Separate BMR from Activity Calories Burned

[knelson2]

I will admit to being someone who quite recently learned what BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) is and that we burn a certain amount of those calories just to live based on our gender, weight and height.  

Currently Fit Bit combines BMR and activity calories together.  While I think it's very valuable for people to be aware of BMR, it's also nice to see (and reward yourself) for activity based calories. 

It would be really nice to have a clear seperation of the two in a real-time tally on the Dashboard and even on the Fit Bit device.

Ex. Today:

BMR - 790

Activity - 560

Active Minutes - 200

Total - 1350

Frankly, throughout my day, all I care about is activity calories.  Right now as a user I have to do a calculation at end of day (total calories minus my avg BMR) to see how hard I worked that day, sweating my butt off, not just blinking and breathing.

Thanks! I'd love to hear whether or not i'm just missing something and this is available, or if it's something you'd consider for an enhancement. 

Kristi

Moderator Edit: Labels / Updated subject for clarity.

[Livbridge]

The calories burned calculator needs improvement. Ideally, I would like it to list calories burnt through exercise and then calories burnt at the rest rate. The time map it comes with is useless. It would be amazing if it could list cal deficit each week too!

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @Livbridge, thanks for explaining why you would like to have the option to see separate BMR from Activity Calories Burned. Thanks for sharing your feedback. I've moved it into a similar request.  A lot of users are asking for this option, I hope we receive updates soon.

[navneetmster]

I have recently purchased fitbit versa 2. Every day it shows more than 2000 calorie burned. Actual calorie burned is 350-400 per day. I wear my fitbit device only while doing exercise. On home screen, I only want to see actual calorie burned not the calorie estimation. I have contacted customer care as well but there is no solution for this problem

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @navneetmster. Thanks for taking the time to share this suggestion about being able to see just your calories burned with us. This idea was already requested in the Feature Suggestions board, so I’ve moved your post here. That way we can keep this board organized, in addition to clearly understanding which idea other members are voting for. Please click on the thumbs-up to show your support.

[Raychu]

Fitbit only seems to show calories burnt with BMR on the dashboard, I'd like to be able to see what calories I have burnt minus BMR too (such as from steps, exercise, active minutes etc.) This would make it much easier for people like me trying to lose weight

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @Raychu, thanks for explaining why you would like see calories burned only from your activities. Thanks for sharing your feedback. I've moved it into a similar request.  A lot of users are asking for this option, I hope we receive updates soon.

[strat0sfere]

Need option to turn off BMR. No reason to know calories burned at rest or while sleeping. When used with the food tracker and the calorie deficit option for weight loss, and combined with working out, the app suggests consuming 2500-3000+ calories per day, which is far too many.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @strat0sfere, thanks for explaining why you would like to have the option to see calories burned tracking without BMR. This feature suggestion already exists, so I've moved it into a similar request. While we don’t currently have plans to release this feature, we always appreciate the passion and creativity that comes out of this Community. Since we know this idea is important to many of you, we have left voting open to continue tracking interest and will post another update if anything changes. To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs.

I hope to see you around.

[Raychu]

How many people have to mention this for it to become a feature? You say a
lot of people have been asking for this to be added and I can see someone
people asking dating back to 2016. I really would love to workout and see
what calories this is burning easily, it would definitely motivate me more
instead of me having to use my calculator to work it out each time. The
main reason I bought a Fitbit was to see what calories my workouts burn so
I feel quite disappointed

[SunsetRunner]

I bout a Fitbit so I could calculate how many calories I was actually burning during HIIT, interval training, and cardio workouts vs. guessing in myfitnesspal what my burned calories were - I'm disappointed because Fitbit won't show you a separate total number of calories burned from just exercise, it's giving you an entire day of data.

[Sicahjes]

For years (literally) I have watched emails come through on this thread with so many people commenting that they don't understand why this is not a feature (given it is native for all other trackers) and empty 'thank you for your feedback' from moderators.

I just wanted to jump on here and let everyone know that I haven't used a Fitbit for some time, as it was useless for me without this feature. Last year I purchased an Apple Watch and I haven't looked back. Active vs BMR is central to calorie tracking for Apple. This is done throughout the day, and also tracked within individual workouts (including Fitness Plus workouts).

