These are energy calories that were burned when you were walking around or 'moving' around. What is this? Simply put, reported move calories on the Apple Watch are Active calories and the total calories that you see are the sum total of active calories and resting calories.
The total calories and move calories reported by Apple Watch are very accurate but their accuracy is highly dependent on the accuracy of the inputs that you provide. This include your age, sex, height and most importantly your weight.
The daily Move ring tracks active calories. Total calories are also estimated and can be viewed via the companion Activity app on your iPhone, by swiping left on the Move goal chart for any given day.
To do this, simply go to the Activity app on your Apple Watch, press firmly on the ring interface, and then press Change Move Goal when the option pops up on the display. Experiment with what's manageable.
How to manually add workout data to close your Activity rings
How to change your daily Move goal.
Here's how: Tap on the Activity app on your Apple Watch. Use the Digital Crown or your finger on the screen to scroll down and tap on Change Goals. Tap the up or down arrows until you reach the calorie goal you wish to achieve daily.
Active Calories are additional calories you burn by doing exercise that you would not have burned if you were just resting. Or in other words, Apple deducts your BMR from your Total Calories to calculate your Active Calories.
One thing to note is that your “move” goal on your Apple Watch only tracks your active calories burned. That means none of your sedimentary calories count i.e. the freebies you get from living and breathing every day (more on that below).
Once you open it, tap the Activity rings at the top. Just under the move data you'll see your total calories burned for the day in the bottom left of your screen. Subtract your active (“Move” goal) calories from total to get your passive calories burned (base metabolic rate)
How to see Apple Watch calories burned – active, passive, and total
Find out how your Apple Watch calculates the calories you burn and learn whether the stats are accurate. Your Apple Watch uses information such as your height, weight, age, gender, heart rate, and movement throughout the day to calculate how many calories you burn.
Total calories include - basal calories + calories burned when doing a workout. Active calories are those that are burned during some activity like swimming running or anything else where your body is moving, Basal are those that your body burns during a day without any activity.
Change your daily Move Goal on your Apple Watch regularly
The most obvious is the Move goal, which counts calories. Every part of calorie tracking is bad. First, the Apple Watch, like virtually every other fitness tracker, doesn't measure calories accurately.