I'm confused with the amount of calories burned - can someon

Janice032557

I have a recumbent exercise bike, I ride for 30 minutes between 11.5 and 11.8 mph. By the time I have finished, the fitness monitor on my bike states that I have burned 147 calories. However, when I log my time into MFP it states that I have burned 253 calories. (I select bike ride 10 - 12 mph on MFP and enter 30 minutes) I am losing weight so I am not overeating, but how do you get an accurate calorie burned number?

3dogsrunning

I find MFP really overestimates calories for biking. I would lean more towards believing the bike than this site for that. I know that on my longer bike rides, MFP estimated almost twice what my Garmin did.
Your best bet is to invest in a heartrate monitor. If you don't have one, I just used the HRM on the gym bike and guesstimated my average (I kept pretty even the whole time), then used this site to get my estimated calories and entered manually. It was higher than the bike said, but lower than what MFP suggested.
http://www.triathlontrainingblog.com/calculators/calories-burned-calculator-based-on-average-heart-rate/

Now for my running, MFP is pretty accurate.

jennajava

Most accurate results come from a heart rate monitor.

CMmrsfloyd

Unfortunately the results from both MFP and your machine could be off - lots of people have found both to be inaccurate. Sometimes they are pretty close though. The absolute most accurate estimate you can get would be through a heart rate monitor with a chest strap (so that it monitors your heartrate continuously, and lets you program in your height/weight/age). That way it knows your stats and can take your effort into account. HRM's with chest straps are great for estimating your calories during workouts where your heartrate is elevated, but should not be used for regular daily activity as they would not be accurate when your heartrate isn't up.

There are also devices like the BodyBugg and BodyMediaFit which are designed to be worn all day, including during your workouts, which give you a really good picture of how your entire day of activity adds up. They use different methods other than heartrate to estimate your calorie burn.

Janice032557

Thanks, everyone. That's the kind of information I need!