Problems syncing with Apple Health

rksmith

I obtain duplicate readings, or inaccurate reading from Apple Health into Cronometer. For example, if I set my watch to allow Cronometer to read Workouts, Active Energy, and Exercise Minutes, I get calorie counts that are higher than my watch readings. It seems that data is being counted twice. Another example: if I workout on the bike and elliptical, I receive workout data that corresponds to Apple. However, the calorie consumption shown on the bar graph in "Calories Summary" counts the workouts (accurately) AND something called "Activity" (that doesn't match anything in Apple Health. I've experimented with turning on and off many different settings, but nothing seems to work. The result is that I'm allowed to consume far more calories to obtain my target loss than I should be allowed. Anyone else experiencing this problem?

SpencerD

Thanks @rksmith I'll get that issue logged. If you can post a screenshot or two, that would help a lot!

rankingfullstop

Although I'm not a gold member and I'm just staring with this today I'm experiencing something similar. I'm noticing that the two workouts I did this morning are listed as well as an"Active Energy" listing that doesn't seem to match what's in Apple Health. Like the original poster stated it seems as though it's indicating that I can consume more than I should.

Is the 66 minutes of "Active Energy" duplicating the two workouts?

I use a fitness application called "Fitiv" for recording fitness. It's visually appealing and makes it easy for me to see my heart rate zones on my phone so I don't have to refer to the watch if I'm on something like the Arc Trainer. I just set the "calories burned" on it to 70% of it's estimate because I believe it is over-estimating how many calories I'm actually burning through. I'll see how that affects things for my next workout. It syncs with Apple Health.

Maybe it will take time to refresh? Should I un-link MFP? Could that be causing issues? Am I doing something to cause overlap between the apps?

rksmith

I'm still struggling to understand the calculations as well. I'll use today as an example. Using my Apple watch I went for a 66 minute walk. Those 66 minutes were counted in Apple Health as part of a total of 75 minutes of exercise during the day. In total, AW calculated a calorie burn of 661. It also indicated resting energy of 1,413 kcal so far for the day(BMR?). Turning to Cronometer, it recorded my 66 minutes of walking (-265.44 kcal). Then, it included 71 minutes of Active Energy (338.41 kcal). Added together, those two measurements come to 603.85 kcals. So, a difference of 57 kcal from Apple Health (661-603). I'm somewhat okay with that small difference, but where I get confused is in the Calories Summary in Cronometer (where you see the bar graphs). It says I've burned 3,013 kcal for the day, which doesn't match Apple Health at all (1,413+662). The bar graph shows 603 kcal for exercise, but an additional 722 for "Activity". Combined with a BMR of 1,686, it comes up with a burned amount of 3,013 kcal, roughly 1,000 kcal more than Apple. I actually would prefer that Cronometer not calculate "Activity", and just leave the number crunching to Apple. Sorry about all the numbers, hope this is clearer than mud...

Basically, I don't trust Cronometer's "calories burned" number, even though I would like to!

Cheers...

rksmith

In addition to the above, I just started to log a new day starting tomorrow. Without any input from my watch, Cronometer "predicts" that I will burn 843 kcal in "General Activity" plus my BMR of 1,686 for a "total burned" of 2,529 -- Even though I haven't logged any activity for tomorrow yet. I'm fine with the BMR figure, but where does the 843 kcal come from? How is Cronometer predicting that? I'd rather rely on the actual data inputted from the watch. There has to be some double counting occuring...

rksmith

Well, I finally found the solution to my issue. Actually, I'm embarrassed that it took me so long! Cronometer allows you to set an activity level in your account profile. You can select a calculation based on your activity level, and it assumes a caloric burn based on a percentage of BMR. By selecting "none", the only activity left showing in the bar graph (Diary Page) is BMR. The Apple watch fills in the activity amount using it's sensors.

Hilary

Great to hear you figured it out!

rankingfullstop

I'm fiddling around with this right now... thanks for posting your message. I will review some of the documentation and videos today.

rksmith

As a follow-up, here are my stats today, having set Activity Level to "none" in account settings: Calories consumed 332.9. BMR: 1,681. Exercise recorded by Apple Watch (40 mins on elliptical): 377 kcals. Active Energy (so far today) recorded by Apple Watch (replaces Activity Level previously recorded by Cronometer): 111.64 kcals.

In summary, my BMR plus exercise plus activity is 2,170. With my goal setting of -1.5 lbs per week, Cronometer says I can consume 1,089 more cals today. This is far more accurate than before, where I was getting double readings for activity. Of course the allowable daily calories will change as my activity level continues to increase during the remainder of the day and I consume more food. Anyway, long story a bit shorter: I'm VERY pleased that Cronometer is now working perfectly for me in combination with my Apple Watch. It's a great tool!

cwstnsko

I recently switched from Fitbit to Apple Watch. I was quite successful getting all the calorie numbers to line up between Cronometer and Fitbit by setting the Activity Level to none. With the Apple Watch, the Resting Energy reported in Apple Health does not match the BMR value in cronometer. It is always higher in Apple Watch, and even though it is referred to as resting energy, it varies some from day to day based on activity level.

So far the closest I've been able to come to getting things to match up is to set my activity level to sedentary. I seems that the Fitbit was reporting all activity as active calories and the Apple Watch/Health sets a slightly higher threshold for what constitutes an active calorie, and accounts for general movement as part of resting energy.

It's not too far off the way I have it set, so it works fine for now. I haven't been able to find any useful information in regards to how Apple is calculating resting energy.

rksmith

I've given up trying to figure out how Apple calculates energy consumption -- it's a Black Art. Anyway, I'm okay with the numbers I'm getting now, having set my activity level to none -- but I may give sedentary a try just to compare. Today I hit my longest "all activity" streak: 312 days completing all three rings (650 cals/day, 30 minutes exercise minimum, and 12 stand-ups). Hoping to avoid a sick day so I can make it to 365 days - only 53 to go! Enjoy your Apple watch -- I love mine, and truly believe that it's changed my life -- down 30 pounds since strapping it on, and BMI now in the normal range. It's a great motivator, when combined with Cronometer.

P.S. In addition to the watch and Cronometer for calorie counting, I follow the 16:8 eating plan. See the 8-Hour Diet: available on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/the-8-hour-diet/id560208151?mt=11

I consume food between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM on Mon, Tue, Wed and Thu. This allows for a 16 hour fast overnight. The book explains the science, which is very compelling. Fri-Sun I indulge, but not excessively -- in moderation, but no calorie counting, etc. I would describe my results as 3 steps forward Mon-Thu, and 1 step backward over the long weekend. Steady progress -- sure works for me. And I've tired every diet known to humankind over the years.