Accuracy of calories burned

[BCGosbee]

Hello everyone. I am in the process of trying to get into shape and decided that myfitnesspal and fitbit were the way to go. So to be as succinct as possible.

I put in my info to MFP and it says my daily calorie burning on average is around 3000 calories. However wearing my fitbit (which is putting more steps than I am actually taking as well for some reason) it is telling me that today, not doing much of anything I have burned around 3200 calories.

Just wondering which is more accurate? The fitbit measuring all my activity with all my stats in it or MFP taking all my stats and their "lightly active" setting.

Thanks!

[Daves_Not_Here]

If I had to guess, I would say Fitbit, since it measures activity and heart rate.  If you have been out of shape, you will burn more energy for a given activity level which should be reflected in an increased heart rate and higher burn calculation.  Even after a few weeks, you will see Fitbit's energy calculations for your activities start to decline as your fitness improves.

That said, I wouldn't get too hung-up on absolute accuracy.  Based on my results, I figure Fitbit underestimates my calorie burn by about 200 calories per day.  Many people on this forum report that Fitbit overestimates their calorie burn (sometimes when trying to rationalize why they aren't losing weight 🙂 ).  Either way, Fitbit is a great tool for giving you visibility into your progress, and a "big picture" view of calories in, calories out, nutrients, water, sleep stages, heart rate, etc., the essential levers of physical wellness.

[Baltoscott]

Hi @BCGosbee -- Either number probably a reasonable place to start.  What is nice about fitbit is that you can see the daily variation in energy expenditure, but it probably averages out over the course of the week.  

The test is whether your weight changes over time.  If you are trying to lose weight you need to establish a caloric deficit.  I weigh in daily (morning after getting up, using bathroom, and before eating), and look at the trend over time.  If you haven't dropped a few pounds in a couple of weeks, you need to eat fewer calories, or try to increase you energy expenditure.