Calories burned exaggerations

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Replies

  • HeatherNoyes
    HeatherNoyes Posts: 114 Member
    According to my HRM, an average of calories burned during an hour of zumba toning is about 1200. Whether its accurate or not idk. Im a chubby girl and worky my *kitten* off in that class, BUT, I also do NOT eat back exercise calories so it doesnt really matter.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member

    Even a 600 lb man would not burn 600 calories walking for half an hour at a brisk rate of 4 miles/ hour (which he'd likely be unable to do since he's 600 lbs). Source: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-304-311-8402-0,00.html

    Everything else you said was spot on. The numbers on MFP are not gospel; the numbers from HRM could be off by 15% and will likely be inaccurate if you have an unusual heart rate. Personally, I'd prefer to underestimate the calories burned since overestimating could mean that I don't lose. I am close to my goal weight, though. So someone with a lot of weight to go will have a larger allowable margin of error.

    What a great article. I'll quit saying 'people average 100 calories per mile, regardless of speed' now! Though I guess if you're talking rough averages, it could still work out. Men averaged 88-124 (walking vs. running) and women 74-105. Very roughly, that's around 100, regardless. 74-124 overall. Though I don't think anyone was obese.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member


    Just FYI, I have a HRM. I don't consider myself to be particularly fit. I still burn around 10 cal/min doing Turbo Jam, and roughly 5 cal/min hiking. "shrugs" My husband, who is far larger than me and far less fit, burns about double what I do simply because he's about double my size.

    I too burn about 10 calories/min at Turbo Jam and I'm not particularly fit or overweight and I'm one of those 'high HR genetically' people. Ok, I can buy a very large man burning 20/min., I guess. But 33/min.? That's a toughie. You'd have to be over 600 lbs. and running to burn 30, according to that Runners World article. I would think if someone could burn 33 calories/min. they'd have a problem keeping weight ON.
  • Lady_Bane
    Lady_Bane Posts: 720 Member
    But the main lesson I've learned from all of this - and from the MFP boards generally - is not to share anything with anyone, in fear of being judged. I have a small number of kind friends who are supportive and don't judge me at all - thank you to them! - but mostly I plan to keep my choices to myself.

    Its hard to voice an opinion on here...some people are SO SWEET until you bring up a sensitive topic, or have anything to say other than "all you guys are the kewlest, wtg".
  • shannashannabobana
    shannashannabobana Posts: 625 Member
    I am going to display my extreme ignorance here, as I am new here: What are MFP and HRM?
    MFP=My Fitness Pal, HRM = Heart Rate monitor (apologies if someone already answered).
  • Lady_Bane
    Lady_Bane Posts: 720 Member
    According to my HRM, an average of calories burned during an hour of zumba toning is about 1200. Whether its accurate or not idk. Im a chubby girl and worky my *kitten* off in that class, BUT, I also do NOT eat back exercise calories so it doesnt really matter.

    And thats what counts!!
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member

    What an awesome idea. From now on, I'm just going to use my own ability and common sense to estimate my calorie burn. That's gotta be WAAY accurate cause we know common sense is never wrong. Actually, I think I just burned 1000 calories using my common sense. :-P

    Awesome burn. WTG!
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    I don't know why some think they are must be so different. They must be burning over 1000 calories in a work out. Guess what? Someone 250 lbs would not even burn 1000 calories running for an hour at 10 min/mile. So compare that to your own situation. And yes, very high intensity exercise may burn more per hour, but if your exercise is at that high of an intensity, I can bet that you won't be able to do it for an hour straight!

    *shrug*

    I've burned as many as 893 calories in 57 minutes of running about 9-10 min/mile and I weigh only 174 lbs... and I'm a woman.

    I can burn 1500 calories running for 2 hours straight.

    These calculations are from my Garmin Forerunner 410, which subtracts your BMR calories from your burn... and I do eat them back... because I'm eating to fuel my running and run well. Some weeks I'm not trying to lose weight. When I am trying to lose weight I can eat 2100 calories/day and the weight melts off...
  • runny111
    runny111 Posts: 58 Member
    From that article:

    Now that you understand why running burns 50 percent more calories per mile than walking, I hate to tell you that it's a mostly useless number. Sorry. We mislead ourselves when we talk about the total calorie burn (TCB) of exercise rather than the net calorie burn (NCB). To figure the NCB of any activity, you must subtract the resting metabolic calories your body would have burned, during the time of the workout, even if you had never gotten off the sofa.

    You rarely hear anyone talk about the NCB of workouts, because this is America, dammit, and we like our numbers big and bold. Subtraction is not a popular activity. Certainly not among the infomercial hucksters and weight-loss gurus who want to promote exercise schemes. "It's bizarre that you hear so much about the gross calorie burn instead of the net," says Swain. "It could keep people from realizing why they're having such a hard time losing weight."




