Concerned about FITDAY ACCURACY!
 

I have some concerns about Fitday accuracy. I think they round all their numbers to the next highest because their totals don't match what the numbers actuallyl total.

For example, here's today's so far (I"m shortening descriptions for purpose of email--details at end of this post as I cut and pasted them):
Cals Fat Carb Protein
Coffee 2 0 0 0
Cream 308 33 2 2
Cream 410 44 3 2
SF gelatin 7 0 0 1
Cheese 326 27 1 21
FITDAY TOTALS 1054 104 8 26

ACTUAL TOTALS 1053 104 6 26

This is only one example. I've noticed minor discrepancies in the past, but since I'm on induction and every carb counts, the difference between 6 and 8 is 25%!! This is personally a help to me if I stick with the total...kind of like setting my alarm clock 1/2 hour is a help in the morning, tho I kknow the truth. However, I would like to work with numbers that are true. In this case, if they are rounding up, then the actual totals at face value would also be inaccurate, since it would be pretty much tantamount to rounding down at this point. There is obviously some rounding up with the CAL numbers as well, and here on LC, it's the CAL and CARB numbers that mean most to me.

Has anyone else run across this problem? How does this impact LC'ing for those who use FitDay?

AJ


------- Here are the items in full description (not formatted):
Food Name Servings Serving Size Cals Fat Carb Prot
Coffee, dry instant powder, regular teaspoon, dryQuantity not specified 2 0 0 0

Cream, heavy, fluid cupfl ozGuideline amount per fl oz of beverageQuantity not specified 308 33 2 2

Cream, heavy, whipped, unsweetened cupQuantity not specified 410 44 3 2

Desserts, gelatins, KRAFT, JELL-O Brand Sugar Free Low Calorie Gelatin Snacks Strawberry, with aspartame and acesulfame potassium sweetener, ready-to-eat NLEA serving 7 0 0 1

Cheese, Colby Jack cup, NFScup, dicedcup, shreddedcubic inchslice (1 oz)Quantity not specified 326 27 1 21

Totals 1054 104 8 26

Umm
 

Eck you just confused me to death with all them numbers ...lol Anyways, the only thing I have ever noticed on fitday is .. they do kind of "round up"

I don't know if this is what you're talking about or anything but I noticed that if something has like 4.2 carbs.. thats 4 carbs..
Then something else will be 5. 4 carbs..(5 carbs)
Then something else you eat might be 2.2 carbs...(2 carbs)

Fitday won't technically show that in its totals ( I forgot where I saw this, I think when you customize the nutrition labels.) But it WILL add it up as so:
4.2
5.4
2.3
------
11.9 carbs.. Fitday will round it up to 12 carbs.

So it's not totally inaccurate.

Oh yea and
 

I don't know how new you are at at fitday or anything.. But if you're not already, you're better off customizing all the labels instead of going by their estimated ones. It's a pain at first but thats the best way to get accurate totals. Just take like a can of spinach (or something you eat ) and match it up to what theirs says and you'll see what I mean. :roll:

Well, it's a bit different
 

I'm not new at FitDay, I just never paid this close attenton to the carbs before.

Slim, your example is thus:

4.2
5.4
2.3
------
11.9 carbs.. Fitday will round it up to 12 carbs.

That would be fine if that's hoiw it worked, but it doesn't.

Your example shows that 12 carbs would be more accurate, and you are right. Fitday rounds of each individual number, not just the total. That's where the problem comes in. Using your own numbers, here's what happens on Fitday:

4.2 => 4 (Fitday)
5.4 => 5
2.3 => 2
----------
11.9 => 11 carbs total accordinf to FitDay.

Here's a different example.

1.5 =>2 (Fitday)
2.5 =>3
1.5 =>2
3.5 =>4
____
9 carbs...Fitday would count it as 11

Or if those individual numbers were 1/10 lgram less, then it would be:

1.4 =>1 (Fitday)
2.4 => 2
1.4 => 1
3.4 => 3
-------------
8.6 carbs...Fitday would total the rounded off numbers as 8, not 9.

So, individual items can have as little as 1/10 of a difference in carb (between 1.4 or 1.5 gr) , but it would translate into a whole gram for Fitday.

THere is an actual difference in the actual totals from the last two examples (9.0 minus 8.6) of only 0.40., or 4/10 of a gram of carbs. However, according to Fitday, the difference would be (11 minus 8), THREE whole grams of carbs! To someone on Induction, 3 carbs can mean a meal!

I'm disappointed. I thought Fitday made it easy and instead, the easiness seems to come at the cost of accuracy.

AJ

Personally, I never was that concerned about it.... do you think that 2 grams of carbs really make the difference between losing and not losing? I've always worked under the rule that if I'm within 5 grams of my target, then I'm happy. I've lost 26 pounds. I must be doing something right! :)

I agree with Terri. I don't think one or two extra carbs will make a huge difference, Especially when you think about how many you were eating before you started LC'ing.

I think as long as you try to stay under your target carbs you'll be fine if you slip a carb or two. I just try not to let the one or two be come 5 or 10 or continue on a regular basis.

The way I understand it, FitDay rounds off the totals for each individual food, but when it adds them up for daily totals, it doesn't add the rounded-off numbers, but rather the un-rounded ones, so your actual total may not match the totals for the individual foods. Is that clear as mud? Sorry.

BTW, I agree with Teri--IMHO, the point is not to stress over 2 or 3 grams, but to make major changes in your overall lifestyle. Is a 19-gram day a good day and a 21-gram day a bad day? What if what you thought were large eggs turned out to be extra-large, and you had two? That's two grams--oh my gosh! Why get stressed over that, when at least you ate the eggs, instead of a bagel or danish or the other mega-high-carb stuff we all used to be hooked on?

That's as bad as being addicted to the scale and obsessing over daily changes, instead of looking at your average weights over a week or a month.

JMHO

Skywind

I have another question about Fitday myself and thought to put it here....have any of you gone to the public page of your journal? I like to check it as it has all the records posted and makes it easier for me to track of what I am doing (or NOT doing *lol*)...I am still a newbie so I was totally shocked that at the bottom of my public journal page they have an entirely different list of numbers than what their chart shows.

For example, today as of this morning I had (my note in parens) :

Total Calories (cal)444 (fat)25 (carb)2 (Prot)49

So I've had 2 carbs this morning...

then at the bottom of the page under Calories Eaten Today it has:

Calories Eaten
Calories Eaten Today
Total: 444
Fat: 226
Saturated: 98
Polyunsat: 34
Monounsat: 72
Carbohydrates: 9
Protein: 197
Alcohol: 0


NOTE THE CARBOHYDRATES! The chart stated 2 yet this Calories Eaten Today thing states 9... and this discrepancy is pretty consistant (I looked at my other few days I've got in my Fitday).

My question I guess is this: Is this something I should be concerned about or should I simply ignore the Calories Eaten Today list??????????????? It's driving me nuts...