How much do you rely on MFP burned calories?

LemonPoppySeedMuffin

Do you reply on MFP's results or do you take it with a pinch of salt?

dixiech1ck

Not at all. Get a Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) -- it's the most accurate way to track your burned calories.

SoliderforChrist

up tp a certain point. After about 60 minutes of cardio exercises I think they WAY over estimate on calories burned....

Getting_Fit_4_Life

No, I do not rely on MFP calorie burned. Your best bet would be to buy a Heart Rate Monitor, especially if you are planning to eat back your workout calories.

daves160

I rely on my HRM and Garmin bike HRM. They are not precise, but far better than MFP guesstimates.

Athena413

I use my heart rate monitor for everything, but even calories on food labels are just an estimate - the FDA only makes them put the minimum amount of calories on a nutrition label, so you may actually be eating more calories than you think...no wonder Americans are so fat!

Anyway, I trust my HRM more simply because it takes my heart rate into consideration, as well as my age, gender, height, weight, etc...

GettinMyLifeBck

Its not accurate in my experience some exercises over calculate and others under calculate..HRM is the best way to go!!

koosdel

HRM.

talrcat

I just use it to track my exercise.

MissMaryMac33

Absolutely zero.... I wear my HRM. I wouldn't trust all the websites that "guess" what you burn either.
If you must use them. I'd track about half of whatever they tell you.

Helice

I mostly rely on it, but i often minus calories from the amount just incase.

jalara

Not at all. Get a Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) -- it's the most accurate way to track your burned calories.

This exactly. I have a Polar FT7 and love it!

tigersword

It's close enough. Probably 80% accurate. Gym machines are 80% accurate. HRM's are about 80% accurate (Expensive HRM's might be 90% accurate, but nothing will be 100% accurate.) It's all a guessing game and it's all a wash, honestly. I use a bunch of different sources when plotting calorie burn, but I dont really exercise for the calorie burn, I do it to get fit, so it's not that important to me.

Bakins929

I used to use it, but now I enter my HRM calories.

LorinaLynn

It depends on the exercise. Some can't be accurate, because there's no measure of intensity. Like elliptical... I could go slow, or fast. Resistance at one or as high as it will go. Or dancing... I'm willing to bet I'd burn a lot more than 43 calories dancing for 10 minutes.... I'd certainly be more winded after 10 minutes of dancing than I would after 10 minutes of walking at 4mph (which is a comfortable pace for me), and it's supposedly about the same calorie burn.

But for the most part, I've stuck with MFP's estimates and it's worked very well for me.

sjtreely

My experience has been MFP is very, very generous with calories burned. My HRM is ALWAYS lower. There have been times when it has been up to 300 calories lower. Invest in a HRM if you can.

AZKristi

Not at all. The MFP numbers are always waaaaayyyy higher than what the cardio machine tells me I burn (and even those seem really high sometimes). I don't have an HRM, but maybe santa will bring me one for christmas!

LemonPoppySeedMuffin

I can't afford a HRM right now but my goal is to burn 140 calories a day, according to MFP I usually around 300+ so even if MFP isn't accurate, hopefully doing that extra covers it.

ranewell

I can't afford an hrm yet, either. I rarely eat back my exercise calories, and when I do, I try to only eat back no more than half of mfp's estimate just to be safe.

catwrangler

OR

Google "calories burned calculator" and you will find many online