    YEP.
  • Lady_Bane
    Lady_Bane Posts: 720 Member

    What an awesome idea. From now on, I'm just going to use my own ability and common sense to estimate my calorie burn. That's gotta be WAAY accurate cause we know common sense is never wrong. Actually, I think I just burned 1000 calories using my common sense. :-P

    Awesome burn. WTG!

    Youre gonna have a common sense six-pack soon!
  • Does anyone remember a time when you didn't fret over misguided calorie burns? Meaning the days before MFP or the millions of sources on the internet. This is an arguement that will have no end like so many others on here. The simple point is, eat healthy and burn more calories than you consume. Estimate low and all will be good!

    P.S. I am not a doctor nor do I have a degree that tells me this. I'm just going off of what I learned in health class as a kid.
  • runny111
    runny111 Posts: 58 Member
    "I've burned as many as 893 calories in 57 minutes of running about 9-10 min/mile and I weigh only 174 lbs... and I'm a woman.

    I can burn 1500 calories running for 2 hours straight.

    These calculations are from my Garmin Forerunner 410, which subtracts your BMR calories from your burn... and I do eat them back... because I'm eating to fuel my running and run well. Some weeks I'm not trying to lose weight. When I am trying to lose weight I can eat 2100 calories/day and the weight melts off..."

    Actually, I think 1500cals/hr or 750cals/hour is 12cals/min which sounds about right to me for a 174lb person.

    I too would burn 1400cals for a two hour session of half marathon training.

    (I am just not fit enough yet to run that long right now).

    The only thing I would add is that you may need to deduct 1-2cals/min for your BMR to get NCB for the workout.
  • Lady_Bane
    Lady_Bane Posts: 720 Member
    Does anyone remember a time when you didn't fret over misguided calorie burns? Meaning the days before MFP or the millions of sources on the internet. This is an arguement that will have no end like so many others on here. The simple point is, eat healthy and burn more calories than you consume. Estimate low and all will be good!

    P.S. I am not a doctor nor do I have a degree that tells me this. I'm just going off of what I learned in health class as a kid.

    YOU'RE NOT A DOCTOR?! WHAT?! YOU HAVE NO PLACE HERE!

    hahaha
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Does anyone remember a time when you didn't fret over misguided calorie burns? Meaning the days before MFP or the millions of sources on the internet. This is an arguement that will have no end like so many others on here. The simple point is, eat healthy and burn more calories than you consume. Estimate low and all will be good!

    P.S. I am not a doctor nor do I have a degree that tells me this. I'm just going off of what I learned in health class as a kid.

    But I'm actually trying to gain weight...so I have to estimate *high* calorie burn and *low* food...
  • Does anyone remember a time when you didn't fret over misguided calorie burns? Meaning the days before MFP or the millions of sources on the internet. This is an arguement that will have no end like so many others on here. The simple point is, eat healthy and burn more calories than you consume. Estimate low and all will be good!

    P.S. I am not a doctor nor do I have a degree that tells me this. I'm just going off of what I learned in health class as a kid.

    YOU'RE NOT A DOCTOR?! WHAT?! YOU HAVE NO PLACE HERE!

    hahaha

    I know... Darn my need to fill the world with my uneducated knowledge! It's a character flaw. lol
  • Does anyone remember a time when you didn't fret over misguided calorie burns? Meaning the days before MFP or the millions of sources on the internet. This is an arguement that will have no end like so many others on here. The simple point is, eat healthy and burn more calories than you consume. Estimate low and all will be good!

    P.S. I am not a doctor nor do I have a degree that tells me this. I'm just going off of what I learned in health class as a kid.

    But I'm actually trying to gain weight...so I have to estimate *high* calorie burn and *low* food...

    Two words.... Pizza, TV.... And don't flip channels. Burns to many calories.
  • Lady_Bane
    Lady_Bane Posts: 720 Member
    Does anyone remember a time when you didn't fret over misguided calorie burns? Meaning the days before MFP or the millions of sources on the internet. This is an arguement that will have no end like so many others on here. The simple point is, eat healthy and burn more calories than you consume. Estimate low and all will be good!

    P.S. I am not a doctor nor do I have a degree that tells me this. I'm just going off of what I learned in health class as a kid.

    YOU'RE NOT A DOCTOR?! WHAT?! YOU HAVE NO PLACE HERE!

    hahaha

    I know... Darn my need to fill the world with my uneducated knowledge! It's a character flaw. lol

    .....
    I will never bow down to you
    ....
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member

    I was never negative....if you read it to be so, I cannot help that. Im a blunt person. I mean well, but it may not come out the way people like. My apologies.

    There we go. I'm a direct person too (and a bit of an a-hole) and I've learned that people don't take directness well (especially from an a-hole). Admittedly, Your opening "YOU GUYS..." was a bit *shouty* and pointed the finger at a large swatch of people (including me!). But you clarified yourself well in later posts and apologized, and we've now beaten this topic into the ground.

