How do you tend to log exercise calories?

girlr94

As MFP exercise calories tend to be a bit high, how do you tend to log the calories you burn e.g. on machines in the gym etc.?

For example the elliptical trainer or the rowing machine. The consensus here (from what I've read) seems to be that both the machines themselves and MFP overestimate the amount of calories burned in the time you're on it. So how do you determine what an accurate burn actually is? I saw one person on here say that she does her exercise, then logs the calories for 80% of the time, which is a method I've been trying for a while. So say if one worked at a moderate intensity on the elliptical for 45 minutes (I set the resistance level quite high like level 14 so I can go at a moderate pace throughout) MFP estimates that to be a 430 calorie burn, but I would log it as 344 calories, as this is the amount MFP estimates for 36 minutes on the elliptical, 80% of the time spent.

Another example is today when I took my pedometer out on my shopping trip (it's only a cheap £6 thing but it's literally all I can afford) I've been really sedentary recently (I've been at home relaxing all day for 2 weeks basically like the lazy student-home-from-uni I am) so to go out shopping and walking all day is quite active. We were out for about 6 hours but the pedometer logged it as 136 minutes actual walking time. The pedometer came up with a calorie burn of 418 calories for that time. I logged it as a calorie burn of 102 minutes (75% of the time).

How do you rate this method? I'm definitely open to other ways of logging it, but I really don't know the best way to log calorie burns if MFP and exercise machines and things overestimate the burn. I've heard that HRMs and Fitbit give an accurate reading, but I really don't have the money to buy one, even if I saved up, so that isn't an option.

Seeing as so many of you do exercise you must be logging it somehow. What method do you use? I really don't want to over or underestimate it too much, especially as quite often I eat back exercise calories.

Thanks everyone! :-)

itsbasschick

a few high end HRMs are probably more accurate with calories as they check fitness or ask for bodyfat info. maybe you could average your heart rate and use something like this

http://www.calories-calculator.net/Calories_Burned_By_Heart_Rate.html

to determine burn. or if it's a walk, you can time just the parts where you're actually walking on your phone or a stop watch, then let MFP determine the burn by using brisk, moderate, etc.

JoeCampbell85

I just use a heart rate monitor. I don't even stress about it not being a super high-end model. I use a polar FT7. Reports ay it can be about 12% off (up or down) if you do high interval training. Which I do, but who cares? I log what it says.

The important thing is consistency. I use the same heart rate monitor every time I workout and I look at my weight loss at the end of the week/month. I log religiously, so If I lost/gained more than I think I would, and everything else was normal, then I assume my heart rate monitor was off, and it will average being off by close to that amount next week and I adjust my calorie goals.

It should be noted that I used scoobysworkshop to calculate by BMR and used that as my calorie requirement everyday. I didn't use MFP calculator. I eat back whatever calories I have to stay close to my BMR.

girlr94

Any suggestions that don't involve a heart rate monitor? I know they're really useful but I can't afford to buy one. Even spending £6 on a pedometer was a real extravagance for me! I would by a HRM if I could but I just don't have the money to unfortunately...

Saramelie

I just don't log it and use the burned calories as an extra weight loss. But I have a lot to lose, so maybe it won't work once my weight is lower... MFP overestimates the calories burned, IMO.

SLLRunner

a few high end HRMs are probably more accurate with calories as they check fitness or ask for bodyfat info. maybe you could average your heart rate and use something like this

http://www.calories-calculator.net/Calories_Burned_By_Heart_Rate.html

to determine burn. or if it's a walk, you can time just the parts where you're actually walking on your phone or a stop watch, then let MFP determine the burn by using brisk, moderate, etc.

Internet sources are always overestimated no matter which you do.

Op, it sounds like you have it down--when using internet sources, pedometers, gym machines, or MFP, you either don't eat all your calories back or you log only a certain amount of the time. It's trial and error, of course.

Also, you really can't estimate calorie burns for interval exercise or weight lifting because neither is teady state.

Have you thought of figuring out your TDEE and using that method instead?

carrieous

I don't even break a sweat on the rowing machines
otherwise, I trust the machine- treadmill, bike, stairmaster- before I trust MFP's estimation. In particular, MFPs suggested calorie burn for stationary bikes is always off about 100 calories for me

JoeCampbell85

If you can't afford and HRM, then trial and error. Just pick something to log it at. If the machine says an amount and you wanna do it at 80% of that, then that's fine. But if you lose/gain more at the end of the week/month than you should have and you are tracking your calories well, then adjust the amount you log it at.

cwolfman13

When I was doing MFP I deducted about 20% of what my HRM told me for an aerobic event and then compared that number to whatever my perceived level of effort was (5-10) with 5 calories per minute basically being a walk and 10 calories per minute being a level of effort for which I could not sustain a conversation. I never logged more than 10 calories per minute because it's difficult to burn much more than that.

