Calories burned exaggerations

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  • RuthieCass
    RuthieCass Posts: 247 Member
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    HRMs are a different story, I agree...its the people that say they burned 600 calories walking for 30 minutes and Im like...WHAAAATTT?!! Lol

    Why do you believe that's impossible? I keep my pace up and not only sweat like a crazy man during my walks, I'm still pouring for 20 mins when I get back to my desk.

    But why not use whatever numbers you want, and if you're reaching your weight loss goals, keep using it? I'm also noticing a trend where men seem to believe they've burned more calories than MFP states, and women swear they've burned less. I'm definitely in the "MFP is too low" camp.

    As a side note, I'm not sure why so many people are willing to take the number from a HRM as gospel. When it comes to calories burned, they've been shown to vary widely in accuracy. They aren't giving you a real number, after all. They are using an algorithm, the same as the elliptical or treadmill, and the same as MFP. Different algorithms, but all are still a best guess based on what an average person would burn.

    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.
  • runny111
    runny111 Posts: 58 Member
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    And one other thing - most HRMs (unless they have a special feature) and all machines give you total calories. You need to deduct your BMR from that. Or you double count those calories.

    Apologies if someone has said all this, I didn't read all posts.
  • walkwithme1
    walkwithme1 Posts: 492 Member
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  • raindance_maggie
    raindance_maggie Posts: 150
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    my hrm is about 30-40% less than treadmill/elliptical stats. It makes me work harder!!

    THIS...

    and i honestly dont think the OP meant any malice in her post at all. i dont think she was being a turd. i think she was just giving a heads up for those people who have yet to realize that machines and MFP isnt accurate for everyone. whatever works best for you, of course, but i think she had a valid point -- id rather underestimate than overestimate.

    altho i have an HRM that ive recently married -- and even i dont take her into 100% accuracy :)
  • HeatherNoyes
    HeatherNoyes Posts: 114 Member
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    I was using the MFP numbers for exercise until I bought a HRM. My calories burned pretty much stayed the same. MFP wasn't off by much and sometimes was under. I think if you don't plan on eating your exercise calories then it really doesn't make a difference. HRM is the way to go though. Can find them pretty inexpensively at a lot of sporting good stores.
  • FrugalMomsRock75
    FrugalMomsRock75 Posts: 698 Member
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    For the most part, I agree with the OP... however, my HRM and my treadmill are almost the same, and mfp is only slightly UNDER what my HRM says for the treadmill. My bike (a Nautilus upright) has been spot on with my HRM, and mfp is-again-slightly UNDER what the two of them read.

    So while it's true the guesstimations are just that--guesstimations and likely incorrect-it doesn't mean they're exaggerations.

    (the elliptical is another story altogether).
  • jmilian825
    jmilian825 Posts: 193 Member
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    yea I get the point you were trying to see it may be the setting on some of these things that can cause an overestimation even with HRM's if you have the wrong activity level it will overestimate cal burns. cool Thanks for pointing this out!
  • nell1972
    nell1972 Posts: 19
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    I use an HRM, and I let it run after I've finished my workout, for as long as it takes for my HR to fall to less than 100bpm (or for as long as it takes for to remember to stop it). But when I add the exercise to my diary, I enter the total cal burn after subtracting my BMR, but only log the period of time I was actually exercising. So my 290 cal burn for a 32 minute session of run/walk intervals - quite some feat for a lady of 200lbs - might look a bit excessive.

    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.
  • mistylovesmusic
    mistylovesmusic Posts: 147
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    I once burned 800 calories lifting my remote to flip the channel. True story.

    Awesome burn. WTG.

    I really don't watch that much TV so I clearly get extra points when doing so. :happy:

    And as long as you're trying...that's what really matters, right?

    I'm pretty sure that's how it works isn't it? Sometimes I'm tired and have to work harder equaling more calorie burn. My sister once logged 1000 calories for rollerblading an hour. It was her first time and I'm pretty sure she spent more time on her butt than she did actually rollerblading. I can't help but poke fun at her for it every chance I get. Hince, 800 calories for my remote workout. lol
  • KourtneyP83
    KourtneyP83 Posts: 319
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    I don't eat back my exercise calories, so at the end of the day it really doesn't affect me. The actual number doesn't mean anything to me because I'm not over here crunching them to figure out how much of a deficit I have. If I exercise that's really all that matters to me. I understand the numbers can be excessive at times, but I don't have a HRM so I don't know to what extent. I do know that how many calories you burn is all about how much you put into your workout and also your size.
  • HeatherNoyes
    HeatherNoyes Posts: 114 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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!

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