How does Versa estimates my calories burned?

[Carylinn]

Since I switched from Blaze to Versa, my daily overall calorie total has risen from 1500-1800 calories a day to 1900-2200 a day. I always felt that the Blaze over estimated my calorie total because I would have to eat 1200 a day or less to maintain my weight. It does seem that the overnight calorie increments are the same, 12.3-12.4 calories per 15m increment, so I suspect my daily activities are being incorrectly monitored. I wish I was burning that many calories, but sadly, I suspect Versa is less accurate than the Blaze. For reference I am 5 feet tall, 42, and weigh 127.

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[AlejandraFitbit]

It's great to see you around @Carylinn.

Thanks for the information provided. Have you checked if your height and weight information are correct in your Dashboard? If you haven't, I recommend checking this. Now, if the information is really not being accurate, please provide me with a screenshot of it by following the instructions provided in this post.

Also, for more information about calories burned, check the How does Fitbit estimate how many calories I've burned? article.

Let me know the outcome. 

[Alishadominique]

Mine is over sensitive too! I’ve been wearing the blaze every day for a year and from one day wearing the Versa, it’s showing my calorie burn to be 200-300 more than it should be! 😞 I’m disappointed as I use it for macros and calories tracking. (It was great before) 

anyway to rectify this? 

[AMCorreia]

I agree. Ive had my Versa for a week and my calories burn is higher on days I do nothing, as compared to the Blaze. I'm very frustrated.

[AlejandraFitbit]

Hey @AMCorreia and @Alishadominique welcome to the Community.

Can you tell me which activities are you doing? In the meantime, please take a look at the link I provided in my previous post.

See you later. 

[AMCorreia]

Yesterday I did my normal treadmill routine. With Blaze I usually burned ~400 calories. With Versa, it was ~600. Nothing different. 

[Alishadominique]

Yes exactly! It’s really annoying!

Sent from my iPhone

[MikePasq]

I literally agree. It says I'm burning 3,000 calories a day when on certain days I've done 10 miles and others only 4... I don't get it. I spent all of this money for it to be inaccurate?

[Raniacharrad]

i actually think 2200 cals for a person ur age and weight is logical .. those tdee calorie calculators estimations are absoluetly wrong .. they suggest me to eat 1600 a day to maintain 120 lbs ( i am 19 and 5'4 ft ) i was actually maintaining on such amount , afterwards i increased to 2200 as the fitbit suggested ( i m not active / i dnt exercise ) nd i m not gaining ..

[Alishadominique]

I took mine off for a week and went back to my blaze. 

Tried the versa again... there was an update available... updated and now the versa is accurate like my blaze 👍🏼

[Jaymiechristine]

How does Versa track calories burned during my spin cycle class? It shows 1683, which is way over what the bike shows. How do I program in Spin cycle class instead of outdoor cycling?  How accurate is the Fit Bit? Thinking of returning after 1 days use. Seems very complicated. 

[kcronin]

@Jaymiechristine  You should use the exercise Spinning.  If you don't have this shortcut on your Versa (can only hold 7 at a time) you can delete another shortcut you aren't using and replace it with Spinning.  Look at this help article on customizing your exercises.

http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1980/?q=exercise+shortcuts&l=en_US&fs=Search&pn=1

[Katners]

When did you update? I'm still finding my calories are 300 higher than usual.

[Carylinn]

I changed from Blaze a little over a month ago.

[Kdp2014]

I am having the sane issue with my Versa over the Blaze.  Overall it seems to show 300-500 calories higher than my blaze. Going to switch back to blaze tomorrow.  I know it is calculating my heart rate at too high a value as I’ve take. To wearing a heart rate monitor when I work out and there is a 20-60 best difference.  Quite disappointed will be checking my dats since order to see if I can return it

[NayaG]

Hey there

I just got my Versa and have been comparing it with other calculators for calories and heart rate (just to be sure) and its pretty bang on - maybe a difference of 2 BPM or a couple calories here and there (usually lower than what the treadmill or calculators say).

The treadmill and workout machines only monitor your heart rate while holding on to the bars (which actually slows your heart rate down) and only take into account your height, weight, and age if you plug it in; whereas your versa is picking up the fluctuations and has those details already stored. Just walking for on the treadmill I can burn over 400cal in 40 mins (based off calculator below).

Also, after workouts you continue to burn calories since your heart rate is elevated. Following my weight training yesterday I was at an 85BPM for an hour after. Workout machines don't calculate that increase in caloric burn post workout, and neither do online calculators.

For exercise comparisons try checking your heart rate yourself and comparing it to your versa, I use the heart rate sensor  on my phone but you can also use your finger and calculate your pulse that way.

You can also plug in your heart rate and exercise info to get calories on this site

http://www.calories-calculator.net/Calories_Burned_By_Heart_Rate.html

(The site told me my dog walk this morning burnt 149kcal and my Versa said 144 - again, the site gets less info than my versa does since I have to do my average BPM over the duration of my workout.)

As for total calories over the day your BMR is what the versa first bases its calculation off of and this is just the energy spent by living (breathing, heart functions...). Any moving around you do throughout the day - walking, cleaning, getting in and out of the car add to this. With a sedentary job, my total daily expenditure (TDEE - which I also calculated based on my body fat percentage) is around 1750kcal per day. Then, I add my exercise on top of that. So my dog walk alone brings me up to almost 1900kcal, then add in my bike to work, my evening workout and another walk with the dog. I'm easily expending 2500 or more a day. But, rather than having to calculate your own TDEE you plug your info into the app and it does it for you as you burn calories.

We tend to eat way less than we need to. I drop weight eating 1800+ calories a day. Our bodies then hold on to our fat stores because they think they are being starved when we eat too little. The fitness apps like MyFitnessPal also give distorted numbers unless you enter in all of your activity.

If you do think you are having issues with it counting calories correctly though I would definitely try tracking your own HR and using that site for comparison sake, as well as doing the update like someone else had mentioned. If that works great, and if you are still having issues hopefully it is something Fitbit will actually address.

🙂

*oh and something else I found helped - make sure your Versa is being worn in the right spot. Recommendations from Fitbit say just above the wrist bone, which is especially helpful during weight training or anything that requires a lot of wrist mobility). I found this has really helped with accuracy.

[Unclejohn35]

I’ve just brough my Versa the first Fitbit I’ve had it say I burnt nearly 7,000 calories today I don’t think that accurate how can I fix this 

[Shay88_J]

My versa says I’ve burned 625 calories, when I’m not wearing it. I’ve only had it for a week. I’m disappointed and I’m definitely converting to the Apple Watch. 

[ChristyB1983]

I'm having the same problem! I feel the step and calorie count is waaaaaay higher then what it should. I just got this yesterday and my morning today was not busy enough to have that high of a count! Thanks for you assistance in this matter!

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@AlejandraFitbit

[LuciaFitbit]

Hi @Shay88_J and @ChristyB1983! Welcome to the Fitbit Community. 🙂 Remember that Fitbit devices count all calories that your body burns, and not only the ones that are burned as a result of exercising. That is why it is normal, that the watch keeps counting calories even if you are not wearing it. You can find more information here: How does Fitbit estimate how many calories I've burned?

If you consider that the amount of calories is too high, I suggest that you check your personal settings in your profile (height, gender, weight and age). Another important factor that has a big influence on the amount of calories burned is the heart rate. Please make sure that you are always wearing the Versa correctly, in order to ensure the most accurate pulse readings: How do I wear my tracker? 

I can also suggest that you restart your device: How do I restart my Fitbit device? @ChristyB1983 the restart should also help with the step count. 

Let me know if it worked!