Does anyone else feel that the calories are overstated??

StephEwell

Whenever I do an exercise and log it into MFP, I feel like the calories are WAYYY over what I actually did. Sometimes it truly is over, because I was on a machine that told me. Does anyone know why this is? Do you usually adjust your numbers??

ChefSuzzieQ

If you know what you burned due to the machine or a HR monitor then adjust it. The site is an estimate based on the exercise and your weight, but has know way of knowing how hard you were pushing yourself, which affects your burn.

ChefSuzzieQ

If you know what you burned due to the machine or a HR monitor then adjust it. The site is an estimate based on the exercise and your weight, but has know way of knowing how hard you were pushing yourself, which affects your burn.

BeeElMarvin

It's meant to be used as an estimate

kbanzhaf

I've found that the calories my treadmill says I burn is much HIGHER than what MFP says -- but I go with what MFP says because I'd rather underestimate calories burned by exercising, just in case I also underestimate calories from food. That being said....either I truly didn't ever know how many calories were in certain foods, or whatever, but I sometimes feel like the calorie estimates for the foods are high. Again, I'd rather equal out what I thought were over and under estimates in the right way so that my remaining calories for the day is close to 0.

Fayve

Yes and no. My Polar FT4 tells me that I'm burning about 1.25x whatever any machine tells me, as well as MFP's estimations. Every person is different, so if your gut instinct is that you're not burning as much as MFP says, you can adjust it Better to be safe than sorry!

weightofyourskin

I use RunKeeper to track my walks (and occasionally my pathetic, short-lived attempts at jogging!) and I find that it gives me much higher calories burned than MFP does when I input the same time/speed. I usually double-check with a website like http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc and I find that MFP is typically very accurate when it comes to walking/running.

On the other hand, MFP does tend to overestimate how much I burn on the elliptical, about 12-13 calories a minute. According to the readout on the actual machine, I COULD burn calories at that rate if I really pushed myself... but I wouldn't be able to sustain that pace for more than a few minutes. Usually I burn around 9-10 calories a minute. In that case I definitely adjust so that the calories burned match. If I do 20 minutes on the elliptical I'll log it as 15.

It's always better to underestimate how much you burn than to overestimate!

jfrankovich

When I log my exercise I always subtract an estimate of what I would have burned anyway during that amount of time. For example, if my daily maintenance level is 2400 cals, my hourly average is 100, so if I exercise for an hour and MFP says I burned 400 cals doing that activity, I'll only log it as 300, since the other 100 is already accounted for by my baseline activity level.

http://www.fitsugar.com/Whats-Diff-Total-Calorie-Burn-Net-Calorie-Burn-1523858

HMonsterX

From my experience MFP waaay overestimates calories burned. What i do like however is the way that it remembers what you change it to, and then takes an average. Now when i enter my circuit training time, MFP is getting pretty accurate as i've been putting in my HRM value for about 5 months now, and it's almost exactly right now!

kevin3344

Anything but a HRM is a guesstimate. However, I have found MFP to be quite accurate. I wouldn't say "wayy" over.

For example, if I run 5.5 miles iMayMyRun software on my iPhone says 664 calories, MFP says 694. I generally go by MFPs numbers.

Personally, I've never owned a HRM. However, I do know that I burn about 100 calories every 10 minutes, once I get my heart rate up. You can play with your own numbers and see what you arrive at. It's good to know in case you don't have a HRM. For example, I ran 5.5 miles today and I knew it was about 550-600 calories without a HRM. Sure, it's not exact but it's close.

heberlonghurst

I doubt that MFP takes your current weight into account when they calculate calories burned for a certain activity. If you remember from high-school physics it takes more energy to move a 200lb body "x" miles than it does to move a 100lb body the same distance.

The machines I use at the gym ask for my weight and calculate calories burned based on my weight. I've found that the machines give me larger calorie burn than MFP does. However, as I am losing weight the gap between MFP estimate of my calorie burn and what my exercise machine tells me I'm burning is narrowing.

I don't know why MFP doesn't adjust calories burned per activity by your weight (or even if they do), since they combine your current weight with your weight-loss goal to formulate a target daily net calorie intake. My guess it would take a much larger database to adjust each individual exercise for all of the possible weights.

jfrankovich

MFP *does* adjust for your current weight in calculating the calories burned for a given exercise. For example, I frequently log a 15-minute walk at 3.0 MPH. MFP correctly says that this same walk burns fewer calories now than it did back when I joined and was 34 pounds heavier.

UponThisRock

I just keep calories consistent daily and exercise consistent weekly. If progress is not where I want it, I make adjustments. Estimating calories burned is unnecessary for most people.

4theking

I just keep calories consistent daily and exercise consistent weekly. If progress is not where I want it, I make adjustments. Estimating calories burned is unnecessary for most people.

I agree with uponthisrock. I think people would be far more successful if they stuck to a caloric intake, and adjusted when needed.

ackeebee

If you know what you burned due to the machine or a HR monitor then adjust it. The site is an estimate based on the exercise and your weight, but has know way of knowing how hard you were pushing yourself, which affects your burn.

i wouldnt trust what the machines say either. best to invest in a hrm and use that instead. getting a hrm was a wake up call for me as since then i have noticed that the machines in my gym are always incorrect. when i use the elliptical for 30 minutes for example, the calorie burn on the machine is usually about 100 more than what my hrm says. similarly when i use the stationary bike it is way under what the hrm is showing.

1WorkoutAtATime

I agree with you, that's why I go by what the mchaines & monitors read..

stephabef

I always log 5-10 minutes less than what I did, unless I'm on a machine that actually gives me a reading. Can't wait to get my HRM!

iuew

Whenever I do an exercise and log it into MFP, I feel like the calories are WAYYY over what I actually did. Sometimes it truly is over, because I was on a machine that told me. Does anyone know why this is? Do you usually adjust your numbers??

exercise bike and treadmill seem significantly off for someone my size. regular walking looks to be fairly accurate.

when i have a readout on the machine, that's what i use. at least the bike takes into account my height and weight.

HMonsterX

Anything but a HRM is a guesstimate. However, I have found MFP to be quite accurate. I wouldn't say "wayy" over.

For example, if I run 5.5 miles iMayMyRun software on my iPhone says 664 calories, MFP says 694. I generally go by MFPs numbers.

MFP says 2 hours of competitive badminton is around 1400 cals. My HRM says I've burned 800-900. It's because the definition of some activities varies wildly. Does this mean singles? doubles? Rest time between points? Between games? Good nights? Slow nights? It's probably ok on things that have very little variables like running.

Much better to get an HRM. Takes out the guesswork, especially if you eat back your exercise calories.

curlyclo

Yes they are, which is why I go off my HRM. I don't even go off the machine's output because for me MFP is usually 100 cals over the machine, and the machine is usually 50 cals over what my HRM says! So I always enter my own cals for the exercises when I log them.

But for some people it will be accurate. It all depends on how much you weigh and the intensity at which you're working out.

rhaya96

My HRM will be here in a couple days. I know that will help me be more accurate as far as what I'm burning during my workouts. Then I can adjust MFP accordingly. So far MFP must be working because I'm losing....

Laura_Ivy

I've always assumed they were WAY more than what I actually burned.