Step count

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hillaryj
hillaryj Posts: 5 Member
in Getting Started
Hi,

I've started using the app again recently and I noticed that it if I exercise for the day it doesn't count the number of calories I burn from steps. For example yesterday I did boxing for an hour, but then I walked almost 18,000 steps. It only deducted for the boxing workout. Any tips?

Also, do you get to consume calories for all the ones you've burned?

Thank you!

Replies

  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Are you "syncing" steps? You wouldn't be given added calories for 100% of your steps, because even sedentary people take steps. That's what syncing does, is compare your stated activity against actual activity and gives you credit for the difference.

    Normally you can eat back added exercise calories and still be on track. But there is not enough information in your post.
  • hillaryj
    hillaryj Posts: 5 Member
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    Thank you for your feedback.

    Here is an example with more information. I have my activity level set to very little (so it gives me 1200 per day since I want to loose 1lb per week). On Monday I did Pilates for 50 min, burning 118 calories. I then walked 10,000 steps, but it said I only burned 8 calories. I don't see how that works out.

    Hope that's enough information.
  • hillaryj
    hillaryj Posts: 5 Member
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    Yes I have the step syncing turned on.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited July 2017
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    hillaryj wrote: »
    Yes I have the step syncing turned on.

    What is the device you are syncing? What is your stated activity level in MFP? What is your calorie count at the end of the day? Sometimes it takes a device time to catch-up. You can't accept the face value every time you sync.

    Here's how a FitBit works........
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10098937/faq-syncing-logging-food-exercise-calorie-adjustments-activity-levels-accuracy/p1

    Re: Pilates. This activity is not step based or steady state cardio, so an activity tracker with a heart rate monitor is not going to be real accurate here. 118 calories may be a gross number, meaning your BMR calories are in there too (the calories you would have burned doing nothing).

    You only want to get extra credit for activity ABOVE your BMR + stated activity level.
  • hillaryj
    hillaryj Posts: 5 Member
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    Thanks.

    I'm syncing with my phone's step count. My stated activity level is sedatary. I just calculated my bmr and it's 1346. MFP gives me 1200 calories to consume each day, so I eat within that on days I don't exercise. On days I do exercise, I eat 1200 plus whatever calories I burned.

    On days when I don't log any exercise, it still only gives a few calories from the step count (roughly 10-20), even if I walk 10,000+ steps.
  • perkymommy
    perkymommy Posts: 1,642 Member
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    I keep it turned off where MFP takes off for the steps I take each day. I walk on the treadmill most days and will forget and put them in manually on those days. I also set my phone down on the treadmill so it isn't tracking all the steps when I'm exercising anyway.
  • iandeslow1
    iandeslow1 Posts: 23 Member
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    TBH I've had this problem for ages. I use a Garmin Vivofit and use the Garmin Connect app. MFP never brings the figures over from Garmin even though Garmin Connect will bring over calories consumed into its app. When I can be bothered occasionally I'll ask the question on Twitter to MFP and get a response and will do what they ask but alas it never works.

    This is what Fitbit says about calories:
    "Completing 10,000 steps each day typically burns about 2000 to 3500 extra calories each week."
  • hillaryj
    hillaryj Posts: 5 Member
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    Today I didn't enter in my exercise and it said I burned 300 calories walking. Then once I enter my exercise it drops that to zero. Doesn't make any sense to me.
  • jtankox
    jtankox Posts: 1 Member
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    I have this same issue sometimes. But I believe I just found the app has some type of glitch while researching this myself. See the attached images from my days throughout this week. There are some days that show negative calories and others that show where it adds calories. But it doesn't make any sense because on Tuesday I had 8,553 steps and it added 16 calories. But then on Weds, I had 8,665 steps and it subtracted 660 calories!? I think I am going to try to send these to MFP support and see what they say.
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    sl1p6j3djlx6.png
  • Robo014
    Robo014 Posts: 13 Member
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    Hi, I stick to 1200 to 1300 cals a day regardless of how much exercise I do, if I don't and increase my food intake I don't loose weight, might be an age thing
  • fat_engineer
    fat_engineer Posts: 36 Member
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    What robo said. You wanna maintain a caloric deficit. Or at least I do.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Robo014 wrote: »
    Hi, I stick to 1200 to 1300 cals a day regardless of how much exercise I do, if I don't and increase my food intake I don't loose weight, might be an age thing

    More likely it's an inaccurate logging thing. You shouldn't be eating less than 1500 anyway.
  • curwhibbles
    curwhibbles Posts: 138 Member
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    It’s frustrating how far off it usually is. I’ve heard to only count half until you can tell how accurate your burn is?
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,757 Member
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    Yikes!

    To the OP: your devices don't seem to be synchronizing as they should. MFP sedentary includes a certain level of activity which would be approximated with approximately 35-40 minutes of activity which would include about 3500 steps. Anything beyond that is supposed to be added on top given that your targeted eating level already includes your targeted deficit.*

    For reference, 10,000 steps in a day correspond approximately to MFP's ACTIVE LEVEL. Obviously if you set yourself as active you wouldn't add calories for anything that was used to generate these 10K steps.

    For reference 18,000 steps is ABOVE MFP's VERY ACTIVE LEVEL which usually tops out at about 16,000 steps (or earlier depending on how the steps are taken)

    To the gentleman who eats less than 1500 Cal a day... if you're logging them accurately... don't. As a male 1500 is your floor. Exercise and activity BOTH count. From Nov 2014 to Nov 2015 (49-50yo, at 171.5cm) I dropped over 70lbs while eating more than 2500 (religiously counted) Cal a day with my only exercise being walking.

    EVERYONE should evaluate the weight they would expect to lose based on what they have recorded against their actual weight trend changes over a period of 4-6 weeks using a trending weight application such as Happy Scale, Libra, or Trendweight.com. This information can then be used to make decisions about deficits and accuracy of logging.

    ** If your expected sedentary calories are not enough to sustain the rate of loss you select, MFP defaults to a FLOOR of 1200 calories for women/1500 for men which is the minimum you SHOULD be eating anyway.

    So, if you are expected to burn 2000 Cal, but you select a rate of loss that requires a 1000 Cal deficit MFP gives you a target of 1200, which is a deficit of "only" 800 Cal a day. You may want to test if this floor is "interfering" with the caloric adjustments you see. To do so reduce your "desired" rate of loss so that your eating target is over 1200 Cal a day (1500 for men). If this fixes your adjustments then this may be part of the explanation. In any case, deficits that are over 20% of your total energy expenditure (including your base level of activities plus separately logged exercise) are probably not a great idea if you want to lose a minimal amount of lean mass and maximum amount of fat (perhaps 25% while classified as obese). There is nothing wrong with setting a 500 Cal a day target deficit :smiley:

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