calories burned accurate?

[GetFitFargo]

How accurate are the estimated calories burned?  I'm killing myself with T25 workouts and I feel like I burn more calories than it's telling me.  I thought fitbit flex would estimate properly - but it doesn't seem right?  Feel I bought the wrong type of monitor.  Any suggestions?

[ColleenS]

I know what you mean.  I needed to burn 2086 calories today.  I walked fast for 40 minutes in my lunch break and ran for more than an hour after work and I was only on 87% at the end of the day.  I just don't have time to do any more.  I never reach that goal.

[Angel59]

I am also from ND, I moved to Texas in 2005 because of the COLD WINTERS. I do make it back during the summer to visit family. I've always enjoyed working out and the winters were just too cold to get outdside so I started walking inside to the Leslie Sansone Walk Workouts. She has 1 mile - 5 mile walks. I was excited to use the fitbit my son gave me for Christmas with the workouts but it doesn't record the steps or calories burned correctly. I was highly disappointed and thinking about returning it. 

[GetFitFargo]

Hi Angel59...yes the winters do get cold but I like the changing of the seasons - grew up in Minnesota so I've gotten use to it over the years!

I've never had a problem with it recording my steps.  May not be exact, exact - but mine has been pretty close.  What I like most about my fitbit is that it's keeping me accountable.  Yes, I have to log everything I do, everything I eat/drink, etc. but it's keeping me accountable for the actions, or lack thereof for that matter, that I take every day.

I purchased a heart rate monitor to wear during my workouts so that I can keep my heart at the proper target range.  I've found that sometimes I push it too far - which isn't doing me any good.  So the monitor along with my fitbit work well for me.  I've been able to lose just under 40 pounds in less than a year.  And I'm still working on the last 16 pounds...so the fight isn't over yet - but my fitbit is keeping me motivated.  Plus the sleep mode is pretty fabulous - had no idea how crappy my sleeping habits were until I was wearing my fitbit to bed.  Now I'm sleeping better because of it.

Best of luck to you and be sure to watch the NDSU Bison take on Illinois State at the NCAA FCS football championship next Saturday in Frisco, Texas 🙂  Go Bison!!!

[Heybales]

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@Angel59 wrote:

I am also from ND, I moved to Texas in 2005 because of the COLD WINTERS. I do make it back during the summer to visit family. I've always enjoyed working out and the winters were just too cold to get outdside so I started walking inside to the Leslie Sansone Walk Workouts. She has 1 mile - 5 mile walks. I was excited to use the fitbit my son gave me for Christmas with the workouts but it doesn't record the steps or calories burned correctly. I was highly disappointed and thinking about returning it. 

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You've counted the steps and it is missing them?

Since steps is distance, and distance and time is pace, that would indeed mess up the calorie burn, since the 2 go hand in hand.

But curious how you would know what the calorie burn should be, since you aren't actually moving a real distance?

[GetFitFargo]

I would say the best bet for Angel59 is to wear a heart rate monitor.  Didn't much think about it until you said it - if you're walking in place but not moving, the steps are probably inaccurate.  The HRM should help track calories burned better than the Fitbit in this case.

I feel my Fitbit is pretty close to my "steps" each day.  In reality, how accurate do you think you could be to 'personally' count every step you take.  Especially if you're taking 10,000 steps....that's lots of counting!

[Heybales]

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@GetFitFargo wrote:

I would say the best bet for Angel59 is to wear a heart rate monitor.  Didn't much think about it until you said it - if you're walking in place but not moving, the steps are probably inaccurate.  The HRM should help track calories burned better than the Fitbit in this case.

I feel my Fitbit is pretty close to my "steps" each day.  In reality, how accurate do you think you could be to 'personally' count every step you take.  Especially if you're taking 10,000 steps....that's lots of counting!

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Great reminder of a situation with a lady that did 5 min jogging in place every hour during the day.

She was wondering if calorie count could possibly be accurate, I was curious too.

She had HRM and treadmill actually, though she preferred to jog in place.

