Watch 'Workout' Data

MegaWatty
MegaWatty Posts: 4 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all,

A lurker but never a poster until I really got in and started to understand how MFP truly works and have been using everyday for near on 8 weeks with enormous success.

Anyway, my GF and I both have Apple Watches linked up via HealthKit but for the life of us can't understand how the calorie calculation is working (or not).

I've had days where I've walked 10 000 steps and then come home for a brisk walk using the workout app only to have a calorie adjustment for the walk but then have all my other calories for the day reset to zero. If I look at total calories given by MFP, they are way off what Apple gives me. I appreciate that the calculations are not the same but we are talking 100s of calories difference and on days where I have just walked without recording it in the workout app, my walk has just recorded normally as steps in MFP.

Much googling just seems to come up with the same, almost canned, response from MFP.

Anyone else having issues here and is there any tips or tricks out there to get it right?

Replies

  • MegaWatty
    MegaWatty Posts: 4 Member
    Here's a quick example:

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  • smariere
    smariere Posts: 459 Member
    MFP is calculated to give you calories for your activity level. Even if you have it set to sedentary, some of your daily calories are still from exercise. For example, I have mine set to sedentary, so unless I walk more than ~3500 steps, I don't get any exercise calories from that at all.

    The Apple Health app is showing your total active energy for the day, so when it syncs with MFP you don't get all of those calories added in as exercise calories, since MFP has already given you some of them. Since the steps you took are from those two walk entries, you would only get calories from one of them, and since the walk entries are more descriptive and tell what activity you were doing and at what pace, those are the ones that are used.
  • MegaWatty
    MegaWatty Posts: 4 Member
    smariere wrote: »
    MFP is calculated to give you calories for your activity level. Even if you have it set to sedentary, some of your daily calories are still from exercise. For example, I have mine set to sedentary, so unless I walk more than ~3500 steps, I don't get any exercise calories from that at all.

    The Apple Health app is showing your total active energy for the day, so when it syncs with MFP you don't get all of those calories added in as exercise calories, since MFP has already given you some of them. Since the steps you took are from those two walk entries, you would only get calories from one of them, and since the walk entries are more descriptive and tell what activity you were doing and at what pace, those are the ones that are used.

    The walks were additional to the 9000 or so I did during the day.

    Why do my calories available via MFP decrease after using the workout app and going for a walk whereas they increase if I just walk without using the workout app?
  • mathiar86
    mathiar86 Posts: 26 Member
    I just got an Apple Watch. Switched from the Fitbit charge HR.

    On a typical working day I'd get around 10,000 steps just at work. Then do another ~3000 steps in exercise depending on the workout.

    My steps at work alone with the Fitbit would get me about 300-400 extra calories in a day, especially on the days I didn't do an extra workout.

    As you can see attached, the Apple Watch steps don't give me anything. There's no exercise/calorie steps etc listed in the bottom of the diary page either!

    Help!

    wizxvb210ryx.png
  • mathiar86
    mathiar86 Posts: 26 Member
    I've got health app sharing ALL data with MFP read/write.

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