Need Opinions for App to Sync with MFP

Some of it depends on how much you want to spend. I really like my Garmin Lily watch and it allows you to modify the face to some degree. If you can’t read the numbers on the clock face, I believe you can add “widgets” and scroll through them on the watch face. The Garmin Connect app is easy to use and syncs with MFP.

Apple is about to release their Apple Watch 7, which will have their largest screen thus far.

I’ll be upgrading for sure.
Fingers crossed it has the non invasive glucose monitor too.

GoogleFit does NOT have a good sync history with MFP.

They don't attempt to send Total daily burn values as Fitbit does.
Steps can come across, calories is sent for workouts or some time - but from what I've seen, there is no ability for MFP to figure out if the calories is in addition to the daily activity they already accounted for, or a part of that daily activity.

Basically same issue when you use the MFP app to just directly get a step count from a device synced to phone.
No calories involved - so total rough calculations on what you may have burned, and was it extra or part of what was already accounted for.
And if you do manually log a workout, were the steps/calories part of that or not - so to be safe extra credit for that is just reduced.

What you can do with the other devices though, if they give an estimated TDEE value - just track 2 weeks worth of TDEE (which you may be able to see on their screen), subtract 500, 250, or whatever your deficit is, and manually set your eating goal to that.

Only works well if daily activity and weekly exercise is somewhat constant.

natboris2001 wrote: »

Sounds like I need to stick with Fitbit, Garmin, Polar, Samsung, Withings, or Misfit (I'm an Android gal) if I want MFP to easily read my fitness stats.........

FWIW: I can't speak for other models, but my Garmin Vivoactive 3, with the watch set on the face I find most readable, has numbers that are roughly (measured with ruler) .25 in/70mm or thereabouts. That's pretty big, and they're in a very clear font. I've had pretty terrible vision for the last 5 years or so - litany of problems - and this has been consistently usable for me. It's one of the things I like about it, the giant time display.

The displays are very customizable for explicit exercise, with various screen layouts, including some that let variables of most interest to you (steps, HR) be quite large, too.

When not set to a particular exercise, you can finger-swipe through various displays (that you select from a set of options), including one that puts the steps (so far today) in an equally big font, and another that has heart rate in a pretty big font at the top, and a bar graph of the last 4 hours below it.

TBH, this one is a good-sized watch face, which works for me. However, this model is pretty simple and sleek, not one of the ones that looks really commando-like.

Garmin has a pretty good rep for synching, I think, but I don't synch mine (it's complicated 😉).

natboris2001 wrote: »

If I want to go with a cheapo tracker whose app does NOT sync with MyFitnessPal, do I just manually enter my steps/treadmill time into MFP and it will calculate calories used? Looks like there are some decent trackers out there that cost a fraction of the $$ of the major brands.....

Yes. But it would probably be better to log the calorie estimate from your device on MFP, or log whichever of the two estimates is lower.

You can use an MFP database exercise and override the calorie estimate (with what the device said), or create a custom exercise.

In theory, it'd be better to figure out whether the device's calorie estimate is gross (includes the calories you'd burn it's just sitting around during that time interval) or net (just the additional calories of the exercise above and beyond non-exercise time). In theory, you want to log net. In practice, that difference mostly tends to only be arithmetically meaningful in the big picture for lengthy slow-burn exercise.

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

or ... get glasses?

happens to the best of us LOL
...

natboris2001 wrote: »

I DO have reading glasses but I think that's a bad mix for the treadmill or out walking on trails! I'll look at the Garmin app, thanks!

Figured I'd leave this here: https://o-store.ca/en/eyeglasses
in case you consider going that route.

These would be some of the options designed for athletes running through the woods while simultaneously reading a very detailed map.

natboris2001 wrote: »

heybales wrote: »

natboris2001 wrote: »

If I want to go with a cheapo tracker whose app does NOT sync with MyFitnessPal, do I just manually enter my steps/treadmill time into MFP and it will calculate calories used? Looks like there are some decent trackers out there that cost a fraction of the $$ of the major brands.....

How regular is your exercise and daily activity viewed from a weekly basis?

Like are you same amount of days on the treadmill same workout time and pace?
Rest of life pretty stable for activities viewed from the weekly perspective, cleaning days, shopping days, yard days (during those seasons)?

All I really do, activity-wise, is about 6 days on the treadmill and about 4-5 days doing yard work. I really don't need GPS or music. I DO want steps, stairs climbed, sleep monitoring, heart rate. There are some good prices on 2nd-hand Versa 2 out there. I wonder if there's a watch face for it that has a decent-size font for steps taken....

If that is the case, then you could just look at the weekly graphs or data for avg daily burn - usually that is given somewhere. Or have fun with spreadsheets and log it yourself with other interesting data.

Then either select an MFP activity level that is close to that for daily burn, or simply subtract whatever your reasonable deficit is - and manually set your eating goal to that.

Keep track of a 3 week running avg so that as seasons and activity levels change, you start adjusting your eating goal to match your activity level as needed, or as weight drops by 5-10 lbs.
Life lesson right there.

That would be using MFP with an avg weekly TDEE method - not designed for it - but it works just fine.
Just don't log workouts.
If needed make a wall post about them to inform your friend's list.