Miles walked = calories burned?

Starlage
Starlage Posts: 1,709 Member
edited September 30 in Fitness and Exercise
I have a job where it's hard to choose one activity level. One day I'm at my desk and sedentary 75% of the time, the next i'll be up out of my chair 75% of the time. When I first started MFP I chose "lightly active" and wasn't really losing much. I changed this to "sedentary" a couple of months ago and my weight loss speed increased a little. I want to experiment with logging the steps/miles I walk during my work day so that my activity level will be more accurate. I wear a pedometer every day.

I found a calculator: http://walking.about.com/library/cal/uccalc1.htm
- according to this calculator (which uses speed.... which I don't know.... so I just chose the slowest since i'm not exactly buzzing around, just walking normally) today I walked 8,158 steps/3.21 miles and I weigh 160lbs so the calculator says I've burned 233 calories today.
I also found this article: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-304-311-8402-0,00.html
- this says to use the formula .53 (for women) x your weight to get calories burned per mile. For me this would be 84.8 calories per mile walked which for today (3.21 miles) would be 272.

I'm thinking of erring on the lower side by using the calculator. I know it'd be easier to just adjust my activity level- but this seriously wouldn't be accurate for me. Since I'm already logging everyday it's not that big of a deal to use the calculator to calculate calories burned from walking each day.

Any opinions or other people doing similar?

Replies

  • ivansmomma
    ivansmomma Posts: 500
    If I'm not sure of the calories burned for any exercise, I choose the lower side. That way, I feel it's a bit safer.
  • momtozmc
    momtozmc Posts: 418 Member
    Walking around for my job or at lunch, I never log as excercise...those are just bonus calories burned. What I log would be my walking or running as a workout... then I use runkeeper to log distance and calories burned.

    L>
  • BethanyMasters
    BethanyMasters Posts: 519 Member
    Those numbers actually sound about right.

    I would definitely stick to the sedentary and then log your walking as part of your exercise and see how that works for you. And if you are going to eat the calories back I would definitely stay on the side of caution and stick with the lower number or something in between.

    It's worth a try in any case.

    I personally just keep mine at lightly active because I'm usually on my feet at work even if I don' t have to be, but I'm not stuck at a desk either.
  • Starlage
    Starlage Posts: 1,709 Member
    i understand about just counting it as bonus, but then there are days like today- I was really active at work and walked 3.21 miles. I'm sick(cold), so I'm not exercising today. Sedentary gives me 1280 calories for a normal day before exercise that would mean today i'll only net around 1000- not good, right? I duno. I suppose everyone's different and we just have to figure out what works for us individually...

    I'll just see how this all works out for me :o) The calculator sounds good to me- and it's easy!
  • skinz2k2
    skinz2k2 Posts: 99 Member
    I just found an app on my Iphone "runkeeper" that tracks everything you just said and its pretty accurate.
  • Starlage
    Starlage Posts: 1,709 Member
    i've thought about that (an app for my phone) but then I'd have my phone in my pocket all the time- wouldn't work beacuse I wear scrubs. (medical assistant) thanks for the opinion about it being somewhat accurate though! even a guestimate's ok with me so I'll just use the lower number (using the slowest speed on the calculator) and go with that. thanks!
  • fionamacf
    fionamacf Posts: 39
    I've been walking. I think your approach is sensible. At work I have monitored walks of over 5 minutes - which in some days can be many, yet like you some days I can sit at my desk. Small bits of walking are a bonus. I always log walks to/ from work and others..I use mapmyrun app to get distance, time and speed and then plug the time and average speed into MFP.
    It's working for me. Lightest I've been in 18 years.
  • bloodbank
    bloodbank Posts: 468 Member
    Maybe consider manually changing your calories to halfway between what MFP gives you for 'sedentary' vs 'lightly active' to take into account the fact that you don't fit into either category exactly on all days. I mean, do whatever works for you, but it seems like that would be the path of least effort.
  • silkysly
    silkysly Posts: 701 Member
    I wear a heart rate monitor that shows the calories burned. I wear it when I want to know specifics for an activity.
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