How much do you listen to your fitness tracker?

Do you find it to be accurate? I have an Apple Watch I use to figure out how many calories I eat and judging from my weight loss patterns it seems pretty accurate
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Replies

  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    I call my AW my Apple Overlord - closing my rings runs my life. I do find the Move cals to be pretty accurate, maybe a little inflated. I'll do a gut check on how strenuous I think the non-exercise cals were to come by and that decides whether I eat to those or stick to my base 'sedentary MFP plus only exercise' number. As we all know by now, no "step" calories for us Watch users.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Since 99% of my activity is step based, I listen to my tracker 99% of the time. I have the settings fine-tuned for accuracy so I always trust the calories I get.
  • megsta91
    megsta91 Posts: 92 Member
    I'm a little old school and have a Polar fitness watch with the chest band for HR. It's very accurate and has helped me lose 50lbs. I've tried other more modern watches but they weren't for me.
  • tirowow12385
    tirowow12385 Posts: 697 Member
    100%, it's one half of why I lost over 120 pounds( other half is MFP). I don't use a tracker, just my Android phone, I was able to either maintain my weight indefinitely or lose and adjust my steps or calories depending how much I'm eating or I'm walking.
  • Nativestar56
    Nativestar56 Posts: 112 Member
    I have a Fitbit Charge 2 and based on weight loss it underestimates my calories burned, but its pretty consistent so it doesn't bother me. I'll just take it into account when I hit maintenance. I pay attention to it every day. I might take the odd day off and although I'll still wear it I'll eat what I like but its not often.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    mine is basically an expensive pedometer
  • ForecasterJason
    ForecasterJason Posts: 2,577 Member
    I have a Fitbit Charge 2. I do think it overestimates calories burned, so I don't trust that part that much. The step count may be mostly accurate, although I can't wear it at my job.
  • fluffyjames44
    fluffyjames44 Posts: 12 Member
    Fitbit Alta HR - overestimates calories, but eating half back is working a treat!
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,941 Member
    My Charge 2 really overestimates calories for me. I hiked 17km today (just over 10 miles) and it gave me about 1800kcal over my normal resting estimate (which is a wee bit high as well). Ok, this was a 1300m climb and descend but still this is way too high. I would not burn that much running a half marathon.
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    Charge 2 here and I think it overestimates for me too

    It insists I burn around 2500 on a sedentary day, if I hike it tells me my daily burns around 4000

    I'm a 5ft 2 woman I really don't think I burn quite that much (yes I have everything set up correctly)
  • Leannep2201
    Leannep2201 Posts: 441 Member
    Charge 2 HR here too. I mainly use it to motivate me to get my 10k steps in, but I pay attention to the he calories I get for exercise too. I generally only eat up to half of them back though- they seem pretty accurate, but I think it’s the fear that they could be inflated (since many people can have that experience!) that stops me from eating more of them back.
    I love the sleep tracker too- I don’t know how accurate it is, but it makes me more aware of those nights that I don’t sleep well, and motivates me to put more effort into getting a better sleep the next night!
  • DomesticKat
    DomesticKat Posts: 565 Member
    Alta HR - pretty spot on for me. It matches up with what I'm currently losing at.
  • Mouse_Potato
    Mouse_Potato Posts: 1,511 Member
    Charge HR 2 here. I find it to be fairly accurate, though it sometimes underestimates.
  • madwells1
    madwells1 Posts: 510 Member
    Charge HR. Really accurate for me. Love it!
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    Apple Watch = *extremely* accurate. I do TDEE, and have had no issues adding the resting calories + active calories (with a minor modification, based on lab RMR testing that I had done), and calculating a deficit from that.

