Runkeeper Question

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Triskele2
Triskele2 Posts: 50 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi Everyone,

I've been using Runkeeper to track my walks. From reading I understand that it may grossly overestimate your calories burned so I always edit them down by 50%. Is that cutting them back enough to be reasonably accurate or is there really no way to tell for sure?

I'm consistently losing about 2 pounds a week so I must be doing something right, but I am more curious than anything about Runkeeper stats.

Thanks!

Replies

  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
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    many things overestimate the calories burned. not just Runkeeper.
    Generally, it is good to eat either all or half back and see how it helps meet your weight loss goals and adjust from there.
    I have found half the calories help me reach my weight loss goals
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
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    Sounds like you're doing a great job with this so I wouldn't change much if any thing at all. I don't think it grossly overestimates the calories. Just be sure to keep your weight up to date in the app since that's a big factor in how many calories you burn.


    Once you reach your desired weight this will be more of an issue than when you're trying to drop weight but I found it to be fairly close to what I burned on a walk/run.

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Keep track of your weight loss for a month. If you aren't losing the amount you think you should, then adjust it down.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
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    There's a formula from research somewhere that says for women, when walking, take your weight X .43 and that's your calorie burn per mile. for running, it's weight (in lbs) X .63. Neither of these account for speed specifically, but they come pretty close.
  • yesimpson
    yesimpson Posts: 1,372 Member
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    Runkeeper's estimates are actually pretty accurate for me, FWIW.
  • newyorkcitymom
    newyorkcitymom Posts: 48 Member
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    I find Runkeeper to be the most accurate for calorie estimates. I run with both it and a fitbit charge HR, which bases my calorie burn on heartrate, and usually the fitbit estimate is about 20-50 calories less than what runkeeper estimates. So it's pretty close. I go with the fitbit numbers.
  • Triskele2
    Triskele2 Posts: 50 Member
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    Thanks so much everyone. I really appreciate the help/advice!
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
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    Runkeeper is pretty accurate for me too, although I adjusted my weight down by about 25% so that it automatically takes off 2 kcal/min so that I get a net burn instead of a gross burn.
  • TheGetFitGal
    TheGetFitGal Posts: 98 Member
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    Started using runkeeper today! It shows I burned 335 calories walking 12.25mins per kilometers and I walked for 6kilometres. The myfitnesspal enter I used to do earlier used to add up to only 224 calories for the same time. Any ideas what should I enter?
  • Triskele2
    Triskele2 Posts: 50 Member
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    I think I would err on the side of caution and go with the lower number. At my last physical I was talking to my doctor about exercise and calorie burn and he said "unless you're running marathons, you aren't burning as many calories as you think. A typical hour at the gym burns about the equivalent of a slice of white bread."

    Whether or not that's true, I have no idea, but it's the reason I go with lower numbers now.

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