The right way to integrate MFP, MayMy... and Fitbit

[iambabo]

Hello awesome Fitbit community! I'm looking for some guidance on how to use MyFitnessPal, MapMyFitness/Run/Bike/etc and Fitbit together and get an accurate reading of calories expended. I recently got the Fitbit HR and so far love it. I've been using MapMy... for eons for tracking mileage walked/cycled/etc and routes and love it also. And I just started counting calories 2.5 weeks ago.

It looks like I may have been double counting calories expended on MFP. Previously, I started the MapMy... app for my walk in Track Workout mode so that I could also record the route and mileage. I also wore my Fitbit. Looking at MFP, it counted my Fitbit steps and gave me a calorie adjustment for the day. It also recorded my MapMy exercise with a calorie adjustment based on the MapMy... calculation.

This morning, I tracked my workout as normal in MapMy..., but then I took a screenshot, deleted the workout and went into the Log Workout function. I entered all the info, except the route, and set the calorie number to 0. In MFP, it logged the same number of calories for the workouts as when I tracked it and the Fitbit calorie adjustment for steps. I have also gone to bikram yoga, looked at the calories expended on my Fitbit before and after, and entered those calories in MapMy... (otherwise it would enter 900+ calories, which unfortunately isn't correct). I noticed I then had a negative Fitbit adjustment number! (I hadn't eaten anything yet.)

What is the right way to record workouts in the MapMy... app so that I'm counting the right calories? Is there an order I need to follow with the 3 different apps? Any help would be greatly appreciated! (Side note: I really just want to know how many calories I really can eat after all the exercise lol.)

[RobertoME]

Hello @iambabo, let me give you a warm welcome to the Fitbit Community! I was reviewing this board and I found your post has not received any insight yet, So I would like to help you.

However since this is a complex questions I would like to know some additional details: 

Have you connected all your services with your Fitbit account (MFP and MapMyFitness programs)? There is a chance of a informational loop that is being shared between the three accounts.

When you track your exercise in MapMyFitness programs, are you wearing your tracker? Using your tracker and logging the exercise in another app that could be linked to your Dashboard, might duplicate your calories burned.

You mentioned on your post you've deleted the workout and then you go to the Log Workout Function?So I'm wondering, from where are you deleting the exercise and where are you logging the information again, is it in your Fitbit Dashboard?

My recommendation here, is to track your exercise with your Fitbit tracker and log all the exercise inside your Dashboard. Connect your accounts with your Fitbit and let your Dashboard share all your information. Just make sure MapMyFitness programs are not syncing with MyFitnessPal or it will duplicate the logs.

Your Fitbit Dashboard will share Distance and Calories to your MapMyFitness account. Now leave your MFP exclusively for food log. This information will be share with your Fitbit account and you will be able to manage and visualize the calorie allowance on your Fitbit Food plan. So the more you exercise throughout the day, the greater your calorie allowance will be and you can keep control of all your data in a simple way.

Nonetheless let me know more details and feel free to share more questions you may have.

[iambabo]

Thanks, @RobertoME, for the information and warm welcome! It sounds like what you're suggesting is that I don't use MapMy... products in an active way at all. Unfortunately, Alta HR doesn't track mileage for bicycle rides or other types of exercise other than running or walking. It also doesn't track my routes.

I've also realized that Alta HR doesn't use your actual HR to compute calorie burn. I noticed that during bikram one day, it computed my calorie burn at a straight 19 calories per minute. A third-party website (algorithms based on scientific data) computed my caloric burn as over 500 calories using my average HR taken from Fitbit, while Fitbit computed it as <300. 

To answer your questions:

- all my services are connected with Fitbit;

- I wear my tracker while exercising;

- I deleted the workout from my MapMy... app and logged it into the Log Workout function on the Fitbit website, not app.

In the MapMy... app, I can enter the calories burned the other website computed using my actual average HR. As noted, when MapMy... syncs with MFP, it will double count calories taken from both Fitbit and MapMy... And since, Fitbit doesn't use HR to calculate calories burned and seems to underestimate, do you have any other suggestions for how I can really understand how many calories I have left to eat for the day? I very much appreciate all your help!

Barbara