myfitnesspal calorie counter

moefinch

Yesterday I ran on the treadmill at a steady 6.0mph pace for exactly 41 minutes. The treadmill told me that I burned 510 calories. myfitnesspal told me 743. THAT IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE! So I decided I'd leave the myfitnesspal count for the time being (since mfp has my weight and height and the treadmill did not) until I could get home and research it. Well, unfortunately, through a number of websites including The Running Room, the treadmill's count was way closer. I'm concerned that the calorie counts for cardio work are not accurate on myfitnesspal. Has anyone else had this problem?
Also, when you input strength training, why don't you get a calorie count for that? That's one of the ultimate ways to burn!!!

juma4474

I find that MFP over estimates my calories burned by quite a bit. This is comparing them to what my HRM says I burned. However, be careful about what your treadmill says you burned as well because my treadmill also over estimates how many calories it thinks I burned compared to my HRM.

moefinch

Thank juma4474. Just wondering if others have had the same experience. The treadmill was only off by about 5. Much better than the 233 for MFP.

GuruOnAMountain

I just got a HRM and the burn for my aerobic workout that it calculated was almost the same as what MFP had down for high impact aerobics. But yeah, in general, I take MFP calories burned with a large pinch of salt without using a HRM.

bshedwick

I dont trust the numbers on the machine nor do I rely on the numbers in MFP. The only thing that I go off of is my Polar HRM. I figure that one gives me the most accurate numbers. (And even that is based on an estimate)

peacemongernc

I don't pay any attention to the MFP calorie counts because sometimes they are off by even more than what you reported. Once the difference between what the machine said (300 calories) and MFP somewhere around 800) was even more. But I also assume that the machines are off. I read that exercise bikes are often over by about 7% and elliptical by more than 40%.

I've wondered how accurate the HRMs are.
Shannon

sarafil

You can get a calorie count from strength training if you look under "cardio" on MFP. I've always thought MFP overestimates calories burned, so I usually put in less than I actually do, to hopefully keep a more accurate accounting of my burned calories. A heart rate monitor is probably the best way to go.

VinaAnderson

I wondered the same thing about strength training. Sounds like I should be using a HRM. Thanks for the post. Learned not to trust MFP calorie count.