Fitbit And Keto: Tracking Compatibility

Fitbit offers a range of fitness trackers and smartwatches that can be paired with third-party apps to help users monitor their health and fitness. While Fitbit's app does not directly support keto tracking, it can be used in conjunction with apps like Carb Manager to provide a more comprehensive view of one's health. Carb Manager, a keto diet app, allows users to track macros, calories, and access keto recipes. It also integrates with Fitbit devices, pulling in steps and other health data automatically. This combination of Fitbit devices and Carb Manager can be a powerful tool for those following a keto diet, providing insights into their overall health and fitness journey.

Fitbit's Macro Tracker

To access the Macro Tracker, open your Fitbit app and tap the food tile on your dashboard. From there, swipe left on the graph at the top of the screen. If you've been logging your meals, you'll see a breakdown of your macro intake. You can tap the top right of the graph to expand it and view a specific day or a summary of the past month.

While the Macro Tracker is a helpful tool, it has limited functionality for those on diets such as keto that focus on net carbs. Currently, the Macro Tracker only shows total carbs and does not subtract fibre to give you the net carb count. This has been a common issue for keto dieters using Fitbit, and there have been requests to add a net carb tracking feature. However, as of now, Fitbit has not implemented this change, directing users to up-vote and comment on existing feature suggestion posts.

If you want to track net carbs, you may need to use a third-party app, such as Carb Manager, that specialises in keto and low-carb diets. Carb Manager integrates with Fitbit, allowing you to sync your health data, including exercise minutes, calories burned, and sleep. However, it's important to note that Carb Manager only imports exercise calories and does not include basal metabolic rate (BMR) calories, so there may be some discrepancy in calorie calculations between the two platforms.

Fitbit's Carbohydrate Tracking

Fitbit's food tracking feature allows users to log their meals and see a breakdown of their macronutrient intake over the past week. This includes the percentage of carbohydrates, fat, and protein consumed. However, it is important to note that the app currently only shows total carbohydrates and does not account for net carbs, which is essential for those following a keto diet. Fitbit users have requested the ability to track net carbs, but as of 2020, it is not available.

To track your food with the Fitbit app, you can manually add food by tapping the "Food" icon on the "Today" tab in the app. You can then search for your food or create a custom food entry. Alternatively, you can use the barcode scanner to scan the barcode of your food item. It is important to note that barcode scanning is currently only available for customers using the United States food database.

While Fitbit does not directly support keto tracking, it does integrate with third-party apps like Carb Manager, which is a keto diet tracking platform. By connecting your Fitbit device to Carb Manager, you can automatically pull in your steps and other health data, such as exercise minutes, exercise calories burned, and sleep data. Carb Manager also allows you to track body and health measurements, view progress toward goals, and connect with the community.

• Ensure your mobile device or computer is connected to the internet.
• Sign in to your Carb Manager account.
• Go to Settings and then select "App Settings."
• In the "My Settings" section, enable the options "Enable Calories/Kilojoules Burned" and "Enable Macros Burned Deduction" if you plan to consistently log exercise.
• Go to the "Health & Fitness Device Links" section and select "Fitbit."
• Follow the on-screen instructions to sign in to your Fitbit account and grant Carb Manager access to your wellness data.

Once your Fitbit device is connected to Carb Manager, you can view and analyze your wellness data in the Carb Manager app, which provides a more comprehensive solution for keto tracking.

Fitbit's Compatibility with Carb Manager

Fitbit is compatible with Carb Manager, allowing users to sync their wellness data between the two platforms. This functionality is available to Carb Manager Premium subscribers.

Once connected, Carb Manager imports exercise and health data from Fitbit, including exercise minutes, exercise calories/kilojoules burned, and sleep. Carb Manager also imports basal metabolic rate (BMR) data from Fitbit but does not display this information in the daily log.

Conversely, Carb Manager exports food, recipe, and meal data to Fitbit. This includes the name of the recipe, calories/kilojoules, and macro breakdowns.

To connect Fitbit to Carb Manager, users should:

• Ensure their device is connected to the internet.
• Sign in to Carb Manager.
• Go to Settings and select App Settings.
• In the Macros Settings section, turn on Enable Calories/Kilojoules Burned and, optionally, Enable Macros Burned Deduction.
• Go to the Health & Fitness Device Links section and select Fitbit.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to sign in to the Fitbit account and grant Carb Manager access to the wellness data.

It is worth noting that, historically, Carb Manager did not offer two-way syncing with Fitbit. While this issue appears to have been resolved, some users have reported ongoing difficulties with syncing food data from Carb Manager to Fitbit.

Fitbit's Food Plan

The food plan allows you to log your food intake each day to see how many calories you eat versus your estimated calories burned. You can manually add food by tapping the 'Food' icon on the 'Today' tab of the Fitbit app. You can also use the barcode scanner to scan the barcode of your food item.

While Fitbit's food plan allows you to track your calorie intake and macronutrients, it does not currently support tracking net carbs, which is important for those following a keto diet. However, you can connect your Fitbit account to third-party apps such as Carb Manager, which supports keto tracking.

Fitbit's Calorie Deficit

To calculate your calorie deficit, you need to know how many calories you consume and how many you burn. Fitbit's Calorie Target is your daily calorie goal or the maximum number of calories you should consume each day. This is important because it gives you a target to aim for so that you do not overeat or under-eat. Getting the right amount of nutrition is critical for good health and weight control.

You can create a Food Plan in the Fitbit app or on the Fitbit.com dashboard by entering your current weight and goal weight. You can then choose a plan intensity: Easier, Medium, Kinda Hard, or Harder. This helps Fitbit determine how aggressively to set your calorie deficit—that is, how many fewer calories you need to consume each day to maintain or lose weight.

For example, if you want to lose 50 pounds and choose the medium-intensity plan, Fitbit will give you a daily calorie deficit of 500 calories, which will help you lose one pound per week.

The Fitbit app also provides a Calories In vs. Calories Out meter, which gives you a real-time calculation of your calorie deficit, how many calories you've eaten, how many you've burned, and the time of day. This meter will show you if you're within 50 calories of your deficit goal for the current time of day.

To see your daily calorie estimate, tap the food tile on your Fitbit.com dashboard and then click "See More." From there, you can change your Daily Calorie Estimate setting from "Personalized" to "Sedentary," which starts you out with a low-calorie estimate and lets you earn more calories by being active throughout the day.

Frequently asked questions