Calories Burned very low

[Lexi09]

I'm sure this topic has been brought up many times, but here goes!  I do a 50 minute Spin, Tabata, or Boot Camp class and my calorie burn is any where from 190 to 240 calories.  Now, I'm absolutely sure I burn more than that and I'm fine with the FitBit not being 100% accurate, but still....it's a little discouraging to wear it and work that hard to see only that many calories burned.  I'm trying to look at it as this is my target calories to hit...if I go under any of these numbers then I know I need to work harder.  Thanks for listening!!

[A_Lurker]

Which tracker are you using?  A step based tracker may not be picking up enough steps to increase your calories burned.  A heart rate tracker might be a better option.  You can log your exercise manually, which might be better with a non-HR tracker.

Just for fun I looked up calories for a spin class:

http://www.fitnessforweightloss.com/how-many-calories-do-i-burn-in-a-spinning-indoor-cycling-class/

[emili]

exactly as ALurker said. If you do not have HR your tracker is basing it on steps it can count and those activities are not huge step boosters. It is maybe picking up active minutes, but that is not going to give you a higher calorie burn..

[Lexi09]

I am using the Charge 2.

[Lexi09]

I also like the calorie burn on the website you posted better than what my FitBit shows 🙂  Thanks you guys for responding!

[A_Lurker]

Hmmm, even with few steps your heart rate should adjust for a higher calorie burn level.  Are these activities raising your heart rate to at least a cardio level?  I'm only asking because I sometimes find online estimates of calories burned to be a bit high.  Your reality might be somewhere in between.

[Dominique]

If you think you’re being "short-changed" by your Fitbit regarding calories burned, you can also pick up the activity that best matches what you are doing from the Compendium of Physical activities. Multiply the METs number for that activity by 50 (duration of your activity) and by your BMR per minute. You can determine your BMR using an online calculator such as this one. Divide BMR by 1440 (number of minutes in 24 hours) to obtain BMR per minute.

[CarolS]

I have the One and I put very little stock in the reported calorie burn.  I have had to get 30,000 steps to hit a burn of 2,000 calories!  I don't look at that part of the tracking very often.  I prefer to "compare apples to apples" and just track my steps.  I know that count is consistent and accurate.  Trying to get to a particular calorie burn was getting annoying.  If my weight is fairly stable, then I don't worry about it.

I'm 5"3", 125-130 pounds, 58 year-old female.  Love, love, love my Fitbit!

[Dominique]

@CarolS: actually, your Fitbit One probably isn’t that wrong on calories. If you enter your personal data into this calculator (which uses the Mifflin St Jeor equation, just like Fitbit), you’ll find that you need "high activity" to burn 1925 calories and "extreme" activity to burn 2121 calories. In my experience "high" definitely translates in 20k+ steps.

The One was my very first Fitbit tracker (loved it!) and I remember reaching the calories goal was much harder than with subsequent Fitbits I’ve been using. Back then (2013-2014), it was also much more difficult to get what was known as "Very Active Minutes" with the One than with the other trackers that were available at the time (Flex, Zip, Ultra). 

[Lexi09]

Thanks to all for helping me out.  I'm not too obsessed with having to know the calorie burn, I was just thinking it should be a little more than what the FitBit showed.  I love the FitBit too.  Like my little friend on my wrist!  I love the notifications too.

Thanks again!!!!