Overestimating calories burned and weight loss

VelveteenArabian

He says he sometimes wears one when he takes a peers class.

He doesn't understand at all how HRMs work. It's sad because he's giving really poor information to his students.

I may anonymously report it, along with some links to how HRMs work.

Can you post the links anyway? I've always wondered if my HRM was lying to me.

joehempel

I've managed to hit that magic 1,000 calorie burn in one hour TWICE this year.....Insanity MAX Cardio, and Insanity Asylum Gameday. Let me tell you, I had to WORK WORK WORK for that number.

Now when I run, that's another story. I run 8 miles, I burn 1,000 calories in 75 minutes....when I ran my marathon, I burned like 3,000 calories LOL

heybales

Can you post the links anyway? I've always wondered if my HRM was lying to me.

You can also test it.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/774337-how-to-test-hrm-for-how-accurate-calorie-burn-is

tjthegreatone

My first (mean thought) is MYOB. I've removed my calorie burn updates from my feed because I don't want people judging. I burn a lot of calories because I am a gym rat and I workout hard. My figures are deliberate underestimates and I usually log 500-700 for a gym session. I've had the odd 1000kcal, andeven a 1300kcal for a half marathon (my estimates). I'm 5'9 and currently about 160lb. Trying to get back to my happy weight of between 150-155lb.

I don't trust HRMs either, as there are many reasons for heart rate fluctuations that do not coincide with exercise. They'd be hopeless for HIIT cardio and strength training.

I do a fairly stereotyped set of exercises and I've calculated my average calorie burn per minute, erring on the low side to cover for the fact that I usually underestimate my food intake (peanut butter!!!) for the day. Then I enter a time in the MFP database that roughly corresponds to the calorie burn for the day and leave it at that.

Some days I can tell that they are underestimates from my perceived effort and post-workout hunger; but over the course of 2 years or so the figures seem to be right.

MsPudding

There are a few cases where this simply may be true like in my case. You are forgetting that there are people of different sizes here. For someone just shy of 250 pounds it's not hard to burn close to 1000 calories in 90 minutes of just walking (through MFP does not agree with my HRM and says I burn 800, which is the number I use). Imagine a very brisk walk, while carrying at least a 100 pounds and I guarantee you will have that kind of burn.

Forgive me, but that ain't necessarily so. I weigh 245 pounds and I walk a lot, tracking with the distance/time with Endomondo and calories with an HRM. I burn around 200 calories an hour walking over uneven 'field' terrain. Even on a cross-country setting on an elliptical my HRM is only reporting a 400 calorie burn over an hour. However if I do something I'm not conditioned to doing - heavy circuits or something - then the calorie burn shoots up because my heart-rate's right up and I'm sweating like a P.I.G.

I did a bootcamp just over a week ago and they were reckoning that, *on average*, we'd be burning 2,000 calories through exercise a day. That was 7-8 HOURS of exercise - some high intensity (kick boxing, circuits, running) and some lower (kettles, Yoga, aqua aerobics.)

Roaringgael

I swim 60-70 minutes continuously x 6 times a week. I consider it light intensity - mainly cause no one could swim hard for that long.
The MFP says around 700 -750 cals.
I don't eat them back most of thie time, sometimes I eat some if I'm hungry.
Its boosted my weightloss upwards, I'm a 55 year old woman and need all the help I can to lose.
Your body tells you what you are doing. If I ate them all back I wouldn't lose weight I am sure.
If I don't eat some of them back some of the time I want to bust out and eat.
Its most important to listen to our bodies. My body today told me I was pushing hard today. I need my rest day tomorrow.
Numbers are all well and good but listening to my body is what really helps me.

michellemybelll

One of my yoga instructor constantly reiterates that we burn 2,000 calories in a one hour class. I love the guy, but it wish he would STFU. no one burns 2,000 calories in a one hour yoga class. NO ONE IN THE HISTORY IF THE WORKD NO MATTER HOW HARD IT IS. But, this kind of stupid crap is what makes some people believe it.

aw man. is that Cidney?

amusedmonkey

There are a few cases where this simply may be true like in my case. You are forgetting that there are people of different sizes here. For someone just shy of 250 pounds it's not hard to burn close to 1000 calories in 90 minutes of just walking (through MFP does not agree with my HRM and says I burn 800, which is the number I use). Imagine a very brisk walk, while carrying at least a 100 pounds and I guarantee you will have that kind of burn.

Forgive me, but that ain't necessarily so. I weigh 245 pounds and I walk a lot, tracking with the distance/time with Endomondo and calories with an HRM. I burn around 200 calories an hour walking over uneven 'field' terrain. Even on a cross-country setting on an elliptical my HRM is only reporting a 400 calorie burn over an hour. However if I do something I'm not conditioned to doing - heavy circuits or something - then the calorie burn shoots up because my heart-rate's right up and I'm sweating like a P.I.G.

