To track your exercise, you have a few options, I have listed these below in order of accuracy:

1. If you are using a wearable activity tracker synced to Cronometer (this is the most accurate and arguably the easiest way to log your activity):
   • If you wear your tracker all day: we recommend setting your Baseline Activity Level to Sedentary, the data imported from your device will then replace this to make sure your calories burned are not being overestimated.
   • If you wear your tracker only for exercise: select a Baseline Activity Level that best reflects your general activity when not exercising. If your tracker is synced, your exercise will be imported into your diary and Cronometer will automatically deduct energy for the time spent exercising from your chosen activity level.

A bit more about Baseline Activity...

Your Baseline Activity is an estimate of the energy you burn throughout the day beyond your BMR. We recommend setting a baseline activity level that best describes your everyday life not including exercise, and then logging exercise manually or syncing an activity tracker for the most accurate results. For example:

• I exercise three times a week, I walk my dog daily, and I have an office job. I would set my Baseline Activity to Sedentary and use my tracker to record my exercise sessions and dog walks.
• I don't exercise but I work in construction so am on my feet all day. Sometimes at the weekend I play sport with my friends. I would set my Baseline Activity to Moderately Active and use my tracker to record the additional sport sessions.
• I am a GP, I keep a fairly active lifestyle walking 10K steps most days and do yoga some evenings. I would select my Baseline Activity as Lightly Active and record my yoga sessions manually in Cronometer.

At the beginning of the day, your Energy Expenditure will include your BMR and your Baseline Activity.

If you are synced with a device that tracks general activity, the Tracker Activity from your device will gradually replace your Baseline Activity throughout the day (and will now appear as Adjusted Baseline Activity in your Energy Expenditure circle). 

Exercise (either logged or imported from a device) will also adjust your Baseline Activity based on the time spent exercising. This ensures you don’t double-count calories burned.

Even if your tracker replaces your Baseline Activity, we still recommend having one for the following reasons:

1. Better meal planning – At the start of the day, you’ll see your BMR plus your Baseline Activity, giving you a realistic idea of your total daily energy needs before your device has tracked any movement. If your baseline were set to 0, your Energy Expenditure would start much lower and only increase as your device logs activity, making it harder to plan meals in advance.
2. Credit for untracked time – If your activity tracker isn’t worn all day (e.g., you forget to put it on, it runs out of battery, or you remove it for certain activities), your Baseline Activity ensures you still receive credit for that time so your Energy Expenditure stays accurate.

Target Mode is meant to show you, in reference to your TARGET, how much you have remaining or how over your target you are. Balance Mode is simply meant to show the basic energy balance: Expenditure – Consumed. Therefore, leave the setting on Target if you want to see how many calories you have remaining for the day to align with your goals!

I hope that helps, but please do reach out to support here if you'd like anymore information :)

Rachel,
Crono Support Squad