Where do these predefined daily activity goals come from?

[nyctalus]

For reference, I'm specifically asking about these values.

I've already changed some other stuff, but I was just wondering, why does it say 8,05 km by default? And why 3067 kcal? These values look so oddly specific. But the same question applies to the 22/150 active zone minutes...?

I'm new to Fitbit (using the Pixel Watch) and now I'm just trying to understand the app better. Are these values like general recommendations? Are they based on anything like age or gender? Or on my past activities? (Although that wouldn't be a lot because I just had this watch for a few days 😁)

[JohnnyRow]

I'll take a crack at some of those, those not sure I'm supposed to answer anything relating to Pixel Watch.

Active Zone Minutes has a weekly goal of 150 minutes, I believe set by American Heart Association and CDC (American Center for Disease Control) though not totally sure of those sources, and Fitbit just set 22 daily minutes as daily goal to insure reaching 150 minutes weekly.

As for distance 8.05 km, I think that is set from your step goal of 7500 steps times your stride length (which is by default based on your height, age, sex, but can be overridden by you).  I thought the default step goal was 10,000 steps but maybe that has been lowered, or maybe you changed that yourself.

Calories - bit of a mystery - when I started out, to me it seemed to be that I would reach my calorie goal about the time I reach my step goal but not everyone seemed to have similar experience.

[nyctalus]

Thanks for your answer! In the meantime I found more settings in the Fitbit phone app, and there also was an explanation for the 150 active zone minutes per week 👍

I set the step goal to 7500 because that's what I previously had set in Google Fit, before I switched to the Pixel Watch. Maybe gonna increase it later 😁

I also found some settings for stride length in the Fitbit phone app and those also have default values. No clue if they're accurate though. If they're based on my height which I entered on the watch, they might be.

Still, 8 km for 7500 steps sounds too much. Maybe the 8,05 km is based on the initial 10000 steps recommendation?

[JohnnyRow]

I just realized 8.05 km = 5 miles - probably the original default distance goal set in U.S.   I actually don't pay much attention to distance, figuring it's just dependent on step count, at least for me, not using GPS much.

Default stride length is generally fairly close, especially considering your stride length varies depending on speed, up or down hill, etc. but you are free to experiment with adjusting it if you find your walk distances seeming not accurate.  But if using GPS, stride length won't be factor anyway.

[nyctalus]

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I just realized 8.05 km = 5 miles - probably the original default distance goal set in U.S.  

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I guess that makes sense, sort of 😁

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I actually don't pay much attention to distance, figuring it's just dependent on step count, at least for me, not using GPS much.

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I see... ok but now I have another semi-related question, maybe you can help... Is there a way to let Fitbit track the location, even for automatically detected activities? I can't find a setting for this anywhere.

This was my main method to track my everyday activities when I used Google Fit. But apparently, Fitbit can only measure heart rate and steps taken when used in the "automatic detection" mode? 😲

[JohnnyRow]

For the last part, I think you will be better off asking on Google forums, maybe it's 'help.google. ...' , as I think that is more device-dependent, rather than dependent on the Fitbit app.  And I know nothing about Google Fit.  I think there is still a bit of confusion working through the support process, at least unofficial peer-to-peer support boards, for the Pixel Watch between the traditional Fitbit side with the Android app, and the Google side with the Actual Pixel watch specifics and I guess Pixel watch app also, as most of us on the tradition Fitbit side here have no actual experience with the Pixel watch.

[nyctalus]

This is the first line on Google's Pixel Watch support page 😁

For assistance with Fitbit health and fitness features on your Google Pixel Watch, including heart rate and heart health, exercise, and sleep, visit help.fitbit.com

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Now its really strange that there isn't even a Pixel Watch specific help forum here on the Fitbit site.

Anyway, apparently it is only possible to track location when actually using the workout mode on the watch, and its impossible when only relying on the automatic activity detection that happens in the background. At least I haven't found a way to make it work yet.

[JohnnyRow]

For most Fitbit models, there are a few auto-detected activities which are supposedly recognized by the movement pattern of wrist movement.  These can be seen by clicking 'days of exercise tile' on phone app, then gear icon near top right.  These usually work for walk and run, less reliable for other options.  Other option is to use the Exercise App on the Fitbit device itself to select exercise type and some options, such as whether or not to use GPS, then start and end from device on wrist.  This is more reliable and always records as an exercise session.    Within 'Run' option, at least on later devices, there is an option I have never used to say if it auto-detects a run to automatically start that exercise app and the GPS if that option is turned on.

I can't swear that all is true for Pixel watch as some of it depends on settings made on device.