It was an adjustment for me, as I used slimmer Fitbits (yes, plural - I really gave FitBit a chance) but I adjusted.

My point is this: FitBit has no intention of implementing this feature, we've been requesting it for more than 5 years now. If you really care about this feature I think it's time to find a product that works for you.

[yas05]

👆🏽👆🏽👆🏽 S A M E. Get an Apple Watch.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @SunsetRunner, thanks for explaining why you would like to have the option to see separate BMR from activity calories burned. Thanks for sharing your feedback. I've moved it into a similar request.  A lot of users are asking for this option, I hope we receive updates soon.

[SarahAnne123]

I'm currently looking at replacing my Fitbit with an apple watch for this very reason. It'd be a really nice feature to be able to set an active calorie goal instead of just an overall step/calorie goal. 

[rachelB882021]

I would love to just see my active calories burned in a day, has this been done yet? 

[Milliexdj]

Yes this needs to change,  I want to see calories that I have burned, not an estimation.  Come on fitbit why do you not have plans to change this. Its ridiculous the way you have it set up, it makes no sense. No wonder people are moving over to apple. 

[rachelB882021]

It seems like s as lot of people we pile like to see the separation between active calories and resting calories, looks like by this thread it’s been going on for years. 

be great if someone can give an update ... 

x

[Voyager2]

Please do this.

I'm trying to set a daily calorie burn goal, but after a morning activity, I can't see if that's enough by 10am to hit my goal by midnight.

So I started using activity minutes instead.

It worked so well I got so fit that it stopped working ... because now on my desk treadmill I don't get out of my base HR zone.  I'm still doing hard cardio some days but I still have a calorie target on the lighter days.

Tried the competition and came back because of all the other great features, but this is one simple thing everyone else does and is useful.

[Melo_C]

Completely agree. 

I plan my diet based on my BMR then add extra based on my activity. All I really want to know is how many calories I've burned over the basal metabolic rate. Fitbit keeps saying "we do that maths for you" but I find myself having to do a lot calculations to get to data that's actually meaningful to me. 

[norman_cates]

Over the years, I have grown incredibly cynical about the competence of these companies. So I will nod about them wanting to to "do that maths for me" but I want to see the raw numbers at will.

I want to compare to other calculators.

I want those numbers so I can confirm them independantly. So I appreciate the exercise calories. But we absolutely need the BMR so we can see what assumptions they are making about us.

I am pretty much out of optimism though that any of them will do this, because it benefits them to keep us confused and dependent on them. I'm certainly never paying any more money to Fitbit, nor MFP. They just don't care.

[Bustdunny]

I only want my Fitbit to track calories burned when I am wearing the device.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Bustdunny, thanks for sharing this suggestion about being able to separate your calories burned from your BMR with us. This idea was already requested in the Feature Suggestions board, so I’ve moved your post here. This will help us to make sure the suggestions don't get confused, or split a popular vote. Click on the thumbs-up to show your support.

[Famedevon]

This is ridiculous. And here I was thinking I'm burning 2000+ calories daily when 1954 are burned without doing anything. I want to know how much I'm burning by walking or working out, not by sleeping. Please add an option to remove or turn-off the BMR calories.

[Truffle]

Please Fitbit! Please. I'm shocked that we are in the 21st century and I had to download someone elses's app, which I then had to give permission too. I'd like the option to upload photo from phone as a backdrop.

The second being the option to change the calorie burn count. The over 1,000 calories a day means nothing and does not help.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi there, @Truffle. Thanks for participating in Feature Suggestions. We’re happy to let you know that this already exists on the Versa 2. You can use the Photograph clock face on your Versa 2 to upload pictures from your phone. You can find more details about how to change a clock face in this help article.

About changing the calorie burn count, because this idea was already requested in the Feature Suggestions board, I’ve moved your post here. This will help us to make sure the suggestions don't get confused, or split a popular vote. Please click on the thumbs-up to show your support and keep adding your suggestions!