    My actual loss comes within 10 percent of my expected loss every week.
  • fuzzylop72
    fuzzylop72 Posts: 651 Member
    Apple watch was always pretty accurate for running/walking, but I tend to adjust calories statically based on weight and calorie averages now since for quite a lot of my activity, i'm not allowed to use a tracker.
  • hippiesaur
    hippiesaur Posts: 137 Member
    Charge 2 here and I think it overestimates for me too

    It insists I burn around 2500 on a sedentary day, if I hike it tells me my daily burns around 4000

    I'm a 5ft 2 woman I really don't think I burn quite that much (yes I have everything set up correctly)

    Something is way off here IMO. I also have Charge 2, I'm 5'6 and on a very sedentary day I would get like 1300-1400 cals burned which is very close to my BMR. I also never had 2500 cals burned even on days when I had 15000+ steps + 30-40 mins of heavy workout. Maybe your resting hear rate is way too high?
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
    reeeggiii wrote: »
    Charge 2 here and I think it overestimates for me too

    It insists I burn around 2500 on a sedentary day, if I hike it tells me my daily burns around 4000

    I'm a 5ft 2 woman I really don't think I burn quite that much (yes I have everything set up correctly)

    Something is way off here IMO. I also have Charge 2, I'm 5'6 and on a very sedentary day I would get like 1300-1400 cals burned which is very close to my BMR. I also never had 2500 cals burned even on days when I had 15000+ steps + 30-40 mins of heavy workout. Maybe your resting hear rate is way too high?

    It's absolutely possible to burn that much through activity. I burn at a minimum of 100 calories per mile when I hike -- and more if there's a steep incline. (5'4", 20% BF, 130 lbs). On a day with a long hike or when I run a half marathon, it's not uncommon for me to get to 3400 calories.

    And, FWIW, you shouldn't have *just* your BMR on a sedentary day, unless you literally do not leave your bed. Typically sedentary calculation is BMR x 1.2.
  • debtay123
    debtay123 Posts: 1,327 Member
    fitbit charge 2- also- I only eat about half of my calories back- it is too high- but I love it to log my steps and it is fun to try to get more steps in each week.
  • yasiral
    yasiral Posts: 133 Member
    Charge HR here. Pretty accurate for me
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,740 Member
    How are your charge and alta hrs so accurate? Both of mine overestimate purposeful exercise calories by at least 400.
  • hippiesaur
    hippiesaur Posts: 137 Member
    reeeggiii wrote: »
    Charge 2 here and I think it overestimates for me too

    It insists I burn around 2500 on a sedentary day, if I hike it tells me my daily burns around 4000

    I'm a 5ft 2 woman I really don't think I burn quite that much (yes I have everything set up correctly)

    Something is way off here IMO. I also have Charge 2, I'm 5'6 and on a very sedentary day I would get like 1300-1400 cals burned which is very close to my BMR. I also never had 2500 cals burned even on days when I had 15000+ steps + 30-40 mins of heavy workout. Maybe your resting hear rate is way too high?

    It's absolutely possible to burn that much through activity. I burn at a minimum of 100 calories per mile when I hike -- and more if there's a steep incline. (5'4", 20% BF, 130 lbs). On a day with a long hike or when I run a half marathon, it's not uncommon for me to get to 3400 calories.

    And, FWIW, you shouldn't have *just* your BMR on a sedentary day, unless you literally do not leave your bed. Typically sedentary calculation is BMR x 1.2.

    Well I have days when I don't even leave my room only when I go to the toilet or the kitchen for some food (I'm a student so this happens sometimes) and that's less than 1000 steps for that day, so I think it's supposed to be very close to BMR... :) I don't know what she meant by sedentary, but 2500 cals burned would be a mostly active day to me. I don't hike or run but I believe it's possible to burn that much if you do these activities, only the sedentary day calorie burn seemed very strange to me cause it's one of my active days when I get close to that.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    I have a charge hr. Seems pretty accurate to me.
  • Kittypickle
    Kittypickle Posts: 3 Member
    Fitbit Charge 2 here, underestimates about 10% on average. It started out overestimating then sorted itself out after 2 or 3 weeks.
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    reeeggiii wrote: »
    Charge 2 here and I think it overestimates for me too

    It insists I burn around 2500 on a sedentary day, if I hike it tells me my daily burns around 4000

    I'm a 5ft 2 woman I really don't think I burn quite that much (yes I have everything set up correctly)

    Something is way off here IMO. I also have Charge 2, I'm 5'6 and on a very sedentary day I would get like 1300-1400 cals burned which is very close to my BMR. I also never had 2500 cals burned even on days when I had 15000+ steps + 30-40 mins of heavy workout. Maybe your resting hear rate is way too high?