[nyctalus]

For most Fitbit models, there are a few auto-detected activities which are supposedly recognized by the movement pattern of wrist movement.  These can be seen by clicking 'days of exercise tile' on phone app, then gear icon near top right.  These usually work for walk and run, less reliable for other options. 

Yes, this is what also works on the Pixel Watch, but then I get no location tracking so I cannot later see the route that I was running/walking on the map. (Something that Google Fit can do.)

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Other option is to use the Exercise App on the Fitbit device itself to select exercise type and some options, such as whether or not to use GPS, then start and end from device on wrist.  This is more reliable and always records as an exercise session.

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This is also possible on the Pixel Watch and this way I also get location tracking. But it will be hard to get used to manually starting the exercise on the watch every time. (again, this was not necessary with Google Fit)

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Within 'Run' option, at least on later devices, there is an option I have never used to say if it auto-detects a run to automatically start that exercise app and the GPS if that option is turned on.

This is not supported on the Pixel Watch.

Sorry for getting this thread off-topic, but thanks again for your help! I'm really trying to get used to Fitbit but it will probably take some time.

I've already learned now that it does some things very differently (and imho worse) than Google Fit, but on the other hand Fitbit has WAY more features overall, so that's nice...

[JohnnyRow]

So now you tell me something about Google Fit.  it's a fitness app, but does it work with some specific activity tracker.  I had thought maybe just using phone's step counter but I thought you said something about heart rate.  With Fitbit and Pixel watch you get heart rate all the time all day, not just during certain activities.

Edited:

Just looked up a bit more about Google Fit.  I'm guessing you are comparing always using phone for tracking vs. using wrist device.  Realize writ device has constant heart rate tracking; no idea how ever got that from phone unless always holding thumb against it.  Don't have to have phone with you to track exercise; can go for run or swim or bike ride or aerobics class without carrying phone.  Maybe I'm totally not understanding Google Fit though, so not really understanding you comparison at all.

[nyctalus]

Well Google Fit runs on the phone but also on many WearOS watches, including the Pixel Watch.

On the Pixel Watch there is a limitation though. Unfortunately Google Fit can't access the all-day heart rate data which is collected automatically in the background. Which is one of the reasons I'm now switching to Fitbit, which is the default health app on the Pixel Watch anyway.

But in the past I've used Google Fit with multiple other WearOS smartwatches, mostly with a Fossil Carlyle. It works very easily: you just have to carry either the phone, or the watch or both. Google Fit will then automatically track activities including walking, running and bicycling. And Google Fit will accumulate all the data that it has access to for each particular activity (i.e. some data you only get when you carried your phone with you and some data only when you wear your smartwatch (like heart rate)).

The nice thing is, you don't even need GPS. Google Fit can still show you your route and distance, using the coarse location service that's already built into your phone anyway. This is less precise than GPS obviously, but its still good for a rough estimation. Also, this data only shows up when you carry your phone with you, because most watches otherwise don't have access to this location service. But that's not a problem most of the time, because when walking the dog, going to the grocery store or going for a bike ride, I always carry the phone anyway.

So this has become quite a long post but maybe now it's a bit clearer why I'm having some issues switching from Google Fit to Fitbit. (And yes I realize I'm sounding like a total Google fanboy right now 😂)

My use case in the past has been: Just carry phone and/or watch and go about my day. Things like casual walks and bike rides were always tracked by Google Fit fully automatically, including heart rate AND location data (or I'd at least get partial data when I left either my phone or my watch at home). This is the area where Fitbit is lacking a bit.

Then there is the manual exercise tracking, which I normally only use for explicit workouts like running. This is where Fitbit offers a lot more than Google Fit. For example the reports in the Fitbit app are way more detailed than they are in Google Fit, and Fitbit can do loads of other stuff like sleep analysis etc. which Google Fit lacks. So all in all, Fitbit is still a clear upgrade over Google Fit, the user experience is just a little less fluid, so to speak.

[JohnnyRow]

@nyctalus  Thanks for explanation.  I understand that much better now.

[nyctalus]

Sure no problem. One more thing I should mention is, Google Fit doesn't work this well on every WearOS watch... For me it worked best on the Fossil Carlyle (unfortunately that watch had other shortcomings), then I also had a Galaxy Watch4 and there it was somewhat limited, the heart rate tracking didn't always work... And now the same is true for the Pixel Watch.

But I think I'll get used to the Fitbit app, it has just so much more possibilities. Which brings me back to the starting point of this whole thread 😁 there are just so many things you can configure, and another thing that I just realized is, you can also export GPS routes as tcx files which is great.