What/who do I believe re: calories burned??

blytheny
blytheny Posts: 63 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
First, let me preface this with that I know I need to get a heart rate monitor to really be sure - just not ready to spend the $$ right now, with vacation on the horizon.

That being said - what do I believe re: how much I burn??

The elliptical (Cybex ArcTrainer) at my gym tells me I'm burning 670 cals when I do 50 min at level 5, and often kick it up to a higher resistance at times. Here, at MFP, it says 530 cals for 50 min - obviously, a generality, not knowing my weight or intensity like the machine does.

Then, on websites that give you a mathematical formula, they say to multiply .091 by my weight and then by my time... which comes to 682 - very close to what the machine is telling me.

Any tips?? Just want to be sure I'm tracking reasonably close to accurate, so my caloric intake isn't way off..... thanks!

Replies

  • blytheny
    blytheny Posts: 63 Member
    bump....
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    MFP does know and account for your weight, however, it does not know intensity.

    Honestly 140 calories isn't a huge discrepancy anyway. Personally, I always go with a lower number, just in case.

    Outside of a lab you are never going to be exact. Even HRMs aren't exact.
  • Mslibb
    Mslibb Posts: 69 Member
    Hi there

    Not sure if this helps or not, but I would burn around 500-ish cals on the Elliptical in 50 mins (I usually go for an hour and burn about 600 cals). I use a HRM to estimate cals, and I'm working my butt off (gasping, sweating buckets, and fighting the urge to turn the resistence down) to get an average heart rate of around 92% of max. (I'm 39, 5'1" and 145lbs). I would say the lower number is probably more accurate, but I'm not sure what 'level 5' feels like for you in terms of your heart rate, effort exerted etc.

    Happy ellipting!
  • Sjenny5891
    Sjenny5891 Posts: 717 Member
    I go by the smallest number.
  • Angeloftheshore
    Angeloftheshore Posts: 227 Member
    Before I got Body Media Fit, I just experimented. I went with the higher number, if I was losing weight, all was good, if not I went with a slighter lower average until I was losing, or at least not gaining . If your not gaining or losing there could be many factors (like a plateau). I lost weight fairly consistently just working with the numbers.

    ps...I did it this way because I wanted to make sure my body was well fed and still healthily loosing weight.

Categories