Do you sync your fitbit?
teachmama79
Posts: 64 Member
Hi!
I was wondering if those with fitbits sync them to MFP? Do you think it is accurate? Does it mess with your calories? Do you follow the calories it says it adjusts? Are you losing?
Any help would be great!
Thanks!
I was wondering if those with fitbits sync them to MFP? Do you think it is accurate? Does it mess with your calories? Do you follow the calories it says it adjusts? Are you losing?
Any help would be great!
Thanks!
0
Replies
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I do not. Both overestimate calories, and it just got to be a pain keeping track of what's a more realistic figure. These days I simply use mfp for logging food and exercise, and the Fitbit for tracking steps/HR/sleep.
I've also read the HR tracking isn't super accurate, but its enough to give me a general idea of what my day/week looked like.1 -
I do and the numbers are accurate for me. I've been tracking for over a year and my weight loss is predictable, so I know that the numbers work for me.3
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I do and crave the added calories. I also sync my Runtastic app for running. Its magic, I run with my Runtastic app and my fit bit and MFP knows not to add the fit bit activity during the run.1
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I do. I've been maintaining for some years now and I use it to make sure I'm eating enough to fuel my runs. The numbers seem to work for me and I don't gain.1
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I should probably dig into my settings to see what I might have set up wrong. Right now as I sit in my work truck, I'm showing only .77 miles walked, 1712 steps with 1106 calories burned. No way that's right lol.1
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Yes. Sorry for the copy and paste, but here is my Fitbit accuracy story I posted recently.
When I first got my Charge HR in August 2015, I did not sync it with MFP for four weeks; I wanted to do a four week comparison of data. I had put on about 10 pounds over my goal weight and needed to get back down to my goal. At that time, I thought the Charge HR was overestimating my Calorie burn. After the four weeks, I compared the data and realized that I could eat more than I had been and still lose weight at my desired rate (a half pound per week). I synced the Fitbit, dropped logging my exercise Calories on MFP, and trusted the Fitbit total daily projection and averaged eating back about 90% of those extra Calories. I was happier, less hungry, and I lost the weight on target. I used a food scale to weigh all solids and made sure I verified the food items I logged.2 -
I should probably dig into my settings to see what I might have set up wrong. Right now as I sit in my work truck, I'm showing only .77 miles walked, 1712 steps with 1106 calories burned. No way that's right lol.
You may be confused as that number is intended to include your BMR - so it's not just your "extra" calories burned through movement, but incorporates the calories your body needs just to continue life if you're completely at rest. Fitbit doesn't show your "exercise" burn separately but just gives you a total estimate.
Mine right now (at 10AM) shows about 3000 steps and 726 calories burned (I'm pretty petite), and by the end of day if I don't exercise it'll probably end up around 1600 calories. That means at my height/weight/etc, my body needs about 1600 calories per day to maintain my weight if I mostly sit on my butt. On days I run, that number might be more like 2200-2500 with the added exercise.1 -
@peleroja - Oh that makes a world of difference - yes, I'd say I was a bit confused lol.I should probably dig into my settings to see what I might have set up wrong. Right now as I sit in my work truck, I'm showing only .77 miles walked, 1712 steps with 1106 calories burned. No way that's right lol.
You may be confused as that number is intended to include your BMR - so it's not just your "extra" calories burned through movement, but incorporates the calories your body needs just to continue life if you're completely at rest. Fitbit doesn't show your "exercise" burn separately but just gives you a total estimate.
Mine right now (at 10AM) shows about 3000 steps and 726 calories burned (I'm pretty petite), and by the end of day if I don't exercise it'll probably end up around 1600 calories. That means at my height/weight/etc, my body needs about 1600 calories per day to maintain my weight if I mostly sit on my butt. On days I run, that number might be more like 2200-2500 with the added exercise.
So do you average out the total number and simply subtract your deficit? If you're in a deficit that is...
Thank you for the explanation by the way. That should teach me to dig deeper than user opinions and do my research.
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I sync my fitbit with negative adjustments - so far it's worked a charm.1
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@peleroja - Oh that makes a world of difference - yes, I'd say I was a bit confused lol.I should probably dig into my settings to see what I might have set up wrong. Right now as I sit in my work truck, I'm showing only .77 miles walked, 1712 steps with 1106 calories burned. No way that's right lol.
You may be confused as that number is intended to include your BMR - so it's not just your "extra" calories burned through movement, but incorporates the calories your body needs just to continue life if you're completely at rest. Fitbit doesn't show your "exercise" burn separately but just gives you a total estimate.
Mine right now (at 10AM) shows about 3000 steps and 726 calories burned (I'm pretty petite), and by the end of day if I don't exercise it'll probably end up around 1600 calories. That means at my height/weight/etc, my body needs about 1600 calories per day to maintain my weight if I mostly sit on my butt. On days I run, that number might be more like 2200-2500 with the added exercise.
So do you average out the total number and simply subtract your deficit? If you're in a deficit that is...
Thank you for the explanation by the way. That should teach me to dig deeper than user opinions and do my research.
