What is the formula Fitbit uses to calcolate calories burned?

[touri]

1. Why is the calorie-counting for walks so far off from other apps I've tested and all the articles I've read?

2. Why does no one at Fitbit know the formula they use to calculate calories?

3. How do I fix my fitbit versa to track the calories more accurately when I select the shortcut "walk" on the watch to specifically track a walk. 

On a 1.3Mile walk that took 34:47 mins at a pace of 26'33" at an avg heart rate of 95 bpm it says I burned 246 calories. Im a male, 198lbs, 5'9" and this seems excessively high based on the articles I've read and the other apps I've used to calculate this. 

As a reference, when I use the app "STEPS" to track a walk that was 1.26M the calorie count comes to 151 calories, which would have come to about 238 if I used my fitbit to calculate it. This is a HUGE discrepancy. 

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[touri]

What is the exact formula Fitbit uses to calculate calories for a walk? And why is it so wrong?

I have a Fitbit Versa 2, I walked 1 mile leisurely and it says I burned 186 calories. Nobody at phone support knows anything. All they can suggest is to do a factory reset, which I've done. 

All I'm saying is Fitbit better have a **ahem** good reason for coming up with such an insanely high number.  

Unacceptable answers include: that's how Fitbit calculates it and it's right. 

[Odyssey13]

Hi @touri  your posts were merged so your responses can be in one thread to better assist you. I've asked a moderator to stop by to address this for you.

[JuanFitbit]

Hi @Odyssey13 , nice to see you around. Thanks for informing us about this thread. 

@touri , a warm welcome to the Community! I'll be glad to explain you how the burned calories are measured. 

Fitbit devices combine your basal metabolic rate (BMR)—the rate at which you burn calories at rest to maintain vital body functions (including breathing, blood circulation, and heartbeat)—and your activity data to estimate your calories burned. If your device tracks heart rate, your heart-rate data is also included, especially to estimate calories burned during exercise. The number you see on your Fitbit device is your total calories burned for the day. 

Your BMR is based on the physical data you entered in to your Fitbit account (height, weight, sex, and age) and accounts for at least half the calories you burn in a day. Because your body burns calories even if you’re asleep or not moving, you see calories burned on your device when you wake up and will notice this number increase throughout the day.

The exact formula cannot be shared here because it would involve the release of proprietary information. 

I appreciate your understanding. 

Please let me know if you have further questions. 

[touri]

Hi, thanks for the response. 

Allow me to clarify...
I have a Fitbit Versa 2 and when I would like to track the calories burned on a walk I’m about to go on: (on the watch) I select the “exercise” shortcut > then “walk” > then start. This specifically tracks the stats of the walk. At the end of the walk, I select “End” - if my leisurely stroll is about 1 mile, I would expect the calorie-count to be approximately 100 calories with a 15% - 20% margin. Joe Weber, this is never the case. My Fitbit consistently gives me Numbers north of 185 calories Burned, (just for a 1 mile walk) which goes against every article I’ve ever read on the subject, including medicine journals, fitness blogs as well as other apps that use different methods of calculations. Out of all of the different methods I’ve come across, Fitbit is the ONLY one that results in numbers that are almost DOUBLE what all the others are estimating.

And if you have no evidence to support how or why FITBIT numbers are so off-the-charts different from any other source available, then I call BS!

If you are claiming that when I’m tracking a walk, the FITBIT system combines both the BMR calories while also adding the typical calories assigned for a walk (using my personal data set) adding those two values together would explain why your numbers are so vastly off and absolutely be an error that needs to be fixed.

[touri]

Why is no one able to help me fix this problem?

[JuanFitbit]

Hi @touri , thank you for your reply and further information. 

As stated before: " Fitbit devices combine your basal metabolic rate (BMR)—the rate at which you burn calories at rest to maintain vital body functions (including breathing, blood circulation, and heartbeat)—and your activity data to estimate your calories burned."

This might be the reason why you are receiving that amount of burned calories. 

More information can be read here: 

How accurate are Fitbit devices?

How does my Fitbit device calculate my daily activity?

Let me know if you have further questions. 

[touri]

Please show me an example Scenerio breakdown of calories burned on a 1 mile walk.

Because right now, what you’re claiming is so far off the mark in any possible Widely-accepted BMR calculation, that either you don’t understand what you’re talking about or you’re leaving out a very important piece of the equation. I would assume it’s the later of the two, so Please be so kind as to clarify. Thanks

[touri]

Problem: the distance tracked on my Fitbit Versa2 is off by about 30% 

(this is compared to 3 different sources, one of which is Google Maps)

SIDE NOTE: Upon speaking to a rep at Fitbit, I was told the GPS uses strides to calculate distance. 

