Calories for Exercising

christinar2008
christinar2008 Posts: 51 Member
edited September 26 in Fitness and Exercise
Has anyone noticed the calories that MFP says you burned is a little high? I was going by the numbers MFP was giving me and I was way off. I got a heart rate monitor and I was only burning half the calories it said I was. So, because of this I did not have a significant loss last week. I have changed my settings and am using the Heart Rate Monitor now to be more accurate.

Replies

  • amccrazgrl
    amccrazgrl Posts: 315 Member
    MFP tends to read on the low side for me. I'm glad I got an HRM with chest strap. Its the best investment recently and I even bought my partner one for V-Day.
  • fcrisswell
    fcrisswell Posts: 234 Member
    MFP uses general guidelines for calories burned and info input from other users so if what they input was on the high end then it will pop up. Everyone burns calories at a different rate. I wish I had an HRM....my bday is coming and THAT is at the TOP of my list! It is hard to gage what I am burning and I have a tendency to under estimate because I find it hard to believe you can burn 600 calories in half an hour doing ANYHTING LOL.
  • christinar2008
    christinar2008 Posts: 51 Member
    Before I got the HRM I would take the calories my Elliptical was saying I burned and then add the calories MFP said and get the average of the two numbers. I used that average. That way I was in the middle. The Elliptical was actually more accurate.
  • Sasha_Bear
    Sasha_Bear Posts: 625 Member
    For me it was just the opposite MFP had me burning at 200 under what my HRM says I burn. I'm glad I finally got one tthat and my food scale has helped me tremendously!
  • atomiclauren
    atomiclauren Posts: 689 Member
    For me MFP's numbers seem about right. I have a feeling my HRM reads high (and I think I know why) so sometimes I do an average (or pick one out of a bag, pretty much :blushing: ) of MFP, my HRM, and this site from my HRM's readings:
    http://www.braydenwm.com/calburn.htm

    Sometimes I think it's all a crapshoot but then I remind myself that in the past I never even bothered to think about my calories in and calories out, so this isn't so bad..

    ETA - I also have a calorimeter *and* a calories estimate from CardioTrainer. Sometimes I feel like a science experiment :blushing:
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