In need of a good calorie reference

bgudwien

I'm having a hard time tracking how many calories I burn doing different, miscellaneous things. I've googled many things, but I don't know what's accurate. Any suggestions?

srk369

Are there specific things you are looking for? If you set your activity level correctly, it should account for all the little things we do every day like brushing teeth, cooking dinner, walking into work. I wear a fitbit to capture all my movement during the day and I like that since it lets me know if I'm even meeting the sedentary level I have set for my day to day.

tootoop224

I just google it, compare multiple sources, Come up with somewhat of a consensus, or a number I think is right, then reduce it by about 30% as I'd rather estimate a little low than high and go with that. Once I have a number I decide on, I keep a spreadsheet with them all on so I can reference it later.

khall86790

http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

melindasuefritz

i google it .......... then take what live strong says and then see if there is a match here

aelunyu

This is a loaded question. Calorie burn is very VERY hard to track accurately. The logic is as follows:

If i am 300 lbs and obese, running a mile will require a great effort and expend a large proportion of calories
If i am a 100lb marathon runner who runs 10 miles a day, a 1 mile run will barely even dip into my total caloric expenditure, in fact it may not even amount to any net calorie burn that is significant in terms of weight loss.

Which is why focusing on calories burned is a very inexact tabulation of work output, not to mention completely unreliable. Rather, the best way to "figure" if you have burned sufficient energy is "RPE" or rate of perceived exertion. In other words, as long as you are very intense, or pushing yourself beyond the point of comfort (but not to the point of utter exhaustion), you have given your body a reason to change.

bgudwien

I need to check into the fitbit. My activity level is set just above sedentary, as I'm constantly chasing after a 5 & 3 year old boys (and neighborhood kids). But yes, I was looking for housework stuff, i.e. cleaning, washing dishes, cooking. Thanks for the info!

I typically try to take an average from several sources. I always try to push myself harder each time I work out, especially when I have a bad day of eating. Thanks for all the feedback!