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Calorie Count Package vs FitBit

I've noticed that sometimes when I use bar code reader to register information on packaged products, the FitBit calorie count will be lower than what's on the package. Anyone know why? Which should I believe?

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7 REPLIES 7

Can you post an example (photo of barcode + nutrition information on package) of such a discrepancy? How big is the difference? 

MyFitnessPal is notorious for that (just google "myfitnesspal calories don't match macros").

Dominique | Finland

Ionic, Aria, Flyer, TrendWeight | Windows 7, OS X 10.13.5 | Motorola Moto G6 (Android 9), iPad Air (iOS 12.4.4)

Take a look at the Fitbit help site for further assistance and information.

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Check that the portion size that fitbit defaulted to is the same as the packaging.  

Scott | Baltimore MD

Charge 6; Inspire 3; Luxe; iPhone 13 Pro

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Hi everyone, new user here.

I've come onto the forum to try and find the answer to a very similar question.  I have only had my fitbit just over a week and still getting to grips with it and I have been pleasantly surprised at the amount of foods (branded and otherwise) that are in the database to choose from.  However, I have come across a couple of foods that do not match the nutrition information on the label.

For example - a tin of Heinz tomato soup says "102 calories per half can" on the label, but the database says "226 calories per serving". I take on board what has been said about ensuring the quantity is set right in the app, but if you looked at a half can as being one serving this is not right.  I know my maths is shocking, but even if one serving was the whole can, surely it would still only be 204?

What do other folk do?  Do you go with what the app says and consistently overestimate, or do you create custom foods and go by what the label says?

Any advice would be much appreciated.  Thank you.  🐵

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There is another forum where your question is more is more likely to be answered. It is 1 of  the 3 fitbit app forums  based on which operating system you have, There is the fitbit app for Android forum, the fitbit app for IOS forum, and the fitbit app for Windows 10 forum.

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I’ve never had success with the barcode reader, so I just custom enter everything 

MultiSport Athlete ... Charge HR, Charge2, Ionic, Aria Scale, iPhone5, iPad, MacBook Pro
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@fastpig -- I think the food packaging is more likely to be correct.  I use MyFitnessPal, which also has mistakes, and if the difference is significant I might look for a different brand or a different version of the same brand to see if I could find a closer match.  That way the micro-nutrients would be more likely correct than if I did a custom entry.  

 

If you are not tracking macros (or micros!), an old food logging trick is to create a custom food called "100 calories" and enter multiples or fractions of that to speed up calorie logging.  I've been logging with MFP for about year straight now, though, and have saved meals for fast logging, and have probably already logged some variation of about 99% of anything I'm ever likely to eat.  I weigh in daily and rely on my weight trend to validate the accuracy of my food logging and fitbit's energy expenditure calculations.  

Scott | Baltimore MD

Charge 6; Inspire 3; Luxe; iPhone 13 Pro

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Thanks everyone for your replies.  I haven't been using the barcode reader, just searching for the food through the database.

I'm now going by what it says on the label and custom entering everything.

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