You shouldn't have to do any math yourself. If you've got Fitbit synced to MFP, MFP will use those numbers to adjust its estimates for you and give you a calorie goal number with the deficit already factored in. For example, if you're set to lose 1 lb/week it will subtract 500 calories/day from the total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) that Fitbit provides, so your maintenance calories -500.
Basically, MFP works by taking your personal info (height/weight/age/etc) and then the activity level you tell it (sedentary, lightly active, etc) and making an estimate of your TDEE that way, then subtracting a given number of calories from that per day based on how much you told it you wanted to lose. All you're doing with the Fitbit is replacing that generic activity estimate MFP would have used with a personalized one from Fitbit based on how much you actually move/exercise.
ETA: for a personal example, on Wednesday I had 17, 720 steps (9.21 miles) according to Fitbit and burned 2214 calories total that day (so that's my TDEE.) I have MFP set to "sedentary", but obviously I wasn't sedentary on Wednesday, so it made an automatic adjustment and gave me an additional ~650 exercise calories on top of the ~1550 it gives me as a goal for maintenance if I hadn't tracked my exercise with Fitbit.
If I had MFP set to lose 1/2 lb per week instead of maintain, then all that would still be the same, except it would have shown my original goal as about 1300 calories (a deficit of 250/day from my sedentary maintenance of about 1550) and then with my ~650 burned I'd have a goal of about 1950/day instead of 2200/day. MFP would have figured it out for me and shown that with no work on my part. Does that all make sense?1 -
Wow, thank-you everyone. I really appreciate your input. I will aync my fitbit. I waa just worried I would eat too many calories if I followed what it said.
Thanks!0 -
teachmama79 wrote: »Hi!
I was wondering if those with fitbits sync them to MFP? Do you think it is accurate? Does it mess with your calories? Do you follow the calories it says it adjusts? Are you losing?
Any help would be great!
Thanks!
I don't understand why anybody would part with their $100 for a Fitbit if the answer to any of the bold questions was no. It's value comes from being useful, right?0 -
@peleroja - Oh that makes a world of difference - yes, I'd say I was a bit confused lol.I should probably dig into my settings to see what I might have set up wrong. Right now as I sit in my work truck, I'm showing only .77 miles walked, 1712 steps with 1106 calories burned. No way that's right lol.
You may be confused as that number is intended to include your BMR - so it's not just your "extra" calories burned through movement, but incorporates the calories your body needs just to continue life if you're completely at rest. Fitbit doesn't show your "exercise" burn separately but just gives you a total estimate.
Mine right now (at 10AM) shows about 3000 steps and 726 calories burned (I'm pretty petite), and by the end of day if I don't exercise it'll probably end up around 1600 calories. That means at my height/weight/etc, my body needs about 1600 calories per day to maintain my weight if I mostly sit on my butt. On days I run, that number might be more like 2200-2500 with the added exercise.
So do you average out the total number and simply subtract your deficit? If you're in a deficit that is...
Thank you for the explanation by the way. That should teach me to dig deeper than user opinions and do my research.
You shouldn't have to do any math yourself. If you've got Fitbit synced to MFP, MFP will use those numbers to adjust its estimates for you and give you a calorie goal number with the deficit already factored in. For example, if you're set to lose 1 lb/week it will subtract 500 calories/day from the total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) that Fitbit provides, so your maintenance calories -500.
Basically, MFP works by taking your personal info (height/weight/age/etc) and then the activity level you tell it (sedentary, lightly active, etc) and making an estimate of your TDEE that way, then subtracting a given number of calories from that per day based on how much you told it you wanted to lose. All you're doing with the Fitbit is replacing that generic activity estimate MFP would have used with a personalized one from Fitbit based on how much you actually move/exercise.
Thank you so much for the detailed explanation. That literally changes everything 0 -
@peleroja - Oh that makes a world of difference - yes, I'd say I was a bit confused lol.I should probably dig into my settings to see what I might have set up wrong. Right now as I sit in my work truck, I'm showing only .77 miles walked, 1712 steps with 1106 calories burned. No way that's right lol.
You may be confused as that number is intended to include your BMR - so it's not just your "extra" calories burned through movement, but incorporates the calories your body needs just to continue life if you're completely at rest. Fitbit doesn't show your "exercise" burn separately but just gives you a total estimate.
Mine right now (at 10AM) shows about 3000 steps and 726 calories burned (I'm pretty petite), and by the end of day if I don't exercise it'll probably end up around 1600 calories. That means at my height/weight/etc, my body needs about 1600 calories per day to maintain my weight if I mostly sit on my butt. On days I run, that number might be more like 2200-2500 with the added exercise.
So do you average out the total number and simply subtract your deficit? If you're in a deficit that is...
Thank you for the explanation by the way. That should teach me to dig deeper than user opinions and do my research.
You shouldn't have to do any math yourself. If you've got Fitbit synced to MFP, MFP will use those numbers to adjust its estimates for you and give you a calorie goal number with the deficit already factored in. For example, if you're set to lose 1 lb/week it will subtract 500 calories/day from the total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) that Fitbit provides, so your maintenance calories -500.
