Fitbit Calorie Adjustment

xxharleyquinnxx
xxharleyquinnxx Posts: 166 Member
edited November 17 in Fitness and Exercise
Can someone please explain this too me? I have negative adjustments turned off because i only sync my charge 2 at the end of the day. I also do at home exercise which I log which I then manually enter into mfp, after this the fit bit calorie adjustment deducts by the number of calories I burn. I'm just confused? Do I keep the calorie adjustment or shall I just get rid of it?

Replies

  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    If you have fitbit syncing, there's no reason to add any exercise into MFP.

    As for the adjustment, fitbit sends over your step count and total calorie burn at the time of sync. MFP then calculates what your total burn for the day should be based on that. It then deducts the amount MFP says your maintenance is. This is your adjustment.
  • KirbySmith46
    KirbySmith46 Posts: 198 Member
    Ok that makes sense, sort of! I just got through with a 44 minute run. Fitbit says I burned 542 calories on that run, however the mfp adjustment for steps only gives me slightly over 300 cal burned. I feel somewhat cheated!
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
    If you click on the adjustment, it does tell you the math involved.m7d3rvfmvg0n.png
  • KirbySmith46
    KirbySmith46 Posts: 198 Member
    Thank you! That's helpful
  • xxharleyquinnxx
    xxharleyquinnxx Posts: 166 Member
    I'm sorry I'm super thick I still don't get it! I manually enter workout DVDs into my fitness Pal as that's not classed as running and other stuff I could record into fit bit :) unless there's a way I can enter this into fitbit I don't know about?
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    xxharleyquinnxx wrote: »
    I'm sorry I'm super thick I still don't get it! I manually enter workout DVDs into my fitness Pal as that's not classed as running and other stuff I could record into fit bit :) unless there's a way I can enter this into fitbit I don't know about?

    In Fitbit, search for aerobics and log it as that. Make sure the Start Time is correct. If aerobics does not come up, create it as an activity.
  • KirbySmith46
    KirbySmith46 Posts: 198 Member
    Here's pictures of my last two days. I don't understand why mfp's adjustments are so different for nearly the same amount of steps.

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  • xxharleyquinnxx
    xxharleyquinnxx Posts: 166 Member
    Surely though if at the end of the day I log my steps as aerobic it will be incorrect as some of them steps will be included in my seperate home workout DVDs?
  • soniaf
    soniaf Posts: 106 Member
    You can't add exercise into MFP as it's being counted by fitbit. I got over this problem by putting in all my food and water into MFP and exercise into FitBit. Then it's clear and there's no double counting.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited April 2017
    MFP takes your stats, your activity level (stated by you) and says we think you will burn 2500 per day. You want to lose 1 pound per week? So eat 2000.

    Fitbit takes your stats and your actual movement to estimate how many calories you burn. It uses actual activity rather than an 'activity level'. So lets say Fitbit says you actually burned 2650 yesterday. MFP looks at that and says, well you burned 150 more than we thought you would so its a +150 adjustment.

    If you log exercise: lets say you log a 100 calorie workout at MFP. Now MFP thinks you'll burn your usual 2500 + 100. Fitbit still says you actually burned 2650. So now the Fitbit adjustment is 2650 - 2600 = 50. Logging exercise in MFP increases the # that MFP expects you to burn in a day.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited April 2017
    PS-your calorie burn is not totally based on the # of steps. Its more about how you are burning thru the day. Examples:

    On a normal weekday I spend a good bit of time sitting. Office job & commute. My steps come from intentional exercise. My BMR is only about 1275 per day. I'll walk an hour at lunch, run an hour in the evening. Errands here & there but nothing major. Get 15-17k steps and burn 2000-2100 calories total.

    On a normal Sunday I work a part time job where I'm on my feet mostly from 11:30am until 9pm. I'm not exercising, not getting a major amount of steps. But while my desk job burns on average 1 cal per minute (mostly from BMR) being on my feet is more like 2-3 cals per minute. Over the course of 9.5 hours that adds up. So I might only get 8-10k steps (and none is from intentional exercise) but still burn 2000-2100 calories.

    Calorie comparison:

    Weekday is 22 hours doing very little (sleeping, driving, sitting at a desk, being fairly inactive the rest of the hours) and 2 hours of being active.

    Sunday is 9.5 hours on my feet, lower than cardio burn rate and 14.5 hours of being fairly inactive (including sleep time here). Less steps, same calories burned total.

  • xxharleyquinnxx
    xxharleyquinnxx Posts: 166 Member
    Right I understand a bit more now hah! I think I am just going to log my workout DVDs through mfp as I have been doing (they do go onto fit bit originally but once edited on mfp they adjust on fit bit hope that makes sense) and just leave the calorie adjustment to do its own thing. Aslong as I don't go over my calorie limit for the day whether or not I have the adjustments shouldn't really matter but it's nice to see an extra exercise noted on mfp. I guess if the extra calories are there I can use them if I have a special event or something coming up :)
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    If you're steadily losing weight (if that is your goal) then keep doing as you are.
  • goMTBgirl
    goMTBgirl Posts: 1 Member
    I had to take mine off as I never lost any weight on the weeks where I let fitbit and MFP do the thinking for me. Just entering the exercise manually works best for me.
  • xxharleyquinnxx
    xxharleyquinnxx Posts: 166 Member
    Going to try it this way for a few weeks and see where I get :) will update for sure! Thanks everyone!
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