How do you track calories burned?

J4ZM7N28
J4ZM7N28 Posts: 24 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have used the UA band and it synced to mfp.

It broke and I haven’t purchased another. It tracked hours slept etc.

I know Apple watches are the craze right now but is it just because it’s Apple?

Does anyone have a fitness tracker that tracks calories burned that they absolutely swear by?

Thanks in advance:)

Replies

  • HermanLily
    HermanLily Posts: 217 Member
    Atlas Wearables is my ultimate favorite. Shape tracks calories, steps, sleep, exercise, and has exercises built in.
    Atlas 2 let's you train your own exercises, and also has a bunch of exercises built in.
  • quintessential1
    quintessential1 Posts: 54 Member
    Mapmywalk I downloaded on my phone.
  • Kathryn247
    Kathryn247 Posts: 570 Member
    I got an Apple Watch a couple of weeks ago and it's terrible at syncing with MFP. I do more exercise and it takes calories away, the step count never matches, it's just terrible. The calorie credit it gives me always seems too low, but I have to give it more time to see what effect it has on my weight. MFP is aware of the step syncing issue and they say they're working on a fix, but I'm not holding my breath. I do like the other features of the Apple Watch, though, so I'm going to stick with it and see how it goes.

    I had a FitBit (Alta HR) for a couple of years, and it tracked my steps and sleep. The calorie estimates it sent to MFP always seemed too high, so I didn't eat all of them back.
  • Freedom1862
    Freedom1862 Posts: 20 Member
    I use the Polar brand Chest strap monitor with calorie counting watch. About $60 on amazon. Calories are always really close to mfp estimate. I love it
  • GeorgiaAndi
    GeorgiaAndi Posts: 4 Member
    edited June 2019
    I use the Myzone MZ3 heart rate monitor. I’ve used several and this is THE best and a huge motivator. The Myzone app is phenomenal. Here is some of the data it gives. This is an indoor Cycle class I did. The five heart rate zones are color coded - and it give increasing points for each zone. (Exercise points are the MEPS on attached graph) I find myself creating point goals for each workout and for the month! You can also add friends and they can see and comment on your workouts. It’s also a “smart” heart rate monitor and can figure out your zones based on your workouts and adjust accordingly. I’ve also found it’s the most accurate with calories burned: the others I used, including Polar and Garmin, grossly overestimated calories burned for me even when given my age, sex, and weight. There’s a watch you can buy if you run and don’t want to use your phone to view your HR/zones. Alternatively, this heart rate monitor has memory and will save up to 15 hours (I think) of workouts if you wear it without your phone. In this case your saved workouts would download the next time you wear the monitor and open the app.
  • mgodniak2106
    mgodniak2106 Posts: 15 Member
    edited June 2019
    Garmin vivoactive 3 music smarwatch/ fitness tracker. I got it in April and I love it! Tracks your calories burned (pretty accurate), your sleep, has a GPS for your running, cycling, etc. It's waterproof so you can swim or shower with it, you can store music on it so you can listen to it while running or cycling with wireless headphones, and it also connects to your smartphone so you can receive messages, notifications etc. Syncs very well with MFP. There's a lot of other stuff it does that I just haven't used yet or probably don't even know it can do and it also looks great lol! Definitely recommend!
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    J4ZM7N28 wrote: »
    I have used the UA band and it synced to mfp.

    It broke and I haven’t purchased another. It tracked hours slept etc.

    I know Apple watches are the craze right now but is it just because it’s Apple?

    Does anyone have a fitness tracker that tracks calories burned that they absolutely swear by?

    Thanks in advance:)

    Not exactly what you're asking, but I have a power meter. It will never be off by more than 2.5% in either direction for calories. So for example it says I did 814 kJ on my lunch ride, in reality it could have been anywhere from 794 to 834 kCal.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    None are highly accurate for tracking incidental calories burnt. Since all they measure is HR and acceleration (and location/speed, if it has a GPS, which doesn't work inside buildings), they have to make a number of assumptions to get to calories. The accuracy is thus pretty bad. You do better just pick an activity level in MFP and add calories for dedicated workouts.

