Are the calorie estimates from exercising accurate?

kantone999

I have found them to be generally high.

Cal28

If you can afford it buy a Heart Rate Monitor (Polar FT4 is most recommended as good non expensive one)
Your weight, height & fitness make a big difference to calories burned so MFP & the treadmill can only ever be a rough guide. x

Hood25

I too have found MFP to be high compared to my HRM and treadmill. I take the difference between my treadmill and HRM and half that and add to my HRM calculations. My treadmill and HRM differ by about 65-70 calories which is pretty good but MFP difference is well over 100-150 calories. I just got my HRM a Polar FT4 and love it. I'm still experimenting with the differences but i do believe the HRM is most accurate. If you want to be more accurate use a HRM..if you want to feel good use MFP in my opinion!! Just be aware of the differences. If your not losing weight while eating back your MFP workout calories than you be the judge. Everyone is different.,

JenniferAHaines

Thanks everyone! I haven't been eating back the calories I burn for the most part, just because I'm not hungry. But sounds like the common advice is to get a heart rate monitor. Think I'll look into that. Again, thanks for the input!

ShadowSoldier23

I found this website that you enter in your average heart rate (which the machines at the gym tell me if you hold the sensor), weight, sex, age and how long you did the exercise. I am SAD to find it is way below what MFP tells me. I am assuming this site is pretty accurate compared to MFP.

http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

LorinaLynn

Some are fairly accurate. Walking or running is fairly accurate because MFP goes by your time and speed. Elliptical can't be right because MFP has no way of knowing if you're going fast or slow, at high resistance or low resistance. I'd go with the machine over MFP.

JaceyMarieS

I don't think it is so I just dont take those calories off my daily intake.

I've found the MFP numbers to be WAY high, so I don't eat back those calories and don't enter exercise on MFP

adamb83

It overestimates about 99% of the time.

spectralmoon

I guess I'm a rarity; my HRM says that MFP is under for me.

domsmoms

This is good to know, great advice about the HRM. I thought the calories burned on MFP sounded a little high.

IvoryParchment

MFP doesn't have a speed close to my preferred treadmill setting, plus I add some slope, so I use the output from the machine. It uses my weight to calculate it. I've never used a HRM, but I'm not getting any unexpected results from calculating my exercise calories that way. MFP tends to estimate low for me because it doesn't include the slope.