Calories burnt as per Fitbit much less than what the Equipment dashboard shows

[Sanjeewa]

Since I bought the Fitbit Charge 2 about 18 months ago, I note that the amount of calories burnt as reflected in my Fitbit is much lower than what the Stationery Exercise bike shows post the exercise. This is the case when using the Exercise Bike at home as well at the Gym. As per the exercise bike I burn 300 calories in 30 minutes whilst as per the Fitbit I am burning around only 170 calories. I have set the Fitbit to "Spinning" mode. However, when I go for walk for about 25 minutes at a not too fast pace the Fitbit indicates that I have burnt about 215 calories. I know the physical effort when cycling is far greater than when walking. So I am at loss to understand this discrepancy. Can anyone shed some light on this issue?.  

[AlvaroFitbit · Accepted solution]

@Sanjeewa Welcome to the Fitbit Community! It's great to have you here! Sorry to hear that your calories are too low for your activity. Your device along with the account (using the Fitbit servers) will use your personal data (weight, age, height, etc.) to calculate your caloric burn. You can read more about this here. Still if you wish you can manually log your activity and enter the calories you believe are correct. Also when using the machine make sure you enter your personal information as many times we don't do this (I never configure the elliptical machine at the gym).

Let me know how it goes!

[Sanjeewa]

Hi Alvaro

Thanks for responding to my query. All the exercise bikes that I use
whether it is at home, gym or hotels tend to show that I burn about 10
calories per minute based on resistance I have set and the intensity that I
peddle. I have been using a bike now for over 4 years as I have bone spurs
in my heel that prevents me from walking for exercise. I live in Sri Lanka
which is a very humid country and I am soaking with perspiration after 30
minutes on the bike. As mentioned in my post as per the Fitbit I burn only
around 160 to 170 calories as opposed to the 300 as per the machine. The
effort I put in for a 30 minute walk at a leisurely pace due to my heel
injury however is reported by Fitbit to burn 220 calories. I read an other
post where a similar issue had been highlighted by an other Fitbit user. An
other moderator had responded by saying that when using an exercise bike
there is no movement of the arms etc which impacts the calorie burn count
on the Fitbit.

Anyway I have managed to lose about 9 kgs in the last 12 months by managing
my diet and the exercise I do. In the last 7 months post my retirement from
work i also do some weights and resistance work at the gym. So I have
achieved what I set out to do. This discrepancy was just something I wanted
to check. Anyway thanks for your response.