Food logging - Fitbit or myfitnesspal databases

[Magz]

Hi,

Wondering which is best. I have looked at similar posts asking about Fitbit's food logging database and the general advice seems to be that myfitnesspal's was superior. The posts I viewed were from last year though so I'm wondering if anything has changed. I'm in the UK and see that Fitbit now has a barcode scanner and a UK database which I tried out by putting a few food items in and seemed to get decent results.

Is there a recommendation? I have also seen a few posts about disappearing logs in Fitbit's database and inability to create meals but these were also from last year.

Thanks

Magz

[sandrodjay · Accepted solution]

Hi, I live in the UK as well and user of MyFitnessPal.

After a test, I've decided to use the Fitbit integrated app (i.e. their database). Reasons:

 1) I like to see the food detail, if you import from MyFitnessPal it gives you only a summary per meal;

 2) Overall, even Fitbit has less records, they seem more accurate.

Because, even if it's true that MyFitnessPal has almost everything, it's also true that many records are innacurate or you have many versions of the same thing with little differences which annoy me: Fitbit seems a bit better from this point of view 🙂

And yes .. I spent quite a fair amount of time to Custom add food at the beginning - but now it's almost like MyFitnessPal 🙂

[Magz]

Thanks sandrodjay, I'm going to give Fitbit's database a go. I definitely find myfitnesspals annoying with the high number of records for each product and putting the effort into customising sounds the most obvious foods seems worthwhile. If Fitbit can do that, it has to be worth trying.

[treesplace322]

I am wondering about goals on Fitbit vs Myfitnesspal. I have always been confused on the goals and try to custom them on MFP but now you can't unless you pay premium. So now I have messed them up.

Do you find the goals better here for the calorie counts and nutrients here same or better? I think I will try here for a week or so and see the difference.

Thanks, Tree

[kelfran]

I prefer MyFItnessPal for logging food and exercise. I just think both databases are much larger and better for the stuff I want to log. Plus I like that fact that I can enter a custom recipe in MFP.

[Magz]

Tree I am not seeing the same as you with MFP. My settings allow me to custom my goals and I don't have premium. In fact I can't see premium, is that only available to US customers?

Kelfran, I think Fitbit's custom allows you to add what you like, including recipes. I have noticed that although Fitbit claims to have a UK database I'm finding a lot of items not found on barcode scanning so that would involve a bit of effort on my part. As an example I found Weetabix on my scan but not the milk nor the fruit I added. I do like the way MFP pairs foods when you input a choice.

[kelfran]

Thanks @Magz, I wasn't aware of the custom recipe function in Fitbit. To be fair, I've been on MFP for years and was glad when I bought my Fitbit and saw that it syncs with MFP. When I first got the Fitbit, I did look at the food and exercise databases, but felt as though they did not have as many choices and haven't looked back. For instance, I can usually find the specific info for store-brand food in MFP for the grocery stores near me, but I still don't see them in Fitbit.

[Magz]

Kelfran are you outside the US? I'm wondering if Fitbit's database only recognises items also available in US, hence my Weetabix scanning OK but not my Waitrose milk and fruit. Are you having the same problems?

Incidentally, scanning food is a bit of an eye opener. Last week I scanned a raw Waitrose chicken breast on the bone (in MFP, not Fitbit) and it came up with Rosemary chicken! This week I scanned a cooked chicken breast and the scanner tells me it's Morrison's chicken. Feel a bit conned

[kelfran]

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@Magz wrote:

Last week I scanned a raw Waitrose chicken breast on the bone (in MFP, not Fitbit) and it came up with Rosemary chicken! This week I scanned a cooked chicken breast and the scanner tells me it's Morrison's chicken. Feel a bit conned

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Hmm, I hope you went back to the store to demand the rosemary that you paid for on your chicken! 

I am actually in the USA, and can find store-brand items from the Shoprite and Stop&Shop grocery stores in my area on MFP, but not on Fitbit. I'm not complaining, as I am always amazed when I try searching a new item on MFP to find that it already exists. I think that it is likely because MFP predates Fitbit by a good many years.

[TeaAddictedGeek]

MFP, hands down. I was on there originally and their database is ridiculously extensive. 

[tobybear]

 I don't understand this logging food at all.  It has the food I enter and then it has a summary which doubles everything I ate.  How does this work and how do I set it up correctly.  

[tamado]

I'm a fan of the fitbit logging for the most part.  The main reason is seeing macronutrient counts without paying for premium.  If you pay for fitbit premium you can see great weekly graphs of your macro breakdowns which is important for me.  Calorie counting is never 100% accurate and I find the fitbit database adequate.  If they don't have my brand of black beans, I'm sure a competitor's is similar enough to not throw my diet off.  Use common sense when logging.  It's very quick to make custom meals on the web interface so whenever I make a big batch of something (like a chili or something) I create it there so if I have it for leftovers, I don't have to re-enter each individual thing.  Play with it a little, I find it quite intuitive and I like a single app experience not having to bounce between them. 

[stslimjim]

The accepted solution makes me a little sad if it is true.  I have found the FitBit database to be about 50/50.  it seems like when a food is added by people they are guessing or ignoring what is actually on the nutritional facts.  most times the calories are correct but they make up the macro's.  the last few months i have been sticking to a specific macro balance and i noticed that MANY of the foods i was logging were wrong.  Is this caused by companies changing the formula or users not adding the information correctly?  It has become an annoyance for me because i now see 4 or 5 entries for the exact same food and exact same calories but only one will have the correct protein and it will have the carbs wrong.