MFP Incorrect??

sweetiepiesara147
sweetiepiesara147 Posts: 7
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey all,
Quick question: When I work out the machine I'm on tells me that I've burned (for example) 200 calories on the elliptical in 25 minutes, however when I log 25 minutes on MFP it says I should have burned like 400 calories. Which one is right? Which one do u use? I've been manually changing the calories burned on MFP to match the machine but I'm wondering what I should do. I see some people are logging like 700 calories burned in 1 hour on the elliptical or something crazy like that. Is that accurate???

Replies

  • iiiEllie
    iiiEllie Posts: 224 Member
    It depends on your resis on the elliptical and how far you go, fast, so forth. Everyone burns different.

    Get a fitbit or something similar to give you a better idea of what you're burning.
    I do 30-60 mins with resis ranging from 6-22 on my elliptical and I burn over 400 calories every 30 mins.
  • pannellkat
    pannellkat Posts: 709 Member
    I typically burn around 500 calories in an hour on the elliptical, thats what my heart rate monitor tells me

    If my husband were on the elliptical for 60 minutes, he may burn 700 calories, sure...but he is also bigger than me, taller that me, he is a man and he may be working harder than me or I may be working harder than him.

    the point is, there is no average or set amount of calories for an exercise like "one size fits all". It depends on many factors including, age, gender, weight, height, etc.
  • haymancm
    haymancm Posts: 280 Member
    Get a heart rate monitor for more accuracy. I love mine! The machines & MFP don't register your sweat & heart pounding! :)
  • TheStephil
    TheStephil Posts: 858 Member
    The machine and MFP are estimates. MFP tends to overestimate in my experience. Get a HRM for more accurate results or a BodyMedia
  • TrinaJ11
    TrinaJ11 Posts: 159 Member
    For now I would say trust MFP's calculations. They're calculations are based approximately on your height and weight. Unless you're putting this information into the equipment you're using there's no way it would know if you're a male/female, height, weight all that stuff.

    Invest in a heart rate monitor. I love my polar ft7 :)
  • grdnr03
    grdnr03 Posts: 547 Member
    If you don't want to get into a hrm at the moment use what the machine you are using says.
  • mountaingirl2207
    mountaingirl2207 Posts: 181
    I spend a lot of time on ellipticals, and in my experience the mfp numbers are about 15-20% higher than my own hrm. Mfp also doesn't have a resistance setting, so it will tell someone who did level 1 that they burned just as many calories as someone who did level 20 for the amount of time.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
    Hey all,
    Quick question: When I work out the machine I'm on tells me that I've burned (for example) 200 calories on the elliptical in 25 minutes, however when I log 25 minutes on MFP it says I should have burned like 400 calories. Which one is right? Which one do u use? I've been manually changing the calories burned on MFP to match the machine but I'm wondering what I should do. I see some people are logging like 700 calories burned in 1 hour on the elliptical or something crazy like that. Is that accurate???

    Lookup the TDEE formula for calculating your calorie needs and stop worrying about stuff like this; it will simplify your life and make this less of a chore.

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