MFP Calorie counting versus Machines

Posts: 987 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
A million apologies if this question has been asked before.

When I do a work out on my elliptical machine it keeps track of calories burned, strides, time etc...like all machines do. I generally do somewhere around 40 minutes at a 50 rpm pace and the machine normally tells me (pretty consistently) that I am somewhere between 450 and 500 calories burned. When I enter the timing into MFP though, it gives me waaaay fewer calories as credit. Is this a common experience? I wear a Fitbit and it tends to sync a little more closely with the machine....

Replies

  • Posts: 1,049 Member
    MFP only has one entry for the elliptical. It doesn't consider what pace, what resistance, or what kind of machine you're working out on. It's one of the most inaccurate entries in the database. The machines do tend to overestimate some, so I'd say if your Fitbit is somewhere between the MFP calories and the machine calories, it's your best bet.
  • Posts: 153 Member
    I use a Fitbit and the only exercises that I enter are thru MFP - Spin / cycling , weights, elliptical. I let the Fitbit count my steps and floors. In addition, I used MFP to have Fitbit give negative readings, which I need to "make up" around 225 calories after I wake up to get to "0".

    I found that the Fitbit keeps your other apps "honest". So it is really up to you how to record your exercise, but this seems to work for me.

    Unfortunately, last week I had to send in my Force because the wristband separated from the "brain" and I am waiting for my Charge to come in.
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