Do any of you find that you seem to burn more calories than "typical"?

Verity1111

I have been following my Fitbit for 3 months and it seems to be working for me. It claims I burn 500cal per hr walking 3.0mph and I have been eating back my calories a lot of times and losing quicker than usual. I lost 6lbs in 10 days and all I did was walk about 8-10 miles one day, 4 miles another, 6 another. I weigh my food. Besides that, the most I walked was about 2 miles per day extra and not every day. My average was 8000steps per day. I checked the step counter and it works fine. I weight 188lbs and I'm 5'4". Is it because I'm so out of shape? I didn't walk for 5 months last year due to injury. Maybe that's why? I always did lose weight fast, but I am always told it's wrong even though it works for me. Does anyone else here seem to burn according to their Fitbit/more than people claim? I also used to log each 12min walk to the store here as 110calories and it always worked out when I ate back the calories no matter how many times I walked it (so if I logged 440 and ate 440 I lost the amount of weight expected or more). But some people tell me I cant burn over 300per hr. Is it because I wear a heavy backpack while I walk sometimes or carry groceries? I'm just trying to understand what might make the difference or if some people just burn differently than expected.

SCoil123

The burn estimates are just that...estimates. Most people will burn slightly less than predicted and others will burn more.

Azdak

Most of what you hear from other people about calorie burns is wrong. Your calorie burn with exertion is determined by the aerobic intensity of your activity and your body weight. Two people the same weight doing the exact same workload will burn essentially the same number of calories. The issue is not that you are "burning more than is typical". It is that what you are being told is "typical" likely inaccurate.

Verity1111

SCoil123 wrote: »

The burn estimates are just that...estimates. Most people will burn slightly less than predicted and others will burn more.

I know that to *some* degree. I wouldn't even ask this but some people on here seem so adamant that it's not possible I burn 500 calories per hr walking because I'm not large enough, but the results seem to say otherwise so I was wondering if it was me or them. lol. But thanks for the input!

Verity1111

Azdak wrote: »

Most of what you hear from other people about calorie burns is wrong. Your calorie burn with exertion is determined by the aerobic intensity of your activity and your body weight. Two people the same weight doing the exact same workload will burn essentially the same number of calories. The issue is not that you are "burning more than is typical". It is that what you are being told is "typical" likely inaccurate.

That's what I figured but people kept arguing I'd need to be over 300lbs to burn 500 calories per hr on a walk. It has worked for me though so I was wondering if anyone else burns more than I was told. I was told 200-300 maximum and that's way off for me based on what I'm eating how much I'm walking etc and I have no other activity.

Chef_Barbell

I burn that amount for an hour of walking.

WinoGelato

I have a FitBit but I don't typically look at hour by hour or exercise by exercise adjustments. What is your average step count and total calories burned from FitBit? What is your calorie goal set to, and what is the full day adjustment on MFP?

jemhh

My fitbit underestimates my daily expenditure by 200-300 calories. When I was using an MFP-generated calorie goal I always ate back my exercise calories and lost weight fine. You just have to do what works for you.

TavistockToad

As long as you are eating a reasonable number of calories to lose weight, it doesn't really matter what burns you're getting. It's just a number

JeromeBarry1

Do the math over a month of history. If your calculated calorie deficit closely matches your measured weight loss, your logging is proved accurate.

Tacklewasher

I find my Garmin is just about right. I'm lost a bit more than plan by not eating all my exercise calories back, so I decided to trust it and eat pretty much all of them back.

Jruzer

I find, if I track accurately and am very compliant with my plan, that I drop weight much faster than predicted. I also seem to maintain on several hundred kcal more than standard formulae suggest. I imagine that it's due to some combination of these factors:
- I have a somewhat higher NEAT than many others - I don't sit still very well
- My %BF is lower than I think
- I underestimate my intentional exercise

Verity1111

WinoGelato wrote: »

I have a FitBit but I don't typically look at hour by hour or exercise by exercise adjustments. What is your average step count and total calories burned from FitBit? What is your calorie goal set to, and what is the full day adjustment on MFP?

It varies. Usually it says I burn 2500 with barely any steps (up to 6000) and 3000 about for higher amounts and when I did 26000 steps it said I burned 4000 calories.

