does the fitbit measure speed of pace or just the distance?

[patgrennan]

i know this might seem like a silly question...but i notice that the number of calories burned for some days, even the steps are way over 10,000 seem to be low....

all things being the same (distance, flights of stairs, etc...what would make the calories burned flucuate so much?  does the fitbit meaure pace in the calculation of calories burned?  am i walking too lsow on some days?

[Dominique]

Record activities if/when you are walking on purposes on some days of the weeks. This will give you a rough idea of your calorie burn, step count etc. for a given period of time (eg. 30 min., 60 min.), a given distance etc.

Also monitor your VAM (very active minutes) score. A higher VAM score should translate in more calories, even if the step count is lower.

And remember the calorie burn is just an estimate.

[Doug]

Yes, the fitbit does use your pace in its calculations.  To get Very Active Minutes (VAM) you must be over a certain calories per minute; in my case that seems to be around 7 calories per minute.  That said, the actual calories attributable to walking should, as I understand it, be more related to the distance than time.

[Mary]

The cutoff for Very Active Minutes seems to be around 5 calories for me.  I have a low BMR, though, so it's probably related to that (age, gender, size, etc.)