Is Fitbit overestimating my exercise calories?
creesama
Posts: 125 Member
So this is my first ever Fitbit, previously I was just using the Pacer app. I know Pacer was probably underestimating because sometimes I'd walk without my phone with me. But these Fitbit exercise calories are WAY more than what I was seeing before. Does it also take into account my weight maybe? Like I'm 259lbs so I'm burning more than if I was 160lbs? Sorry if this is a dumb question. This is all new for me.
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Replies
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How many calories is it giving for what type of exercise?0
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It should take your weight into account (provided you entered your correct weight obviously) but there’s also a pretty decent chance it’s over estimating your calories. It really is just an estimate and that means it’s the wrong number for many people.0
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Fitbit estimates your all day burn, based on your age, weight, etc. And your movement. It isn't just "exercise" calories.7
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So this is my first ever Fitbit, previously I was just using the Pacer app. I know Pacer was probably underestimating because sometimes I'd walk without my phone with me. But these Fitbit exercise calories are WAY more than what I was seeing before. Does it also take into account my weight maybe? Like I'm 259lbs so I'm burning more than if I was 160lbs? Sorry if this is a dumb question. This is all new for me.
Like others have implied, more information would be useful. A few thoughts:
* Your Fitbit is looking at your all-day activity, if you wear it all day. There are lots of things that burn calories, that you may not have always carried your phone along for, but that your Fitbit sees. Examples: Carrying a basket of laundry up or down the stairs; going to the grocery store; pushing kids on a swing. Your Fitbit all-day calories would include all that sort of thing, not just intentional walks for exercise. On MFP, your "activity level" setting is supposed to reflect all that daily life non-exercise activity, but lots of people set it on "sedentary"/"not very active", when their actual routine would be more calories than that. For example, a typical homemaker mom with small children is probably at least "lightly active".
* Which Fitbit model you have matters, and what activities/exercises you do matters, in giving you ideas about how accurate it's likely to be. If you tell us your height, weight, what your day is like (home, work, exercise, other hobbies), plus what the Fitbit is saying, someone can give you a spitball idea of whether it's plausible or not.
* You need to make sure your Fitbit user settings are as accurate as you can make them. Have you?
* Some tracker devices are initially more inaccurate, but "learn" us as we wear them, so their estimates improve.
* Yes, bodyweight matters, when it comes to calorie burn for any exercise that involves moving your body through space . . . like walking.
Best wishes!5 -
nanamerriman2020 wrote: »Fitbit estimates your all day burn, based on your age, weight, etc. And your movement. It isn't just "exercise" calories.
I understand that, but the "exercise" calories on MFP is saying 618 when I've only done 4480 steps today and no deliberate exercise. I'm 5'6 259lbs and 30 years old. It just seemed like a lot for no deliberate exercise being done. This is a fairly typical day as far as movement goes. Idunno, I'm just used to seeing 200s in the "exercise" calories over the last couple weeks0 -
nanamerriman2020 wrote: »Fitbit estimates your all day burn, based on your age, weight, etc. And your movement. It isn't just "exercise" calories.
I understand that, but the "exercise" calories on MFP is saying 618 when I've only done 4480 steps today and no deliberate exercise. I'm 5'6 259lbs and 30 years old. It just seemed like a lot for no deliberate exercise being done. This is a fairly typical day as far as movement goes. Idunno, I'm just used to seeing 200s in the "exercise" calories over the last couple weeks
I agree it sounds like its overestimating. 618 calories for under 5,000 steps sounds like a lot.3 -
nanamerriman2020 wrote: »Fitbit estimates your all day burn, based on your age, weight, etc. And your movement. It isn't just "exercise" calories.
I understand that, but the "exercise" calories on MFP is saying 618 when I've only done 4480 steps today and no deliberate exercise. I'm 5'6 259lbs and 30 years old. It just seemed like a lot for no deliberate exercise being done. This is a fairly typical day as far as movement goes. Idunno, I'm just used to seeing 200s in the "exercise" calories over the last couple weeks
I agree it sounds like its overestimating. 618 calories for under 5,000 steps sounds like a lot.
