whose calorie count do you trust more?

mytmom

I did 30 minutes on the elliptical this morning wearing a heart rate monitor. I have a pretty top quality machine so it puts in my age, weight, yada yada yada. It said I burned 271 calories but when I put in the exercise section here it had me at burning like 400 something! That can't be right. So I'm going with the 271. Just wondering if I did something wrong or why this site had such a different calculation?

Kelly
Mytmom to be again!

starstealing

go w/ the HRM reading fo sho!

the website doesn't know how hard you worked or any other factors that may affect heart rate, calories burned, etc.

jrich1

If you had a HRM, use that, I dont even look at what the webpage suggests. The webpage is a general calculation that is pretty generic, and is usually grossly overstated

jrich1

wait you said you had on a HRM, but never mentioned what it said you burned, you used the number off the machine instead and compared it with the webpage?

Luckymam

I'd go with the HRM. I always input my own calculations. I find MFP WAAAAY too generous!

FemininGuns

Well, when I put in my weight training (45 min.) MFP says that I burned 145 calories. I know I've burned WAY more than that (just ask the attendants at the gym that have to mop up the river that follows me around!)... But leave it as is... When I run, my HRM tells me less calories than on here so I make adjustments for it to reflect my HRM.

SaraTN

Go by your heart rate monitor/machine. There are so many things to take into account regarding the burn. For a margin of error I always take off 30% of what it says. If I am burning more great -- I would prefer to underestimate my exercise calories than overestimate.

mytmom

I don't wear the watch, just the chest band because my elliptical has a built in HRM so I can either hold the stationary handles or wear my HRM chest belt which is what I do. So the number was from the machine, but the machine got the number from my HRM chest belt. Make sense?

lildebbie

I wear my watch , the strap and do the fancy machines at the gym...The machine always tells me more cals burned that the watch does (even though it is getting the hr off the strap).

I always go off my hrm. THe one thing, i know none of the machines take into account gender...

Usually i do 45 minutes, my hrm says usally i burn around 450 (sometimes more sometimes less), but the machines is on 600+. When hubby gets on the machines his is about right...I really think those machines are calibrated to men (who burn more calories anyway ).