Anybody know how accurate the Fitbit flex is when coming to calories burned?

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strawsombrero
strawsombrero Posts: 13 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm male 326.6 pounds 6'0 I walked 4948 steps today (2.32 miles) and the Fitbit says I've burned 3,261 calories today, anybody sure how accurate it is? That seems like a lot of calories.

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  • strawsombrero
    strawsombrero Posts: 13 Member
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    I'm male 326.6 pounds 6'0 I walked 4948 steps today (2.32 miles) and the Fitbit says I've burned 3,261 calories today, anybody sure how accurate it is? That seems like a lot of calories.
  • vespiquenn
    vespiquenn Posts: 1,455 Member
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    Personally, my Fitbit is decently accurate. However, that figure sounds like it's for the entire day. You burn calories just existing.

    I does take a short while for the Fitbit to "get to know you," so that information can be slightly skewed in either direction at first. Usually it evens out in about a week.
  • Ming1951
    Ming1951 Posts: 514 Member
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    I do not think that is correct. That seems like way over on calories though for myself I don't eat back the calories so I don't follow it closely. I did find this chart maybe it can help you meanwhile. Others on this forum know much more than myself on how everything works so I'm sure someone will respond to you soon. https://www.verywell.com/pedometer-steps-to-calories-converter-3882595
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Keep in mind that Fitbit's calories burned includes ALL the calories your body burns throughout the day, including BMR, general activity, and exercise. At your size, that burn sounds possible. Watch your weight loss over the next 3-4 weeks, while logging your food as accurately as possible, and see if your loss correlates to your calories in/out and adjust as needed.
  • successgal1
    successgal1 Posts: 996 Member
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    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
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    I honestly can't say. My sister just got one. She synced it all up, in 20 minutes it said she burnt over 700 calories and I know for sure that it was grossly inaccurate.
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
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    I think that if 3261 Cals is the total daily Cals burned, then it is a good estimate. For comparison, I am 148 lbs. and on a day when I walked 4703 steps, my total daily Cals burned as reported by Fitbit was 2170 Cals.

    When I first synced a Fitbit Charge HR 1.5 years ago, I thought I was getting too many extra Calories, but I trusted it, and it has been working for me. Granted, I was already at maintenance, but it provided me about 10% more Cals than I was eating at the time, so I increased my intake, and the extra food gave me energy to try to reach the 10,000 steps per day goal. I've since changed my step goal to 7500, which is more realistic for me. I have stayed within a 10 pound range for three years now. When my weekly Net Cals are Over, I gain, when my weekly Net Cals are Under, I lose. I still track my Calorie intake by weighing all my food and verifying all of the new food entries I use in MFP with outside sources.

    If you are not particularly hungry, you do not have to eat all of those Calories back. You do need to take in a minimum amount of Calories to ensure you get adequate carbs to fuel your brain, proteins to maintain muscle, and fats to transport fat-soluble minerals and vitamins.

    It is estimated that on average the body can metabolize a little over 30 Cals per pound of fat per day. So if you have about 125 pounds of fat to lose, your body can pull about 30 x 125 = 3750 Cals from stored fat per day.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    jessef593 wrote: »
    I honestly can't say. My sister just got one. She synced it all up, in 20 minutes it said she burnt over 700 calories and I know for sure that it was grossly inaccurate.

    Keep in mind that a (synced) FitBit includes everything (BMR + activity + exercise). A FitBit will work on a 24 hour clock, starting a new day at midnight. The 700 calories may have included "catch-up" for the day.

    Some people find their FitBits to be very accurate, others not so much. A FitBit is a step counter. If you have lots of activity that's not step based, your numbers are going to be very different.

    The link provided will give you lots of information.
  • elinorwoodhall
    elinorwoodhall Posts: 20 Member
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    I love mine ,,, keep in mind that even sitting and sleeping burns calories ,,,
    The more exercise you do in a single burst will burn more calories ,,, also if you are a larger person calories do burn faster than a smaller person ,,, hope this helps
  • strawsombrero
    strawsombrero Posts: 13 Member
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    Thanks everybody for your input I appreciate it!
  • bocasdelbob
    bocasdelbob Posts: 134 Member
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    Walking at a brisk pace is roughly 5 calories per minute. (according to mfp)
    Very Highly unlikely that you got 3,261 calories in 2.32 miles.
    If that walk was like an hour, you are only looking at 300 calories.
    But that is an estimate for brisk walk. Brisk walking 3.2 miles is way less than an hour.
    I would say that fitbit is giving you damaging information.
    Don't eat those exercise calories.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited December 2016
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    bocasdelbob wrote: »
    Walking at a brisk pace is roughly 5 calories per minute. (according to mfp)
    Very Highly unlikely that you got 3,261 calories in 2.32 miles.
    If that walk was like an hour, you are only looking at 300 calories.
    But that is an estimate for brisk walk. Brisk walking 3.2 miles is way less than an hour.
    I would say that fitbit is giving you damaging information.
    Don't eat those exercise calories.

    Apples & oranges. You are considering the OP's 5,000 steps as deliberate exercise. They are not. This is the amount of daily activity. 3,261 calories for 24 hours is NOT a bad estimate at all.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    I used 6' tall, male, 35 years old (I don't really know) weighs 326 pounds, and is sedentary. The Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) from the calculator above is 3,327 calories in a 24 hour period.

    A FitBit counts averything. Sleeping, getting up & going to work, AND deliberate exercise. The beauty of syncing a FitBit to My Fitness Pal (MFP) is it compares your stated activity level against your actual activity level. You only get "exercise calories" IF you are more active than your MFP setting. Enabling negative calorie adjustments (in MFP) will keep you honest. You would get calories taken away on less active days.

    This link that @successgal1 posted is really helpful
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users

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