The calories calculated from my Garmin watch seem high?

batorkin

Prior to my watch, I was using Strava to estimate my calories burned. Now that I have a Forerunner 945, I am being told to eat quite a bit more with the same amount of exercise.

I did a 2 mile run. 26m. 135 AVG, 156 MAX heart rate. It sent 5494 steps @ 148 calories, and the run itself at 274 calories. 422 calories burned. I then did a 33 mile bike ride. 2hr 18m. 133 AVG, 171 MAX heart rate. 1,360 calories burned.

1782 calories in less than 3 hours of exercise, does that seem right? This isn't even a crazy day for me, as I regularly go on 60+ mile rides a few times a week. I am really going to have to rethink my diet if these stats are accurate. I struggled to eat enough yesterday, 3,582 calories is what I needed to maintain as a 6'2" 158lb male.

I actually lost 120 pounds in the last few years and my brain is having a hard time transiting to eating that much food again, but I love exercising now and don't want to slow down. My goal is complete a half iron man next year, and a full iron man within a couple years.

Do these calories seem accurate?

StatChicBayes

Check out https://www.health.harvard.edu/diet-and-weight-loss/calories-burned-in-30-minutes-of-leisure-and-routine-activities for some reference values for different weights.

batorkin

StatChicBayes wrote: »

Check out https://www.health.harvard.edu/diet-and-weight-loss/calories-burned-in-30-minutes-of-leisure-and-routine-activities for some reference values for different weights.

Biking: 446 calories per 30 minutes at 16-19MPH. I burned 1360 in 2hr 18m at 17.5MPH AVG.

Running: 298 calories per 30 minutes at 5MPH. I burned 422 in 26 minutes at 5MPH AVG.

My road bike is really high end, so it's not surprising I burned way less than that estimates I would. I am just getting started with running, so perhaps that's why I am burning more than estimated there. I also had a lot of hills during that run (14 stories worth)

batorkin

I found the problem. I didn't have "allow negative calories" enabled in my MFP account, so it wasn't accepting some of the step offsets my Garmin device was sending.

MaryContrary1972

Terrain/added load makes a huge difference to calorie consumption. I can burn 2-3000 on a ride offroad and be knackered mind