Can Apple Watch Track Calories?
One of the biggest reasons that people buy smartwatches is to help them keep track of their health and wellness. When you get your brand new Apple Watch, you will want to go about tinkering with the different Health app settings to get the most from your watch-wearing experience. This was literally the first thing I did, and boy, was I amazed at how well I could customize the Health app settings. Everything that I wanted it to track, it could track.
Table of Contents
- Can Apple Watch Track Calories?
- Reading the Apple Watch Calorie Tracker
- Tracking Calories Using the Watch Face
- How does the Apple Watch track calories?
- Using the Activity Tracker
- Food Tracker Apps
- How accurate is the Apple Watch’s calorie counter?
- Closing Thoughts
Can Apple Watch Track Calories?
When you pair your Apple Watch with your iPhone, you can easily track your calorie intake and output – among multiple other biometrics. There is a calorie tracker on the watch that provides a clear readout, and you can track your calories using the Watch Face. You can even add an app to help you with food tracking if you’d like.
I’m no calorie-counter by any stretch of the imagination, but it gives me a little peace of mind knowing that my calorie intake is within a healthy limit.
And I definitely want to know how many calories I burn when I do my yoga workout.
While counting your calories taken in and burned might not be your primary reason for getting an Apple Watch, it can come in handy if you are on a weight loss (or weight maintenance) journey.
If you pair your Apple Watch to your iPhone, you can easily check your health stats.
And it is considered to be pretty accurate since this method is tracking your real activity levels as opposed to simply relying on estimates that you have to plug into a TDEE calculator.
Compare that to the relatively low-scoring Fitbit Calories Burned accuracy, which users frequently complain is way off.
Incoming and burned calories can be tracked, so you know exactly where you are at with your calorie intake and output.
So, how do you use the Apple Watch to track your calories?
Is it really as easy-peasy as it sounds?
Let’s talk calories and how you can track them with the Apple Watch.
Reading the Apple Watch Calorie Tracker
You can use the Health app (pre-iOS14) or the Fitness app (iOS14 and after) to read your daily calorie intake and output.
If you want to read your calorie tracker, you certainly can do so on a daily basis.
Here is how you can do that on a phone running iOS 14 or newer:
- Open up the Fitness app on your iPhone.
- Tap on the Move category to browse through all of the caloric information.
If you happen to be on an older iPhone with iOS 13 or older still running, you will need to:
- Open up the Health app on your iPhone.
- Tap on the Today tab.
You can view your Active Energy (which are the calories you have burned during your workout) and Resting Energy (the calories that you burn while you are at rest).
Adding those two numbers together can give you a good idea of how many calories you are burning each day.
Just remember that your Apple Watch is able to directly monitor your information too.
Tracking Calories Using the Watch Face
Do you want to quickly analyze your calorie info using the Apple Watch?
Well, then you can easily use one of its numerous faces that display that data.
All you have to do is open the Apple Watch App on your iPhone, then:
- Tap on whichever watch face that you prefer.
- Toggle on whichever of the Activity Options you want to see.
- Tap on Set As Current Watch Face.
- Tap on the Activity icon on the watch face whenever you want to see your caloric data.
How does the Apple Watch track calories?
The Apple Watch tracks your calories through Wrist Detection, so this is something that you need to have turned on if you want your calories tracked.
To check and make sure that it is on, you need to tap on My Watch > Passcode.
You will be able to see if it is indeed turned on.
Your watch needs to be tight enough on your wrist with the heart rate sensor snug against your skin.
Also, ensure that your watch is properly calibrated.
Now, open up the Workout app and select Outdoor Walk.
Walk at your regular pace for 20 minutes.
Doing this will help the watch understand how you normally burn calories.
Using the Activity Tracker
Using the Apple Watch‘s activity tracker can show you a fair amount of calorie-related data.
You will be able to look on your watch face and see how many calories you have burned so far, how many minutes of activity you have engaged in, and standing every one hour.
This is a great way of just checking in and getting helpful reminders throughout the day.
Food Tracker Apps
While you will have to download one, there are food tracker apps available for the Apple Watch.
If you are keeping tabs on your caloric intake and output, they can really be handy.
They are able to monitor your overall daily stats, including nutrient intake and calories.
You can even add a quick snack or meal into the app to remain as accurate as possible every day.
How accurate is the Apple Watch’s calorie counter?
Speaking of accuracy… Just how accurate is the Apple Watch’s ability to count calories?
As far as smartwatches and other wearable devices go, the Apple Watch seems to be one of the most accurate.
It might not be 100% accurate all the time, but given how many biometrics it analyzes, you can get a pretty clear idea of just how many calories you are taking in and burning each day.
Closing Thoughts
While the Apple Watch cannot tell what you’ve eaten just by wearing it, it can tell you how many calories you are getting and how many you are burning while working out or at rest.
Just ensure that the watch stays calibrated and that the wrist detection function remains enabled, then you should be good to go.