Assuming this is true, the distance I've been seeing on my GPS is wildly inaccurate. 

I recently received a replacement unit, upon trying the new replacement unit it's still off, but only by about 30% now instead of previously which was above 60%

QUESTION: How do I get my fitbit Versa 2 to track the distance walked using the GPS from my phone? (instead of calculating it in another way that seems to be considerably inaccurate)

Thanks!

[touri]

After leisurely walking 1.03 miles on a relatively area, my fitbit versa 2 says I burned 188 calories. How is that even humanly possible?

Stats

Male 38, 198lbs, 5'9"

Walked 1.03miles, 27.31mins, average heart rate 92bpm

Calories burned (per my fitbit 188)

---

According to this website https://www.verywellfit.com/ a 200lb man averages about 114 calories per mile walking at a leisure pace. (2.5-3.5mph)  Assuming there is a margin of 20% to account for unknown variables such as elevation, change in speed etc - we're still not even close to the 188 calories noted on my versa 2. There are countless websites with different calculations as to how many calories one burns by walking a mile, but none of them are even close to 188 calories, which leads me to believe there is either a major glitch in the fitbit calculation for this or I'm doing something wrong. 
Please advise on how to fix this. Thanks!

[Jonbazooka]

You cant. Its been broke since day one. Everyones is the same. They refuse to acknowledge it. A fitness tracker that cannot measure distance is an expensive casio watch

[touri]

Calories burned is very wrong 

Distance tracked is way off

why is this issue not being acknowledged or fixed by Fitbit?! 

help! 

[Odyssey13]

@touri  it would be easier, as I posted before, if you'd keep things in one thread instead of several different ones. You have a Moderator @JuanFitbit helping you, so keep working with him. Fitbit can't tell you everything, as some things, as within any company, must remain confidential. 

[JuanFitbit]

Hi @Odyssey13 , nice to see you back. Thanks for your comment and help.

@touri , thank you for your posts and information. Please keep in mind that depending on your heart rate and intensity of the walk the amount of burned calories may vary. 

Regarding your question about how the distance is measured. Depending on your Fitbit, Fitbit uses the distance recorded by the GPS and the distance measured with your steps and stride length to calculate the distance you are shown on the summary. 

(As the GPS might loose connection or the stride length is not constant on a walk or a run).

You can always contact Support to verify your device, and personal information, to check if your Versa is measuring everything correctly.  I don't have access to your account or the information your device is syncing, so I can only provide you with a general troubleshooting or an explanation on how the devices work. 

Let me know if you have further questions

[touri]

Please don't merge my posts together, the only reason I keep posting separately is because the responses I've been receiving have been either non-existent or do not offer any help in resolving my issue. I could keep posting on twitter, instagram or facebook if you prefer. But if you continue to ignore the major issue I keep posting about my Versa 2, I would like to request a return for a full refund. Please advise. Thanks!

[Odyssey13]

Hi @touri  the information for warranty and returns can be found here - click to go there. As for merging, if it's the same issue, posting in more than one spot can result in your getting multiple responses, but you want a response from Fitbit, right? These are a community forum and @JuanFitbit is a Fitbit (employee) Moderator and you have his attention. Just post here so you can get assistance.

[EdsonFitbit]

Hi @touri, thanks for your response and for your feedback.

Our team is constantly working to improve our products and services.

I just visited a couple of other websites and after entering the stats you provided, I obtained a similar number of calories burned:

Male 38, 198lbs, 5'9"

Walked 1.03miles, 27.31mins, average heart rate 92bpm

(185 and 186 calories burned)

You can visit the first page and the second page I just tried to verify this information. Please be aware those websites don't take in consideration the activity you performed, therefore the amount of calories burned may not match exactly what your Fitbit Versa 2 registered.

@Odyssey13, thanks for your help.

If you have any question, please let us know.

[touri]

Hi Juan, this does not explain why my versa2 says I burned 188 calories on a 1 mile leisure walk, which is actually not humanly possible for someone even close to my stature. 

[touri]

Thank you, this is interesting. I still find this hard to believe, but at least this is something I can look into and get back to you on. I appreciate it. For all the back and forth nonsense I've been getting from all your Fitbit reps, these is at least the first argument with something to support your case. Thank you very much, I will explore this further. 

Side note. Any suggestions on stride length? Would you suggest I use automatic or manual?