Ok, thanks. Hopefully it'll level out as I wear it more? I don't eat back calories for the most part anyway right now, I'm just trying to find the spot where I lose weight but maintain supply for breastfeeding. But in the future that info would be useful. I was unsure how crazy it would be after exercising too.1 -
nanamerriman2020 wrote: »Fitbit estimates your all day burn, based on your age, weight, etc. And your movement. It isn't just "exercise" calories.
I understand that, but the "exercise" calories on MFP is saying 618 when I've only done 4480 steps today and no deliberate exercise. I'm 5'6 259lbs and 30 years old. It just seemed like a lot for no deliberate exercise being done. This is a fairly typical day as far as movement goes. Idunno, I'm just used to seeing 200s in the "exercise" calories over the last couple weeks
I agree it sounds like its overestimating. 618 calories for under 5,000 steps sounds like a lot.
Ok, thanks. Hopefully it'll level out as I wear it more? I don't eat back calories for the most part anyway right now, I'm just trying to find the spot where I lose weight but maintain supply for breastfeeding. But in the future that info would be useful. I was unsure how crazy it would be after exercising too.0 -
Did the Fitbit set up ask about breastfeeding? I wonder if it includes additional calories for that? (My breastfeeding years ended long before I started using Fitbit.)2
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So this is my first ever Fitbit, previously I was just using the Pacer app. I know Pacer was probably underestimating because sometimes I'd walk without my phone with me. But these Fitbit exercise calories are WAY more than what I was seeing before. Does it also take into account my weight maybe? Like I'm 259lbs so I'm burning more than if I was 160lbs? Sorry if this is a dumb question. This is all new for me.
You setup your calorie expenditure within MFP, so active lightly active etc. I wouldn't eat back the calories from any tracker as the site is already supposed to set your calories based on your activity level selected.0 -
Tedebearduff wrote: »So this is my first ever Fitbit, previously I was just using the Pacer app. I know Pacer was probably underestimating because sometimes I'd walk without my phone with me. But these Fitbit exercise calories are WAY more than what I was seeing before. Does it also take into account my weight maybe? Like I'm 259lbs so I'm burning more than if I was 160lbs? Sorry if this is a dumb question. This is all new for me.
You setup your calorie expenditure within MFP, so active lightly active etc. I wouldn't eat back the calories from any tracker as the site is already supposed to set your calories based on your activity level selected.
I do the opposite. I pretty much ignore the MFP calorie amount because I have used my Fitbit so long and know it's pretty accurate for me . For regular workdays without extra exercise the MFP estimation is usually pretty close, but my main source is still Fitbit instead of MFP. I have to emphasize, I have had a Fitbit for several years and know pretty well how my calorie burn behaves on different days, amounts of walking etc.6 -
Tedebearduff wrote: »So this is my first ever Fitbit, previously I was just using the Pacer app. I know Pacer was probably underestimating because sometimes I'd walk without my phone with me. But these Fitbit exercise calories are WAY more than what I was seeing before. Does it also take into account my weight maybe? Like I'm 259lbs so I'm burning more than if I was 160lbs? Sorry if this is a dumb question. This is all new for me.
You setup your calorie expenditure within MFP, so active lightly active etc. I wouldn't eat back the calories from any tracker as the site is already supposed to set your calories based on your activity level selected.
That's not quite how they work. If you set it up as 'lightly active' and your tracker notes that you did 10k steps then it'll adjust your calories to give you more as you've gone above 'lightly active'. If you have negative adjustments enabled the opposite is also true. If you're 'lightly active' and you've been sedentary all day and done 1k steps then it'll decrease your calories. Trackers also take into account intentional exercise like going for a run. So in that respect they are better than the discrete levels you have to choose on MFP as estimates as they set your levels every day based on your actual activities.