3dogsrunning

Here are some blogs that you might find interesting and address you concerns

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/estimating-calories-activity-databases-198041

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/exercise-calories-sometimes-the-cardio-machines-are-more-accurate-404739

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472

A HRM can be useful but they are not infallible. They are also prone to inaccuracies. You don't *need* one. In the end, consistency is what matters.

I rely pretty much on MFP calculations. I also use running as a way to judge. For example, at my regular weight, I can expect to burn about 600 calories an hour continously running. If I get some estimate that puts me over that for the same time frame, I compare how intense it was. There aren't too many things I have found that put out a consistent effort of the same level over an hour.

itsbasschick

if you don't use a HRM, anything you use will be a guesstimate. if you have an android phone, you could get an app that logs time walking, speed and calories burned. if you use machines at the gym, might as well go with their numbers or else just log into MFP, go to exercise and use their numbers. oddly it seems that they're fairly close for me.

ASKyle

I don't log things such as walking around, cleaning, doing laundry etc.

For me I log for the distance I've gone, usually 80-100 calories per mile for me, which is WAY less than the machines and MFP's estimates.

PaytraB

I log the calories counted on any machines I use and those noted on my GPS watch. For MFP activities, I log about 50-75% of the time I actually spent on the activity.
I don't count such things as shopping, even if it's an unusually long shopping day. I figure those calories can be ignored and, if they are significant, they would counterbalance any over-logging that I may be doing.

Basically, any activity that is "normal" (shopping, working, cleaning, etc), I don't count. I only count additional exercise activities, such as running, gardening (not weeding), hikes, the gym, etc.

Perhaps pick a method and consistently, accurately log for a month or so. Check to see if you are losing at about your goal rate. If you are, you're doing great.

krennie8

I log my numbers exactly as the machine puts them out and will unless my results aren't matching expectations.

That said I also check my HR many times throughout a workout, and have utilized online calculators. In general my HR climbs into the 170s after 15 mins, and stays between 175-185 for the rest of my hour workout. So in actuality based on this, I'm burning about 100 more calories than the machine says I do.

lemurcat12

I used a HRM to check MapMyRide, and it was coming in pretty close on average so I kept using MapMyRide for biking. For swimming and weights I just use MFP, and I have my activity set at lightly active and let Fitbit grant or take away calories if I walk less or more than usual. But I largely log exercise to have a record of what I did. I do eat extra calories when I exercise but just whatever percentage of the calories seems reasonable to me. In particular I often get lots of extra calories for long bike rides, and don't come close to eating all of them. Then if I maybe overestimate my exercise calories on other days I don't worry about it.

Basically all of this is an estimate so I'm not going to drive myself crazy trying to be perfectly accurate when that's not possible. I'll simply adjust if past results suggest I need to.

LessHeavyVeggie

If I'm using an MFP estimate then I half the calories, if it's from the machine they usually are about half - 2/3 of what MFP suggests so I put in what the machine says. Similar thing for my running app.

I would say if you've been using your method for a month or more and you've been losing weight, then keep it up, but if not then reduce the percentage of the MFP calories you log and see how that goes?

Odinisgod

Estimating exercise calories is just that, estimating. How accurate you want to be, relative to the amount of time you want to spend crunching numbers, is a personal decision. The easiest thing to do is just let MFP calculate it for you. The reason the MFP estimates are high is because it is an actual estimation of the calories you burned, based on your weight and the time spent doing the activity. In reality, what you want to log is the difference between that, and the calories you would have burned had you not bothered exercising. This error becomes more pronounced the more time you exercise, and the less intense the exercise is.

Say you go for a jog, and MFP says you burned 300 calories, and you did, but if you hadn't gone for the jog, your BMR would have burned 50 calories in that time anyway. In that case, it's more accurate to adjust your exercise time so that it records 250 calories burned (otherwise you are double dipping).

Practically, however, this error is probably not worth the time to correct. If you are otherwise in line with you calorie goals, that's the biggest factor.