Calorie burn update?

[erichyde43]

Has anyone else noticed that their daily calorie burns started being higher? Yesterday I mostly sat around but the Band told me i burned almost 3100 calories. In fact, without a workout, my band is regularly telling me i burn around 2600 calories per day. This seemed to happen about a month ago. Before 9/4 i was averaging about 2100 calories per day. Since then its been as high as 3400 (basically impossible) and averaging about 2600. There are still some normal days sprinkled in there. But on the high calorie days it looks like my heart rate is just above normal for a longer period of time.

Obviously, I suspect there is an issue with one of the sensors on my band, but wanted to know if anyone else is experiencing this as well to rule out some software change.

Thanks!

 

[erichyde43]

It appears i found an extremely strange software bug. I'll try to explain.

After my workout on 9/4 i paused the workout and failed to push end. After a long time (30 minutes maybe?) it buzzes very hard and asks if you are still working out. I pushed "no" and it ended my workout appropriately. I noticed that the calorie count for the workout was extremely high (it was around 200 when i finished my short workout...but now it read over 400). I didn't think about it much, but it appears that the workout never really ended. The calorie algorithm was still in effect over the past few weeks. Even though nothing showed it, it seems the band was calculating my calories as if i was working out. Last night i started and ended a workout right away and it appears to have reset my calories correctly (1300 through noon...on par for average of 2300).

Hope this helps anyone else...doesn't sound like it will...but i wanted to share my experience. I've submitted a bug report for MSFT as well.

 

[poit57]

The calorie algorithm was still in effect over the past few weeks. Even though nothing showed it, it seems the band was calculating my calories as if i was working out.

You could be right, but in my testing, the Band doesn't record a higher calorie burn just because it is in workout mode. I tested an hour of sitting at my computer desk with the exercise tile active and got approximately the same hourly calorie burn as without the tile active - around 85 calories.

When I am moderately active, though not really working out, the calorie burn is recorded as being higher with the exercise tile active. During an hour of bowling without activating exercise mode, my calorie burn is reported as being around 85 to 90 because there is a lot of sitting around involved and the minute of heart rate monitoring probably falls mostly during those idle times. However, when I activated the exercise tile with constant heart rate monitoring during all my active times and small peaks in my heart rate, the calorie burn for an hour is closer to 140.

Unless your heart rate monitor is reading incorrectly, constant monitoring is probably only going to increase the accuracy of the estimated calorie burn. My first Band that I received did have a faulty heart rate monitor that measured my resting heart rate closer to 75 bpm instead of the actual 55 to 60 bpm. One day, I was alerted that I had met my calorie goal at 2:00 PM while sitting idly at work all day. If the calorie burn seems unrealistically high, I would check the HR monitor's accuracy.

 

[erichyde43]

Yeah. I withdraw my previous "solution". Still seeing more calories than normal. The HR seems to be pretty consistent, just........Woah okay. So it just shot to 130 without me moving. Definitely have a faulty HR monitor going on. Ugh. Come on Band 2 next week!

 

[poit57]

The best way check would be if you are in the vicinity of a Microsoft Store, have them check it out. The guys in my local store weren't convinced that I had a bad unit until they let me try on a demo device and compare the results of the heart rate monitor.

If you can't get to a store, you can still double check the accuracy of the monitor by taking your pulse and manually figuring the beats per minute. A random jump wouldn't necessarily indicate a faulty HR monitor if it loses its lock momentarily, but consistently reading higher than your actual heart rate while "locked" definitely would indicate a problem.

 

[erichyde43]

It "locked" on 120 when i manually checked. Looking back through my data it looks like this is happening occasionally. About an hour away from a MSFT store. Got my band on Launch day last october...used my MSFT complete replacement about 5 months ago when the HR Monitor completely detached from the band (informed i was taking it on and off wrong at the store....). I'm just hoping for a more sturdy V2. Im planning on getting it on launch day again. If i get up to the MSFT store i'll post an update. Thanks!