FitBit Food Tracker Vs MyFitnessPal or Weight Watchers

[RaeganBaker]

I wonder how many people use the food tracker within the FitBit App AND another one?

Do you track them separately or do you FitBit pull in the data from another source?

Which do you think is best to use with FitBit or without FitBit?  I have used MyFitnessPal and Weight Watchers (at different times).

[Prtddaws]

I just realized after a month of tracking on Fitbit that when you change the serving sizes that only the calorie counts change. Ex 1cup = 200 cals 20 protein 20 carbs etc, if you do 1/2 cup serving it will equal 100 cals 20 protein and 20 carbs ,,, it does not reduce anything but the cals 😞

[SunsetRunner]

I love My fitness Pal and it syncs with Fitbit so there's that. My fitness pal is just a better way for me to track

[Hi_Dare]

Not sure when it came about, but Fitbit app for Android, at least, does indeed have a barcode scanner. I've only used it on a couple things since I mostly cook from scratch, but it has found them, no problem. I am in the USA, by the way.

What I'm trying to figure out is if it is worth switching to MFP when I have already spent time creating meals or dishes on Fitbit. Some people say MFP is easier, but I wonder if that is just because it is what they know, or if there really is enough value to switch.

[MsFinnegan]

I'm unsure why Fitbit discontinued their Zip... I find the same issue of regular/repetitive movements in the garden tracking as steps too. But because I already made the investment in the Fitbit Ionic, I now put a large band on it and wear it around my ankle... Yes, it looks like I'm on house arrest but it def is much more accurate to my true steps. Come the fall it will be under my sock so I will care less. 🤣

[SunsetRunner]

I simply use FitBit database which I have found to be as robust as MFP and Carb Manager (another app I have used).  It's easy and fast and with a premium membership I get to drill down into a lot of great details plus other features.  I double tracked for a bit but then it just didn't make sense because the macros are essentially the same plus I was using the scan feature a lot...

I was using WW app but cancelled them for non-performance.  The app would not sync with my Wahoo Tickr device so I bought a FitBit Charge 3 and got it to sync but the app couldn't differentiate my exercise from my steps so I wound up getting double credit for steps resulting in an outrageous amount of "fit points" (those extra points that convert to smart points which = food)...I was on a chat line with them 3 days in a row with no success.  I googled the problem and discovered they have known about this "double count" since at least 2014.  Their technology is ancient so I demanded they cancel my membership without the "cancel fee" for non performance.   They did...

[DiinF]

I used to use MFP  to track food, but decided to give the Fitbit food tracking a go to have everything in one place, instead of switching between apps all the time. I personally think that the food database in Fitbit could be better (why does nothing come up when I search for raw carrots). the database on MFP seems to have a lot more selection for things. I may end up switching back

[AnaFitbit]

Hi @DiinF it's great to see you here. Hi @bbbonbon, welcome to the Community Forums. 

@DiinF thanks for the details shared and for your feedback. We're constantly striving to improve Fitbit products and services, and we very much appreciate all of the input we receive from our customers.  I suggest giving us your idea and suggestion through our Ideas board.

If you find that a similar suggestion has already been made by another member of the community, you can vote for their idea and add your comments.

@bbbonbon thanks for sharing your thoughts, it's great to hear you like both apps to track your food 😀 

See you around. 

[KeithRH]

2 maybe 3 years I've had a fitbit and only just realised this is possible.

I only found this link because I was looking to see what updates Google maybe making to the food tracker.

I too find FB hard to track food as it does not show the grams. It will say ' one portion' is I spend too long checking the weights and portions on packets. 

[wtupyo]

I prefer MFP because I can load up recipes that we use and log the servings of it instead of trying to guess. Like when I make sourdough bread at home - with FitBit I have no idea what ingredients they are considering for the generic bread! 

[CMac00068]

Over the years of my attempts of eating healthy and tracking food, I've done WW, Used MFP, Lose It, and now Fit Bit.  I have to say what I like so far is that most of my foods are already loaded in and there's not a lot of wasted time in looking something up.   I used Fitbit along time ago and ventured elsewhere ....I'm glad I've found my way home 

[deb2steper]

I just replaced my FitBit with a charge 5.  I need to reconnect to MFP but cannot find it on the app anymore.  MFP cannot connect to fitbit either.  Has I lost this forever or is thera a trick to reconnecting.

[SunsetRunner]

I've been using MFP for four months and switched from a Samsung smart watch to a FitBit Versa2 so I could sync my steps with MFP. Now the darn program won't sync with the FitBit at all after a brief time of intermittent problems. 

I started using MFP and have lost 22 pounds just by using it to stick to my calorie and macro limits. It's worked great, but until I got the FitBit I had to use a third party app to enter the calories I earned from exercise. For a couple of months it was great to be able to let the Versa do that. Now I'm back to the stone age. I've already paid for a year of premium MFP, and I'm TICKED. I'm still weighing whether my blood pressure increase is worth $75. 

[Baltoscott]

@deb2steper @SunsetRunner — try unlinking and relinking your MFP and Fitbit accounts.  That often gets the two programs talking to each other again.  You can find the steps to do that on MFP here. (My link is working, but I noticed when scrolling through support on MFP, that they’ve been working on some sync problems with steps. Fixing that problem may have broken some existing account links).

[louann108]

After a couple years' absence, I started logging food into my Fitbit. I've been on WW for 4.5 years and gained the last 2 (Quitting smoking in 2019 and the pandemic). WW changed their format once again and I got aggravated. However, unlike WW, when building a meal into Fitbit, there is no option for how many servings the recipe is for, so I have to then divide everything by that amount and then adjust the entry accordingly. It's very annoying to say the least and I'm not sure it's accurate.
Fitbit needs to make it so a recipe/meal entered has an entry for how many servings so the count is accurate. I am using both-Fitbit is better for the breakdown of fats, carbs and proteins. WW doesn't offer that at all.

[msfarkee]

I prefer tracking with Fitbit.  They also allow you to add additional food that is not in the database.  
You can also pick your diet plan that ties into the your tracking.   

[99montez34]

I would like to add a couple caveats to using myfitnesspal.

Don't trust the 'verified' symbol as they aren't always correct, and when reporting items that are incorrect (to add to your own personal database) it is not possible to add a different serving size; adjusting the amounts to fit what the app allows will skew the results, and especially the percentages.

For example, I attempted to edit the record that scanning the barcode on the boreal blueberries package brought up, as the serving size is ⅔ cup (80g), but only .7 cups or 1gm is allowed. Selecting 1g seemed best, but adding 3% vitamin C and entering 80 for number of servings resulted in the record changing to 240% - that is just bad programming!

The only alternative was to forget scanning the product and manually create a new record to save within my database.

Bottom line is don't trust myfitnesspal 'verified', don't trust the data produced by scanning, and be prepared to work around the inadequacies and computational errors.

[Petitbun]

I wish I had read this BEFORE I deleted my MFP account thinking I should just log all my food on one Fitbit app. 
 I wanted to add strawberries and I got a long list of strawberry flavoured products e.g. strawberry ice cream, strawberry jam, strawberry cheesecake, strawberry milk, strawberry flavoured protein. Everything EXCEPT the simple fruit!!

I created a new MFP account and will be sticking to that for my food log.