Basically, MFP works by taking your personal info (height/weight/age/etc) and then the activity level you tell it (sedentary, lightly active, etc) and making an estimate of your TDEE that way, then subtracting a given number of calories from that per day based on how much you told it you wanted to lose. All you're doing with the Fitbit is replacing that generic activity estimate MFP would have used with a personalized one from Fitbit based on how much you actually move/exercise.
Thank you so much for the detailed explanation. That literally changes everything
No problem. I added a huge example to the bottom of that post with some real numbers if it helps.0 -
It really does help. Thanks again
@peleroja - Oh that makes a world of difference - yes, I'd say I was a bit confused lol.I should probably dig into my settings to see what I might have set up wrong. Right now as I sit in my work truck, I'm showing only .77 miles walked, 1712 steps with 1106 calories burned. No way that's right lol.
You may be confused as that number is intended to include your BMR - so it's not just your "extra" calories burned through movement, but incorporates the calories your body needs just to continue life if you're completely at rest. Fitbit doesn't show your "exercise" burn separately but just gives you a total estimate.
Mine right now (at 10AM) shows about 3000 steps and 726 calories burned (I'm pretty petite), and by the end of day if I don't exercise it'll probably end up around 1600 calories. That means at my height/weight/etc, my body needs about 1600 calories per day to maintain my weight if I mostly sit on my butt. On days I run, that number might be more like 2200-2500 with the added exercise.
So do you average out the total number and simply subtract your deficit? If you're in a deficit that is...
Thank you for the explanation by the way. That should teach me to dig deeper than user opinions and do my research.
You shouldn't have to do any math yourself. If you've got Fitbit synced to MFP, MFP will use those numbers to adjust its estimates for you and give you a calorie goal number with the deficit already factored in. For example, if you're set to lose 1 lb/week it will subtract 500 calories/day from the total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) that Fitbit provides, so your maintenance calories -500.
Basically, MFP works by taking your personal info (height/weight/age/etc) and then the activity level you tell it (sedentary, lightly active, etc) and making an estimate of your TDEE that way, then subtracting a given number of calories from that per day based on how much you told it you wanted to lose. All you're doing with the Fitbit is replacing that generic activity estimate MFP would have used with a personalized one from Fitbit based on how much you actually move/exercise.
Thank you so much for the detailed explanation. That literally changes everything
No problem. I added a huge example to the bottom of that post with some real numbers if it helps.
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@teachmama79 @Cylphin60
I would suggest starting out by setting your MFP Activity Level to Sedentary (Not Very Active) and Enable Negative Adjustments* for the initial setting. Do this for one week and note how many Cals you get in your Fitbit adjustment at the end of each day. If you consistently earn over 300 to 400 Cals in adjustments per day, bump up your MFP Activity Level to Lightly Active for one week, and keep negative adjustments enabled. If you still are getting even more Cals, bump the MFP Activity Level to Active.
*Enabling negative Cals will normally give you negative calorie adjustments in the morning, but as you move, the Cals earned will increase throughout the day. Also, the negative adjustment is great for those days that you might be sick in bed all day so that you don't overeat.2 -
Yes, I do.
I only eat back half of my earned calories though. Then I lose just like I'm supposed to.1 -
@teachmama79 @Cylphin60
I would suggest starting out by setting your MFP Activity Level to Sedentary (Not Very Active) and Enable Negative Adjustments* for the initial setting. Do this for one week and note how many Cals you get in your Fitbit adjustment at the end of each day. If you consistently earn over 300 to 400 Cals in adjustments per day, bump up your MFP Activity Level to Lightly Active for one week, and keep negative adjustments enabled. If you still are getting even more Cals, bump the MFP Activity Level to Active.
*Enabling negative Cals will normally give you negative calorie adjustments in the morning, but as you move, the Cals earned will increase throughout the day. Also, the negative adjustment is great for those days that you might be sick in bed all day so that you don't overeat.
Thank-you so much!0 -
Thanks everyone! This was really helpful! 0
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I think my Charge HR is accurate within reason. I always eat about 200 less than what it says to leave room for error. Today is high because I ran 8 miles earlier, but normally I'll be anywhere between 2100-2800 calories for 18-22K steps, including a run. I am 130, F, 31.1
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Seconded!teachmama79 wrote: »@teachmama79 @Cylphin60
I would suggest starting out by setting your MFP Activity Level to Sedentary (Not Very Active) and Enable Negative Adjustments* for the initial setting. Do this for one week and note how many Cals you get in your Fitbit adjustment at the end of each day. If you consistently earn over 300 to 400 Cals in adjustments per day, bump up your MFP Activity Level to Lightly Active for one week, and keep negative adjustments enabled. If you still are getting even more Cals, bump the MFP Activity Level to Active.
*Enabling negative Cals will normally give you negative calorie adjustments in the morning, but as you move, the Cals earned will increase throughout the day. Also, the negative adjustment is great for those days that you might be sick in bed all day so that you don't overeat.
Thank-you so much!teachmama79 wrote: »Thanks everyone! This was really helpful!
It Was! LoL. I do feel better about my fitbit purchase after this lol.1
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