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Has anyone compared Food tracking in MyFitnessPal to FitBit?

‎08-01-2020 12:50

‎08-01-2020 12:50

New charge 4 user, 1 month in:  I am using myfitnesspal to track my food diary and calorie intake because it is free, been around for ages so probably has a pretty extensive catalog of foods and has notes to reflect on daily exercise and food.

 

I am wondering if anyone has done a comparison of fitbit's food tracking to MFP and what were your opinions of the two?

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‎08-01-2020 17:49

‎08-01-2020 17:49

I find both useful - they both have inaccurate database entries and quirks to use.  As an example it is very annoying when you try to input data in the Fitbit app and the number keeps changing until it syncs... 

The Fitbit app also doesn't have a calorie per gram measurement for all foods, just some...

The MyfitnessPal has a bigger database but also a lot user entered data that is inaccurate, and I find the diary entry awkward.  I actually like the My Net Diary app, but the nag screens to upgrade to premium get tiresome....  I tend to use the FitBit app I guess, because I have used it the longest.  

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‎08-02-2020 10:14

In response to JimC_99

‎08-02-2020 10:14

@JimC_99 Thanks for your comments about the two.  I think the criticisms of MFP are fair, there are alot of errors in others' keying in the nutritional info.  I was trying to determine if I could just use fitbit and get rid of tracking in MFP.  I maybe will just have to try it, but MFP recommends having fitbit handle the fitness and MFP handle the food calorie diary, so worried about messing with the settings or potentially dubbling by error.  As an aside- Just started my journey, your weight loss has been impressive! Well done!

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‎08-02-2020 18:37

In response to Mardo4

‎08-02-2020 18:37

Thanks  - the calorie tracking does help with the weight loss but don't get too obsessive about the exact calorie counts.  There is quite a large of amount of rounding and estimation in both the package printed nutritional labels and the databases.  Be consistent and eat healthy and you will lose weight.  Remember, fruit instead of fries...🙂

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‎08-02-2020 21:39

‎08-02-2020 21:39

I've used both, and I think the fitbit app is more useful for me than MFP. 

 

The biggest advantage fitbit has is that it will take into account your exercise for that day automatically. For example, if you walk 10k steps, you will get a higher calorie budget for that day. For me, Fitbit's database is as good as MFP's as well. I can find just about any food on there, so I can count calories easily when I go out to eat. There are the occasional quirky or outdated entries in the database, but I've been able to work around them. Best of all, fitbit is free, but MFP requires a subscription for the premium features. MFP premium is important if you want to track macros in your diet. Fitbit does the macro tracking for free.

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