Anyway, for her, which means the amount she lifted her legs and style whatever else contributed to impact, she found that the jogging in place at certain HR, caused of course Fitbit to see certain distance, and therefore calorie burn.

And when she just jogged on treadmill at the same HR - it actually matched up within 5% the distance and calorie burn.

So for her, Fitbit was accurate enough for jogging in place.

And what a great time to use this phrase - "Your mileage may vary" - ha!

[Angel59]

Hi Heybales,

The Walk Programs include walking and running in place and short distance. Each mile is 15 min. I measured out 10 ft in my room that I walk and run. I read 2000 steps is approximately 1 mile. As far as caloris burned according to Leslie Sansone the walks without Mile Boosters (running for example) you can burn 100 calories per mile and with the boosters 125-150 calories per mile.   I manually recorded the miles and the amt of time  but calories always came in low and so did steps according to fitbit.I returned the fitbit and ordered the HR. Out of curiosity I tried using a pedometer that I had and got more steps from that than the fitbit.  I log food, watch calories, ect.  Now I'll just wait and see what the results of the HR will be. If I don't like it, I can always return it. 

[cmarti]

I've been sitting at a desk all day, and my Fitbit says I've burned 1,102 calories. Very confusing!

[slysam]

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@cmarti wrote:

I've been sitting at a desk all day, and my Fitbit says I've burned 1,102 calories. Very confusing!

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Most of those are calories that you would burn anyway just being alive. This is based on your height, weight, age and gender. Individuals vary, but in my opinion the formula Fitbit uses is not out of line for what is typical for someone like you. There is another popular (more common) formula to estimate this that credits me hundreds more than Fitbit for a day. If you are very sedentary--no exercise, no walking on errands, no physical work, desk job, commute by car, read or watch TV in the evening, minimal activity... Your BMR (basal metabolism rate) is the calories you burn being alive (running your organs, digesting food, regulating your body temperature, etc.) and it will be soemthing like 75-80% of your total calorie burn. Even if quite active it will be a big portion of your calorie burn. Mine is about 1200 if I stayed in bed all day, and that seems about right and I am short and do not have a  high BMR compared to a lot of people.

[GetFitFargo]

If you are moving your arms in any way - you are creating motion, energy, burning calories.  As previously stated, you are burning calories just by being alive...so although it may seem inaccurate - the motion/movement of your arms is counting toward your steps.  You can change the sensitivity of your fitbit if you'd like; and then also make sure you have designated whether you're wearing your fitbit on your dominant or non-dominant arm.  It's all in your settings.  Hope that helps!

[BodyStrongbyP]

I have the fitbit HR and am an Insanity Instructor.. I'll be honest~ with a 50 min class it says I am burning only approx 300 calories.  One of my class members wears a chest HR monitor and it says we burn anywhere from 600-800 calories.  Not sure which to believe but the lower calorie register keeps my intake low too.

[Heybales]

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@BodyStrongbyP wrote:

I have the fitbit HR and am an Insanity Instructor.. I'll be honest~ with a 50 min class it says I am burning only approx 300 calories.  One of my class members wears a chest HR monitor and it says we burn anywhere from 600-800 calories.  Not sure which to believe but the lower calorie register keeps my intake low too.

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Most likely they are being inflated upwards of 30%, and that's if they have a nice unit that even has self-test for HRmax and VO2max.

Cheaper Polars for example assume that if your BMI (height/weight) is bad, then your fitness level (age/gender) is bad too, so you get a bad VO2max.

So unless your BMI and age/gender all match up - what they get for calorie burn has no bearing for you.

In addition, if they are out of shape with higher HR, they get bigger burn logged, whether really done or not, compared to you even at same BMI but you are very fit doing the classes.

Basically - can't use their calorie burn to compare at all.

Fitbit HR calorie burn formula is very similar, except they do what the cheaper Polar's do, they have no stats like the more expensive ones.

But more for your issue, have you ever confirmed if it's really seeing accurate HR at the higher levels - many find that's when it fails to be accurate for HR.

