calories burned discrepencies?

BrittSwimsJDRF

Hi everyone,

I've noticed that when I'm at the gym, the machine often times says I burned fewer calories than MFP. Which ones do I go by? For instance, this morning the machine says I burned 350 calories, but on MFP it says 560+. Which one do I go by, or should I invest in a polar?

Thanks,
Britt

jkohan

Invest in HRM monitor--I LOVE Polar. They are reliable and a good product. I find the macines and MFP to grossly overestimate.

jrich1

The only way to know for sure would be a HRM, the machines and MFP are using their best estimates, but my Polar HRM shows huge variances from what shows on the machines and are a lot of time WAAAYYY off from what MFP says..

last night I did water aerobics and for the time I did MFP said I burned like 650 cals and I really only burned 350ish according to my HRM

mandinslife04

i agree, get a HRM. I have a polar HRM and believe it or not my calories are closer to the my fitness pals calories than my treadmills. Sometimes only off my 3 or 4. It is definetly worth the money

surlydave

I have a Polar FT7 and completely agree with the other posts.

NicolaGoodyear

i always go by the gym equipment,what they say ive burnt,.... MFP seems way over the top xx

LotusF1ower

I use the treadmill a hell of a lot and go by how far I have covered.

One mile = 100 calories - that is underestimating by the way.

If I do it this way, it doesn't matter how fast I go or don't go.

metco89

does anyone have suggestions on this for those of who cannot afford to buy a hrm? i am divorced and the money for anything but the bills is just not there right now. any suggestions would be appreciated.

wendytobin

i go by what the machine says at the gym, like you say MFP overestimates cals.

i would prefer to have the lesser reading so you know you are sticking within your goal and not overeating.

jrich1

I use the treadmill a hell of a lot and go by how far I have covered.

One mile = 100 calories - that is underestimating by the way.

If I do it this way, it doesn't matter how fast I go or don't go.

I read on a running site I think it was couch to 5k posted it for calc calories for running,

they said its about 70% of your body weight in calories per mile, which is really really close to my HRM calculates, if you run faster you dont burn more calories just go furthur in the amount of time, so even if you run at 3 or 6 mph, you still burn the same cals per mile

Peridotite

I have to say that all of my experiences with MFP are that it UNDERestimates my calories when compared to my HRM, my exercise equipment and a calorie burning calculator (it uses your average heart rate and time to calculate you calories burned) I found online. So I always just go with MFP and I have been dropping the pounds:happy: . No matter what you chose to use for calculating your calories I agree with underestimating what you burned so that you don't overeat.