Why negative exercise calories?

Options
wtxchick
wtxchick Posts: 4 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I recently synced my Fitbit with my account and am confused as to why the exercise calories are being subtracted from my food calories?

Replies

  • AmberSpamber
    AmberSpamber Posts: 391 Member
    Options
    I don't remember how, but I know you can turn that off. I had to do the same thing cause it threw me off.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
    Options
    Because when MFP read your last Fitbit sync it determined that if your activity stays consistent throughout the day, you won't burn as many calories as they've estimated to be your maintenance calories. In order to make sure you don't overeat, it will take calories away so you have the same deficit. *note: this is only until you reach the 1200 calorie floor* It's very common to wake up to a negative adjustment, since you've been asleep and not moving, but that should turn positive the more you move.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited March 2017
    Options
    Likely culprit is you enabled negative adjustments & your actual activity was lower than the activity level you gave MFP.

    "Likely"......because there are glitches from time to time. There is also a timing issue. Calories keep adding until midnight. This adjustment is meant to keep honest.

    To turn off negative adjustments - Home - Settings - Diary Settings ....look for the check box

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    Options
    Keep in mind it looks at workouts separately from the rest of your day. Your MFP activity level should be set to reflect your typical activity level outside of any exercise. If you workout 2 hours every day at the gym, but work a desk job, you should still set it to sedentary.

    So even if you burn 900 calories on the treadmill, it still might give you a small negative adjustment because the rest of your day was not as active as was allotted for.
  • deluxmary2000
    deluxmary2000 Posts: 981 Member
    Options
    What do you have your activity level set at?
    If you're anything more than sedentary, and you haven't been hitting enough steps for the day, it will subtract from your allowance. You can change this in the settings by unchecking the box that says "enable negative calorie adjustments".

Categories