how realistic is the calories being burned?

zackary90

for instance i just got out of the pool and it said that the amount of time i was in there i burned 800 calories i was doing some laps then just some basic swimming... haha

jbucci1186

i think that for the most part, MFP over-estimates.

MelissaL582

I've seen people say over and some say under. The only way to tell for yourself is by getting a heart rate monitor.

zackary90

What is mfp?

ronda_gettinghealthy

three words: heart rate monitor

mfp is spot on for a few things and for others- not close

slainger

I think you have to really consider the amount of time exercising - the time doing laps - not the time you were just wandering the pool. For cardio time I think you have to be going full throttle for the calories to be close for the full amount of time you claim. 30 minutes in the pool doing laps without stopping is different than 30 minutes in the pool, but only doing laps for 10 minutes (without stopping). The point is you have to have your heart rate in the target zone consistantly for it to count. That's how I look at it!

slainger

What is mfp?

mfp=myfitnesspal

whipdancer

I think MFP over estimates by about 10% for me - but not for everything. Some of the stuff, it is within a % or 2 of my heart rate monitor. However, I also think that you have to make sure what you are selecting is appropriate for the activity you were doing.

An example is dancing. When I'm teaching a 2 hour dance class, I use 1 hour of slow ballroom, because there really isn't a good equivalent in the MFP database. When we go dancing, I'll use dancing, general, even though what I am doing is more like dancing, aerobic or dancing, ballroom, fast.