    On the other hand, many of the trackers are good for tracking aerobic workouts. In that case, you tell the sensor what you are doing, so it can better estimate the effort. Garmin is particularly good at this.
  • BenCHarrison1981
    BenCHarrison1981 Posts: 18 Member
    Garmin, ive had 3 so far and upgraded every time. Vivo Active 3 seems to be best choice for all round at the moment. I wouldnt buy anything else.
  • Bry_Fitness70
    Bry_Fitness70 Posts: 2,480 Member
    I have a Garmin Fenix 3 HR and love it. It has a continuous HRM and calculates calories burned 24 hours per day and calculates performance metrics, counts steps and stairs ascended, has GPS, tracks sleep, has an altimeter, barometer, and temp sensor, is waterproof to 100m so you can track swimming, integrates with your phone through Bluetooth, and a lot of other functions. It has a long battery life and the associated phone app is easy to use.

    It integrates pretty well with MFP and loads exercises and calories burned automatically. Since the HRM detects the HR through the wrist rather than with a chest strap over your heart, it is probably a little less accurate, but accurate enough for my needs.
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    I use Runkeeper on my phone, which I use to track my runs. It's been pretty accurate in terms of distance, elevation change, and calories burned for me. I checked it against my chest strap HRM to verify a few times, and it's always been close.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    I sure don't trust my Garmin with hiking calories:

    https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3760192085
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Wow, that's interestingly off so bad.
    I wonder what Garmin thought was up.
    Well, it was up obviously - very nice, especially in that heat. ugh 100 F!
  • Bry_Fitness70
    Bry_Fitness70 Posts: 2,480 Member
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    I sure don't trust my Garmin with hiking calories:

    https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3760192085

    Your HR is a big part of the calories burned equation - your average HR was 128 bpm over 7hr 39 mins, which is pretty high across a very long period of time. Depending on how your HR zones are set up and other factors like your height and weight, it could make sense that such a high calorie burn was calculated. (if not realistically burned). Do you have a high resting HR?
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    For what it's worth, my resting HR hovers from 55 to 60 bpm. Lactate threshold is 165 bpm. Max is somewhere from 185 to 190.
  • harrycharming885
    harrycharming885 Posts: 13 Member
    I have Fitbit Flex calorie counter watch. It provides a custom estimate of calories burned based on personal traits like gender and weight.
  • Sharon_C
    Sharon_C Posts: 2,132 Member
    Nothing is 100% accurate. I've had a Fitbit, a Garmin, and now an Apple Watch. None of them were completely accurate. So I don't count exercise calories. I count exercise minutes and try to get in at least 40 minutes of something a day. Calories consumed are independent of exercise
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Sharon_C wrote: »
    Nothing is 100% accurate. I've had a Fitbit, a Garmin, and now an Apple Watch. None of them were completely accurate. So I don't count exercise calories. I count exercise minutes and try to get in at least 40 minutes of something a day. Calories consumed are independent of exercise

    Labels on food aren't 100% accurate - are you going to start not counting food calories - so logging 0?

    Of all the counts of exercise calories - the one totally wrong number is the one you are using - 0 (don't count).
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    edited June 2019
    Sharon_C wrote: »
    Nothing is 100% accurate. I've had a Fitbit, a Garmin, and now an Apple Watch. None of them were completely accurate. So I don't count exercise calories. I count exercise minutes and try to get in at least 40 minutes of something a day. Calories consumed are independent of exercise

    You're going to have to learn how to eat your exercise calories when you get to your goal weight.

    But I guess 40 minutes isn't that much.
  • llkelly0713
    llkelly0713 Posts: 1 Member
    Has anyone linked a Letsfit to MFP?
  • msdwms78
    msdwms78 Posts: 7 Member
    I use under armour app on my phone. It works with my fitness pal app

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