Garmin/mfp calorie adjustment and logging excerise?

biggyk87
biggyk87 Posts: 24 Member
edited October 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
Have had my garmin vivosmart for months now and loving it. I have been messing around with different settings and have had steps off for a while and manual logging my excerise.

I just turned it back on but I'm wondering, can I still manually log my runs/walks or will it double up in mfp?

The reason I am messing around is mfp has me down to 1720 from 1910 after 35lbs lost now. I also was recently temporarily laid off so I'm not on my feet as much as I was in the summer. Iv been kind of stalling, can't seem to break 220.

Replies

  • Therionx
    Therionx Posts: 12 Member
    edited October 2016
    I use a Garmin vivoactive hr granted not the the same device but Garmin connect works all the same.

    If you have MFP and Garmin connect linked with steps activated on Garmin it will definitely double up If you manually enter activities into MFP. If you use activities as well Garmin connect will automatically add the calories for that activity and subtract it from your over all step count calories so it doesn't double up calories burned.

    Best bet is either keep step tracking off on Garmin and manually add everything to MFP or just let Garmin connect do its thing.
  • Therionx
    Therionx Posts: 12 Member
    I also forgot to add if you do decide to keep step tracking on and use full Garmin connect integration with MPF make sure you have MFP set to adjust for negative calories, otherwise it can't properly subtract calories from your step count if you add an activity.

    It will also balance out on some days if your less active so one app or the other takes over based on activity level.
  • biggyk87
    biggyk87 Posts: 24 Member
    Therionx wrote: »
    I use a Garmin vivoactive hr granted not the the same device but Garmin connect works all the same.

    If you have MFP and Garmin connect linked with steps activated on Garmin it will definitely double up If you manually enter activities into MFP. If you use activities as well Garmin connect will automatically add the calories for that activity and subtract it from your over all step count calories so it doesn't double up calories burned.

    Best bet is either keep step tracking off on Garmin and manually add everything to MFP or just let Garmin connect do its thing.

    I do have negative calories settings turned on and I use activitys on my vivosmart and let connect add it to mfp. I never add an activity into mfp directly.

    I just wondered because for example today it's given me a negative excerise so I actually can only eat 1600 today according to connect.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    edited October 2016
    biggyk87 wrote: »
    Therionx wrote: »
    I use a Garmin vivoactive hr granted not the the same device but Garmin connect works all the same.

    If you have MFP and Garmin connect linked with steps activated on Garmin it will definitely double up If you manually enter activities into MFP. If you use activities as well Garmin connect will automatically add the calories for that activity and subtract it from your over all step count calories so it doesn't double up calories burned.

    Best bet is either keep step tracking off on Garmin and manually add everything to MFP or just let Garmin connect do its thing.

    I do have negative calories settings turned on and I use activitys on my vivosmart and let connect add it to mfp. I never add an activity into mfp directly.

    I just wondered because for example today it's given me a negative excerise so I actually can only eat 1600 today according to connect.

    It's often like that first thing as the number is based off activity and when you just wake up, you've been sleeping. If you move throughout the day, it will even out. Another barometer to get some steps in. If you don't, it'll stay negative.

    It'll also be negative if you're less active than normal.
  • powered85
    powered85 Posts: 297 Member
    At least with the Fenix3, garmins BMR is lower than mfp's formula so I find using the calorie adjustment useless. I turned it off and just have the recorded exercises sync to MFP such as walking and running. Maybe try that but ensure your activity level and weight loss per week goal is setup correctly in MFP. Remember in MFP activity level is how active you are outside of logged exercises.

    If you're stuck at 220 - are you weighing your foods and logging everything?
  • mommamia30189
    mommamia30189 Posts: 82 Member
    Therionx wrote: »
    I also forgot to add if you do decide to keep step tracking on and use full Garmin connect integration with MPF make sure you have MFP set to adjust for negative calories, otherwise it can't properly subtract calories from your step count if you add an activity.

    It will also balance out on some days if your less active so one app or the other takes over based on activity level.

    I have a garmin vivosmart hr- how do you set it to adjust for negative calories? Ive never seen that option.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited October 2016
    biggyk87 wrote: »
    Have had my garmin vivosmart for months now and loving it. I have been messing around with different settings and have had steps off for a while and manual logging my excerise.

    I just turned it back on but I'm wondering, can I still manually log my runs/walks or will it double up in mfp?

    The reason I am messing around is mfp has me down to 1720 from 1910 after 35lbs lost now. I also was recently temporarily laid off so I'm not on my feet as much as I was in the summer. Iv been kind of stalling, can't seem to break 220.

    Your day to day activity has changed therefore your total daily expenditure (calories out are different). You may also want to reassess your calories consumed vs what you are logging to assure that you are in a calorie deficit..

    Garmin has a convoluted method they use for calculating total calories burned (it has to do with calibration of your unit, vs your activity level (in garmin), heart rate data etc..

    This change has had me turn off the negative adjustment.. tweak and use trial and error against your real world data. I have been using a device for almost 3 years and I still do not put 100% stock into the data reliability on these devices.
  • biggyk87
    biggyk87 Posts: 24 Member
    edited November 2016
    powered85 wrote: »
    At least with the Fenix3, garmins BMR is lower than mfp's formula so I find using the calorie adjustment useless. I turned it off and just have the recorded exercises sync to MFP such as walking and running. Maybe try that but ensure your activity level and weight loss per week goal is setup correctly in MFP. Remember in MFP activity level is how active you are outside of logged exercises.

    If you're stuck at 220 - are you weighing your foods and logging everything?

    I am weighing and logging everything. Now that I'm not on my feet all day should I change it to not active. It would be bring my calorie intake down to 1500 from 1700.

    Right now it's set to 2lbs/week lightly active which I started at.

    If I turn negative calories off then it would not take my steps into account.
  • biggyk87
    biggyk87 Posts: 24 Member
    Basically what im asking for a male at 219, is 1500 a reasonable number?
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    How tall are you? I question a goal of 2 pounds/week for a male at 219. 2 pounds/week is for people with 50+ pounds to lose. If that's you then 1500 may be reasonable. If you're taller, it's not.

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