Do I count walking as activity even though it tracks as steps?

[Busybeeme]

I am new and a little confused.  The fit bit tracks my steps so am I also supposed to count my time walking on a treadmill?  I would assume that it is tracking my steps on the treadmill.  If I add that activity than wouldn't it double my actual steps?  Thank you.

[SunsetRunner · Accepted solution]

For walking on the treadmill .. there is no need to enter an activity manually. The Fitbit will measure your steps just fine .. where you see people manually adding an activity is where the fitbit does not measure steps as easily .. things like cycling. You can always make an activity .. and it will not double count things. I personally use MFP (myfitnesspal.com) where I enter my planned exercise .. and it syncs with this site. The rest I just let the Fitbit do its thing.

[smhermione]

Kevin is right.  If your log your activity it won't double it because fitbit will erase the steps that it had tracked for that period of time.  That's why it is important to make sure you log your time correctly when you log you various activities.  Happy stepping!

[Busybeeme]

Thank you!  I appreciate your response.

[Busybeeme]

Thank you Kevin!  I understand it now & appreciate your reply.  Debbie

[RosieGirl-1]

Hello everyone,

I have a question.....  my step count is suppose to restart every week correct?  Mines did not do that, now my numbers are going down does any one know why?   

Rosie 

[Jim_M]

You are looking at your 7 day totals, not week based.  The way it works is that it's the previous 6 days, plus "today".  At midnight, the oldest day drops off, and is replaced by "today", so your numbers will be lower in the morning than they were the night before, as you've not done many steps "today".

[RosieGirl-1]

Jim thank you for that.  i was lost and confussed.....  now i get it.  Thanks again.

[lwiggy]

I thought the step count was for that day?

[WendyB]

It is for daily.

But on the dashboard it totals it for the week depending on what day you have set to reset it. sunday or Monday

[lwiggy]

Can that Dashboard only be access on the website and not on the mobile app?

[NatalieSheppard]

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@smhermione wrote:

Kevin is right.  If your log your activity it won't double it because fitbit will erase the steps that it had tracked for that period of time.  That's why it is important to make sure you log your time correctly when you log you various activities.  Happy stepping!

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Mine does double the steps when I manually log it...or if I go on a walk & track it with the GPS. But, I have also been having an issue with the miles not adding up with the steps I have walked. I walked 2.5 miles today & fitbit said I did not even walk 2...I am going to try to reset it tonight & see if that helps...

[feeney]

I am having the same problem.

I walk/ran 4 miles today,in addition to the steps i took during the day-- my dashboard says 3.2 miles total.

If I run and walk does it count both as steps or do I need to set something for when I run.

thanks for the help

[Lrkuh]

Since the trackers are made to count steps, why not just let it do it's thing when you're running or walkiing instead of manually adding it in?  That should help you avoid the problem of double counting.  Happy stepping!

[Txdawg]

I have a follow up question regarding using the FitBit along with MyFitness Pal.  When you record steps using MyFitness pal either by turning on the step function built into an iPhone or choosing walking as an activity it gives you an amount of calories and adds that to your daily allowance.

I turned off the step function within MyFitnessPal and am just using what my FitBit says.  It syncs up fine but it does not give the additional calories for exercise.  Is there a setting that will do this or do I need to add walking in myfitnesspal as an exercise for a given number of minutes to get this, and if I do, will that double count the total steps shown on my dashboard?

Thanks

[tleitzke]

Ok I get that if you track walking... at the same time that the fitbit tracked your steps... that it won't double count.  right?  but my question,  if you don't mark walking as an exercise, and just let it count as activitiy, then you don't get count for exercise... and I have some goals based on my daily exercise, right?  I use MFP as well and I'm so confused as to what is double dipping or not?!

[tleitzke]

then you get activity count but not exercise count.. and I have goals on exercise I do daily.

[SunsetRunner]

What I do for walking on the treadmill is put fitbit in workout mode.  That way that portion of your steps are counted as exercise plus you get a readout of how you did... heart rate, steps taken, calories burned, etc.  And you don't have to put in anything manually, it does it for you.  To put into workout mode, just hold the button until it buzzes.  When finished with your workout, hold the button again until it buzzes.  

[mike824]

something i dicovered with my charge hr is while i'm on the treadmill if i am hanging on to a handle and my arm isn't moving it only counts about half my steps.. running or walking with my arms free counts everything.

[eringillis18]

I always track my activity on Fitbit.  If I do the treadmill and record it after I'm done, I've noticed that it overrides the information that it already tracked (I'm guessing because I put in specific details of time, distance, etc).  When I'm outside walking, I use the track option instead of log under the track activity/exercise tab in the mobile app.