Fitbit giving me extra calories

Options
2»

Replies

  • Famof72015
    Famof72015 Posts: 393 Member
    Options
    I used some tdee calculator.... based on my height and weight. That's what it gave me for maintenance. So maybe I should put MFP as active? I was also told that setting MFP isn't necessary since fitbit syncs to mfp anyway
  • karahm78
    karahm78 Posts: 505 Member
    Options
    Try the calculator on Scooby, it is one of the more reliable ones. Without knowing your age, etc I played around and your maintenance is likely north of 1800.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
  • Famof72015
    Famof72015 Posts: 393 Member
    Options
    Okay I'll check it out. I'm 35. Thanks
  • MoveitlikeManda
    MoveitlikeManda Posts: 846 Member
    Options
    OP its not complicated, set you activity level on MFP and enable negative adjustments in you settings.
    This way if you are less active on a day you will have a negative calorie adjustment and on more active days a plus adjustment.

    example: MFP activity level set at active = 1700 cals

    on Monday your fitbit tells MFP that you were only active enough to be lightly active so MFP takes say 250cals off your 1700 goal.

    But on Tuesday fitbit tells MFP you have been VERY active so MFP gives you 250 extra cals

    some people eat everything fitbit gives them extra, some eat half and some ignore it.
    you need to figure out which of the 3 is right for you and you goals x
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Options
    MatthewRuch wrote: »
    The general piece of advice I give to anybody wearing an activity tracker, myself included, is that you set your MFP activity level to sedentary to make sure you are not "double dipping" on your activity calories as well as enabling negative calorie adjustments. That is the way you can make sure you are being as accurate as possible in your calorie tracking

    Because at lightly active MFP is already giving you credit for some activity calories that you will now double count.

    Now if you want to up your game when it comes to activity tracking, I recommend Polar products which have continuous 24/7 heart rate monitoring so you get the most accurate activity tracking possible. Others may prefer different brands, but I have used polar for years and couldn't be happier. YMMV

    None of that is true regarding the double dipping.

    The setting to Sedentary is because of the end of day over-estimate that won't be corrected until the next mornings sync.

    The FAQ in the Fitbit group explains the math behind it if curious.
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10098937/faq-syncing-logging-food-exercise-calorie-adjustments-activity-levels-accuracy/p1


    Also so you know - HR-based calculated calorie burn is ONLY valid for it's best estimate - aerobic exercise zone with steady-state HR for 2-4 min.
    Under aerobic exercise, like daily activity, is badly inflated.
    Over aerobic, like anaerobic lifting and intervals, is badly inflated.
    And the edges of the valid range start getting inflated too.


    @karahm78 - Scooby is using the same exact TDEE calc as almost every other site out there based on a 1919 study by Harris (of the old BMR formula). His improvement is giving option for Katch BMR using bodyfat % if you have a good estimate.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Options
    Famof72015 wrote: »
    So confused. I'm just going to eat what I have set for my goal and not worry about the "extra", haah!

    So you trust MFP to set a calorie eating goal based on your selection of perhaps the correct activity level from 5.

    But you don't trust MFP when it wants to correct itself to a better estimate from a device with infinite levels that actually sees what you are doing.

    Unless you know there are corrections that should be made on Fitbit for accuracy improvements - trust MFP to correct itself.

    You do more, you eat more.
    You do less, you eat less.

    In a diet a tad less in either case.

    That's a life lesson right there regarding fat weight control.

    Depending on your workouts, if you consistently cause underrecovery because of lack of food - they will become mediocre and you'll be missing the best you could get from them.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Options
    Famof72015 wrote: »
    I used some tdee calculator.... based on my height and weight. That's what it gave me for maintenance. So maybe I should put MFP as active? I was also told that setting MFP isn't necessary since fitbit syncs to mfp anyway

    You'll confuse yourself trying to mix methods as you have done.

    Stick to one - but why guess from 5 levels of TDEE when Fitbit is giving same info at infinite levels?

    If you want to eat the same daily - look at historical averages of normal days with and without workouts (not sick days, not unusually busy days of running around) and come up with your own TDEE figure.
    Take a deficit.
    Set your eating level.

    Unsync Fitbit.
  • emailmehere1122
    emailmehere1122 Posts: 140 Member
    Options
    Do you have a food and activity log?

