Versa 2 says I've burnt calories after midnight and I haven't moved from the couch

[Sara657]

So it's 15 mins after midnight and im not even wearing my watch. I haven't moved from the couch and apparently I've burned 18 calories?

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Odyssey13]

Hi @Sara657  yes, you're burning calories just by being alive and your Fitbit knows it. If you were jumping around the house, dancing or playing basketball, those burned calories would be greater. 

[Robyn1234]

I have just bought my versa 2 and I am very unhappy with it. The step counting is completely inaccurate. I’ve spent all evening reading the community posts. I have amended the stride suggestion and recorded it has being on my dominant hand. It is still counting steps and I’m just sitting down moving in my chair. Same with the calories - I understand that the calories burned figure includes my BMR figure but I really, really don’t want to know this. I just want to know the calories I’ve burned from activities in the day. The reviews and the spec did not mention these issues before purchasing and I am so gutted now I have it I am considering arranging a refund, even though it’s been worth, i hope it will be accepted. Unless someone can please help me. It’s a lovely smart watch I want to keep it, but I’m deeply disappointed about the inaccurate step counter and the extremely over exaggerated calories burned, including BMR which I don’t care about. 

[Robyn1234]

I don’t want to know about the calories I’m burning for just being alive. I just want to know about calories burnt from activities... how do I sort this out?

[Odyssey13]

@Robyn1234  check your burned calories before the activity and then again when you're done. The burned calories accumulate even if you're sleeping.

[Robyn1234]

But I can’t do that if I’m walking around for a lot of the day, I’m busy, I don’t have time to start doing calculations with the calories burned figure. It should just be straight forward and easy for me to see on the watch, without BMR. And again when I do an actual work our other than walking, I don’t want to finish and sit their doing calculations. Is there no other option? This issue is terrible for people who calorie count as part of a controlled diet to lose weight... 

[MrMarv]

@Sara657 and @Robyn1234 - 

What @Odyssey13 stated is correct, but maybe a little bit more in-depth explanation would help.

But first, why do you want to throw away the "being alive" calories? If you are trying to determine how much you can eat as compared to how much you have burned, those "being alive" calories are part of the equation. If your doctor wants you to burn a certain amount of calories per day, I'm sure he is including those "being alive" calories. 

But if all you want is to know how much your physical effort is assisting you to meet your goals, the math really isn't that difficult after you take a few minutes to perform a few calculations you only have to do once, 

Calorie burn at rest is called Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) - as Robyn said "for just being alive". FitBit or any tracker manufacturer would be remiss if all they showed was calories burned above and beyond BMR.

It is easy to figure out a good approximation of your BMR is so you can subtract it from an exercise record's calorie report to see what the "above and beyond" burn was.

From the Today screen on your mobile app press on the "Cals" icon. On the "Calories Burned" page tap on one of the days listed. Expand the graph by tapping the double-arrow in the upper-right corner.

Press and hold on the graph in a section where you were sleeping and had a pretty consistent calorie burn. I selected 4:30 am this morning and got 17 calories burned during a 15 minute period, as shown below:

Seventeen calories over a 15 minute period says my BMR is 1.1333 calories per minute, or 60 calories per hour (61, but 60 makes the math easier). That means a daily BMR of 1,632, which fits in the published average male BMR of 1,600 - 1,800 and is a near match to an on-line BMR calculator. 

For Females, the average is 200 calories less - google "average bmr for females".

So, with my quick-and-dirty 30 minute treadmill exercise this afternoon reporting 208 calories burned means my calorie burn associated with just the exercise was 178 calories (208 - 30).

I hope this helps, Ladies, and welcome too the boards.

[SunsetRunner]

I agree. I came here to see if there was a way to take out the BRM so that I can use the watch for what I thought it was intended for, and that being exercise calories. Find any solutions? 

[Robyn1234]

Thank you very much for taking the time to explain, however I am just going to have to return the versa 2. This is not what I intended it for. I don’t have the time to do calculations and the BMR figure is not something I am interested in. I’m not a fitness fanatic and I just wanted a simple watch that had some

cool features but also showed me an accurate step count and calorie count for calories burned during movement and exercise. This watch just doesn’t do that, so it’s gonna have to go. Thank you for your reply anyway. 

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there @Sara657, @SunsetRunner, and @Robyn1234, welcome to the Community Forums. Thanks for the details provided in your posts about your BMR calories calculated by your Versa 2 after midnight or when you haven't even moved yet.

As @Odyssey13 and @MrMarv said above, when you create a Fitbit account, the website uses your physical data (weight, height etc) to calculate your BMR calories.These are the minimum calories you'd need to burn every day to stay alive. It then populates your profile with this calorie burn back for six months or so to give you a sensible baseline against which to compare your future calorie burn once your tracker starts tracking your exercise and adding exercise calories to your BMR calories. The short answer is that what you're seeing is correct behavior and the calorie counts re-individualized to you.

Please note that all Fitbit devices calculates the user's BMR after an account is created, we have not exceptions with this. There's no way to turn this off or to be implemented in the near future. This is the way it was designed since the first Fitbit came out. You can learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQs. 

Our team is always working on improving our devices and user experiences, and your comments are always welcome. Feel free to post your idea in our Feature Suggestions board. That way other users can comment and vote on the idea to show their support.

In case you want to calculate your calories from your exercises excluding your BMR, I'd recommend taking a look at this post. 

Additionally, I'd recommend taking a look at these two great articles: How do I track my workouts with my Fitbit device? and How do I track my activity with my Fitbit device?

Let us know if you have any further questions present. 

[Robyn1234]

Thank you for your comments and for taking the time to reply, however I am going to try and return the watch, it’s not as expected and not as I wanted it.

Moderator Edit: Formatting