If the HR is wrong, you can bet the calorie burn is wrong right there, never mind the inaccuraces above.

[mike824]

You people do realize that Fitbit is just a piece of electronics and all electronics have tolerance's plus & minus to some degree. Your Fitbit is a gauge and regardless of numbers ..it tells you what the software calculates to give you an estimate of your progress. If you wore a dozen different devices at the same time I seriously doubt there would be 2 or more that give you the exact same numbers. Did you think for $150 you were going to get something so accurate that NASA would use it in space where these things are critical ? Enjoy your workouts and use your Fitbit as a tool to do better because thats all it is a Tool.. 

[DKALV]

Sent from my iPad

Read your 13 post . I agree 100% with your logic. However, today for eg. On a 3.5 mi walk my moves app. Records cal. Burn 227 while my fit bit zip gives me 950 cal burned, which is of coarse, outrageously high. If you could input your stride length on the zip they should be able to at least be in the ballpark. It's annoying. But you are right, it's only a tool😉

[Heybales]

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@DKALV wrote:
Sent from my iPad

Read your 13 post . I agree 100% with your logic. However, today for eg. On a 3.5 mi walk my moves app. Records cal. Burn 227 while my fit bit zip gives me 950 cal burned, which is of coarse, outrageously high. If you could input your stride length on the zip they should be able to at least be in the ballpark. It's annoying. But you are right, it's only a tool😉

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Did both devices think you walked 3.5 miles in whatever time it took?

And, you can self-test stride length and change the Zip stat.

[DKALV]

Sent from my iPad

Yes,they were o.1 of a mile of each other. Steps were off of each other by 400 PTS.

[Heybales]

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@DKALV wrote:
Sent from my iPad

Yes,they were o.1 of a mile of each other. Steps were off of each other by 400 PTS.

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Ya, that's a messed up calorie burn if distance is correct.

But if distance is correct but steps was that far off, that implies the Zip thought you were taking small little steps. While the pace and mass being the same should have caused equal calorie burns, that difference in steps indicates something way off.

While the Zip may be slightly more sensitive, it should not have come up with same calorie count.

Did you make a manual activity record for the Zip stats before manually entering a workout to replace the Fitbit stats?

If so, leave it there and get a customer service ticket going - that's off too much.

[MobiusEngine]

For those doing Shaun T's Focus T25 I thought I would add in this calculator: http://www.t25calories.com/ which seems like a fair assessment.

[sinch]

I do understand that a Fitbit is not exact, but my friend and I both have a Fitbit One.  I am much more sedentary than she is.  Yesterday, I spent my time around the house, not doing much.  My Fitbit showed 2500 steps and 1600 calories.  My friend had 6000 steps, which included a 2 mile walk, and only showed 700 calories.  Since the Fitbit includes the calories you burn just by living and breathing, I think mine are closer to correct than hers, but why is hers only showing 700 calories burned? 

[slysam]

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@sinch wrote:

I do understand that a Fitbit is not exact, but my friend and I both have a Fitbit One.  I am much more sedentary than she is.  Yesterday, I spent my time around the house, not doing much.  My Fitbit showed 2500 steps and 1600 calories.  My friend had 6000 steps, which included a 2 mile walk, and only showed 700 calories.  Since the Fitbit includes the calories you burn just by living and breathing, I think mine are closer to correct than hers, but why is hers only showing 700 calories burned? 

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What time of day was it? My first guess is that her Fitbit might not be set for the correct time zone. The calorie burn starts at 12am the time it is set for. The other option is, did she have the activity/sleep timer going at the moment when she looked at the calorie burn? If so, the fitbit would be flashing, and in that case the calorie burn would only be for the time that passed since that timer was started not for the full day so far. And finally, do both of you have your height, weight, age and gender correctly set in your profile settings? Sometimes people accidentally enter weird things like a very light weight or very short stature. For the calories burned existing, that is based on your height, weight, age and gender. As you can imagine it can be hard to compare calorie burn if someone is a different age, gender or size than you are. But my first guess is that she should double check all her settings.