Exercise Calories: Minus "Sitting" Calories or No

shellshalla
shellshalla Posts: 263 Member
edited September 21 in Fitness and Exercise
Seems to be some debate about this...so I would just like everyone's opinions on the topic.

Do you take the amount of calories you burned during exercise from your HRM or machine and minus what you would have burned in that amount of time just sitting? Or do you use the whole amount?

I've heard that MFP already calculates those calories you burn just "sitting" or "doing nothing" into your allotted calories so you record the whole amount of exercise calories you burned bc they're extra.

I've also heard that you take the number of calories you burned and minus what you would have burned in that amount of time just sitting around.

Example: 600 calories burned in an hour....record 600 exactly....or record 600 - 60 (just an example for an hour) = 540 recorded

Replies

  • jljohnson
    jljohnson Posts: 719 Member
    I've always subtracted my sitting calories. I believe MFP gives you your "sitting calories" when you choose your activity level (sedentary, lightly active, etc.), so to avoid double-dipping, you should remove them from your HRM total.
  • Valqis
    Valqis Posts: 1,016 Member
    All right just to be clear are we talking about time you are working out that you are sitting recuperating, or time during your day that you are sitting?
  • LittleSpy
    LittleSpy Posts: 6,754 Member
    All right just to be clear are we talking about time you are working out that you are sitting recuperating, or time during your day that you are sitting?

    I think we're talking about the time we would've burned just "sitting" had we not exercised. If you don't subtract those calories from your exercise cals, you're kind of double eating them.

    Except, in my mind I'm not and I'll tell you why. After you work out, your body continues to burn extra calories for a while. I imagine you burn up all those calories that you double counted this way. Also, I'm very careful not to overestimate my calorie burn. I take the lesser of the numbers I get between MFP estimates & my HRM & log and eat that amount.

    I try to eat 100% of my exercise calories. I haven't always been this way, but now if I don't, I seriously don't lose anything. I think I actually need to increase my net cals even more (currently 1290).
  • shellshalla
    shellshalla Posts: 263 Member
    I think we're talking about the time we would've burned just "sitting" had we not exercised.

    Yeah that's what I meant.
  • Valqis
    Valqis Posts: 1,016 Member
    I think we're talking about the time we would've burned just "sitting" had we not exercised.

    Then no you don't need to minus any of those calories because MFP has already figured those calories into your your daily allowance based on what type of lifestyle you live. Meaning, if you are someone who sits on his bum all day staring at a computer screen for 10 hours a day answering phones then you are not going to burn as many calories as someone who is working on a construction site hauling lumber.

    Thus, when the person who answers phones goes to the gym and gets on a bike with his HRM and pedals for an hour and burns 600 calories, he has an extra 600 calories that he can eat for the day should he choose to, or he can use any or all of them to help his body lose weight, if he so chooses. But he does not have to worry about subtracting out for the 10 hours he was sitting answering the phones or when he goes home and sits down to watch the 5 hour finale of Lost on Sunday.
  • sniffles
    sniffles Posts: 295
    Here's the deal.

    If I sit here for the next 30 minutes I will burn 50 calories. MFP has already calculated this into my daily food allotment.

    If, instead, I go to the gym and burn 300 calories I have an extra 250 calories burned OVER the 50 MFP has already given me.

    So yes, I believe subtracting the calories you would have burned WITHOUT exercise is a good idea. I don't think it's absolutely necessary though because I lost weight without subtracting and WITH subtracting so... *shrug* Whatever you feel more comfortable doing!

    But it's important to know how much you burn when you're just sitting around!!! I burn around 100 cals per hour but different people will burn a different amount.
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