Fitbit tracking and exercise

fiferjim
fiferjim Posts: 56 Member
edited November 22 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi All

I use a fitbit all the time but also track my runs with a gps watch that uploads to Strava which is linked to my MFP.

Does my run count twice if I have the fitbit and Strava connected to my profile or does it recognise the run as exercise and disco t it fro step count ??

I hope this makes sense ?

Cheers

Replies

  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    MFP algorithm typically attempts to tally the fitbit info with their info, giving the correct final calories even when you put in a workout. It does this by (something like) taking the fitbit total daily estimate and subtracting any entered exercise calories (assuming you've checked the box "enable negative calorie corrections" (or whatever) in the fitbit app settings.

    It doesn't always work well. As I've advised for several years: disconnect the fitbit app from MFP and only add in calories when you're pretty sure they correspond to actual activities. The incidental calorie estimates (e.g., for walking around at work) are very inaccurate. The estimates for a concerted walk or run are pretty good (but not as good as your GPS watch.)
  • boehle
    boehle Posts: 5,062 Member
    When I use mapmyrun, it counts as my exercise and then the fitbit calorie adjustment changes.
    it doesn't double count it
  • fiferjim
    fiferjim Posts: 56 Member
    I did have it deleted as I thought it was way out in the past. Thought the new fitbits with HR might be more accurate but probably safe as you suggest to remove it and just link my strava runs.

    Thanks
    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    MFP algorithm typically attempts to tally the fitbit info with their info, giving the correct final calories even when you put in a workout. It does this by (something like) taking the fitbit total daily estimate and subtracting any entered exercise calories (assuming you've checked the box "enable negative calorie corrections" (or whatever) in the fitbit app settings.

    It doesn't always work well. As I've advised for several years: disconnect the fitbit app from MFP and only add in calories when you're pretty sure they correspond to actual activities. The incidental calorie estimates (e.g., for walking around at work) are very inaccurate. The estimates for a concerted walk or run are pretty good (but not as good as your GPS watch.)

  • k8andchr1smom
    k8andchr1smom Posts: 72 Member
    boehle wrote: »
    When I use mapmyrun, it counts as my exercise and then the fitbit calorie adjustment changes.
    it doesn't double count it

    You just answered my question!!
  • surista0520
    surista0520 Posts: 1 Member
    edited December 2017
    I have also decided to de-link the fitbit app from MFP and add manually. Even with negative calorie correction on, the results were wildly inaccurate (60 minute walk burning 1500 calories, constant double-counting of exercises etc).

    The sync option seems like a great idea in theory but implementation is flaky. Best turn it off and add manually when you're confident of the data, as Jthanmyfitnesspal recommends.

    Although at the moment the Fitbit synch is completely broken so perhaps MFP has saved us the trouble of needing to de-link manually ;-)

    In all seriousness - the odds seem very high that the MFP app is very significantly over-estimating your calorie burn. If you're tracking your calorie deficiency, that's a killer flaw.
  • tess5036
    tess5036 Posts: 942 Member
    edited December 2017
    I prety sure MFP over estimates my calorie burn, although it might be different for you. As the fitbit isn't syncing I manually logged my own exercise today. For 1 hour Zumba, 1 hour Body Combat, and 55 mins walking in treadmill it estimated 1500 calories. Ironically, on the treadmill steps it was under fitbit and the treadmill's own calculation.

    I'm not sure what the burns should be ( I've just used the step count function in the past) but 1500 sound extremely high
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