MFP Integration

The Garmin>MFP seems to be working great for me as well but I noticed something that I'm pretty sure is a MFP issue though. I use runtastic as a bicycle computer with a hrm to get accurate calorie counts as well as using my vivofit to keep track of steps. Well, MFP seems to add the calories from my runtastic activities to the number it subtracts from my Garmin number so I don't get credit for the calories I walked because MFP is upping my Calories Burned. Since I exercise harder on my bike this causes a potential negative calorie adjustment even if I walk 12000+ steps in a day. Again, I know this isn't anything Garmin can do anything about and I have turned off the possibility of negative adjustments in my MFP settings. I just wanted people here to be aware of the possibility of this happening.

To keep things simple I had to shut down everything else that was feeding MFP except Garmin.

Looking at yesterday's data, Garmin says I burned 3,507 calories. MFP gave me a goal of 3,214 calories for the day. This is how I think MFP is arriving at that number:

3,507 calories burned as per Garmin Connect
-1,900 calories subtracted which is my MFP Calories Burned From Normal Daily Activities
=1,607 "Extra" calorie allowance for Calories Burned from Exceptional Daily Activities
+1,610 MFP Calorie Budget to achieve weight loss goal
=3,217 Total Calorie Allowance for the Day

It is a little disturbing to me that the actual calorie goal MFP gave me was 3,214. That means that the fact that the numbers are close may just be a happy accident.

I am less concerned about what GC is reporting in their new I/O widget but there is a definite disconnect between MFP and GC. While they both agree that I ate 2,784 calories yesterday, GC said I had a remaining allowance of 507 at the end of the day yesterday compared with MFP's 430. The 77 calorie difference is close but not exactly the same as the 74 calorie difference between my GBMR (Garminized BMR) of 1,826 and my MFP CBFNDA (Calories Burned From Normal Daily Activities) of 1,900. Those same 3 calories showing up again as an unexplained difference. Seems to be some slippage in translation. It would be nice if Garmin and MFP would agree to agree on harmonizing their GBMR and CBFNDA so the two sites would agree on the degree to which we are achieving our goals.

The Garmin>MFP seems to be working great for me as well but I noticed something that I'm pretty sure is a MFP issue though. I use runtastic as a bicycle computer with a hrm to get accurate calorie counts as well as using my vivofit to keep track of steps. Well, MFP seems to add the calories from my runtastic activities to the number it subtracts from my Garmin number so I don't get credit for the calories I walked because MFP is upping my Calories Burned. Since I exercise harder on my bike this causes a potential negative calorie adjustment even if I walk 12000+ steps in a day. Again, I know this isn't anything Garmin can do anything about and I have turned off the possibility of negative adjustments in my MFP settings. I just wanted people here to be aware of the possibility of this happening.

I have this exact thing happening. I have asked MFP to see if they can sort it out. Basically the Garmin calories burned coming over do not include any calories burned calculated by another device e.g. Edge 500. So I add the exercise into MFP manually. Trouble is that when the adjustment calculation is made MFP deducts the assumed CBDNA + the exercise calories and you end up with a huge negative adjustment. Until Garmin send the the other data, MFP should only use the CBDNA number when calculating the adjustment.

This pdf I hope explains the issue a bit more clearly :)

I just discovered this integration this morning so I am working on getting caught up on what exactly it should be doing. Should my steps/activities from Garmin be importing into MFP or is it only food/calorie data from MFP importing to Connect?

Your calorie consumption is imported from MFP into Garmin Connect and your Calorie Expenditure is transferred from Garmin Connect into MFP. It's almost perfect but the UI is a little confusing at least to me.

1855CRU, I read your PDF (took about three times through I'm ashamed to admit.) and understand your problem.

When the Vivofit and GC Modern first hit the market, there was an uproar from Forerunner and Edge users about data duplication. Garmin took the easy way out and made these theoretically more sophisticated and definitely more expensive devices irrelevant in the calorie expenditure department for all Vivofit users. They were ashamed to have taken this low road but it was expedient. The easy but inelegant fix for now is to pair your VF with your HRM when you ride. In another month or so, the promise is that the Edges and Forerunners will be returned to their rightful place at the pinnacle of calorie measurement and will trump your VF data whether or not you have it paired with your HRM. Just don't use your Forerunner and Edge at the same time or you will get data duplication.

I find the way Garmin has approached integration to be quite confusing. One of the problems is the mismatch between GBMR and CBFNDA. Another is the practice of grossing up your MFP "Goal" with GC Active Calories - CBFNDA. I would rather just see what I've eaten, what I will burn today if I don't exercise any more or die before midnight, and what is left in my calorie bank that I can eat and drink before I retire for the evening. If my calorie bank is overdrawn, I can throw in some more steps or go to bed feeling guilty.

Anyway, your main problem will fix itself in 30 days or so. In the interim, pair your VF and HRM. The absurd calorie burns that GC sometimes reports for individual activities do not seem to find their way into the daily totals. They are still working on that too.

While my data from my 810 & 910XT don't go across to MFP this is pretty much useless.

Yeah I'm getting step data but that's not my main calorie burn!

So my options are
1. Sync GC to Runkeeper (step data doesn't sync) then have Runkeeper sync to MFP
2. Sync GC to Strava and then use the new Strava MFP integration........ This is more likely as I don't like Runkeeper.

But why is Garmin always the slowest get to the table. It's like a company that operates like internet explorer! They do give you what you want just sooooooooo slowly!

Oh and why does GC not pulling in the info of calories consumed, constanly shows zero!!
Any mention of weight info? Will I have to enter this in GC and MFP or just one and it syncs across??

Grrrrr

Jayegan2,

From my message immediately prior to yours; "In another month or so, the promise is that the Edges and Forerunners will be returned to their rightful place at the pinnacle of calorie measurement and will trump your VF data whether or not you have it paired with your HRM." AND "In the interim, pair your VF and HRM."

My calories consumed are coming across almost right. Only problem I have found is that, if I make a change in my food diary to delete something I entered on the wrong day, it does not get corrected in GC.

I heard from another user that weights are syncing but haven't tested that theory yet.

Update. The incorrect calorie consumption entry resolved itself in GC sometime in the last 12 hours.

Changing your weight in MFP does automagically update your weight in GC. There is a delay but I didn't measure it.

I did measure the delay between entering food in MFP and having it show up in GC. 5½ minutes.