I have a question

tlcrawford916

When I log my exercise should I put in the amount of calories burned that this website says I should have burned, or do I use what the machine said I burned. I have been using what the machine says I burned but it is about 200 calories less than what this website says I should have burned. Just wondering.

kacarter1017

I do what the machine says.

hrigsby

Keep in mind this program is based on your age, weight etc. Does the machine that you are working on? If not I would go by the program not the machine.

pvesey

I find the calorie burn to be really high on here also. I usually cut them in half. So, I would say use what the machine says.

AggieCass09

They only way to know accurately is to get a heart rate monitor (HRM) and enter what that says. MFP is probably closer than the machine because most of those think every user is a male even if you enter your age and weight.

JessJoJell

yeah I think the calories burned on here are kinda high I always go low. I would rather go to low then to high.

JennLifts

i would pick the lower one

Shadowcasting

MFP has no idea at what intensity you worked. Level 2 or level 8? Low speed, high speed? The machine will take your intensity into account, but MFP can't. Personally, I would go by the machine.

stevemcknight

i would pick the lower one

Agreed. The easy formula to use for cardio, pick the number that closest represents your effort level 1-10. 1 being chilling on the couch, 10 being running from a hungry bear. That's your calories per minute. That's probably a little low, but safer to be low than high - and that allows for warm-up, cool-down, stretching.

For example if you did 30 minutes on the elliptical and think you gave it a 7 effort, then 7x30 = 210 additional calories burned. This is additional calories burned, not total. A lot of machines factor in the calories that you would have burned had you just been sitting on the couch watching Oprah.