fitbit double counting steps if you log the activity yourself?

[alv1]

Whe I use the elliiptical the fitbit counts those steps, then when I log the activity, I seem to get a double count of those steps and calories burned.  But isn'tthe systems set up so you log your activities?

How can I eliminate this while still logging my active minutes, etc.

[WendyB · Accepted solution]

You should manually log things that the Fitbit does not pick up like weights. You dont need to manally log every thing.

I have a One and use the start stop button to record my Activity to see how many steps I took during that activity.

Not know which one you have you can download the manual at the bottom of all pages for the product you have.

[amfiala]

Hey Guys - Was wondering somethng similiar (but different) on the eliptical. It wasn't counting all my steps.
It seems that if i manually log the activity, it will override the step count and not count them in the calorie burn

[slysam]

It shouldn't double count, at least I've never had it double count steps. If you log some activities with a distance it will change your step count based on your stride length and distance. You can lose steps as well as gain--but it isn't doubling. If you are manually logging the activity you can avoid this by not entering a distance. If you are using a third party app you may not be able to do much about it.

[amfiala]

I sometimes will manually enter distance, but normally just time and activity. My only complaint with steps is the under reporting on elliptical. Thanks for your help
Al

Sent from my iPhone

[jenih]

I noticed today if I typed the type of exercise i did in the box (or just clicked on the little pic of the walker/runner etc) I was asked to put in the distance I ran or walked the extra minutes would be added to my active minutes and extra steps too BUT I found if you hover the mouse pointer over the little "i" next to "Log Activites" it explains that this is only for if you forget your fitbit.

There is a little doovee - "activity record" is written under it in the left hand corner of the log activity box. If you hover your mouse pointer over it, turns into a hand - you can click on it. This is where if you want to add more detail to your exercise, you can  and it doesn't add extras to steps etc

I hope this helps

[DKALV]

Recovery runner thnks for your helpful post on "double counting problem" was most helpful.Thought you might solve another issue.  My zip starts the day with reg. clock values and then changes to military time . How do I correct this?

[jenih]

I don't have a Zip. I have a Flex. But with a Flex, if I go to my settings (on dashboard - the cog thingy at top right hand side) and scroll down, there is a TIME option at the bottom. You can select 12/24 hour clock and also select your time zone and what day you'd like the week to start on.

As I said earlier, I have a Flex, so it might be different for your Zip

[rachinrainbows]

Similar problem... any advice??

I do lots of biking, and want to log my time on the bike. My understanding is that this should override steps and calories when I enter the activity. For example, I biked to work from 9:15-9:30. When I enter that as an activity, it appears in the activity log (3km, 0 steps). However my steps still appear at 9:20, which are steps fitbit presumably thinks I took while I was actually biking. Shouldn't those steps get overridden by me telling fitbit that I was biking???

I don't want it to count steps I'm not actually taking, so any help would be hugely appreciated!! If the proper way to deal with this is to create an activity log using the sleep function, that would be helpful...

Thanks!

[alv1]

You would think that your manual entry would over ride what the fitbit 'thinks' you did. I've tried to mediate it in the middle.

So usually, when I'm on the elliptical for 25 minutes, the fitbit logs about 13 active minutes. So I manually add in the other 12 minutes and estimate the calorie burn.
It's an imperfect system.


Amy Vogler
vogler@ptd.net

[Baltoscott]

I also ride my bike a lot. I used to log the rides as activities and as I remember it it would override my calorie count and active and very active minutes (depending the bike speed I put in for the activity). It did not override the steps or hills that my one recorded. I'm fine with that. I wind up getting some "step and stairs credit" for the activity which keeps me competitive on the leader boards for groups I have joined. Logging probably gives me a better picture of the calories I burn than if I get if I don't log the activity but I usually just wear the FB and don't worry about it. BTW I don't think it is cheating that FB counts steps when you ride -- you are being active and fitbit is just capturing that activity. In my case I get about 1/4 the steps/mile on the bike as I get for the same distance on foot (2000 steps/mi on foot vs 500 steps/mi on the bike).

[rachinrainbows]

Hey baltoscott,

This seems fair to me, or at least a good second option. I've started using the sleep timer so I don't have to mentally track the times I'm out on my bike, then coming home, inputting the exercise into My Fitness Pal (since I also sync food with it), and then deleting the activity log. It's definitely not perfect, but since I usually try not to eat back excess calories anyways, it probably isn't skewing my results a whole ton.

Thanks for the feedback! I think without my bike going up and over all the hills in our city gives me a great advantage towards a higher stair count. 😉

[JonS]

I have solved the step problem. Go into settings and zero out the Stridde lengths in both settings and it will start counting steps correctly. I did it last night and now it is counting the steps correctly with what my force says

[JonS]

I have figured it out with the step problem. Go to settings and zero out the stride settings in both. Then it will count the steps correctly. Go figure!!

[DKALV]

Thanks jon I will do right now .  Hope it works for me I have the Zip device . DKALV

[slysam]

Entering Zero in the stride length settings just restores the fitbit estimated default stride settings (based on your height and gender). As near as I can tell, this is a factor in how Fitbit estimates distance from steps and it is also a factor in how fitbit estimates steps from distance. I know that sounds confusing. The only times when logging an activity have changed my step count are when I logged walking or running with an entered distance. When this happens, my step count changes--it can either increase or decrease it does not double. It seems to be estimating the step count based on the entered distance and my stride settings for walking and running. I manually entered a stride for each based on laps around a measured track. Since I calibrated, my fitbit distances are usually pretty close to actual distance. I mention that because my stride settings do not say zero, and since I know what they are I can see that it seems to be what fitbit is doing when I log a distance for walking and running. So why do I do that? I don't actually, I use a heart rate monitor/GPS app that automatically logs my workouts to fitbit for me. So the distance logged is based on GPS and usually is pretty similar to what fitbit had already estimated. I typically delete the app's entry for walking and sometimes running (depending on how hilly the route is) and I see my fitbit counted steps restored whenever I do this. If you are manually logging a distance, you can actually leave the distance blank or enter "0" and it should keep your steps intact (this is in the activity record, not the stride length settings). I don't understand why altering your accounts stride length settings would change things unless something weird was manually entered in that field. But I am glad it worked for you! I've not had any need to restore the stride length defaults yet, as long as I don't log wlaking or running or don't log a distance if I do. I haven't observed this issue with other distance activities i.e. rowing or cycling. I've never entered the elliptical distance because that is kind of weird anyway--on one machine in my gym I noticed they had a pre-set distance covered per elliptical stride and it was much higher than my running stride setting (that I measured on a track). I think it is kind of an artificial movement to apply a distance to, though it can be a great full body non-impact workout.

[JonS]

Thanks for the explanation, but I don't really measure any distances. I just jog a few blocks, maybe about 1mile. Then I workout in a gym, then get on a elliptical for about 20 min. The explanation was very well said. You should post on main fitbit web site. I don't think most users go about it like you do.

Sent from my iPad

[beckner02368]

I always wondered if i logged my time and the calories that my treadclimber says do the steps that i am taking log and take out calories burned twice. I am satisfied with whatever it is doing even after i log the activity because i am still losing weight each day so it can't be too out of whack right?

[degsf]

Thank you for this tip!  I like to keep track of what my activities are, but noticed that if I entered something, it would override my steps.  This was what I needed to know to be able to keep notes on what I'm doing without disrupting the step count. 

[punkie2]

I am having trouble with syncing so I want to enter information manually.  Do you know how I can enter stair flights?  

Thanks!