should i really go by the cals that MFP says i burned?

pettyy5

WHAT THE HECKK!!! so today i had 2 hours of bball practice, pretty vigorous. I logged it under basketball, nongame, general and it said that for 120 min i burned 1300+ cals! wtf? :noway: i mean i get that my weight being higher makes me burn more calories but that many?!?! i weigh 240 lbs. is this correct?? PLEASE HELP!

rochey1098

not sure but i do know that basketball is pretty much all running and jumping so it would be high like skipping and running both are. one thing i've found that is tricky to judge is downtime, for example i've given up on letting mfp judge my calories for a heavy hour of weights, i'm always starving and i still lose weight even if i pig out so screw it.

if i were you i'd just listen to your body after a big workout like that, it's only 1 day, you wont starve ^^

HonkyTonks

I would be way less trusting of things like sports, where you are not consistently moving or doing one particular activity - it will never be 100% accurate but at least gives you an indication. You could invest in a HRM or body bugg to get a more accurate calorie count. I usually leave myself a little wiggle room food wise because I do not trust 100% the calories burned.

I think it would be close for things like jogging where the activity is consistent though.

Josie_lifting_cats

If it makes you feel any better, any time I use a HRM, GPS tracker, etc., MFP usually calculates lower. I would consider investing in a heart rate monitor, if this is something you do often, but maybe for now figure it slightly more and just focus on netting at least 1,200 cals a day. :-) Good luck!

4alison4

Personally, I'd try to guess the amount of downtime (on the sidelines, just shooting freethrows, etc) and subtract that from your minutes. I'd log maybe 90-100 minutes instead of the full 120. Just a suggestion!

pettyy5

thank you all sooo much!

xo

ahamm002

Most calculations of calories burned are incredibly inaccurate. Just do you best to makea quick and honest estimatation. Don't stress and go all OCD about getting all your numbers exactly right b/c it's impossible.

ashlielinn

No, no, no! Only way to know for sure is by monitoring your heart rate. I'll run for 55 mins and burn around 555 calories, and mfp will say I burned more than 900! That's a HUGE difference! Imagine if I was eating those calories!!!