Thanks everyone! I was just wondering because I kept being told it wasn't possible but it's been working fine so I found that odd. I was wondering if it was me being weird or them being wrong!

ruqayyahsmum

I took a 45 minute 5k hike earlier with my son on my back and fitbit says i burnt 690 calories

I laughed

Go home fitbit your drunk

Verity1111

ruqayyahsmum wrote: »

I took a 45 minute 5k hike earlier with my son on my back and fitbit says i burnt 690 calories

I laughed

Go home fitbit your drunk

Why would you laugh? and 5k in 45 minutes is very quick. I can only make 2miles in that time and I would burn probably 200 calories. I see nothing wrong with that burn estimate.

Verity1111

ruqayyahsmum wrote: »

I took a 45 minute 5k hike earlier with my son on my back and fitbit says i burnt 690 calories

I laughed

Go home fitbit your drunk

At least I burn that much. My FitBit is right for me. Does your over or underestimate for you?

ruqayyahsmum

Verity1111 wrote: »

ruqayyahsmum wrote: »

I took a 45 minute 5k hike earlier with my son on my back and fitbit says i burnt 690 calories

I laughed

Go home fitbit your drunk

Why would you laugh? and 5k in 45 minutes is very quick. I can only make 2miles in that time and I would burn probably 200 calories. I see nothing wrong with that burn estimate.

If i ate back 690 calories i would be gaining weight

300 cals i could see being right

Fitbit regularly insists ive burnt 3000 calories. Heck on thurday i took 813 steps the entire day and it told me i had burnt a smidge over 2300

ruqayyahsmum

Verity1111 wrote: »

ruqayyahsmum wrote: »

I took a 45 minute 5k hike earlier with my son on my back and fitbit says i burnt 690 calories

I laughed

Go home fitbit your drunk

At least I burn that much. My FitBit is right for me. Does your over or underestimate for you?

I think it over estimates. My heart rate tends to be high when i exercise and since i use a charge HR it uses my heart rate to work out how hard im working

Mfp allocates me 1760 calories a day and i log my exercise and eat back 50 - 75% as i think mfp burns are inflated

Were all different though, your personal results will tell you how much you should eat

CharlieBeansmomTracey

ruqayyahsmum wrote: »

Verity1111 wrote: »

ruqayyahsmum wrote: »

I took a 45 minute 5k hike earlier with my son on my back and fitbit says i burnt 690 calories

I laughed

Go home fitbit your drunk

Why would you laugh? and 5k in 45 minutes is very quick. I can only make 2miles in that time and I would burn probably 200 calories. I see nothing wrong with that burn estimate.

If i ate back 690 calories i would be gaining weight

300 cals i could see being right

Fitbit regularly insists ive burnt 3000 calories. Heck on thurday i took 813 steps the entire day and it told me i had burnt a smidge over 2300

if you have a charge HR the 3000 includes your BMR( what you burn by just being alive). it doesnt just show you calories burned from exercise,because there is no way I would burn 24-2500 calories a day in just exercise.even when I was heavier

ruqayyahsmum

CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »

ruqayyahsmum wrote: »

Verity1111 wrote: »

ruqayyahsmum wrote: »

I took a 45 minute 5k hike earlier with my son on my back and fitbit says i burnt 690 calories

I laughed

Go home fitbit your drunk

Why would you laugh? and 5k in 45 minutes is very quick. I can only make 2miles in that time and I would burn probably 200 calories. I see nothing wrong with that burn estimate.

If i ate back 690 calories i would be gaining weight

300 cals i could see being right

Fitbit regularly insists ive burnt 3000 calories. Heck on thurday i took 813 steps the entire day and it told me i had burnt a smidge over 2300

if you have a charge HR the 3000 includes your BMR( what you burn by just being alive). it doesnt just show you calories burned from exercise,because there is no way I would burn 24-2500 calories a day in just exercise.even when I was heavier

Oh i know it contains my bmr. I still think it over estimates for me

WinoGelato

Verity1111 wrote: »

WinoGelato wrote: »

I have a FitBit but I don't typically look at hour by hour or exercise by exercise adjustments. What is your average step count and total calories burned from FitBit? What is your calorie goal set to, and what is the full day adjustment on MFP?

It varies. Usually it says I burn 2500 with barely any steps (up to 6000) and 3000 about for higher amounts and when I did 26000 steps it said I burned 4000 calories.

Thanks everyone! I was just wondering because I kept being told it wasn't possible but it's been working fine so I found that odd. I was wondering if it was me being weird or them being wrong!

What's your current height and weight?

For what it's worth, I'm 5'2 and maintaining at 120. I average 15k steps/day and FitBit says my total calories burned is 2100-2300 (depending on day to day activity). I've always eaten back the calories and was able to lose and now maintain, so I believe it's accurate for me.

Calculators estimate my calorie burn to be below 2000, but I trust FitBit.