Logging exercise FitBit and MFP

melmck2011
melmck2011 Posts: 56
edited December 18 in Fitness and Exercise
So I'm not sure if I'm double counting my exercise or not. I went for a job wearing my FitBit and my Polar HRM. I used the stopwatch feature on the FitBit during my run and I also recorded it with my HRM.
The FitBit automatically logged my run into the activity records part of the site.
The big question is do I now log the same run on MFP under exercise or will that be double counting? Now that I'm reading this over, it probably is right?
However, FitBit will not tell MFP that I exercised so I'm not sure how I'm supposed to log exercise. Grrr.
Can someone walk me through how to log a run? Is it better on FitBit or MFP with HRM?

Thanks! And I'm sorry if this is very confusing.

Replies

  • izzyissy
    izzyissy Posts: 48 Member
    I hope I am doing it right. Can't wait to hear your answer. I am not logging at all and just hitting the start/stop time and I think
    that MFP just adds that in.
  • curlygirly80
    curlygirly80 Posts: 176
    You do not have to use the stop watch on your Fitbit. All you need to do is after you exercise track it under either the cardiovascular or strength. It will ask you for your start time, time exercised and calories burned and then it will automatically adjust from the fitbit, as long as you are synced with MFP. I was also doing the same thing and someone corrected me on it. It will take a few minutes for it to register with both sites, but it will give you the correct # of calories.

    Hope this helped!

    Chrissy
  • melmck2011
    melmck2011 Posts: 56
    Great! Thanks Chrissy. Now the only time I will use the stopwatch will be to sleep!
  • curlygirly80
    curlygirly80 Posts: 176
    Great! Thanks Chrissy. Now the only time I will use the stopwatch will be to sleep!

    No problem! Just be patient when the 2 take a while to sync up with one another, at times its gonna show a great deficit.
  • Absidey
    Absidey Posts: 116 Member
    I still use the stop watch to get the time and duration. When I log it into MFP, it categorizes the training window on FitBit and adjusts its calorie count based on that. Then FitBit spits that count back to MFP, and adjusts higher if it thinks I worked harder than the standard exercise equation. (For example, if I tell it I was doing weights, it counts my movement for more than just the steps it counted were worth. If I tell it I was jogging, it sticks with its step count based estimate.)
  • curlygirly80
    curlygirly80 Posts: 176
    I still use the stop watch to get the time and duration. When I log it into MFP, it categorizes the training window on FitBit and adjusts its calorie count based on that. Then FitBit spits that count back to MFP, and adjusts higher if it thinks I worked harder than the standard exercise equation. (For example, if I tell it I was doing weights, it counts my movement for more than just the steps it counted were worth. If I tell it I was jogging, it sticks with its step count based estimate.)

    Yes, but are you using an HRM or just the equation that MFP uses to calculate your calories?
  • melmck2011
    melmck2011 Posts: 56
    I still use the stop watch to get the time and duration. When I log it into MFP, it categorizes the training window on FitBit and adjusts its calorie count based on that. Then FitBit spits that count back to MFP, and adjusts higher if it thinks I worked harder than the standard exercise equation. (For example, if I tell it I was doing weights, it counts my movement for more than just the steps it counted were worth. If I tell it I was jogging, it sticks with its step count based estimate.)

    Ahh so that's why my calorie adjustment jumped up so much after I deleted my logged exercise on MFP. I guess it wasn't double counting after all.
  • izzyissy
    izzyissy Posts: 48 Member
    I'm still so confused. If I don't log any exercise on Fitbit or MFP, and I work out, will it still register? It has to because it is still registering on the fitbit itself. So, why do I have to log it in on MFP? Also, I press the start and stop button because when I do that,
    the FitBit site automatically enters that in for me with the time. I don't log anything... Is this right??? I just put it on and it calculates everything for me without logging anything. I have on MFP that I am sedentary.... Thanks.
  • 3BeersKen
    3BeersKen Posts: 9 Member
    Does it matter if you forget to enter on MFP until the next day? I went in this morning and logged my activity for yesterday. I've waited about 30 minutes and MFP still shows both entries without the adjustment amounts changed. Looks like it shows doubled.
  • moneymeg
    moneymeg Posts: 5
    I am curious about this, as well. When I linked FitBit to MFP, the MFP instructions said I should log the start time of my exercising under "Exercise". However now it shows that I burned 300+ calories that I logged and 250 calories as a FitBit adjustment. So, what did we decide? Delete the one I entered?
  • moneymeg
    moneymeg Posts: 5
    Just found this in the MFP help, guess I'll go ahead and log my exercise and just see how it turns out! :)

    Will my exercise calories be counted twice now that I'm using FitBit and MyFitnessPal?

    By entering the time you begin your cardio exercise, the calories burned, and the number of minutes you exercised, MyFitnessPal and FitBit.com can correctly reconcile your cardio exercise with the increased activity recorded by your FitBit during that period of time. Without the start time and the minutes exercised, it is likely that your increased activity level would be accounted for twice: once when you log it on MyFitnessPal, and once when your FitBit reports increased activity. Entering the start time ensures that your Net Calorie Goal is not adjusted twice for the same cardio workout. The exercise calories you log with MyFitnessPal will replace the calorie data estimated by your FitBit for that period of time.
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