Are we over-couting our workout calories?

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StacLR
StacLR Posts: 25 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Weird question...but maybe someone might know.

I was wondering if heart rate monitors subtract resting calories from your workout calories? If I do a 60 minute workout and my body requires 100 calories per hour to function and my HRM says I have burned 400 calories...is it actually 300 calories burned?

Am I a calorie nazi or what!

Replies

  • StacLR
    StacLR Posts: 25 Member
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    Weird question...but maybe someone might know.

    I was wondering if heart rate monitors subtract resting calories from your workout calories? If I do a 60 minute workout and my body requires 100 calories per hour to function and my HRM says I have burned 400 calories...is it actually 300 calories burned?

    Am I a calorie nazi or what!
  • may_marie
    may_marie Posts: 667 Member
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    no .. not at all . i do that as well..

    i take some calories out because i would have been burning some calories if i had watched tv in that hour..

    i typicaly take 100 calories out per hour as well..

    may :flowerforyou:
  • Kerrissa
    Kerrissa Posts: 2
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    Well depends what speed your going and how much you weigh, the heavier you are the more calories you burn even just by walking.
  • barbiecat
    barbiecat Posts: 16,919 Member
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    since I don't eat more than a few of my exercise calories and I use the same measuring tools every day, I don't worry about the accuracy. I compare from day to day and try to do a little more each day.

    this is a good question:bigsmile: :bigsmile:
  • StacLR
    StacLR Posts: 25 Member
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    Thanks for your response! I have been under-cutting my workout calories and I wasn't sure if that was right. .
  • chantybear
    chantybear Posts: 343
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    I just used my new HRM today for the first time, and I thought the same thing! I think you should do that, or else it is just falsifying your exercise calories. I left my HRM on for an hour sitting and walking around, and then I just took that and subtracted it from the exercise calories:smile:
  • jdelot
    jdelot Posts: 397 Member
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    I generally don't subtract out the resting calories for cardio, but I will for strength training. What I do is go to the Tools tab and get my BMR. Then I divide my BMR by 24 (hours in a day) then by 60 (minutes in an hour) to figure out my BMR for a minute. Then I multiply that by the number of minutes I exercised. I subtract that value from what my HRM shows for my workout. So....

    1785 (BMR) / 24 = 74.375
    74.375 / 60 = 1.2398533333

    1.2398533333 * 50 (minutes of exercise) = 61.97916

    512 (calories burned) - 61.97916 = 450 Net calories

    Anyway....just my 2 cents.
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
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    Yep, my explanation is always this:

    Regrettably, exercising for an hour doesn't make your day 25 hours long. :tongue:

    So, you need to subtract your RMR calories from your workout burn.
  • ckroys
    ckroys Posts: 219 Member
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    Okay - I know we're big kids and should be able to do this ourselves, but if this is the case, why doesn't MFP take this into account when we're entering our exercise? Everything says we're suppose to eat a good chunk of our exercise calories, but if entering our exercise is going to give more calories than we should eat, if I purposely don't eat them all, I'm really probably right at my total calories...:noway: Man - who knew counting calories could be so much work - can we could that for burning calories? :laugh:
  • StacLR
    StacLR Posts: 25 Member
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    Thanks everyone for the feedback! I have always wondered how my HRM could say that I burned 400 cals after running for 30 mins 4 times a week and I would never loose any weight. Since I started under-cutting my workout calories I have started really loosing. Everyone on here says that it is important to eat your workout cals...and I believe that too...but most people would probably be surprised at how many calories are actually used per your HRM minus calories needed at rest.

    I know what you mean Ckroys --- I wish MFP would have an option to deduct BMR cals from exercise too.

    Thank you jdeolt! That is the perfect formula!
  • MisoSoup79
    MisoSoup79 Posts: 517
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    Okay - I know we're big kids and should be able to do this ourselves, but if this is the case, why doesn't MFP take this into account when we're entering our exercise? Everything says we're suppose to eat a good chunk of our exercise calories, but if entering our exercise is going to give more calories than we should eat, if I purposely don't eat them all, I'm really probably right at my total calories...:noway: Man - who knew counting calories could be so much work - can we could that for burning calories? :laugh:

    The human body isn't a calculator, operating on precise mathematical formulas... Going over or under by a hundred calories isn't going to matter when all is said and done. If it did matter, then I'd be losing so much slower than I have been... What matters is that you're reasonably close and that you stick to your routines. There is no way to be 100% certain of the number of calories you burned in a 24 hour period unless you wear your HRM 24/7 (kind of impractical....). Your BMR is based on estimates.

    Personally, I don't subtract anything if I only worked out for 30 mins. I'll subtract a hundred calories if I worked out more than an hour and less than two. For me, that's close enough to call it good.
  • cloverluv
    cloverluv Posts: 413 Member
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    I just used my new HRM today for the first time, and I thought the same thing! I think you should do that, or else it is just falsifying your exercise calories. I left my HRM on for an hour sitting and walking around, and then I just took that and subtracted it from the exercise calories:smile:

    Good idea! I'm going to have to try that one
  • Dedicated
    Dedicated Posts: 104 Member
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    I was thinking about this post as I was on my treadmill today....
    When you workout you end up burning more calories throughout the day than you would if you didn't work out, so why bother subtracting what you would have burned just sitting?
  • mamiof3
    mamiof3 Posts: 39
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    So,if my treadmill or elliptical says I burned 400 cal in 30 minutes (it's not one where you enter your weight), then when I put that 400 cal in my exercises, is that not right? What's this about subtracting resting calories? I'm new at this and kind of confused.
  • jamielbeck
    jamielbeck Posts: 188 Member
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    Mami I agree with you. I'm a bit confused here. Should I be subtracting calories from my workouts???:ohwell:
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
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    Mami I agree with you. I'm a bit confused here. Should I be subtracting calories from my workouts???:ohwell:

    If you're eating them all back, there are two schools of thought:

    1. Subtract the resting calories for the length of your workout (example: treadmill for an hour, burned 400. But, in the same hour sitting on the sofa, I would have burned 70 calories. Therefore, since the hour of working out did not make your day 25 hours long. . .400-70 would have burned them anyway calories =330 actual extra calories burned.

    2. Since your heart rate/calorie burn does elevate a bit post-workout (studies disagree as to how much) don't worry about it and count your entire workout burn.

    hope that helps.:flowerforyou:
  • mamiof3
    mamiof3 Posts: 39
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    Oh, I see - it makes sense the way you worded it. Thank you so much. How do you determine the number of calories you burn at rest? I have 3 small children, so sitting on the couch for an hour is a so rare!
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
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    For calories burnt at rest, go (on this website)
    to the tools tab, then click the BMR calculator. You can divide by 24 for a close estimate. . .:flowerforyou:
  • mamiof3
    mamiof3 Posts: 39
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    Super! thank you so much!

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