Calories burned estimates for exercises

roycruse73
roycruse73 Posts: 53 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Ive read in many threads by many people that they think that the calories burned calculations are way over for heavy people and that you should only eat back half of any calories you "earn".

Now Im a heavy guy 141kg (311lbs) and ive just come in from a 49 minute bike ride at 10.9 mph average speed which myfitness pal says should be 692 calories...

I have just bought myself a Garmin Edge 500 cycle computer with heart rate monitor and cadence sensor etc. It has a built in gps and altimeter so after programming in all my details including weight of the bike etc considering it knows how fast im pedaling and my heart rate i would assume the its calorie reading would be pretty much spot on. It came out at 649.

So i dont think the myfitnesspal estimates are that far off at all?

What do you guys think...

you can see the data i get from my cycle computer here http://connect.garmin.com/activity/222260673

Replies

  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    They are estimates, and as such will be right on for some people and certain exercises, and will be way off for others.
  • YogaNikki
    YogaNikki Posts: 284 Member
    They are estimates, and as such will be right on for some people and certain exercises, and will be way off for others.

    ^^Absolutely.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    I find that walking is pretty spot on vs the treadmill readings but swimming is about a third higher than FitBit's site gives me.
  • Weebs628
    Weebs628 Posts: 574 Member
    Everything I've logged has been pretty close to my HRM. After I got my HRM, I noticed that MFP was underestimating calories burned for me.
  • jdrdsmith
    jdrdsmith Posts: 3 Member
    The read out on my elliptical and the MFP estimates for elliptical are pretty close.
  • Losing2Live69
    Losing2Live69 Posts: 743 Member
    I know they are way off on swimming. Way high!! It said something like 600 calories an hour for "leisurely" swimming for someone my size. I got a hrm that has a chest strap and can be worn in the pool. It said 250 calories for an hour. BIG difference!
  • Mykaelous
    Mykaelous Posts: 231 Member
    The problem for most HRM is that they consider the weight of 314 lb's to be of pure muscle. Muscle at rest burns alot more calories than fat at rest. The HRM will be more accurate if it asks you if you are of either average/athletic build. Also many HRM use a algorithm to compute the data so if they had 5 test subjects at 140, 160, 180, 200 and 220 than it is computing 314 lb's based on the trend although newer studies show that the rate of increase of calorie burn decreases at higher weights. This is even more true for women as males burn more calories at rest than women do due to differences in metabolism. So an overweight female is getting greatly exaggerated measurements.
  • ellehcimyelhsa
    ellehcimyelhsa Posts: 110
    I agree that it will depend on the build of the person and what activity he or she is doing. Personally, I have found that my HRM and the estimates on MFP has all been very close; within 50 calories.
  • justjenn1977
    justjenn1977 Posts: 437 Member
    They are estimates, and as such will be right on for some people and certain exercises, and will be way off for others.

    ^^this

    and that is exactly why I rarely eat exercise cals... unless I burn >1000... and even then I only eat a portion back... and even then only IF I am hungry
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    They are estimates, and as such will be right on for some people and certain exercises, and will be way off for others.

    ^^this

    and that is exactly why I rarely eat exercise cals... unless I burn >1000... and even then I only eat a portion back... and even then only IF I am hungry

    Please be careful giving advice like that. There are so many assumptions and ifs in there that someone else might try to do the same with very different results.

    In reality, the decision to eat them back or not should be based on how you setup your profile/goals in MFP.
  • RaineMarie
    RaineMarie Posts: 158 Member
    I have found that the calorie estimates are really high. For example, I ran 3 miles this morning. Generally, I burn about 300 calories when I run 3 miles. I have a HRM that tells me my average burn for a 3 mile run at my pace is 300 calories. And the treadmill estimator is pretty similar to what my HRM says. When I logged my run this morning in MFP, it tried to tell me I burned 650 calories. Woah!!! I quickly readjusted that with the much more realistic number. Silly MFP!
  • Bizeebec150
    Bizeebec150 Posts: 88
    I can honestly say I don't understand why I need to eat back thecalories, isn't the point of it to get more weight off and not maintain? I just dont get that part of MFP
  • heytherestephy
    heytherestephy Posts: 356 Member
    I found they were way low for my runs, but about spot on for biking haha.
  • Jxnsmma
    Jxnsmma Posts: 919 Member
    I find they are very high, sometimes double, what my bodymedia fit arm band records for me.
  • KellyJoMorris
    KellyJoMorris Posts: 35 Member
    I can honestly say I don't understand why I need to eat back thecalories, isn't the point of it to get more weight off and not maintain? I just dont get that part of MFP


    This helps to explain why :)

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • justjenn1977
    justjenn1977 Posts: 437 Member
    Please be careful giving advice like that. There are so many assumptions and ifs in there that someone else might try to do the same with very different results.

