Frustrated with elliptical!

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ZB17
ZB17 Posts: 92 Member
in Motivation and Support
By the way, I'm a 188-pound teen who's lost about five pounds within the last month and a half. For a few weeks, my daily average calories burned on the elliptical was 200-300. Now, it's 400-500. Also, I have a healthy diet consisting of about 1500 calories daily.

Today, I found out that the calorie count on the elliptical is tends to overestimate the number of calories burned. This is a total downer because I was proud of how many calories I was burning...I honestly thought it was an accurate estimate. (For instance, yesterday, I did 500 calories in 36 minutes with resistance between 5-11). I've read about a HRM, but some say THAT is inaccurate too! It's so frustrating that I don't really know how many calories I'm burning. Why bother trying if I'm not getting accurate results? =/
Has anyone else experienced this problem? What did you do to overcome it?

Replies

  • kmc979
    kmc979 Posts: 99 Member
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    most machines overestimated calorie loss. and yes, HRM can be inaccurate but they are more accurate than the machine, especially if you get one that you input you age, weight, etc. if i do an hour on the elliptical pretty high intensity with my heart rate 150-160 i burn anywhere from 500-600 calories (per HRM) and the machine says 700. and certainly don't use the suggested calorie burn that MFP says, that is waaay high.
    it is not worthless to do anything, keep up what you are doing. you don't need a HRM to exercise, just make sure you are getting a good sweat on.
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
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    You're doing GREAT!
    Don't let a machine -- or a number-- determine your emotions!

    You've got a good workout going, and the toning and strengthening it will do will add to the calories burned to make you feel better and look better, too!

    I ignore the calorie counters on gym machines--and where possible I will switch to the "time" or "time left" settings so I don't have to watch that blasted calorie counter. I don't always believe the MFP calorie counter, either. . .so I usually set my "effort' level somewhat lower to compensate.
  • Alta2000
    Alta2000 Posts: 655 Member
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    I had read somewhere to put 10 lb lower than my weight when I enter the weight info in the exercise machine.
  • koko12
    koko12 Posts: 81 Member
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    if your heart rate is high then youre probably burning that much. if you could hold a convo during the time youre on the elliptical then subtract 100cals from the burn. thats usually how it was for me
  • csheltra26
    csheltra26 Posts: 272 Member
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    Because of so many people using the machines they generally are inaccurate. I have found that the HRM is pretty good at tracking calorie burns and I also find it similar to what MFP says for me.
  • just4nessa
    just4nessa Posts: 459 Member
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    Don't get discouraged, it sounds like you're on the right track. Machines in the gym and MFP often have high estimates. Even HRM's aren't completely accurate, but possibly closer since you calibrate it to monitor YOUR heart rate, not a generic number. If you're seeing results with what you're doing, keep at it.. it's working!
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    Exercise has benefits far beyond just the calories that you burn. Whatever you're doing, it's working. Congratulations!

    I get around the imprecise estimations of calories burned by not eating back all the calories I supposedly burn exercising.
  • ohrandi
    ohrandi Posts: 28 Member
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    Machines overestimate but it also varies.. for example the elliptical at my work GROSSLY overestimates if I'm using a high resistance. Says I burn 1,000+ calories but according to my HRM it's closer to 300. The one at my gym is slightly lower but still overestimates.
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
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    Yes, this is an inexact science. Here is the clencher, even if you weigh/measure all your food, you are not going to be exact on the intake end either. This is especially true on calorie dense foods. If you eat out, there are differences from restaurant to restaurant from cook to cook so the restaurant values as stated will vary maybe by as much as 100-200 calories on some foods... Chickens don't cooperate so one leg may be 75 calories and another 100 calories because it is bigger... Again, it is just not exact. Exercise? You are right... none of it is exact -- that being said, it is much better to have these estimates and try to stay within the margins of error than to throw caution to the wind and eat/do whatever... The best measure in the end is to give it your best estimate and if you find that you are not gaining/losing what you think you should for what you are recording, look to see what you can do to change it to make it more accurate. My rule of thumb early on was to not eat back ALL my exercise (usually about half) and tried to eat under my calorie goal by 200-300 calories. I lost 124 lbs doing that in a pretty reasonable fashion. Hey, best of luck to you and I wish you every success in your journey.
  • James_1954
    James_1954 Posts: 187 Member
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    ... Today, I found out that the calorie count on the elliptical is tends to overestimate the number of calories burned ...

    How did you find this out?
  • Kreider86
    Kreider86 Posts: 105 Member
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    I was wondering about this too. My elliptical tells me how many cals I burn and it's always lower than what MFP says. However I have yet to put in my weight etc at the elliptical at the gym... Found this website. Seems like it's closer to the MFP amount and they use your stats as well. Hopefully it's helpful to you!

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/197837-how-to-calculate-the-calories-burned-on-an-elliptical/

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