An old chestnut - Fitbit and MFP

[kah22]

There is a wedding coming up near Christmas and I want to loose some weight. So I’m trying to use MyFitbessPal sync with Fitbit Charge 2

Here is my problem. It’s 21.40 as I write, my Fitbit tells me I have 182 Cal left, while MFP tells me I have a whopping big 970 remaining !!

I set up all my measurements within MFP and added them manually to Fitbit. The important one was the calorie goal set at 1500. All food was entered via MFP as was exercise

MFP shows Goal (1500,)  Food 1318, plus Exercise 758 giving me 940 remaining. This doesn’t see right, there is to much remaining

On the other hand Fitbit shows 12,461 steps (that’s pretty normal for me) with 1318 calories IN and 182 left. You can see the difference !!

So which is correct: have I 940 remaining or 182?  As long as I’m within budget I don’t really mind but with 940 remaining that would set alarm bells ringing

There has been some very technical information here but I can’t find a straight answer - use Fitbit calories remaining or use MFP.

A simple answer anyone ?  Please   😥

[Daves_Not_Here]

HI @kah22 - here's a simple answer - duh!  I don't know.

Ok, here's a guess -- Fitbit may be subtracting the 1,000 calorie deficit associated with the aggressive weight loss plan and MFP may not.  Or, Fitbit may incrementally meters your deficit through the day as you consume time and calories, whereas, MFP may not.  Or, the Fitbit service divides all deficits by Pi, while MFP multiples by the inverse of the day of the month.

I'm thinking that first simple answer is most accurate.

Seriously, if your aim is to lose weight, choose the answer that has you eat less.

[Esya]

I would track the food in MFP and exercise in FitBit. I am not using MFP at the moment, but this seemed to work for me at the time.

[Baltoscott]

Trying to get Fitbit and MFP to match on remaining calories has never seemed worth the effort to me, but going through the FAQs on MFP may help you figure this out.  (I don't think there is a real simple answer).

[elaine6s]

When I am being very good I use MFP. But even if I dont use either mfp or Fitbit to track calories, Fitbit always has a calorie number there. I think it may be what a previous reply was. Fitbit looks at your steps and somehow matches it up with what it thinks you are eating calorie wise. I would use the MFP