MFP calories burned too generous?

stephaniec715
stephaniec715 Posts: 10 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Do you all feel like the calories burned during exercise in the MFP app is too generous? Or do you still lose when you follow that number and eat accordingly?

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Nope, they have always been spot on for me.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited March 2018
    stephaniec715 wrote: »
    Do you all feel like the calories burned during exercise in the MFP app is too generous? Or do you still lose when you follow that number and eat accordingly?

    Some forms of exercise are easier to estimate than others. You don't say what form of exercise you are looking at.

    Many people start by eating back 50% of exercise calories and then tweaking that % up or down based on several weeks of actual results. You can "dial" your number in eventually.
  • quebot
    quebot Posts: 99 Member
    I keep track of my heart rate while working out and will cross check calories burned with a calculator online. It's usually pretty close, if not more than mfp. I have come to trust mfp's numbers even though I double check occasionally.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    Yes. This is why many people only eat back 50-75% of their exercise calories.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,740 Member
    For running and walking, MFP is pretty good because the formula is simple and straightforward (weight x distance x either .6 or .3). Things that depend on how much effort you put into it like aerobics or calisthenics or stationary bike are not be as accurate. (i.e. for the bike, it only asks how long I'm cycling, not how fast or with what resistance. There's a big difference between cycling at 10 mph and cycling at 25.)
  • sarabushby
    sarabushby Posts: 784 Member
    The calorie burn is probably more accurate than people’s own logging... eg you did a spin class that’s listed as 1hr in the gym timetable so you log 1hr of spinning but actually, take out the set up time, stretching and bike clean time and maybe you only actually did 50min of spinning.
    Ditto swimming... you’re in the pool for 1hr so you log 1hr of swimming... but actually you spent a good 20minutes of that hour getting in and out, chatting to other people, recovering between sets etc.

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