Inaccurate calorie count

[Lee819]

Hi all,

I've had my versa for about a month now.  I've noticed that the estimated calories burned must be unaccurate.  I took 13000 steps one day and burned 2600 cals and another took 8000 steps and burned 2700. Clearly this makes no sense.  I am trying to.use it to judge how much I should be eating based on what I'm burning, and Versa should make it easier to figure this out.  For a $200 Fitbit the tracker should be accurate. Its the MAIN FEATURE of the device!  It looks great, but what is the point if it is not accurate in estimating calories burned?  

Lisa

[WavyDavey]

Hi @Lee819,

Well, steps and calories burned aren't the same thing really. Calories burned is going to be largely based on your heart rate data to measure exertion levels. Steps might involve exertion or likely not very much.

What you describe is very common for me also. I can have a day with 8K steps and burn 2800 calories, and on another day burn 3400 with half that many steps. How? Well, on the second day I was doing non-step-based exercise (spinning). So the two are a little different.

Basically, steps are used to get people started in fitness. It's a good gauge of general activity. But if counting calories is the goal, I find much better results by just going with the calories burned and not paying as much attention to steps. Hope that helps.

[Marrrmaduke]

There are several factors that have to be taken into account. The intensity and heart rate being one of them. For example, 10000 steps taken while leisurely walking will not result in the same calorie burn as 10000 steps resulting from climbing the stairs or uphill marching. Compare your active minutes (your MET), time in particular heart rate zones etc. Also,  remember that this is total calorie burn that includes both calories burnt during exercise as well as your BMR. Finally, using Fitbit calorie burn estimate to regulate your calorie intake is not the best choice, imho. We tend to underestimate how much we eat and overestimate the calorie burn, trackers included. 

[Lee819]

Thanks for the reply. I understand about how they factor HR into the
calculation, it just still seems to be an overestimates to me. I had a
previous tracter and it never showed close to the calories burned this one
does. I'd rather assume my Versa is overstamating a bit then think I am
suddenly burn more calories, as my active level is the same. As you said,
ppl generally overestimate their burned calories so I'm going to compare to
my old tracker (which seems more accurate) for a while. I just want it to
be working properly.

[Marrrmaduke]

@Lee819 you need to make sure you compare apples to apples and not oranges. As I mentioned before this is total calorie burn that includes your BMR. Some trackers do not include BMR and will show only burn from the activities. Honestly 2600 kcal is not such a huge burn. The calories burned also depend on your weight. A person weighing 70kg will burn much less than someone who's 140 while walking the same distance. My advice to you is keep 1000 kcal difference and see how it goes (I'm assuming you're trying to lose weight). I also usually assume 30% margin of error.

[lawmom]

Definitely, agree. My Fitbit Versa is not accurate and  is malfunctioning with regard to calories burned. I did not have it on last night when I went to sleep. Woke up in the a.m and it said I burned 746 calories!! 

I need to let manufacturer know and get my Versa reprogrammed or swap if for a new device. 

This should not be..

[Marrrmaduke]

@lawmom your Fitbit is functioning perfectly fine. 746 kcal are your BMR calories for that time period. It doesnt matter whether you're wearing a tracker or not. Everyone burns calories when they rest. Where do you think your heart gets energy from to function? Your brain? Your kidneys? It's not a perpetuum mobile machine.

[lawmom]

Did you read my post? I was not wearing the fit bit while I was sleeping. Agreed, we all burn some calories while we sleep so we stay alive. However, 765 calories that a fit bit can’t count because it’s not in my wrist and is brand new...yeah, no.

[Marrrmaduke]

@lawmom the question is did you read the thread and link I referred? Yeah, no. It doesn't matter if you wear the tracker because BMR calories are NOT calculated by the tracker but in the cloud (on Fitbit servers). Everyone has X number of calories corresponding to their BMR. Mine is 1800 per 24 hours. That means that I burn 1800/3= 600 kcal per 8 hours. So, if I remove the trackers, go to sleep (=resting), I still will burn 600 kcal and that's what Fitbit app (that syncs with Fitbit servers and downloads the calculations) will show. Proportionally. I am not sure how I can explain it better. I recommend reading the whole thread.

[lawmom]

So the “cloud” knows my height, weight, BMR, etc when I didn’t enter it anywhere ??

by any medical standards, those numbers are absurd

obviousky you work for FitBit and are defending the accuracy

Thanks, I’ll take a refund 

[Marrrmaduke]

@lawmom yes, the cloud knows because you typed all that info into your profile in the Fitbit mobile app (or on fitbit.com) when you created your account. And FYI, I do not work for Fitbit. I'm a Fitbit user same as you. Good luck with your refund.

[Giampi71]

Seriously @lawmom before attacking another user who is only trying to help and explan you should think twice. Your Fitbit is working as designed but of course you need to know how it works to get the best from it.

[SeanBoyd]

Lmao, dont be so salty because you dont understand how the device works. Its actually basic science... come on now.

[Stevew5883]

edited:  unlinking myfitnesspal made my fitbit be more accurate 

[Marrrmaduke]

@Stevew5883 ahmmmmm, generally it's not good to eat more because we think we have calories left in our budget. 😄 Nevertheless, 5000 is a bit much. Please try rebooting your tracker several times by pressing and holding the left and bottom right buttons until Fitbit logo appears. Also, can you please post some screenshots of:

• daily heart rate chart
• daily step count histogram (steps per hour)
• daily active minutes histogram (active minutes per hour)

All these can be accessed via Fitbit mobile app.

[Stevew5883]

edited:  unlinking myfitnesspal made my fitbit be more accurate 

[Marrrmaduke]

@Stevew5883 I meant detailed charts not summary ones. Chart per hour. This doesn't really tell me much. 😞

[Stevew5883]

edited:  unlinking myfitnesspal made my fitbit be more accurate