MFP Exercise Log - Calories Burned
KirstenAFerreira
Posts: 55 Member
Hello 
So yes, this question is probably asked time and time again, I searched the forum and couldn't find any that gave me sufficient information but...
I'm aware that MFP's calories burned is not accurate, but how far off is it usually?
I do not have the money to buy myself a heart rate monitor (Unfortunately!), so I can't work things out that way.. The only thing I have is MFP's estimates.
My calories burned aren't massively important to me because I feel I do a good amount of exercise a day, but numbers can be motivational!
Does anyone have good idea on how far off these estimates are?
Help is greatly appreciated, Thank you!!
So yes, this question is probably asked time and time again, I searched the forum and couldn't find any that gave me sufficient information but...
I'm aware that MFP's calories burned is not accurate, but how far off is it usually?
I do not have the money to buy myself a heart rate monitor (Unfortunately!), so I can't work things out that way.. The only thing I have is MFP's estimates.
My calories burned aren't massively important to me because I feel I do a good amount of exercise a day, but numbers can be motivational!
Does anyone have good idea on how far off these estimates are?
Help is greatly appreciated, Thank you!!
0
Replies
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It really depends on many different factors, such as your current weight, lean body mass, exercise intensity, heart rate, and volume of oxygen intake among others. For individual exercises, some estimates are less, some are more, some are about right. You can log your exercises and pick a percentage of Calories earned to "eat back" for a few weeks and see if your rate of weight loss is as expected. If not, choose a different percentage and readjust.
You can also follow the links provided below to learn more about the methods used by many online calculators to estimate Calories burned from activities.
The MFP Exercise Diary provides estimated Calories burned for cardiovascular activities using published metabolic equivalent of tasks (METs) values, which in general align with the values for similar activities found in the Compendium of Physical Activities. The greater the METs factor, the greater amount of estimated Calories burned per minute for a person's body weight. The METs factors provide estimates for a general population and an individual user's Calorie burn estimate may be different.0 -
It really depends on many different factors, such as your current weight, lean body mass, exercise intensity, heart rate, and volume of oxygen intake among others. For individual exercises, some estimates are less, some are more, some are about right. You can log your exercises and pick a percentage of Calories earned to "eat back" for a few weeks and see if your rate of weight loss is as expected. If not, choose a different percentage and readjust.
You can also follow the links provided below to learn more about the methods used by many online calculators to estimate Calories burned from activities.
The MFP Exercise Diary provides estimated Calories burned for cardiovascular activities using published metabolic equivalent of tasks (METs) values, which in general align with the values for similar activities found in the Compendium of Physical Activities. The greater the METs factor, the greater amount of estimated Calories burned per minute for a person's body weight. The METs factors provide estimates for a general population and an individual user's Calorie burn estimate may be different.
Thank you so much! This was very helpful!! and greatly appreciated! 0 -
To be honest, MFPs figures have been pretty spot on for me....0
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Mine have been fairly close if not a little under. If you don't have the money to buy additional gadgets, just monitor your weight progress. If you find that you are gaining or not losing, then just lower your calorie goal a bit (or decrease the calories it gives you for exercise). It's all about what method you can use to reach your goal given your resources (even if the numbers are off a bit).0
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KirstenAFerreira wrote: »Does anyone have good idea on how far off these estimates are?
It depends on the exercise being performed, and on your fitness level. They can be anywhere from 25% to low to 400% too high.
Need more details to give a more specific answer.
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The MFP Exercise Diary provides estimated Calories burned for cardiovascular activities using published metabolic equivalent of tasks (METs) values...
Yeah, the big problems really come in when entries rely on self-reporting of exertion level, and for low MET workouts, the double-counting of BMR/RMR.
Only very fit people should be using entries tagged "vigorous", etc.
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TavistockToad wrote: »To be honest, MFPs figures have been pretty spot on for me....20yearsyounger wrote: »Mine have been fairly close if not a little under. If you don't have the money to buy additional gadgets, just monitor your weight progress. If you find that you are gaining or not losing, then just lower your calorie goal a bit (or decrease the calories it gives you for exercise). It's all about what method you can use to reach your goal given your resources (even if the numbers are off a bit).
