'Earned' calories?

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Mitramonday
Mitramonday Posts: 48 Member
in Getting Started
Hi all - so, I'm back on the waggon after THREE years :s ...and only then after being DX with (very) high blood pressure. Over the last 4 weeks, I've been utilising smoothies and calorie-counting, and have lost 10lbs which I'm happy with :) . However, I am also 'making' myself (as a self-confessed exercise-phobe) go out for a walk at least 3 times a week. My question is...on the exercise database and backed up by my fitbit report, I earned an extra 215 calories from walking today, but my mfp dashboard has only added an extra 73? Am I missing something (other than the extra 142 calories?!)

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    edited July 2020
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    I'm assuming your Fitbit is synced and that's how you're seeing the adjustment.

    The sync will not merely transfer your exercise calories, it will only begin adjusting when you move *more* than MFP would have predicted for your activity level. This is to prevent you from double-dipping into calories. If you tell MFP, for example, that you're lightly active, you get more calories up front. You only get adjustments when you have moved more than MFP would have predicted for a lightly active person.

    For many people, this means that we will see adjustments that are smaller than our actual "workouts." You already got the 142 calories -- you got them up front with your initial goal.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited July 2020
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    That is not a workout showing up in your Exercise Diary.

    It's the difference between Fitbit's daily total burned (TDEE) and what MFP thought you'd burn with no exercise and whatever activity level you selected.
    Could be only daily activity was greater and got extra credit.
    Could be only workouts and less daily activity.

    So you have burned 215 from the walk - but otherwise in your day you don't even move enough to hit the Sedentary you selected on MFP.

    So plus there, minus here.
    You got a net increase of 73 so far for the day.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10098937/faq-syncing-logging-food-exercise-calorie-adjustments-activity-levels-accuracy/p1

    Oh, don't manually add the workout.
    It's already included in the math.

    If you need friends list to see it just make a wall post about doing it.
    Fitbit exercise diary easier to use anyway.
  • threeyears2024
    threeyears2024 Posts: 52 Member
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    I have a question, what is sedentary? Around how many steps I mean?
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
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    threeyears2024 wrote: »
    I have a question, what is sedentary? Around how many steps I mean?

    I googled it and according to MFP it’s 2500 steps
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    threeyears2024 wrote: »
    I have a question, what is sedentary? Around how many steps I mean?

    For actual tracker that is coming up with calories and syncing those to MFP - it's really the distance those steps leads to. Distance and time and mass give very accurate calorie burn.

    Trackers send steps as a figure, like cups of water drank - no math is done with it, has no bearing on anything.

    so Sedentary falls below 3-4 K steps generally depending on distance from them.
  • threeyears2024
    threeyears2024 Posts: 52 Member
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    Sorry OP to steal your post.

    I live in a very small apartment and work from home. My TDEE is 1350 (according to online calculator) and 1420 (according to MFP). I don't even walk 2000 steps daily but my activity level is set to sedentary. If I intentionally walk 5000 steps and keep my activity level sedentary, I don't need to add that tiny calorie burn as exercise, right?
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    threeyears2024 wrote: »
    Sorry OP to steal your post.

    I live in a very small apartment and work from home. My TDEE is 1350 (according to online calculator) and 1420 (according to MFP). I don't even walk 2000 steps daily but my activity level is set to sedentary. If I intentionally walk 5000 steps and keep my activity level sedentary, I don't need to add that tiny calorie burn as exercise, right?

    You'll just be getting to the level you already told MFP to do math with. So no.

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