    If so let's think about what your goal is..it's to maintain your weight. I would suggest you pick a good weight range to try to stay in,+ or - 5 pounds of your current weight. I understand there are more "variables" for women per month then for men so pick a day each month that accounts for those. Weigh yourself on the day you choose...if you've gained a few pounds refer back to your activity and food logs. If your activity dropped off you can increase that back up or lower your calories. If your weight went down again refer to your logs and make the appropriate adjustments

    You can just set your calories in mfp for what you think you need...surely you have a good idea what that is by now,and not worry about the adjustments...they sound like a real pain in the *puppy* anyway
  • ProdigiousDigit
    ProdigiousDigit Posts: 49 Member
    edited September 2017
    Options
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    ProdigiousDigit wrote: »
    I game Fitbit & MFP the same way they game me.

    For example, I do at least 100 sit ups a day and have never recorded one.

    The extra 5-10 calories from 100 situps wouldn't matter much anyway, so you're fine.

    Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear.

    I do more than sit ups each day, I just never record any exercises in MFP other than the steps sent over by Fitbit. Then I just eat under that number.

    Plus, I'm 297. I lose 10 calories each time I blink.
  • misnomer1
    misnomer1 Posts: 646 Member
    edited September 2017
    Options
    Simple test to check whether fitbit is working correctly:

    1. Keep fitbit synced to mfp.
    2. keep setting at 'lightly active'
    3. Enable negative calorie adjustment from MFP website on pc. Go to settings>Diary settings>calorie adjustments
    4. for 1 day, keep fitbit away from body so it doesnt record any activity.
    5. You should see a negative adjustment that day, move less - eat less.
    6. You could also try 5000-6000 steps with fitbit on and see that adjustments are quite small comparitively (and not 700). thats because 5000-6000 steps is similar to 'lightly active' on mfp from my experience.

    This would prove that fitbit is considering the activity level setting of mfp.
    1. so at 0 movement on fitbit, you should see a large negative adjustment
    2. on 4000-6000 steps you should see small adjustments
    3. On 12000 steps you should see large positive adjustments
    if mfp activity level is set at 'lightly active'

    If this is getting too complicated, you could unsync fitbit and do as you were before.
  • caroannv
    caroannv Posts: 40 Member
    Options
    I used to wonder why everyone said they only eat back half their exercise calories, until I got a fitbit! Prior to that, I had worked out how many calories I had likely used for the range of activities I did, and logged them as such. This year, I got a fitbit and it adds about twice as many calories as I had worked out previously, so having it automatically sync and then eating back the calories is no longer working for me - so just like everyone else here I am now having to 'eat back only half'. It's convenient having the automatic logging, but certainly stalled weightloss when I was eating back all the caloires. I've tried some messing around with it but am now just going to keep in mind that it overestimates calorie burn for sure!
  • karahm78
    karahm78 Posts: 505 Member
    edited September 2017
    Options


    @haybales

    Yes, true! I was referring her to a site for reputable information and reliable calculator, she has clearly happened upon one elsewhere that caused needless confusion about her maintenance level. :-)
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Options
    caroannv wrote: »
    I used to wonder why everyone said they only eat back half their exercise calories, until I got a fitbit! Prior to that, I had worked out how many calories I had likely used for the range of activities I did, and logged them as such. This year, I got a fitbit and it adds about twice as many calories as I had worked out previously, so having it automatically sync and then eating back the calories is no longer working for me - so just like everyone else here I am now having to 'eat back only half'. It's convenient having the automatic logging, but certainly stalled weightloss when I was eating back all the caloires. I've tried some messing around with it but am now just going to keep in mind that it overestimates calorie burn for sure!

    Actually - that recommendation came about because of assumed inflation of everything in the exercise database when you manually log exercise.

    Fitbit is NOT sending over exercise calories.
    It is sending over a daily calorie count for MFP to do math with to correct itself.

    You could have no workout and be extra active and get a big adjustment.
    You could have hard workout and be extra lazy and get no adjustment.

    Many people do no exercise on many days and get a big adjustment merely from their activity levels - meaning they have the wrong level selected on MFP (of course it's usually purposeful since they are syncing and getting a correction).

    That 1/2 the exercise database calories is probably overkill, but it was mainly for items that have no intensity in the description, like Spin bike, aerobics class, elliptical, compared to say walking 4mph, or running 6mph is specific.

    And keep reading about those with Fitbit's - you'll discover many that eat all the adjustments and keep losing weight - so it's hardly a lemming agreement of everyone else is doing it that way.

    And there are some workouts it'll inflate calorie burn on - daily life is pretty good unless the stride length needs correction and you do a lot of steps.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Options
    Have you by any chance switched to a fitbit that has a heart rate function? I had to ditch that function because it was giving way more calories than I had calculated from experience. I also had to play with the stride length and age/height functions to get the burn closer to what it should be (made myself older and shorter).

Categories