Why should one be bothered about calorie adjustment by MFP?

[KanchDutta]

Hi wonderful people !

Let me explain what I am asking:

1. I wear my Fitbit inspire 2 all day. We all know it estimates total calories burned, both sitting (idle) and moving calories. This is my Calorie-out.

2. I use MFP to log my food, breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. I know how much I am eating. This is my Calorie-in.

I like MFP for food logging, I've not found any other free app that is this good for food logging.

3. Whether calorie-in is more or less than calorie-out decides if I gain or lose weight. Pretty simple law of conservation.

Why should I be bothered about calorie adjustment by MFP? Why should I even care about the calorie estimate by MFP, it doesn't even measure HR? Sometimes MFP calorie adjustment conflicts with what Fitbit calorie deficit is giving. 

Or am I missing something?

Thanks for your time.

Cheers !

KD

[Rich_Laue]

Hello @KanchDutta from what I've seen over the years. Many people prefer to use MFP over fitbit to monitor food. 

MFP get the calories you burn throughout the day from Fitbit. 

Since I do not use MFP I've moved this to the Manage Weight Discussion Board and out of software support. 

For me, I used Fitbit to monitor my activity and ate smaller or fewer portions. 

[KanchDutta]

Thank you for your response.
A quick follow-up question, don't you log food in any app?
If I don't do that, I might end up eating more than needed, I am a foodie.
Logging food for several years has kept me from being overweight.
I think that with Fitbit, MFP calorie calculations and adjustment make no
point.

Cheers!
KD

[Heybales]

Yes, missing something.

If MFP had 100's of activity levels and you happened to select the exact one that matched what Fitbit estimated you burned - there would be no adjustment.

MFP estimate of daily burn is calculated from YOUR selected Activity Level (Not Very Active or Sedentary is best option), and your physical stats.

It's BMR x an Activity factor, only 4 of them.

Sounds like you trust their estimate of daily burn despite you guessing and so few options.

Their eating goal is a deficit from that.

What if you picked the wrong level, did more, or did less?

That adjustment is merely MFP correcting itself to Fitbit's ability to have 1000's of levels by reporting your Daily burn, and then taking a deficit.

Fitbit daily say 2200 - 1800 MFP estimated daily = 400 adjustment (that could be increased daily activity and/or exercise)

Base eating goal 1300 + 400 Adj = 1700 new eating goal.

Same 500 cal deficit in there. (2200-1700)

If you are logging workouts on MFP (don't do that for several reasons) the math still works out.

say Fitbit 2000 - 1800 MFP - 300 workout = neg 100 adjustment

Base goal 1300 + 300 workout - 100 Adj = 1500 (still 500 deficit)

So the only thing you have to be concerned with tweaking is Fitbit's estimates of daily burn and exercise. Since that is base of math MFP does.

Daily burn is per distance your steps take you, so stride length matters there.

Exercise is per HR, so some workouts that's an inflated estimate and would be best by manually logged workout per pace, exercise, ect.

But 15 min of even 100% inflated workout 3 x weekly in an otherwise active life is nothing to worry about - food labels more inaccurate than that.

That's how it works.

The way the math works during the day is a tad different, but the end of the day results will match between MFP and Fitbit if you selected the same deficit amount.

[Rich_Laue]

Fitbit steps, weight, and sleep minutes get synced to MFP. 

See https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/360055073171-What-Syncs-to-and-from-Fitbit

@KanchDutta no I do not log, or want to take the time log food eaten or figure out the calories. 

I know what I use to eat, and simply eat less and or healthier. I use fit it to help keep my activities up. Have lost 40 pounds, slow and steady, by doing this.