Disappointed I did not get an HR

[LizziePooh]

Hi Everyone,

I just realized that I purchased the Charge and not the Charge HR and it does not calulcate carlorie burn by heart rate.

So I was disappointed but now after thinking about, I asume calorie burn count with the Charge will be lower than the calorie burn count with an HR since it does not take into account heart rate?

Is that a true assumption?

If so, then I am pleased. I will actually be burning more calories than what is indicated on my charge and that is good thing, yes?

I don't know why I did not realize HR meant heart rate. I kept thinking HR as in human resources was a weird thing to call the device. I am such a dork.

Thank you.

[SunsetRunner]

@LizziePooh

Heart rate is used for a more accurate estimation of calories burned.

Where did you purchase the tracker? Since having bought recently, it's possible to try contacting the store and asking to exchange for the Charge HR (& paying the price difference..).

In case of not having the tracker and it's in order, it's possible to contact the store to cancel the order or to arrange to get the charge hr instead..

[LizziePooh]

Hi Stefan, 

I appreciate the response and suggestion of returning it. I don't feel comfortable since I already used it and it was my stupid error for not realizing the difference. But it was a good suggestion so thank you.

I came across another thread from someone about adjusting their Charge HR for calories burned. He believes it overestimates.

I believe I am fine with the charge as long as I know for sure if it is close to accurate, is off by overestimating and how much if true or is off by underestimating.

He had some really useful information in his thread/links so I am going to look at the data a little closer.

Here is the link to the thread in case you are interested. https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Weight-Loss/Calibrating-Calories-Burned-Using-Weight-Loss-Data/m-p/9...

[SunsetRunner]

Thank you @LizziePooh

It's more to check out food habits, change where necessary, but not needing to eat all the calories if not being hungry.

If feeling not being hungry, or having to force feed your wonderful body when eating (even if the plan says to have hundreds of calories more, honor your body by not force feeding it, and eat when your body is ready for, trying listening to what it wants, how much and try stopping eating when your body says 'we're comfortably satisfied, not stuffed.. not needing more..

When having all nutritients your body needs, it's perfectly possible to be satisfied with less calories overall 'specially when eating mostly nutritient rich foods, provided by nature, as minimal as processed (fruits, vegetables, meat, fish..).. anything your body desires in the moment when being hungry..

It's not all about calories, but nutritients the food contains, which nutritients your body is needing more from when telling being hungry (could be asking for a salad one time, another time some pizza, anything else..)..

When trying eating what our bodies are craving for, stop when feeling satisfied, eating less overall automatically.

If your body says 'nah we don't need pizza, but happy with salad instead, or a piece of fruit' 'cause of not being so hungry, when eating to eat (rather than when possible allow your body what it truly wants, your precious body won't be satisfied when eating something not really wanting, having the other food first wanted anyway, not really needing the other food to be satisfied.. but eaten it anyway.

Try allowing to have what your body is asking for when available.. and enjoy the taste (feeling how your body feels like (feeling getting more satisfied, having the feeling having enough, no desire to have more).

It's possible to log food when desired, meanwhile trying to tune in with your bodies signals when being hungry, when having enough.. (feeling satisfied)..

When the plan says there's x hundreds of calories left to eat, but not being hungry, try not having more. Don't force feed your precious body. It knows the best and let you know when being hungry and needs nourishment.. your body takes care of you when trying listening to (without needing counting calories, trusting your bodies internal wisdom).. though that can be scary at first, it's possible to log food until feeling being back in tune with your wonderful body..

Enjoy

[LizziePooh]

Thanks for the response, Stefan but it does not really answer my question.

To use the fitbit effectively for weight loss, I need to know the calories burned. I need to figure out how accurate the charge is and if it is not accurate, is it consistently inaccurate so I calculate the correct calories burned.

My purpose is to lose weight. And not to be simplistic but calories in vs calories out matters the most so it is important to know if calories burned is accurate or not. I know what my calories in are since I determine them. I need to determine how accurate the charge is on calories burned.

I believe I have my answer or to be more accurate, I have a way of getting to my answer.

I appreicate your time in responding.

Have a good day.

[SunsetRunner]

@LizziePooh

It helped me reaching being in a healthy weight range. Though when loosing weight, your body requires less and less calories to maintain the new weight so it's not possible to eat as much as before, also it depends how accurately your logging food.. you may be logging more or less when estimating..

* To keep the calories estimation as accurate as possible it's required to step on the Aria Scale at least once a week (height / current weight.. is taken into account to calculate the calories required).

** It's also possible to log weight manually on the weight log page.

Change setting on Food Log Page

On the Food Log page, standard a setting is used to base the calories allowed on personal history, when being more or less active the calories can increase or decrease alot.

Change to sedentary when desired to increase the accuracy, when being more active, the calories to eat will increase.

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Feel free to check out the Fitbit Article: How accurate is my Charge? 

[LizziePooh]

I am not discounting your experience. My question is how accurate the device measures calorie burned. It is the reason why I purchased the device and I assume why most others purchase the device.

🙂

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hi ther @LizziePooh. It's great to see you in the Community!

I would just like to jump in and add something to what has been said. In this case, the Charge HR will be indeed more accurate when it comes to calories burned count since it will rely on your heart rate rather than just your movement. The Fitbit Charge is great for tracking activities that require you to move as walking, running, going on a hike and things like that, but if you will do other activities like Yoga, weight lifting or activities that don't require you to move much, it will still burn your calories based on your basal metabolic rate (BMR) altogether with your movement but in the case of using a Charge HR, it will be more accurate since it doesn't rely on movement but rather, it relies on your blood pressure.

For more information on calorie count topics, you can review these two below:

- Heart Rate FAQ's

- How does Fitbit know how many calories I've burned?

Hope you find this information helpful and please let me know if you need anything else! 🙂