MFP Calorie Adjustments

[Dbrodie92]

Hi,  I don’t understand my calorie adjustments.

I’ve had MFP using the apple pedometer track my steps and I was get a between 100 and 150calories more per day for around 5000 steps.    This was fairly accurate and I lost the amount of weight based on the deficit.  

Yesterday though, I opted to use my FitBit for steps in MFP as I don’t always have my phone in my pocket and noticed i’d Done approximate 2000 more steps on my fit bit.

I thought those extra 50 calories would allow me a sneaky desert.  However for 7000 steps, I’ve been given an extra 730 calories. 

I really don’t understand how 2000 steps can be 650 calories more than 5000 steps.  I’ve read loads of forums about the calorie burn in Fitbit been inaccurate so i’m Worried about the integration over estimating and affecting the accuracy of how many calories I can eat.

Is is anyone able to example why 2000 steps makes such a different from Fitbit’S tracking compared to apples?

Thanks 

[SilviaFitbit]

Welcome to the Community @Dbrodie92. I'll be happy to clarify the calorie adjustments. 

I appreciate the research you've done on the Forums. MyFitnessPal pulls your calorie burn directly from our total daily calorie App Gallery partners. Since partner devices track minute to minute, and our program views the entire day as a whole, we then project forward to the end of the day based on your calorie burn so far. When viewing your adjustment, you should see a number directly under the partner, which represents the instant sync, and a number to the right of the partner which represents our projection for the day based on your current sync.

Because the adjustment value is recalculated every time your device uploads new data, you should expect this value to change over the course of the day. It is also necessary to make sure your partner device and MyFitnessPal are set to the same time zones (time zones can be updated in the main settings). At midnight, the projected sync and your actual sync should then match exactly. Depending on when you last sync, there may be a slight variation between one day and the next as the two values catch up to each other.

On the calculation page, under the partner totals, you should then see your MyFitnessPal total. The MyFitnessPal total includes not only your daily goals, but also the calories needed to reach the goals you have set within the program, such as lose 1 pound, (we originally deduct these calories when providing your daily goals on MyFitnessPal, they then must be added back in when comparing against your actual total burn from your partner device). Since our program instantly awards calories to your day when exercises are added into the cardiovascular section, to avoid double credit, we also add your cardiovascular totals in with your MyFitnessPal total. Therefore, you will see your total calories burned from individual exercises added to your diary there.

You can check the screenshot below: 

Apart from this, I would like you to make sure that your personal information is properly entered in your Fitbit Dashboard and MyFitnessPal account. 

Let me know how it goes. I'll be around if you need further assistance. 

[Dbrodie92]

Hi,

Thanks, that all makes sense. I’d already checked those bits and seen similar explanations previously.

My main concern is that my adjusted calories recorded from other step counters seem to be accurate enough that if MFP says I’m going to lose a certain weight, I almost always lose at least that amount of weight, more often than not, slightly more.

The iPhone steps aren’t always accurate as it’s not in my pocket all the time so it tends be under but is accurate on days it gets almost every step. I associated this under reporting to the slight extra weight loss each week but the huge jump in calorie expenditure from the FitBit doesn’t make sense.

So perhaps this takes the integration out of the firing line and puts it purely back on the FitBit side of things?

Around a month of using the calorie adjustments from FitBit resulted in no weight loss across the whole month, despite MFP showing a 500-750 calorie deficit each day. I was carefully weighing food the last two weeks of that month. However using the calorie adjustment from the iPhone to track steps in MFP resulted in an average 1.5 lbs per week for the previous month at a steady 500 calorie deficit.

I bought the FitBit to record those extra steps so I could more carefully control diet but it appears to be over estimating by at least 500+ calories a day which is the having the opposite impact I wanted. I didn’t expect it to be perfect, but also didn’t expect such a large variance.

I was hoping I could set it to sync the steps data only and then have MFP run the whatever calculation it does based on the step count it receives from Apple health.

Don’t suppose you know if it’s possible for that to happen?

Any advice would be appreciated but I’ve been through every setting I can find on both MFP and FitBit to check they’re accurate in terms of the information on height/weight/age.

Thanks
Dave

[SilviaFitbit]

Thanks for getting back @Dbrodie92. I appreciate the time you took to share the data you're getting in MFP and Fitbit. 

It's pretty weird that even though you're losing weight, Fitbit isn't actually showing that information. In this case, I've shared your post with our Support team, they will continue assisting you on this.

I'll be around if you need further assistance. 

[SunsetRunner]

Hi Silvia,

It's my first-day using FitBit Charge 3 and I'm testing a Garmin unit at the same time.  I have to tell you i'm disappointed that there isn't any Samsung Health connectivity.

Secondly, I'd like to share that I find this process of understanding the integration be very time-consuming and I sell networking technology.

As per your explanation, can you explain where that screenshot is from?  I searched through both the MFP and the FitBit app and can't seem to find it.

My day logged I had these values

FitBit Log - 2902 Calories Burned

MFP FitBit Calorie Adjustment -454

I purposely didn't log my calories consumer to make I understood the adjustment. In theory, I didn't eat anything all day so I under my calorie adjustment meant

As well, can you share if MFP will import individual exercise modes into MFP? Like Weights or Cardio?

Regards

Punji

[SilviaFitbit]

@SunsetRunner Welcome to the Community. Sorry for the delayed reply. 

I'll be happy to reply to your inquiry. I'm glad to hear that you're using a Fitbit Charge 3 and a garmin. Your feedback and comments are appreciated, we're always striving to improve our services and watches/trackers. 

Regarding your inquiry about the calorie adjustment, please check the post above to learn more about it. 

MyFitnessPal will sync logged food and activities to Fitbit. Instead Fitbit will sync steps, calories and scale measurements to MFP. In this case, you may want to log your food in MFP and let your Fitbit sync the tracked data. 

The screenshot shared before it's from the MyFitnessPal app. 

I'll be around if you have any additional questions. 

[Frimmer15]

Hello,

My calories added each day from exercise and steps on my Fitbit have always been about right. However the last few days they have been super high. Today I did 14,000 including a run which in total I have burnt about 2500 calories however my MFP is showing them as extra calories which is crazy usually that would only be maybe 500 max! 

Can anyone please help? I have tried re-syncing the reviews and this has not worked! 

Thanks