Maintainers with Fitbit how accurate is your data?

SummerSkier wrote: »

Yes - Ann, I found that an interesting link with the statistical data. Perhaps because you have always been "strong" and a rower/athlete you have more base muscle mass and it tends to not be accounted for in your garmin? I would be interested to hear what your guesses are. I suspect mine may be off because I am a older/short petite woman maintaining at the lower end of BMI but you would think Fitbit would account for those inputs.

I'm a 5'5" 63 year old woman at BMI 22-point-something, BTW, so no statuesque Amazon. I haven't always been strong/athletic, either: Completely to the contrary. Obese, sedentary, bookish would be better descriptors for most of my adult self. After cancer treatment (surgery/chemotherapy/radiation/anti-estrogen drugs) in my mid-40s, I started becoming routinely active, partly because I realized I needed to do that if I was ever going to feel like my normal self again, with normal energy level and happiness; and partly because I discovered rowing and became addicted.

It's pure speculation, but some things I might guess could be involved, none of which could possibly account for more than a handful of calories, but they maybe add up:
* More than normal muscle mass for a woman my age (the "calculators"/devices don't mostly ask anything related to that; a few do - those that do tend to give me closer estimates)
* High-average protein intake (even as a vegetarian) and lots of high-fiber and one-ingredient foods (higher TEF)
* Not fidgety (according to friends I asked ), but with a tendency toward large gestures when I talk, and a tendency to use big muscles to do things that I see other people use smaller ones to do (squatting vs. bending/reaching, say, in certain scenarios).
* Live alone in a weird house with all living areas on 2nd floor, so everything (groceries, etc.) gets carried upstairs, and my tracker definitely doesn't recognize all my many daily trips up and down stairs.
* I do heavy stuff by myself whenever possible (stubbornly independent) and don't have husband or kids to call on to help me
* Low step-based NEAT but an inclination to "do things the hard way", like pretty much always using a handbasket at the grocery store, carrying my craft supplies to group meetings in a tote bag while friends always use roll-y cases with wheels, etc.
* Severely hypothyroid, but medicated way to the lower end of normal TSH (which is where I feel adequate )
* With respect to my tracker specifically, it may matter that I've been a short-endurance athlete long enough (15+ years now) that my heart rate for various daily-life activities is lower than average when I do them, so it thinks I'm not exerting myself much on average.

Like I said, just guesses/speculations, and they're all very, very minor things. Overall, it's a little mysterious to me, but I don't much care: I'm going to eat those calories, even though it feels like I'm getting away with something. It probably won't last forever, but I'll take it while I've got it.