If you don't eat back at least some of your calories you'll at best struggle, at worst seriously under eat.
That said, trackers do vary in accuracy for different people, so it's worth keeping an eye on it and see how the numbers match up to the results and evaluate it over time. Some trackers take a bit of time to adjust and improve estimates.5 -
Tedebearduff wrote: »I wouldn't eat back the calories from any tracker as the site is already supposed to set your calories based on your activity level selected.
You do realize that is not the way MFP is set up, right?7 -
nanamerriman2020 wrote: »Fitbit estimates your all day burn, based on your age, weight, etc. And your movement. It isn't just "exercise" calories.
I understand that, but the "exercise" calories on MFP is saying 618 when I've only done 4480 steps today and no deliberate exercise. I'm 5'6 259lbs and 30 years old. It just seemed like a lot for no deliberate exercise being done. This is a fairly typical day as far as movement goes. Idunno, I'm just used to seeing 200s in the "exercise" calories over the last couple weeks
I agree it sounds like its overestimating. 618 calories for under 5,000 steps sounds like a lot.
Ok, thanks. Hopefully it'll level out as I wear it more? I don't eat back calories for the most part anyway right now, I'm just trying to find the spot where I lose weight but maintain supply for breastfeeding. But in the future that info would be useful. I was unsure how crazy it would be after exercising too.
Whoa, hold up! With the breastfeeding in the picture, I'd encourage an even more conservative approach than I would for an equally young (to me
) woman in different circumstances. Until you get your 4-6 weeks worth of weight results, I'd strongly encourage you to eat back a big chunk of any exercise calories, even if worried they may be a little overstated.
On top of the breastfeeding, if you're quite recently post-partum, your body is healing, and your hormone rebalancing could lead to misleading gain/loss results (from water weight fluctuations) even over the 4-6 weeks.
If you eat a little too much to hit your weight loss goals, the worst that happens is slowed weight loss (you're unlikely to wipe out your whole calorie deficit and fail to lose fat at all, let alone gain weight - even if water retention weirdness obscures that fat loss for a while). If you eat too little, it's possible for your recovery or your milk supply to suffer. I'm not trying to be harsh or scary when I say this: Sincerely, I say it out of care and concern.
I've not tried to lose weight in your circumstances, but have seen other level-headed, experienced women of MFP who, while nursing, recommend eating at approximately your maintenance calories (the level that would be maintenance if not nursing), and let the breast-feeding create the calorie deficit for weight loss. That's at least an option to consider.
Best wishes!
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nanamerriman2020 wrote: »Fitbit estimates your all day burn, based on your age, weight, etc. And your movement. It isn't just "exercise" calories.
I understand that, but the "exercise" calories on MFP is saying 618 when I've only done 4480 steps today and no deliberate exercise. I'm 5'6 259lbs and 30 years old. It just seemed like a lot for no deliberate exercise being done. This is a fairly typical day as far as movement goes. Idunno, I'm just used to seeing 200s in the "exercise" calories over the last couple weeks
I agree it sounds like its overestimating. 618 calories for under 5,000 steps sounds like a lot.
Ok, thanks. Hopefully it'll level out as I wear it more? I don't eat back calories for the most part anyway right now, I'm just trying to find the spot where I lose weight but maintain supply for breastfeeding. But in the future that info would be useful. I was unsure how crazy it would be after exercising too.
Whoa, hold up! With the breastfeeding in the picture, I'd encourage an even more conservative approach than I would for an equally young (to me ) woman in different circumstances. Until you get your 4-6 weeks worth of weight results, I'd strongly encourage you to eat back a big chunk of any exercise calories, even if worried they may be a little overstated.
On top of the breastfeeding, if you're quite recently post-partum, your body is healing, and your hormone rebalancing could lead to misleading gain/loss results (from water weight fluctuations) even over the 4-6 weeks.
