Syncing with myfitnesspal

[mattieg2]

What is the best way to log your food intake? I synced my fitbit with myfitnesspal but I see two problems...

The calorie intake is different on both pages, and my fitbit gives me 1200+ calories back daily. I would like to at least adjust it. Any suggestions?

[AlbertEllenich]

Hey Mattie,

MyFitnessPal is the best food logger because of it's extensive database and barcode scanner in my opinion. Connecting it with your fitbit can be a bit confusing. Fitbit looks at your activit and food logged and goals to come up with your full calorie intake. If you use MYF only for logging food, they account for some set amount of expected activity, which you provide, into the calculations. Search the MYP forums for more details as there are usually full topics dedictated to the discussion. In the end, I find that I am getting a close enough calorie count to make good decisions. 

It's hard to answer more specifically. Your best bet is to check the forums on MFP for explanations. Good luck!

[Stegmanco]

I track with MFP and in the morning Fitbit always tells it I have + calories instated of - calories.  Then sometime in the mid morning it switches to just - calorie intake.  Personally I wish FitBit and MFP would buy each other, the Fitbit data base is awful, and the functionality of making your own recipes in MFP are so useful.

[theresejc]

I tend to follow the MFP info more closely. I think it's a personal choice? I too wish that they would just buy each other. I haven't seen any great updates to MFP in ages which is frustrating. I wish they were making more of an effort to make their site more user friendly. And the FitBit database/ease of entering is so tiresome!

[mattieg2]

I lost a ton of weight using MFP a few years ago. I purchased the fitbit to be a little more accurate on my workouts. Maybe its best to unsync and enter  my Fitbit info on MFP seperately that way I'm not getting 1200 calories added everyday.

[fitandfifty]

oh i just bought a fitbit one and have synced to my fitness pal .... for the 100% food data base as suggested by a few people and by fit bit themselves .... curious how does it add 1200 cals .... i really dont want to think im doing well in sticking to my cal intake v out take and its all wrong..... eeek

[SunsetRunner]

If you're syncing and using the negative calorie option on MFP (available in your diary settings), the Fitbit will post + cals in the morning and as you become active throughout the day it will change to - cals. Say I start the day with a + 50 (or whatever)--I *think* that's a prediction based on my average activity level on Fitbit--as Fitbit starts to log activity and account for cals out, the + 50 will become 0, then  - 50 or etc. as the day goes on.

I track my food on MFP as it's much more accurate and the database is more complete. Barcode scanning is a bonus as well. As for activities: MFP tells you straight out to NOT log walking/step activities, as it will double-count if you're synced. You SHOULD log everything else (swimming, biking, whatever), and whether you log it on MFP or Fitbit is your choice. I haven't made up my mind on that one.

I trip up on entering water one place (Fitbit is so easy to track water intake) and then re-adding it when I'm logging on MFP, so keep your eyes open for that.

Consider joining the Fitbit Users group on MFP as well.

Last but not least: read over the info in that group regarding calorie goals and activity levels; it helps in making sure you're set up accurately on MFP. Hope this helps!

[megs1980]

where does MFP show steps taken?  or do you have to use both apps?  What's the benefit to using the fitbit app if you use MFP or vice versa?  (I tried to go through all the answers but there's a ton to read through!).  I want to see my steps/log exercise but don't want to have to look at my One, look at the fitbit app, log it on the MFP, etc.  how does MFP sync?  I can't find it on there....

[HelenaFitbit]

Glad to see you around the forums @megs1980 ! I'll be glad to help 

Your Fitbit steps will not be displayed on your MFP diary, but the caloric adjustment from your tracker will show like this: 

Also, I recommend to log your meals only through MFP and your activities through Fitbit, so they won't overlap eachother and miscalculating your caloric burn (like the picture above). Each time you sync your Fitbit, the information will be transmitted to your MFP account.

Let me know if you have any questions!

[megs1980]

so I should log my activities through fitbit?  not just steps but other things like body pump?  

Thank you for your explantation and the picture that really helps!!!!!

[HelenaFitbit]

@megs1980 Fitbit is the place to log everything except your food and water intake. 

Body pump, Zumba and even stretching will need to be logged through Fitbit, to get the best caloric accuracy 

[kelfran]

To add to that, I will say that if you have a Charge HR or Surge, the heartrate tracker seems to do a great job of estimating calories used during and activity. I know that others (without HR) have found inaccuracies in logging on MFP and syncing to Fitbit, but when I do so (with my Charge HR), they are represented accurately. Hope this helps!