Fitbit adding too many exercise calories

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justdance06
justdance06 Posts: 23 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I just got my Fitbit Charge HR yesterday and I'm really liking it so far. However, it has given me 848 extra calories from exercise. Usually when I log the exercises myself (about 45 min total of walking my dogs and using the elliptical), it comes up about 300-400 calories. Has anyone else had this issue? I guess I can just ignore it and proceed like I have only gotten 300 or so calories back.

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  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
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    It generally takes your Fitbit a few weeks to get to know you, so the numbers might be off.

    What is your height & current weight? How many total steps did you get when it gave you 848 calories? Are you seeing that adjustment in MFP?

    ~Lyssa
  • justdance06
    justdance06 Posts: 23 Member
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    Hi Lyssa,

    I'm 5'10" and 149 lbs. My current step count for today is 11,848. I'm seeing the calorie adjustment in MFP if that's what you're asking.

    Ok, I'll keep that in mind about the Fitbit getting to know me. Thanks!
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
    edited January 2017
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    It's up to you if you want to eat all the calories or stick with eating about half. Pick a way & give it 6 weeks and see what your weight is doing. You might be burning more calories than you thought.

    It would be worth double-checking your stats in the Fitbit app and on MFP, just to make sure all your settings match.

    ~Lyssa
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    Are you set at a sedentary activity level? How much weight are you trying to lose, and What rate of loss did you select? What calorie goal did MFP provide?

    I agree with Lissa that it takes time for FitBit and MFP to get used to each other, but if you have selected an activity level and goal that isn't appropriate for your actual activity then the two will try to correct it to get you back up to a reasonable deficit.

    For example when I first got mine I was set at sedentary and had a goal of 1400 cals but my total calories burned from FitBit was more like 2000 for 10,000 steps. So I would get a higher adjustment to try to reconcile the difference. I changed my activity level on good advice here that >10k steps a day isn't sedentary, so I ended up with a higher calorie goal to begin with (like 1600) and my adjustments were smaller. I enabled negative calorie adjustments to account for days when I am truly sedentary, it takes cals away from that baseline goal of you don't get to the minimum activity to justify it.

    I'm now in maintenance averaging 14k steps and a TDEE of 2200. I found the systems to be quite accurate and most importantly, I found I could eat more food than I initially thought and still lose weight. Bonus!
  • justdance06
    justdance06 Posts: 23 Member
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    @WinoGelato My goal weight is set at 135 with a loss of 1 lb per week. My calorie goal is 1350 before exercise & my profile is set to sedentary.

    Yes, I see what you're saying. I think I'm just more active than I thought. I just don't want to go crazy eating 2000+ cals and end up gaining weight lol. 848 calories just seemed like a lot compared to 300 or so.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    justdance06 wrote: »
    @WinoGelato My goal weight is set at 135 with a loss of 1 lb per week. My calorie goal is 1350 before exercise & my profile is set to sedentary.

    Yes, I see what you're saying. I think I'm just more active than I thought. I just don't want to go crazy eating 2000+ cals and end up gaining weight lol. 848 calories just seemed like a lot compared to 300 or so.

    You are already at a normal BMI and with only 15 lbs or so to lose, should really be set at losing 0.5 lb/week to preserve lean body mass. Have you been losing consistently 1 lb/week? For how long, or is this all new?

    FWIW, I'm 5'2 and lost most of my weight eating 1600-1900 cals. I also was more active than I realized, and that's a good thing!

    If you think you are going to average more than 10k steps/day, I would change activity level to lightly active and goal to 0.5 lb/week. That's going to give you more cals to begin with, probably 1700-1800 or so, and then the FitBit adjustments should be smaller. I think you'll still be losing, even with eating back the adjustments, but if you want to be conservative for a few weeks while FitBit figures out your patterns you could just eat back a small percentage.
  • koalastare
    koalastare Posts: 9 Member
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    My husband bought me a fitbit yesterday. Can it be synced to MFP?
  • justdance06
    justdance06 Posts: 23 Member
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    Thanks @WinoGelato! I've been on the site for a few years but never really used it consistently. Since I'm already a healthy weight my motivation to lose weight comes and goes. Mostly I use it to keep my weight in check by logging my food and exercise every so often. For me, seeing the calories in black and white can be a great way to remind me to eat more mindfully and stay active.

    @koalastare Yes, if you search the forums there is information about how to sync them up :smile:
  • koalastare
    koalastare Posts: 9 Member
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    Thanks justdanceo6. Will take a look.

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