Running cal est high?

jhanleybrown

Hello all,
I'm mid 40's and in the middle of losing 15 to 20 lbs (halfway there!). I do a lot of cycling and figured out early on that the app way over estimated calories burned cycling but the category of biking moderately on a trainer was accurate for most road biking (typically 18-22 mph).

Dont know why but I also started upping running a few weeks ago and weight loss grinded to a halt. After research it looks like i probanly burn 125 calories per mile not the 145-150 it gives me (I actually had started to run a lot more because I could eat so much more based on the app!).

In any case just validating this is correct. I do record all calories in accurately so thats not a problem. Also, I used to be an endurance athlete and basically have been training since 18...so I also think I'm probably burning less than average.

Im going to adjust running time down so it approximates 125 cal/mile and see if I can get back on weight loss pace.
Tx

TavistockToad

body weight in lbs x 0.63 x distance in miles for running

erickirb

jhanleybrown wrote: »

Hello all,

Im going to adjust running time down so it approximates 125 cal/mile and see if I can get back on weight loss pace.
Tx

You can just change the cals burned in the cals burned box, that way your feed will still show the actual distance you went

jhanleybrown

TavistockToad wrote: »

body weight in lbs x 0.63 x distance in miles for running

That's approximately what i got in research. The app gives me 20 to 25% more at the per mile pace and time. Tx

jhanleybrown

erickirb wrote: »

jhanleybrown wrote: »

Hello all,

Im going to adjust running time down so it approximates 125 cal/mile and see if I can get back on weight loss pace.
Tx

You can just change the cals burned in the cals burned box, that way your feed will still show the actual distance you went

Ok. Thanks. Helpful. My plan was to just take 20% off distance.

Seacgo

Invest in a chest strap HR monitor (I love my polar monitor) and wear it for all of your exercise. You'll get a really accurate reading of the calories expended in a given session that way. Everything else is an estimate and if you want clear metrics there really isn't a better way. Also, you can use your height and current weight (along with the desired # of lbs you wish to lose) to determine the caloric deficit you need to create and how to stage your macro nutrients to support this. There are dozens of websites and free apps that can help you get there.

mitch16

Seacgo wrote: »

Invest in a chest strap HR monitor (I love my polar monitor) and wear it for all of your exercise. You'll get a really accurate reading of the calories expended in a given session that way. Everything else is an estimate and if you want clear metrics there really isn't a better way. Also, you can use your height and current weight (along with the desired # of lbs you wish to lose) to determine the caloric deficit you need to create and how to stage your macro nutrients to support this. There are dozens of websites and free apps that can help you get there.

Even a HRM is just an estimate, and it's only a decent estimate for steady-state cardio.

jhanleybrown

mitch16 wrote: »

Seacgo wrote: »

Invest in a chest strap HR monitor (I love my polar monitor) and wear it for all of your exercise. You'll get a really accurate reading of the calories expended in a given session that way. Everything else is an estimate and if you want clear metrics there really isn't a better way. Also, you can use your height and current weight (along with the desired # of lbs you wish to lose) to determine the caloric deficit you need to create and how to stage your macro nutrients to support this. There are dozens of websites and free apps that can help you get there.

Even a HRM is just an estimate, and it's only a decent estimate for steady-state cardio.

I actually have a really nice garmin. But I hate wearing it. I also ride with no bike computer (but it's a really, really nice road bike). Basically I'm a luddite.

I can deal with estimates as long as I can effectively identify how much its off. It just took me a while to realize the run estimates are about 20-30% too high. (For whatever reason, it didnt take me long to realize that for cycling??? I would ride for a couple of hours and it would give me credit for 2500+ calories...the cycling estimates are in some cases 50-100% too high...so it was more obvious...20-22 mph on a group ride with cyclists that know how to work together is really not that strenuous....).

And, I think it was enjoying the (less) inflated run number because by accepting it half my days essentially turned into cheat days. :-)

So I guess I'm giving up inflated run calorie estimates for lent.