    Resting heart rates a tad high, tends to be 67/68
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    reeeggiii wrote: »
    reeeggiii wrote: »
    Charge 2 here and I think it overestimates for me too

    It insists I burn around 2500 on a sedentary day, if I hike it tells me my daily burns around 4000

    I'm a 5ft 2 woman I really don't think I burn quite that much (yes I have everything set up correctly)

    Something is way off here IMO. I also have Charge 2, I'm 5'6 and on a very sedentary day I would get like 1300-1400 cals burned which is very close to my BMR. I also never had 2500 cals burned even on days when I had 15000+ steps + 30-40 mins of heavy workout. Maybe your resting hear rate is way too high?

    It's absolutely possible to burn that much through activity. I burn at a minimum of 100 calories per mile when I hike -- and more if there's a steep incline. (5'4", 20% BF, 130 lbs). On a day with a long hike or when I run a half marathon, it's not uncommon for me to get to 3400 calories.

    And, FWIW, you shouldn't have *just* your BMR on a sedentary day, unless you literally do not leave your bed. Typically sedentary calculation is BMR x 1.2.

    Well I have days when I don't even leave my room only when I go to the toilet or the kitchen for some food (I'm a student so this happens sometimes) and that's less than 1000 steps for that day, so I think it's supposed to be very close to BMR... :) I don't know what she meant by sedentary, but 2500 cals burned would be a mostly active day to me. I don't hike or run but I believe it's possible to burn that much if you do these activities, only the sedentary day calorie burn seemed very strange to me cause it's one of my active days when I get close to that.

    What I meant by sedentary was 4000 to 5000 steps
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
    Apple Watch here. I use a fitness app (FITiv) for planned exercise - it syncs with AW well and I like the graphs - and have FITiv set to "give" me 75% of the calories it calculates as burned after keeping CICO data for a couple of months. All in all the resultingTDEE seems accurate. I have been setting my deficit around 10% of TDEE and have been slowly losing about as expected.
  • hippiesaur
    hippiesaur Posts: 137 Member
    reeeggiii wrote: »
    Charge 2 here and I think it overestimates for me too

    It insists I burn around 2500 on a sedentary day, if I hike it tells me my daily burns around 4000

    I'm a 5ft 2 woman I really don't think I burn quite that much (yes I have everything set up correctly)

    Something is way off here IMO. I also have Charge 2, I'm 5'6 and on a very sedentary day I would get like 1300-1400 cals burned which is very close to my BMR. I also never had 2500 cals burned even on days when I had 15000+ steps + 30-40 mins of heavy workout. Maybe your resting hear rate is way too high?

    Resting heart rates a tad high, tends to be 67/68
    reeeggiii wrote: »
    reeeggiii wrote: »
    Charge 2 here and I think it overestimates for me too

    It insists I burn around 2500 on a sedentary day, if I hike it tells me my daily burns around 4000

    I'm a 5ft 2 woman I really don't think I burn quite that much (yes I have everything set up correctly)

    Something is way off here IMO. I also have Charge 2, I'm 5'6 and on a very sedentary day I would get like 1300-1400 cals burned which is very close to my BMR. I also never had 2500 cals burned even on days when I had 15000+ steps + 30-40 mins of heavy workout. Maybe your resting hear rate is way too high?

    It's absolutely possible to burn that much through activity. I burn at a minimum of 100 calories per mile when I hike -- and more if there's a steep incline. (5'4", 20% BF, 130 lbs). On a day with a long hike or when I run a half marathon, it's not uncommon for me to get to 3400 calories.

    And, FWIW, you shouldn't have *just* your BMR on a sedentary day, unless you literally do not leave your bed. Typically sedentary calculation is BMR x 1.2.

    Well I have days when I don't even leave my room only when I go to the toilet or the kitchen for some food (I'm a student so this happens sometimes) and that's less than 1000 steps for that day, so I think it's supposed to be very close to BMR... :) I don't know what she meant by sedentary, but 2500 cals burned would be a mostly active day to me. I don't hike or run but I believe it's possible to burn that much if you do these activities, only the sedentary day calorie burn seemed very strange to me cause it's one of my active days when I get close to that.

    What I meant by sedentary was 4000 to 5000 steps

    Yeah well my resting heart rate is around 48-50, so I get it now why do you have a higher calorie burn according to Fitbit. They make all the estimations based on HR, it seems to me that the activity itself doesn't really matter. 4-5000 steps isn't more like lightly active (at least according to MFP)? This makes more sense now. :)
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    reeeggiii wrote: »
    reeeggiii wrote: »
    Charge 2 here and I think it overestimates for me too

    It insists I burn around 2500 on a sedentary day, if I hike it tells me my daily burns around 4000

    I'm a 5ft 2 woman I really don't think I burn quite that much (yes I have everything set up correctly)

    Something is way off here IMO. I also have Charge 2, I'm 5'6 and on a very sedentary day I would get like 1300-1400 cals burned which is very close to my BMR. I also never had 2500 cals burned even on days when I had 15000+ steps + 30-40 mins of heavy workout. Maybe your resting hear rate is way too high?

    Resting heart rates a tad high, tends to be 67/68
    reeeggiii wrote: »
    reeeggiii wrote: »
    Charge 2 here and I think it overestimates for me too

    It insists I burn around 2500 on a sedentary day, if I hike it tells me my daily burns around 4000

    I'm a 5ft 2 woman I really don't think I burn quite that much (yes I have everything set up correctly)

    Something is way off here IMO. I also have Charge 2, I'm 5'6 and on a very sedentary day I would get like 1300-1400 cals burned which is very close to my BMR. I also never had 2500 cals burned even on days when I had 15000+ steps + 30-40 mins of heavy workout. Maybe your resting hear rate is way too high?

    It's absolutely possible to burn that much through activity. I burn at a minimum of 100 calories per mile when I hike -- and more if there's a steep incline. (5'4", 20% BF, 130 lbs). On a day with a long hike or when I run a half marathon, it's not uncommon for me to get to 3400 calories.

    And, FWIW, you shouldn't have *just* your BMR on a sedentary day, unless you literally do not leave your bed. Typically sedentary calculation is BMR x 1.2.

    Well I have days when I don't even leave my room only when I go to the toilet or the kitchen for some food (I'm a student so this happens sometimes) and that's less than 1000 steps for that day, so I think it's supposed to be very close to BMR... :) I don't know what she meant by sedentary, but 2500 cals burned would be a mostly active day to me. I don't hike or run but I believe it's possible to burn that much if you do these activities, only the sedentary day calorie burn seemed very strange to me cause it's one of my active days when I get close to that.

    What I meant by sedentary was 4000 to 5000 steps

    Yeah well my resting heart rate is around 48-50, so I get it now why do you have a higher calorie burn according to Fitbit. They make all the estimations based on HR, it seems to me that the activity itself doesn't really matter. 4-5000 steps isn't more like lightly active (at least according to MFP)? This makes more sense now. :)

    My resting heart rate used to be 110-120...... Getting better lol
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    edited July 2018
    This thread made me go back and do some math work. My intake - my fit bit burned calories for the past 3 months shows a 10% margin of error. Not bad after the kind of weight I lost. Creepy kitten stuff that I have all that info..higher protein, low fat, higher fiber intake. Actual so called maintenance 3000 cals. Kevin Hall's model. With a 1.8 modifier and 60 mins walking 4 days a week. 3011 calories. Damn...