Apple watch resting calories seem far too high

I contacted support about this, they had me go through the motions, unpair the watch, reset it yadda yadda.

They're insisting I calibrate it and "wait a couple of days" to see if it works.

I mean, I will, but, I suspect I'll be going back to them again still with a resting calorie count of 4000+

Hi, Nytramg

I think yo are on to something there. I wasn't able to make my numbers work but substituting metric in the formula you providing but I was able to reproduce something similiar using the Mifflin Equation. http://www.ksmithwriter.com/Mifflin_Equation_For_Weight_Control.html

So just like you said, when i run the numbers using the opposite measurement, in this case, just plugging in my weight value in lbs instead of kg, i get a very high number and it's within 100 calories of what is displayed on my apple watch. Very interesting indeed.

Simply plug in your numbers to find your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate). This is the number of calories needed per day simply to keep alive and kicking. Next, multiply the resulting number by the factor that best fits your personal activity level.

Anything lower than that number will result in weight loss. Higher? A chance of weight gain.

• For men: (10 x w) + (6.25 x h) - (5 x a) + 5
• For women:(10 x w) + (6.25 x h) - (5 x a) - 161

Where:

• w = weight in kg (1 pound = 0.45359237 kilograms)
• h = height in cm (1 inch = 2.54 centimeters)
• a = age (in years)

Activity Factor Category Definition

Interesting! Using pounds and inches, I get almost the same number that is in the Activity app. It is hard to believe that Apple made this mistake. Where was QC?

George

I know right! I am thinking that it can't be that simple of a mistake else they could have quickly fixed that in the 1.0.1 update.

So in the meantime i changed my Health app to metric. And then on MyWatch -> Heath -> I entered the kg value , even though it still asks for lbs there, and my resting calories are correct if not slightly lower (by 100). Which is better to me than 2000 too high. 🙂

I also notice that the Active calories stay pretty consistent, whether i enter my weight in lbs or kg, so looks like it is not effected by the same calculation error, are you seeing the same thing?

I will use this stop gap (Hack) until the fix comes out. I hope they are not waiting till watchOS 2 to fix this.

Hey all,

I'm new to this whole situation, but after reading these posts and some in other places, I think I've got an idea as to why resting calories are so high: I think the watch is determining the activity factor to use based on the activity level the watch measures. I realize this sounds weird and circuitous, but my watch has been reporting my resting calories at 3290, which seemed high, but is in the neighborhood for what online calculators are telling me for an activity level that is higher than what i self-report. The only thing I can gather is that the watch is using my active calories to make a determination on what activity factor to use in the resting calorie rate calculation. My activity level has gone up significantly ever since I've had Sergeant Apple Watch on my wrist telling me to get myself in gear.

I mean, think about it, and especially in light of the comments that the watch needs to "calibrate itself" to measure resting calories: this is 1. exactly the kind of thing that Apple would attempt and 2. exactly the kind of thing that Apple would goof up the first time around.

Just a thought.

I just did a trst to see if the movement ring moved. It did and the steps went up. I had it set for other, because I just can't move fast enough for the exercise ring to move if I don't. I have a drop foot and lose my balance. I also use other when I am sanding the stairs.

I was reponding to Stommi? question, and cant find it anyomre. The exercise ring moves if you are doing an equivalent to a brisk walk. I hope this answered your question?

PLease look on page four under Willsmom, for the answer. Happy Watch owner!

Corrected: If anyone is still monitoring this I can assure you that the resting calculation has been fixed in OS 2. I installed beta 5 a few nights ago and my resting calories for the day are in the 1900 - 2000 range. With 1.01 they were in the 2700 range which was crazy.

I know it does not help many now, but just letting you know

I hope your correct. I was about to give up on the watch and sell it. It has been such a disappointment as a fitness tracker. Many of my friends returned it right away.

I have no doubt they corrected it. Yesterday, for example, I moved quite a bit including a lot of up and down stairs at work. However, it was not full out workout type activity. It has me down for 57 minutes of exercise with 751 move calories. Typically it would have my total calories on a day like this well over 3500 which was way out of whack. My total calories for the day were 2749. The other days are like this as well. I believe the fitness part has improved in accuracy all the way around. For what Apple calls exercise I believe it is accurate based on my exertion. Hopefully I would get a full workout in soon to see how it does with the intense exercise.

Like you, I was upset with the fitness tracking, but OS2 gives me a lot of hope. Also, OS2 in general is a nice improvement. I find apps loading much faster and the information going from watch to activity faster and more reliable. This along with other enhancements tells me they are moving in the right direction.

In case you were debating going to OS2, beta 5 is very nice. The only bug I have found is my email alerts with my exchange work email gives me two notifications for every incoming email. Not a huge deal at all, but it is a bug

Please remember that unless you are a developer, the beta copy is not supported. If you don't believe me call tech support and find out. I worked as an advisor for 8 years, and we were never allowed to support it. So the beta download is a chancy thing. You should have been patient and waited for the 'real' version to come out in the fall. But, that is just my opinion.

Home of SDWoG... OTWoBGC

I just upgraded my watch yesterday to V2.0 software and guess what?!!?!?

MY RESTING CALORIES ARE CORRECT NOW!!!

Woohoo! I'm averaging about 61cals/hr which is right where my BMR and RMR says I should be. I'll hold my breath for a couple more days to make sure it's correct going forward.

YAY!!!!

Does anyone know what the method is for calculating total calories in 2.0? I see that my total calories is now lower and more reasonable, but since the "resting calories" was eliminated in the Activity app "Move" section I don't know what's going on.

For the past 4 days (excluding today), I see:

Active = 391

Total = 2,231

Active = 271

Total = 2,072

Active = 260

Total = 2,062

Active = 337

Total = 2,156

So if I subtract the Active from Total, that gives 4 different values for what used to be listed as "resting" = 1840, 1801, 1802, 1819 ?

Changing your weight to make the resting calories correct is messing up every other app that I have to do with fitness. Surely that is even effecting the standard workout app?!