Elliptical Machine says I burned ___ but MPF says I burned _

mynewyorkad

Hey guys! I was wondering about calories burned during a workout. I used the Elliptical for 31 minutes today, and the machine itself says I burned 350 calories, but when I logged it in under MFP as Elliptical for 31 minutes it says I burned 530 or so calories. I know you can change the amount of calories burned, but I was wondering how you know which is the right amount?

poisongirl6485

Are you inputting your weight into the elliptical? I think MFP takes that into account when calculating how much you burned.

MyaPapaya75

i think best to go with your machine....

mynewyorkad

I didn't put my weight in the elliptical. So MFP takes in account weight?

dawnkitchen

MFP takes weight into account (because you can change the weight and get a different amount of calories burned). I have the same issue even when I put my weight into the elliptical - MFP says I burned a lot more calories than my elliptical does. I just use what the elliptical says.

Best bet? Heart rate monitors can count calories and it is attached to your body calculating for you.

Fit4Penny

It's best to get a HRM with a chest strap to accurately record the calories burned. Both the machine and MFP overestimate for me.

jr1985

If you put your weight into the elliptical, then use that number, MFP doesn't know how fast you were going or what intensity. Heart Rate Monitors are the best calculation... but if you don't have that, always go with the lower number for calories burned, and if you are guessing for food, guess high, more likely to get a realistic number this way.

mynewyorkad

Ok, great! Thanks for all your responses!

doo1963

Neither one is probably correct. When I wear my HRM (with a chest strap) on the elliptical it is calculating the correct heart rate (matches what my watch says) but the calories are overstated by as much as 50%!

IMO, the only way to get an accurate measure of calories burned is to use a HRM (with a chest strap) and use the calories that the watch says.

ShellyLee

The ellipticals at my gym ask for weight, age, and if I hold the moving ski poles things it will monitor my heart rate the entire time. I generally put it on the fat burn setting and then the machine monitors my heart rate and adjusts the resistance in order to keep it in the correct range. If this is the case with your machine I would use the machine calculation. MFP always calculates mine higher than what the machine does.