Wrong Polar calories in MyFitnessPal?

Thank you that reply helps make sense of things.

Lietchi wrote: »

For individual exercise sessions, it's normal to see a different number. In the Polar app, you see the gross number of calories (including BMR), but in MFP you see the net calorie burn.

That would account for the difference. Any way of knowing if MFP subtracts their BMR calc or uses the Polar BMR calc? That could make for a difference in numbers too overall if MFP and Polar calculate BMR differently. One would prefer being able to set the same baseline so that at least the numbers line up for that.

Lietchi wrote: »

Aside from that, what do you mean by wrong data for daily exercise data? Are you taking about the calorie adjustment? That number will never correspond to anything in the Polar app. It's the result of MFP comparing your total calorie burn as per Polar with the calorie burn MFP would have given you for the activity level you selected.
The thing to check is if the total number of calories burned for the day is correct. For that you need to tap on the calorie adjustment in your MFP diary and then tap on Extra Calories Burned to see the number MFP received from Polar and compare that to what your Polar says. It's best to choose a completed day to check.

(watch out, there might be small variations. When I used to have a Polar, I noticed it would retroactively change the total calories burned for past days according to changes in my weight)

The calorie adjustment for total calorie burn seems to be pretty accurate, sometimes the numbers line up with Polar sometimes they don't. These are for completed days. Although I only started using a polar watch since a few days, used the H10 for a while, and before that a Garmin.

Idk my OCD gets issues when numbers don't line up maybe. I still have to get used to the fact that this weight/diet tracking isn't an exact science or as accurate as I thought would be possible, something like that. I am getting used to the fact that there are some margins. For example how much an egg weighs, versus uses standard medium sizes.

How important the margin of error is, I am still figuring out.

I need to lose weight and train for medical reasons, so accuracy to a degree in this case is important, that's why trying to figure it out to where I can, and what is reasonable to expect and what margins for example.

What I have decided to for now is disconnect the Polar from MFP.

Part of the concern is how accurate smartwatches measure calories (over time) versus doing calculations based on parameters using standard methods and professional guidance.

I'll add the excercise in manually using MFP. I'll use the Polar for tracking training.
The calorie figures of those 2 sources might not line up, but then at least I have a baseline,
and in MFP have much more room to make calculations for weight (fat/muscle).

It's not ideal, and not what I had in mind, on paper it looks cool how you can couple the different smartwatches, but in reality is that it feels confusing, unpredictable, and unrealistic maybe.

Hopefully that will make the tracking a bit simpler, for now, to establish a baseline, which I can then see if I gain or lose weight (fat/muscle), and adjust accordingly.

Completely understandable.

What I mean with more in MFP for making calculations I mean things like having more input on things like daily nutritional goal, adjust percentages, etc. Instead of Polar just spitting out some calorie numbers which there isn't total control over.

So for example, I have a dietician who guides me, and we look at various measurements, calculations, etc, and I am still learning as we go, adjusting where needed. However it helps me adjust goals more easier, as I try to understand my body and what dietary needs combined with the training that I have to do for example. The dietician also monitors fat percentage. The hospital monitors the liver fat percentage through periodic blood tests, echos, and stuff.

Learning all this is complex enough as it is for me at times, although I feel sometimes I do understand some stuff (only sometimes to have to readjust), and the amount of (contrary) information on the internet is staggering at times. That's why I am happy with the dietician for example.

It's also why I like MFP, because it allows to offload some of the heavy and mundane work, like it's great for example with scanning barcodes usually (although sometimes the food data is wrong). It is the same errors in data that make me worry for using the excercise data from MFP.

When I compare the calories from excercises, between Polar and MFP they are usually about the same, some sports vary wildly. Where I am inclined, now, maybe to use the Polar data since it is measured. However I am no longer using the daily calorie adjustment from steps, because here it gets too unsure for me, that I don't dare count on it.

There also website like these where calories for different activities can be found:

https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=41&ContentID=CalorieBurnCalc
https://www.acefitness.org/education-and-resources/lifestyle/tools-calculators/physical-activity-calorie-counter/

So hopefully when I have trusted sources I can make an at least somewhat educated figures (which may need some adjustment at times from what I understand), so that hopefully will see improvement, over time, step by step.

I used to always struggle with underweight, so for me to struggle with overweight is completely new, and taking a crash course in solving it. Where I have to learn a lot of new things, and with some sense of urgency, and things can be a bit tough to narrow down and are more flexible. However even within that flexibility hopefully some stability, and range of figures that I get a better idea of how my body reacts to certain food for example.

Thank you for helping out, it made a big difference, and good luck as well!