Am I Really Burning 3500-4000 calories a day?

NARudy

I'm 5' 11'', weigh 293 as of this morning and am walking 1500 steps a day (FitBit) and doing 30 to 45 minutes of hard work on the elliptical five or so days a week. I log the elliptical on MFP and then cut the calories it estimates back by 20% or so because it overestimates elliptical calories.

With this, MFP and FitBit both say I'm burning 3800 to 4000 calories a day.

If that's the case then I should be eating 2600 to 2800 calories a day to lose a couple lbs a week, and that seems like a lot.

How likely is it that this is true? I'm eating around 2000 calories now, which is slightly less than what's recommended for someone my age and height.

QuilterInVA

I sincerely doubt you are burning anywhere near that number of calories a day. Are you losing 5-7 pounds a week? Get a BodyMedia or HRM if you want an accurate measurement.

Mr_Knight

I concur with the previous poster. That's not enough exercise to make a meaningful impact on TDEE, I would be surprised if you were over 3300 or so.

NARudy

I have lost 33 lbs since July 21, and that was with two weeks off in the middle for vacation where I was OK but gained a little, so that's about four pounds a week. An daily 1800 calorie deficit would be 12600 for the week, which divided by 3500 (calories per pound) is 3.6 lbs -- or right about what I've been doing.

My BMR is close to 2500, so burning an extra 1000-1500 calories a day on top of sitting on my butt doesn't seem that insane, though it does seem unlikely.

So, here's the problem. How do I get a better count of my calorie burn if it is wrong?

echofm1

From the sounds of it you're eating plenty of food and losing lots of weight. Do you need a better count of your calorie burn? It might seem unlikely, but you're moving a lot of weight around when you do that exercise, and it sounds like you're getting lots of it. I wouldn't worry about it if you're losing weight though. I know my nutritionist was alarmed at how quickly I was losing (3lbs/wk), but said that considering the amount of calories I was eating still, there wasn't anything wrong with it.

ndj1979

if what you are doing right now is working then don't change anything..

although those burns do sound ridiculously high for walking and some elliptical work...

Fitbit, bodyfit media, etc are really just ways to get an estimate and that estimate can vary +/- 10%. i have a body fit media but I found that I was going off exactly what it said and overestimating my burns for the day and I accidentally starting gaining..which was not too bad because I did a mini bulk ..but now I am cutting, and I do not even use the body media..

A better way to find your real TDEE is to weigh yourself three times a week and take a weekly average, which will take into account any fluctuations...then you will know what your number is for maintenance, cutting, and bulking...

Mr_Knight

So, here's the problem. How do I get a better count of my calorie burn if it is wrong?

Track all food and all exercise. Calculate what weight loss "should" be. Do this with 8+ weeks of data. From there, you can figure out what your TDEE actually is.

This requires pretty meticulous logging.

medic2038

if what you are doing right now is working then don't change anything..

although those burns do sound ridiculously high for walking and some elliptical work...

Fitbit, bodyfit media, etc are really just ways to get an estimate and that estimate can vary +/- 10%. i have a body fit media but I found that I was going off exactly what it said and overestimating my burns for the day and I accidentally starting gaining..which was not too bad because I did a mini bulk ..but now I am cutting, and I do not even use the body media..

A better way to find your real TDEE is to weigh yourself three times a week and take a weekly average, which will take into account any fluctuations...then you will know what your number is for maintenance, cutting, and bulking...

I agree no need to change if it's still working.
OP is close to 300lbs however though so his numbers are going to be pretty large.

bridgie101

I'm 5' 11'', weigh 293 as of this morning and am walking 1500 steps a day (FitBit) and doing 30 to 45 minutes of hard work on the elliptical five or so days a week. I log the elliptical on MFP and then cut the calories it estimates back by 20% or so because it overestimates elliptical calories.

With this, MFP and FitBit both say I'm burning 3800 to 4000 calories a day.

If that's the case then I should be eating 2600 to 2800 calories a day to lose a couple lbs a week, and that seems like a lot.

How likely is it that this is true? I'm eating around 2000 calories now, which is slightly less than what's recommended for someone my age and height.

so what you're telling me is... you get to eat 2000 cals a day AND lose 3lb a week?

Permission to hate your guts?

beverlyann1726

I definitely recommend getting a heart rate monitor that counts calories to get a more accurate count of how much your burn during your workouts. After I got mine, I noticed that I was actually burning more than what MFP says on some things, and much less on other things (the elliptical). Because with a good heart rate monitor, you put in your stats (weight, age, etc) and it calculates the calories burned based on your heart rate during exercise. I use the Polar FT4 and I really like it.

Cyclingbonnie

I think you are doing great. Is knowing exactly how much you burn really all that important? I feel like MFP overestimates in some areas, and underestimates in others. I use a HRM, but my primarily use is to make sure I working hard enough, not to estimate my calorie burn. We often will lighten our workout and think "Look how much better I am, I'm hardly feeling this!" When actually we aren't working hard enough. That is what my HRM tells me. I assume that MFP is over estimating my calorie burn and use it as a guide and not gospel. Sounds to me that you are doing great ...

jeffrowley72

I'm about the same size as you, 6'0 and 291. I've been wearing a Bodymedia for a couple months now. On a 'basic' day, I average about 3400 calories. If I have an active day, it's easily around 4000. I usually eat about 2200-2400 calories, and my weight loss has been correlating very well with these numbers.

Weezoh

I think a lot of people are misunderstanding the 3500-4000 calorie thing - that's not activity only; that's including the number of calories needed to just keep the organs working and lights on 24 hours a day in addition to activity.

I've gotten myself down to about 260 but I'm 5' 10" and my daily figure is around 2900. On an active day with a 20 mile or so bike ride i'm around 4000. I've been platteaued for a while averaging about 1700-1900 calories a day; since i've gotten the fitbit i'm trying to follow what it's telling me and eating more like 2100 a day and we'll see what happens there.

RHSheetz

You and I are about the same, and on my "Rest day" which is abourt 15000 steps, I am burning close to 3500 a day, On my heavey days, I can adda bout another 700-1000 depending on what the trainer has me doing, so I would say your numbers are close. The eliptical at my Gym has a built in HRM, which I then use those calories instead of MFP.

However, don't get hung up on "I burned off 5 lbs this week" cause it may not be reflected on the scale. As long as the weight is coming off, and you are eating around at least 2k calories, I would say keep going.

IggyL

I don't know that much about fitbit but doesn't that track your calorie burn as well while you are on the elliptical? Then you wouldn't log the exercise from the MFP database.

NARudy

So I guess what I'm hearing is that my calorie burn counts aren't unreasonable. I have been recording everything I eat pretty meticulously here at MFP, and it translates to FitBit.

Thanks for the input, all. I really appreciate it.

NARudy

FitBit and MFP work together, and if you log an exercise with the specific times here at MFP FitBit will just substitute the MFP calories and erase their own.

It still counts your steps and distance on FB, but swaps out the calories.

Weezoh

I don't know that much about fitbit but doesn't that track your calorie burn as well while you are on the elliptical? Then you wouldn't log the exercise from the MFP database.

Some things it does better than others; it's really good at walking and running and the further the exercise is from that the worse it gets. When cycling for example I use my HRM and when I log it on MFP the program replaces the calorie burn the fitbit detected with what I'm logging (when you link a fitbit to a MFP account you now have to provide a starting time for all logged exercises as well as duration so it can do the substitution)

EvgeniZyntx

Anywhere from 2200 to 4000. It depends on your activity level and LBM.

Suggest you look into this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basal_metabolic_rate

And focus on the Katch McArdle equation.