Count full calories for exercise?

marcr3
marcr3 Posts: 2
edited September 21 in Fitness and Exercise
Let's say that a machine or HRM tells me I burned 500 calories in an hour. Do I get to count that whole 500? Or should I subtract the amount that I would have theoretically burned anyway by doing nothing, that is my BMR?

Or is that already typically accounted for in the machine/HRM calculations? And for that matter, is it accounted for in the values that MFP suggests when I log exercise?

Replies

  • lilchino4af
    lilchino4af Posts: 1,292 Member
    I always logged the total calories my HRM said I burned; I never subtracted anything for BMR, and I consistently lost weight at my rate of 1 lb per week.

    Just be careful though, because using the calories from a machine or MFP tend to be higher than a HRM because neither are as accurate (I found machines and MFP tended to be 20% higher than my HRM).
  • 00trayn
    00trayn Posts: 1,849 Member
    I've heard MFP takes that into account. However my HRM doesn't so I subtract out 1 calorie per minute of exercise to account for that. It helps to be conservative with it. I'm rarely low on calories by the end of the day anyway. I don't eat all my exercise calories, usually about half on the higher burn days.
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
    I do the same as 00trayn. My per minute burn is 1.3 so I subtract that for however long I'm exercising and I try not to leave too many exercise calories unless I literally don't have enough food for the day... I've been consistently losing the last month (save for a couple weeks where I was retaining water, went over on sodium or calories, etc.)
  • supersarah14
    supersarah14 Posts: 170
    Ouch that makes my head hurt!

    I think you're making it too complicated. :smile: I just log in what my HRM says. In the end, I figure I'll burn the extra 3 calories running to my car to be at work on time.
  • jrich1
    jrich1 Posts: 2,408 Member
    I never have subtracted the BMR.. but look where it got me :)
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    It's not the BMR, it's just your resting calories and that totally depends on the machine you use. I for one, have contacted polar about my Heart Rate Monitor, and they have confirmed that they don't subtract them automatically, so I do it manually.

    MFP itself is a "wiki-like" calorie database. this means that the exercises and calorie burn are put in by other users, so it would depend on if the other person has accounted for them. BUT the biggest thing about MFP's calorie tracking is that it's a rough guess at best. Since you are using someone else's burn, and everyone burns calories at a different rate, your actual calorie burn is probably going to be different (and sometimes far different) from what is listed on MFP.

    The BEST way to track exercise calories (short of direct measurement in a lab) is to use a good quality Heart Rate Monitor, or a professional quality gym machine (and ask the staff at the gym if they are regularly calibrated), even then you'll still have a margin for error of up to 15% (although usually it's closer to 5 %)
  • Melissa_123
    Melissa_123 Posts: 115
    Ouch that makes my head hurt!

    I think you're making it too complicated. :smile: I just log in what my HRM says. In the end, I figure I'll burn the extra 3 calories running to my car to be at work on time.

    haha...:laugh: :laugh:
  • marcr3
    marcr3 Posts: 2
    Alright, thanks everyone. Didn't realize about MFP not taking into account at least someone's age and weight, but even taking that into account, probably bound to be a lot of variation. I've got a Polar FT7, so only basic settings, but I've benchmarked all my regular exercise activities. I'd been subtracting about 100 cal per hour, which seems like a reasonable thing to do. Even if it is too complicated :).
This discussion has been closed.

Categories