I did a bootcamp just over a week ago and they were reckoning that, *on average*, we'd be burning 2,000 calories through exercise a day. That was 7-8 HOURS of exercise - some high intensity (kick boxing, circuits, running) and some lower (kettles, Yoga, aqua aerobics.)

You may be exceptionally fit. On a brisk walk (measured an average speed of 4.1 mph) my average heart rate hovers around 16x - my resting heart rate is 57, just so you know how much effort it takes. On the calculator listed by heybales I clock close to 900, so somewhere in between my heart rate monitor and MFP. Mind you I was talking about GROSS numbers. My net numbers on that calculator is around 700.

alexuh

That's why I tend to underestimate. :ohwell:
My workouts are generally:
40 mins treadmill, 15 mins sit-ups/weights, 20 mins exercise bike.
Or 25 mins exercise bike, 15 mins sit-ups/weights, 20 mins stepper.
My intensity is quite high - I'm always sweating badly. :blushing:
I always log either of my workouts as 400 calories, I weigh 105.

carrieous

Agreed. I burn 500 calories by working as hard as I can for an hour. I also don't trust HRMs and I am not sold on the idea that just because you weight more, you burn more calories doing the same amount of work.

carrieous

One of my yoga instructor constantly reiterates that we burn 2,000 calories in a one hour class. I love the guy, but it wish he would STFU. no one burns 2,000 calories in a one hour yoga class. NO ONE IN THE HISTORY IF THE WORKD NO MATTER HOW HARD IT IS. But, this kind of stupid crap is what makes some people believe it.

No way does an hour of yoga burn even 500 let alone 2000 calories WOW. I did an hour yesterday and estimate it was about 150 burnt

sarainiowa

I generally don't eat back my workout calories. I don't use MFP to figure my workouts. I am consistently between 900 -1200 calorie burns. I cross check my burns with three different methods and log the lowest number on my MFP log. A lot depends on how much you weigh and what you're doing. (EXAMPLE: I put into a fitness calculator one day, my current info and workout. It gave me a much higher calorie burn then when I put in what my goal weight is verses the same workout. ) There's a lot that goes into calorie burns. It's realistically possible to have 1000 calorie burns. Every body is different.

liftingandlipstick

I have seen logs that will relate a higher than 1,000 calories burn with walking and Zumba. I do not care how long and fast you walk or how many Zumba classes you do, you are not burning 1,000 calories on those alone.

I'm 280 pounds, but have progressed far enough that I can keep up with a Zumba class, doing the entire hour with no modifications. I promise you, I burn more doing it than you would at 120-something. Is it 1,000? Maybe not, but it's pretty close. Logging at what MFP tells me it is and eating 50-75% back has let me lose 40# in the past 3 months. Don't generalize.

ravenstar25

This is why I disregard everyone's advice on here to "eat back your exercise calories!" If I did that according to what the site claims I burn when exercising - which I think is hilariously high - I'd gain weight instead of losing.

nancytyc

I weigh 260 pounds, will do a 20 miles bicycle ride ae approximately 16 to 17 mph (measured with bike odometer that gives current and average speed as well as time of ride) and I am crawling all over a trailer today (about 6 hours) hand scrubbing rust off the underneath of a trailer with a wire brush and painting it (I calculated that as 2 hours light housework instead of the 6 hours). MFP says I will burn over 2000 calories. I also use the cycling site and double check their calorie accounts with MFP. Are you saying that I am overestimating my calorie burn, since it is well over 2000 calories output for today? I'm just asking your input?

David1406

I mainly use a Fitbit, but I treat the stated burn as 'for interest only; and never take any of it into account when calculating my food intake for the day. I work to 1800 cals a day irrespective of any exercise..in that way, any exercise cals are simply a bonus which I ignore for the purposes of calculation.

LC458

Totally. If MFP says I burned 1000 calories I will put the time down to match maybe 600-700 cals cause I just don't trust it and I feel like it's setting me up for failure. 60-70% I hope is reasonable and closer to a more accurate amount.

Biscuit293

I agree that the My Fitness Pal estimates are WAY off. When I use the estimates for an hour of hard cardio or circuit training, it says that I should be burning around 800 cal/hour. When I actually use my heart rate monitor, it puts it closer to 450-500. I never eat all my calories back when I use the MFP calorie count alone. I frequently put down a few minutes less of activity to get closer to where the calorie count really should be. Plus, I think the discrepancy is greater the more fit you are. I'm a pretty big girl, but I work out a lot. I think the assumption is that anyone who does that intensity of a work out who weighs as much as I do is next to their death bed like the contestants on the first days of The Biggest Loser, when in fact, I can bust out more reps/higher weights/faster times than people who weigh half of what I do. I break out in a sweat and I'm working hard, but my heart rate goes up to about 155-160.