calorie burn discrepancies

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peacefulsong
peacefulsong Posts: 223 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Currently my primary form of exercise is to go for about 45 minutes, at a not terribly fast rate of speed (9-11 miles every time) on my stationary bike. The bike I have tells me how many calories I have burned, and it has a heart rate monitor using either a chest strap or the sensors on the handlebars (I use the chest strap). I'm not sure exactly how the bike calculates calories burned, but when I do between 9-11 miles in 45 minutes, it's usually between 225-275 calories. When I go to enter my exercise on MFP under 'stationary bike, general' (because I don't know what they consider light, moderate etc effort), it tries to tell me that I've burned over 600 calories. I always change it to what my bike tells me, but it's such a huge discrepancy that I'm left wondering which one is closer to accurate. The bike seems more right to me but I'm not basing that on any knowledge, just a 'feeling.' I'm a 40 year old woman, 266 pounds. I will likely continue to use what my bike is telling me, but I have to wonder, is MFP really overestimating that much, or is my bike perhaps underestimating? A bit of both? It's all very confusing.

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  • lewandt
    lewandt Posts: 566
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    I think MFP is high on average but it really goes by your age, gender and weight to calculate. So if your bike does not know these things it may be off too. I always go by the lower number just to be safe.

    My treadmill asks for age, gender and weight so i know that is fairly accurate. And that is always lower than MFP.

    The only way to really tell is by a heart rate monitor.
  • peacefulsong
    peacefulsong Posts: 223 Member
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    I think MFP is high on average but it really goes by your age, gender and weight to calculate. So if your bike does not know these things it may be off too. I always go by the lower number just to be safe.

    My treadmill asks for age, gender and weight so i know that is fairly accurate. And that is always lower than MFP.

    The only way to really tell is by a heart rate monitor.

    I had to set up a profile on my bike when I first got it, with age, height, and weight, so it does keep track of all those things, so maybe it is accurate enough. Thanks. :)
  • zafferFL
    zafferFL Posts: 402
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    Definitely nowhere close to 600 at that pace. Stick with the bike.

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