If you eat a little too much to hit your weight loss goals, the worst that happens is slowed weight loss (you're unlikely to wipe out your whole calorie deficit and fail to lose fat at all, let alone gain weight - even if water retention weirdness obscures that fat loss for a while). If you eat too little, it's possible for your recovery or your milk supply to suffer. I'm not trying to be harsh or scary when I say this: Sincerely, I say it out of care and concern.
I've not tried to lose weight in your circumstances, but have seen other level-headed, experienced women of MFP who, while nursing, recommend eating at approximately your maintenance calories (the level that would be maintenance if not nursing), and let the breast-feeding create the calorie deficit for weight loss. That's at least an option to consider.
Best wishes!
I'm 5 months PP, so I'm pretty much healed, but yes that would have been a concern early on. I'm on week 3 of weight loss so I definitely need more time to figure out my balance, it just was an alarming difference in "exercise " calories to eat back from using Pacer to using Fitbit. I have been staying in the 1700-1800 calorie range (recommended for maintaining supply) so more than the projected 1400 but still a deficit. But when breastfeeding is done, I didn't want to be eating back too much if Fitbit was overestimating1 -
nanamerriman2020 wrote: »Fitbit estimates your all day burn, based on your age, weight, etc. And your movement. It isn't just "exercise" calories.
I understand that, but the "exercise" calories on MFP is saying 618 when I've only done 4480 steps today and no deliberate exercise. I'm 5'6 259lbs and 30 years old. It just seemed like a lot for no deliberate exercise being done. This is a fairly typical day as far as movement goes. Idunno, I'm just used to seeing 200s in the "exercise" calories over the last couple weeks
I agree it sounds like its overestimating. 618 calories for under 5,000 steps sounds like a lot.
Ok, thanks. Hopefully it'll level out as I wear it more? I don't eat back calories for the most part anyway right now, I'm just trying to find the spot where I lose weight but maintain supply for breastfeeding. But in the future that info would be useful. I was unsure how crazy it would be after exercising too.
Whoa, hold up! With the breastfeeding in the picture, I'd encourage an even more conservative approach than I would for an equally young (to me ) woman in different circumstances. Until you get your 4-6 weeks worth of weight results, I'd strongly encourage you to eat back a big chunk of any exercise calories, even if worried they may be a little overstated.
On top of the breastfeeding, if you're quite recently post-partum, your body is healing, and your hormone rebalancing could lead to misleading gain/loss results (from water weight fluctuations) even over the 4-6 weeks.
If you eat a little too much to hit your weight loss goals, the worst that happens is slowed weight loss (you're unlikely to wipe out your whole calorie deficit and fail to lose fat at all, let alone gain weight - even if water retention weirdness obscures that fat loss for a while). If you eat too little, it's possible for your recovery or your milk supply to suffer. I'm not trying to be harsh or scary when I say this: Sincerely, I say it out of care and concern.
I've not tried to lose weight in your circumstances, but have seen other level-headed, experienced women of MFP who, while nursing, recommend eating at approximately your maintenance calories (the level that would be maintenance if not nursing), and let the breast-feeding create the calorie deficit for weight loss. That's at least an option to consider.
Best wishes!
I'm 5 months PP, so I'm pretty much healed, but yes that would have been a concern early on. I'm on week 3 of weight loss so I definitely need more time to figure out my balance, it just was an alarming difference in "exercise " calories to eat back from using Pacer to using Fitbit. I have been staying in the 1700-1800 calorie range (recommended for maintaining supply) so more than the projected 1400 but still a deficit. But when breastfeeding is done, I didn't want to be eating back too much if Fitbit was overestimating
Good show!
Keep in mind, though, that any non-personalized calorie recommendation is typically gauged to "average" body size, activity level, etc., and may assume less-than-optimally-accurate calorie tracking on the part of the recommendee. (I'm not sure if the 1700-1800 is personalized or not, but you probably know.)
Glad to hear you're keeping your eyes on staying strong and healthy: We see sadly many women arrive here who are bent to lose weight fast, and nearly any cost, and that's not necessarily a great plan, for either health or sustainability.
Best wishes!2
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