Random Thoughts on Calories Burned

DianneLynn

What has always baffled me are these websites where you scroll down to the exercise you did, add the minutes you did it and it tells you the calories you burned. Some just dwell on them counting every calorie burned like pennies in the bank.

Another strange one is when I hop on my treadmill, set it up for my weight, select the route I want and then pick a speed I want and it spits out the miles I did and the calories I expended.

What questions come to my mind?

1. I could hop off the treadmill and leave it running and it would still spit out the same number.

2. As far as figure calories burned, in my mind it's quite plausible that another person my height, my weight could do the same as me...but in reality would we use the same number of calories? Say this person has more or less muscle mass~ wouldn't that change it? Say this person is taller or shorter than I am...wouldn't that make a difference? If that person ate differently than I did? More sugar..Less sugar. Younger? Older? Health Issues? No Health Issues? The variables are unlimited.:explode:

I guess something I should keep in mind is that no two people are alike and basically the only way for sure you would know how many calories you burned is by the way your clothes fit at the end of the week and maybe even what your scale says.

What do YOU think?

DianneLynn

What has always baffled me are these websites where you scroll down to the exercise you did, add the minutes you did it and it tells you the calories you burned. Some just dwell on them counting every calorie burned like pennies in the bank.

Another strange one is when I hop on my treadmill, set it up for my weight, select the route I want and then pick a speed I want and it spits out the miles I did and the calories I expended.

What questions come to my mind?

1. I could hop off the treadmill and leave it running and it would still spit out the same number.

2. As far as figure calories burned, in my mind it's quite plausible that another person my height, my weight could do the same as me...but in reality would we use the same number of calories? Say this person has more or less muscle mass~ wouldn't that change it? Say this person is taller or shorter than I am...wouldn't that make a difference? If that person ate differently than I did? More sugar..Less sugar. Younger? Older? Health Issues? No Health Issues? The variables are unlimited.:explode:

I guess something I should keep in mind is that no two people are alike and basically the only way for sure you would know how many calories you burned is by the way your clothes fit at the end of the week and maybe even what your scale says.

What do YOU think?

leelee93

I think you are RIGHT! I have thought the same thing. I am going to get Heart Rate/ Calorie Monitor so I can see just for me b/c I do like having the calorie thing to put down to show I did get my sweat on each day. I just take the machine reading as a guestimate.....

doglvr_75

I've had the same questions...I have an ancient treadmill that doesn't allow me to enter my weight or any of that, and it always says that i've burned way more calories than are calculated here...AND it doesn't seem to care whether I've got the incline up or not...so, I just enter the calculated calories from here and hope that, if anything, I'm underestimating the amt. burned...anyway, that's my 2 cents for the day...:happy:

RLCoach

It is a good point.

Although this past month, using this sites system, I had a calorie deficit of 35,000 calories and I lost 10 pounds which is how much 35,000 calories would be.

SirOKing

Hello All,

My brother, who has been in fitness for 3 years now, swears by the Bodybugg. It it is a monitor that you wear every minute of the day. It will tell you how many calories YOU burn in a day, and if you lay in bed all day, one day, it will calculate your BMR. No one's BMR is the same, because we are all different!

Most of these calculations one this site are only estimates and averages based on data, and it is a great place to start. I enjoy this site, because it is free! I can keep track of my calories, fat, and protein intake. And I get much knowledge from other people's questions and answers.

The body bug personalizes the fitness program, because it is monitoring YOU, your heart rate, your steps throughout the day. It records everything!

Also, there is a website much like this one, but it is not a free service and the Bodybugg costs about $250 - $400 based on what you wish it to do.

If you wish to check it out the website is www.bodybugg.com

Keep Losing!

banks1850

That's why I always go by what My polar heart monitor says. The machines use averages. They can be off by 20% sometimes. If you are concerned with exact calories burned then get a good heart monitor, it will tell you much more accurately what you burn. On the other hand, 20 to 30 calories one way or the other won't make much difference.

I mean, if EVERY day you were 20 calories over, it would take you about 6 months to gain 1 lb. That's if you were over every day. Considering most of us go up and down 2 to 3 lbs a week depending on how much sodium we consume and water we drink, it's almost amusing to see people fuss over tiny amounts. I mean, 20 calories is like 80 seconds on a tread mill at 70% heartrate.

alexlove31

After doing a ton of research on the Bodybugg, I have come to realize that if you are serious about losing weight and have tried everything in the world to do so, this high tech gadget should help you perform a miracle. I think my problem is - is that I am consuming too many calories for my body to burn. Even though I am on a 1200 calorie diet, I just feel as though my metabolism sucks! (esp. now that I am over 30!)

I am a hug fan of The Biggest Loser and have just noticed the BodyBugg this season. I've ordered mine because it was on sale for $249 and included a free display ( value of $99 - it's a watch that you wear on your wrist to show your actual calories burned instead of waiting to go on to the website) I think you would only need the first 6 months of the free subscription to learn how your body processes food and how your body responds to exercise. Overall, I think it's worth it.



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