calories lost

chantalemarie

How in the hell do you tell how many calories you've lost doing any sort of exercise whatsoever?
I do workout videos that will tell me i've lost between 200-500 calories for example, but that's such a wide range.
I've heard a heart rate monitor band isn't necessarily the best for reading this especially if you're strength training or just not doing steady-state cardio.
Any thoughts? Please help!

cwolfman13

It's all estimation...trying to be exact with something that is inherently un-exact is going to be an exercise in futility.

Personally I'd just start by logging it as calisthenics and go from there.

sijomial

You don't need precision (which is just as well really...) - just reasonable estimates with consistency and the common sense to make adjustments based on results over time.

ValeriePlz

I would add that unless you use a heart rate monitor, the estimates of calories burned on MFP or on exercise machines are typically high. Eat back some of your exercise calories, but a lot of people on here avoid eating back all of them to avoid accidentally over-eating.

ronocnikral

I like to also calibrate based on how i feel right before bed. I like to be just slightly hungry, no hunger pangs, but I want a snack. I just head to bed instead (most nights at least).

ccruz985

If I'm doing a home workout, the highest I estimate is 175 cals burned. I know I'm burning more but if I don't want to overestimate cals burned, eat them back, and end up eating more than I burned.