Thank you!
I just looked around a bit and have seen some people say that their MFP exercise log is completely off, so I don't want to be burning 100 calories and being told I'm burning 400! Makes one frown a bit and think.. Well I've done really well today, I think?
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Can we not forget that the users are often very poor at selecting the right category and overemphasise their own effort.0
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KirstenAFerreira wrote: »Does anyone have good idea on how far off these estimates are?
It depends on the exercise being performed, and on your fitness level. They can be anywhere from 25% to low to 400% too high.
Need more details to give a more specific answer.
Thank you for your reply!
I am about 144lbs and 5'5", 22 years old.
In the mornings I take a 5km jog which takes me about 45 minutes max, I get home and follow a Jillian Michaels workout for 35 minutes, and then after I've finished cleaning and such (I don't feel the need to log the calories burned cleaning to be honest), I end up doing another workout video for about 30 minutes, then late afternoon I take the same 5km and walk at an apparent "very, very brisk pace".
This being said I'm not super fit, but I'm fit to a degree 0 -
Can we not forget that the users are often very poor at selecting the right category and overemphasise their own effort.
Naturally..
I don't log every single activity I do (Cooking, Cleaning. Carrying my daughter around for an hour), and when I do my exercise I like to log at least 5 minutes less... I'm very honest with myself, and push until the workout is over, I'm aware that lying to oneself isn't really going to help obtain their goal0 -
No worries OP it wasnt aimed at you and this is a recurring subject in which its a popular mantra to decry MFP and its estimates. Start at whatever estimate you have , then just judge by results over time and save yourself any worry. Your body gets the benefit of every single calorie burned whether you log or bot and its 100% accurate.0
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KirstenAFerreira wrote: »KirstenAFerreira wrote: »Does anyone have good idea on how far off these estimates are?
It depends on the exercise being performed, and on your fitness level. They can be anywhere from 25% to low to 400% too high.
Need more details to give a more specific answer.
Thank you for your reply!
I am about 144lbs and 5'5", 22 years old.
In the mornings I take a 5km jog which takes me about 45 minutes max, I get home and follow a Jillian Michaels workout for 35 minutes, and then after I've finished cleaning and such (I don't feel the need to log the calories burned cleaning to be honest), I end up doing another workout video for about 30 minutes, then late afternoon I take the same 5km and walk at an apparent "very, very brisk pace".
This being said I'm not super fit, but I'm fit to a degree
That's a fair bit of exercise, are you training for anything specific?0 -
Thank you! This is trueNo worries OP it wasnt aimed at you and this is a recurring subject in which its a popular mantra to decry MFP and its estimates. Start at whatever estimate you have , then just judge by results over time and save yourself any worry. Your body gets the benefit of every single calorie burned whether you log or bot and its 100% accurate.
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TavistockToad wrote: »KirstenAFerreira wrote: »KirstenAFerreira wrote: »Does anyone have good idea on how far off these estimates are?
It depends on the exercise being performed, and on your fitness level. They can be anywhere from 25% to low to 400% too high.
Need more details to give a more specific answer.
Thank you for your reply!
I am about 144lbs and 5'5", 22 years old.
In the mornings I take a 5km jog which takes me about 45 minutes max, I get home and follow a Jillian Michaels workout for 35 minutes, and then after I've finished cleaning and such (I don't feel the need to log the calories burned cleaning to be honest), I end up doing another workout video for about 30 minutes, then late afternoon I take the same 5km and walk at an apparent "very, very brisk pace".
This being said I'm not super fit, but I'm fit to a degree
That's a fair bit of exercise, are you training for anything specific?
I'm fortunate to be a housewife and get to take advantage of my free time
We also have a home gym so I do about 50 minutes of strength training, I'm still a beginner as far as strength training goes, but I'm enjoying it!
Not training for anything specific, it's really me just being inspired to get fit/strong 0
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