    Let's all jump over to the Exercise and Fitness threads and berate the *kitten* out of some poor poster over there. We'll descend on them like locusts! They'll never know what hit them. Who's with me?
  • Does anyone remember a time when you didn't fret over misguided calorie burns? Meaning the days before MFP or the millions of sources on the internet. This is an arguement that will have no end like so many others on here. The simple point is, eat healthy and burn more calories than you consume. Estimate low and all will be good!

    P.S. I am not a doctor nor do I have a degree that tells me this. I'm just going off of what I learned in health class as a kid.

    YOU'RE NOT A DOCTOR?! WHAT?! YOU HAVE NO PLACE HERE!

    hahaha

    I know... Darn my need to fill the world with my uneducated knowledge! It's a character flaw. lol

    .....
    I will never bow down to you
    ....

    This has ruined my day... I am now crawling under my desk to assume the fetal position while dreaming of your awesome abs... Seriously, I'm green with envy and that's not a good color for me.
  • thepanttherlady
    thepanttherlady Posts: 258 Member
    Why is everyone jumping on the original poster! I get annoyed by people over exagerrating their burns as well. Even if they do claim to use a HRM. Can I just remove them? Yes but sometimes I might not want to.

    I find it impossible to burn 1,000 calories doing housework. Seriously. No way. SOme people really do need some education on what they are acutally burning.

    I'm confused as to why the calories burned by OTHER people, annoy you? I'm not a doctor or scientist but am pretty sure what they eat and burn won't cause you to gain/lose any weight.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member

    I was never negative....if you read it to be so, I cannot help that. Im a blunt person. I mean well, but it may not come out the way people like. My apologies.

    There we go. I'm a direct person too (and a bit of an a-hole) and I've learned that people don't take directness well (especially from an a-hole). Admittedly, Your opening "YOU GUYS..." was a bit *shouty* and pointed the finger at a large swatch of people (including me!). But you clarified yourself well in later posts and apologized, and we've now beaten this topic into the ground.

    Let's all jump over to the Exercise and Fitness threads and berate the *kitten* out of some poor poster over there. We'll descend on them like locusts! They'll never know what hit them. Who's with me?

    At first, I was all like, "This David guy and I just do not get along"...

    ...and then I was all like, "but he makes some good points"....

    ...and then I was all like, "but it isn't that big a deal to me so I'll just let it go"....

    ...and then he went all like Braveheart and I was like, "they may take our lives, but they will never take...our freedom!" and I was ready to grab a sharp pointy thing and charge into the fray on the Exercise and Fitness threads.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Why is everyone jumping on the original poster! I get annoyed by people over exagerrating their burns as well. Even if they do claim to use a HRM. Can I just remove them? Yes but sometimes I might not want to.

    I find it impossible to burn 1,000 calories doing housework. Seriously. No way. SOme people really do need some education on what they are acutally burning.

    I'm confused as to why the calories burned by OTHER people, annoy you? I'm not a doctor or scientist but am pretty sure what they eat and burn won't cause you to gain/lose any weight.

    And you, ma'am, are late to this discussion and need to actually read through the previous posts before posting. We covered that pages ago.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Now if you will all please excuse me, I'm going on a trail run...

    ...where I will dutifully record whatever number of calories burned iMapMyFitness tells me.

    And then I will proceed to eat a third, half, or all of them back...
  • Ltd73
    Ltd73 Posts: 2
    I've seen people say they burned 1,000 calories for an hour of Zumba. That's impossible. Plus, an hour long zumba class includes warm up and warm downs. You need to RUN 10/mph for an hour to burn that.

    Oh I dunno, I've been to some WILD Zumba classes! I suppose it also depends on what size you are. I would probably use up more energy than someone skinnier than me, just because of the greater effort required on my part..... no?
  • MsDivineM
    MsDivineM Posts: 48
    I have burned over 1000 doing an hour of zumba but I am also very overweight. I'm now burning around 800 cuz i have lost 22 pounds in 6 weeks!
  • RunFatGuyRun
    RunFatGuyRun Posts: 64 Member
    I agree not to use MFP or the machine to calculate calories burned, but I bought a HRM 2 months ago and I go by that. It higher than both the machine and MFP, but Im overweight.
  • kimmieyr1
    kimmieyr1 Posts: 189
    I use MFP/Elliptical/Other Websites that all seem to be in line with each other. I figure as long as i keep losing what the heck. If and when I can afford a HRM I will make that investment and go from there. What I don't get is house work logged as exercise. i figure if I got fat doing those types of chores then I can't count it to lose weight.
  • tashjs21
    tashjs21 Posts: 4,584 Member
    A FRIGGIN MEN!!!!
  • megleo818
    megleo818 Posts: 595 Member
    If you're meeting your goals using whatever measurement tools you're using, that's all that matters.
  • TanyaCurtis
    TanyaCurtis Posts: 630
    So true! All the machines and MFP were telling me I was burning double, even triple what I actually was! I try to tell everyone this too (: