Calorie Adjustment way too out!!!

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PrimeSuspect87
PrimeSuspect87 Posts: 20 Member
edited August 2018 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,

I joined MFP back in 2013, I used to weigh 205lbs. With the help of MFP I managed to get down to 150lbs. However I didn’t appreciate the hard work and indulged in bad eating habit and now back on 190lbs. I am aiming to lose 1lb per week to get my target of 150lbs.

I have a Xiaomi Amazfit Bip which doesn’t sync directly to MFP, it has to come through a 3rd party app Google Fit. My concern is the incorrect calorie burn.

I have a 9 to 5 office job but I do try and walk around 10k steps, on a bad day I’d say around 5-6k so I’ve put my activity level on MFP as Lightly Active. But the calorie adjustment just baffled me. I have negative adjustment turned on.

Please see the following stats
Wednesday:
Amazfit Bip
6500 steps, calories = 200
When this was synced to MFP I get 1221 calories burnt :S

Thursday
Amazfit Bip
7500 Steps, calories = 231
When this was synced to MFP I get 1194 calories burnt :S

So far I’ve done 1554 steps this morning to which Amazfit shows 40 calories burnt. However when I synced it to MFP this shows 501 calories from exercise. I’ve set my goal calorie goal to 1940 per day and this now shows I can eat 2441 :s:s:s

According to the site below, Amazfit seems to be pretty much accurate.

https://www.verywellfit.com/pedometer-steps-to-calories-converter-3882595

Can someone please explain or help me understand these adjustments?

Thanks

Replies

  • ami_bemi_bear
    ami_bemi_bear Posts: 18 Member
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    I use Google Fit but it's not synced to MFP. I have noticed that it tells me my total calories burnt for the day rather than just those burnt through exercise.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,739 Member
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    MFP is using the MECHANISM of "exercise adjustment" to EQUALIZE the "calories spent" for the DAY AT MIDNIGHT.

    In other words the number you see will be such that at midnight Google Fit total calories spent will be equal to MFP total calories spent.

    Where the calories came from (exercise, being alive doesn't matter!

    The reasoning is that MFP only has four activity levels (sedentary, lightly active, active, very active) that are based on your unsubstantiated choice during guided setup. Whereas a tracker would normally have an infinite number of activity levels and direct access to magic voodoo (your accelerometer, heart rate and other biometric data) to make a "better" decision as to "exactly" how many calories you spent during your day.

    As such MFP's goal is to adjust your final estimated burn at the end of day, midnight, to what your device has detected for the day.

    So, if you perform exercise early in the day and look at the adjustment, you will see a high number that will gradually decrease if you remain sedentary the rest of the day, or increase if your activity level continues to exceed the one you picked on MFP.
  • BreadPilot
    BreadPilot Posts: 2 Member
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    So, are you saying that if we would choose a different activity level, that calorie count may be more accurate throughout the day?
  • Argon0
    Argon0 Posts: 2 Member
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    This is really poor, I've got a mi band 4 linked to Google fit. Mfp doesn't accept a link from mifit (given its prevalence this seems a little short sighted), so linked via Google fit... But the calories carried across MAKE NO SENSE!! I've not been outside my flat, both mi fit and Google fit has around a thousand steps... split into 3 sessions... Mfp reckons I've done 654 calories worth... Bizarre....
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
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    I've had a tread about Garmin not being consistent with it's calorie estimates, but it is way better than this, if I understand you correctly.

    Best is to un-link. Monitor your band's app by eye and eat a few extra calories if it gives a really high number that you think is actually justified. If you are consistently active, bump up your MFP activity level to reflect that.

    The final answer is what happens with your weight.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,739 Member
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    BreadPilot wrote: »
    So, are you saying that if we would choose a different activity level, that calorie count may be more accurate throughout the day?

    Yes. But you will also start with a large negative number in the morning and have a larger loss of calories even you become inactive in the evening.

    You have two estimates of your Calories that only become synchronous at midnight.

    MFP splits the day at one of four activity levels and applies them as an average all day: when you sleep you're at that average; when you walk to the parking lot you're at that average; when you run you're at that average unless you record an exercise.

    1.25*BMR being sedentary. 1.8*BMR being very active. You're at that constant level all day.

    Most trackers use a higher granularity.

    When you sleep you're at 0.95*BMR. Walking to the parking lot, your tracker will probably detect closer to 3.3*BMR while you're doing it. Running may be closer to 10. Lying on the couch watching TV may be 1.0*BMR. Sitting would be 1.3. your tracker will probably not detect the difference and go with 1.

    So now your trying to intersect the two methods and come up with a number of calories left for the day.

    It will be individual preference that decide which one works best for you.

    My current setup happens to work well enough for me. My MFP activity level is set slightly lower than what my device detects so I still end up with a positive adjustments most days. But this adjustment is smaller than if I had been set as sedentary. Plus the negative adjustments in the morning serves to remind me to start moving a bit more!

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