    In reality, the decision to eat them back or not should be based on how you setup your profile/goals in MFP.


    so I should preface everything I say with

    "this is what works for me, I have been doing this for a long time and through trial and error found a method that works for me, you have to decide what works for you because every body is different"

    or should I just add it to a signature type thing so that it automatically adds it to all my posts??

    I kinda assumed that this was the assumption on the internet...

    sorry
  • TheBrolympus
    TheBrolympus Posts: 586 Member
    I can honestly say I don't understand why I need to eat back thecalories, isn't the point of it to get more weight off and not maintain? I just dont get that part of MFP

    If you are trying to maintain a high level of activity it might be necessary to eat back exercise calories. I do a lot of running and biking and if did not eat back exercise calories I would not be able to maintain the activities. I could probably still do the runs and rides but they would suck because of the hige calorie deficit. It should be fun and not torture.
  • davodavodavo
    davodavodavo Posts: 3 Member
    The challenge is trying to find your own metabolic rate and transcribing into an exercise program with your heart rate calculations. I have found a different level of information among some of the products and websites as most of everyone is describing.
    Personally, I really like the Polar brands that you can input a lot of personal information and found it to be very accurate. It is a pain to wear the heart rate band and then to input…but I do think when my heart rate can vary depending on my supplemental intake it really helps.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    I can honestly say I don't understand why I need to eat back thecalories, isn't the point of it to get more weight off and not maintain? I just dont get that part of MFP

    It's all explained here if you want to know the whys behind it all.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/383956-exercise-calories-explained?hl=exercise+calories+explained
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Please be careful giving advice like that. There are so many assumptions and ifs in there that someone else might try to do the same with very different results.

    In reality, the decision to eat them back or not should be based on how you setup your profile/goals in MFP.


    so I should preface everything I say with

    "this is what works for me, I have been doing this for a long time and through trial and error found a method that works for me, you have to decide what works for you because every body is different"

    or should I just add it to a signature type thing so that it automatically adds it to all my posts??

    I kinda assumed that this was the assumption on the internet...

    sorry

    I think a lot of people have that mentality (take everything with a grain of salt), but there are still lots of people looking for quick, sure-fire answers, and when they read that something works they do it. Then if it doesn't work for them they end up discouraged and frustrated. A little context up front could have been really helpful to them, that's my only point.
  • bokodasu
    bokodasu Posts: 629 Member
    It totally depends, which is why I always use my HRM - sometimes it will be over the MFP estimate, sometimes under, depending on how hard I actually worked. And that's not going to be 100% accurate either, just probably closer to the real number. But I know the calorie counts in foods aren't ever going to be perfect either, so I just tend to be a bit conservative on burned and a bit liberal on eaten and hope it averages out.
  • justjenn1977
    justjenn1977 Posts: 437 Member

    I think a lot of people have that mentality (take everything with a grain of salt), but there are still lots of people looking for quick, sure-fire answers, and when they read that something works they do it. Then if it doesn't work for them they end up discouraged and frustrated. A little context up front could have been really helpful to them, that's my only point.

    I am sorry... I am just crabby and cranky and sore today (at home on the couch with broken foot)

    and I got defensive... I didn't mean to snap at you

    thanks for your advice and not snapping back at me :flowerforyou:
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member

    I think a lot of people have that mentality (take everything with a grain of salt), but there are still lots of people looking for quick, sure-fire answers, and when they read that something works they do it. Then if it doesn't work for them they end up discouraged and frustrated. A little context up front could have been really helpful to them, that's my only point.

    I am sorry... I am just crabby and cranky and sore today (at home on the couch with broken foot)

    and I got defensive... I didn't mean to snap at you

    thanks for your advice and not snapping back at me :flowerforyou:

    No worries!

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