MFP burned calories very generous

Terriann7

The alloted burned calories for any given exercise seem very, very generous. Do you any of you agree? I can't believe I burned 529 calories by mowing and edging the lawn for an hour and swimming for 20 minutes. Thoughts?

It is good but what do you all think?

junipuni

From what I've seen from others on here and in comparison to their heart rate monitors it does seem to overestimate quite a bit on the calories burned. But there is no easy way for them to be calculated - exercises done don't determined the calories burned it is the person doing the exercises. (Their age, size, amount of fat, muscle, etc.)

SoCalSwimmerDude

As someone who's looked really closely at what my HRM says, what MFP says, and what the cardio machines say, I've been fairly surprised on how accurate MFP is for me. I'll say this though... in order to meet what MFP estimates, you need to be doing whatever that exercise is at a high intensity.

RAHJustice

I have felt the same way, but didn't really know how to judge it's accuracy, so if I am mowing for an hour, I usually list it for less time - like 45 minutes, just because I can't believe it's possible to have burned as many calories as what it says I did.

Sparrow_Feet

Everyone's burn will be unique to them. The only way you can accurately log calories out is by getting yourself a HRM. I use mine loads. I thoroughly recommend Polar.

homeport51

I don't eat my exercise calories... so if they are accurate or not...doesn't matter much... I agree with you though, they do seem to be high.

ashfuse

Most exercises compared to my HRM and MFP are pretty close, for me. And I agree with the person above who says that whatever exercise you do, it has to be done at a high intensity in order to match closely.

jhungate

I don't necessarily agree, I think it is more likely we overestimate the "vigor" and "intensity" of the workout.

Terriann7

All excellent feedback. I do not have a HRM but I appreciate the Polar recommendation. I have thought about getting one. I have been an avid reader and follower of a healthy lifestyle but I have to admit I am uneducated when it comes to how to keep your heart in the right zone for maximum results. It will be fun reading up on it and learning more.


Agree too on the vigor of the exercise. If it is something like mowing the yard like today I do add less minutes because there are breaks and it is not constant. I edged the hell out of the lawn though, about 15 times back and forth. Some would call me OCD... and they would be relatively accurate.