Myfitnesspal calorie estimates for exercise

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x1v16
x1v16 Posts: 66
in Fitness and Exercise
How do myfitnesspal estimates of calories burned change by weight? Do they at all? As a 260 pound person when I walk for 10 minutes it says I burn 75 calories if I go 3.5 miles per hour, but http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/CalorieBurnChart.htm would have me believe that would only be true if I was 208 pounds, and at my weight it is more like 94 calories.

Thoughts anyone?

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  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
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    compared to a heart rate monitor, mfp routinely overestimates. i find this is particularly true of walking.

    with walking it is quite unlikely you would be burning much over 100cal per mile. the mfp estimate is probably closer to accurate, and still a little high.

    and yes the numbers adjust down as you lose.
  • x1v16
    x1v16 Posts: 66
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    I do the leslie sansome walk a mile thing a couple times a day. It definitely makes me work up a decent sweat
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
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    sure. but the calorie burn estimate is generally understood by a large number of users to be an overestimate.

    i walk daily. i run alternate days. at a not dissimilar weight to you, i burn less in 10 min at 5.5 mph than cook america is suggesting you do walking. (how are you estimating speed and distance btw?)

    the mfp estimate also includes base cals (cals you would burn when sedentary).

    my advice would be to knock 20-30% off mfp burn estimates if you are 'eating back' cals.
  • CherylP67
    CherylP67 Posts: 772 Member
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    I have a polar HRM and I'm always surprised at how close to my actual burn the calories are when I do C25k. MFP usually overestimates by about 10 calories. I also use Map my Run and that APP overestimates my burn by about 15%, even after I adjusted my settings to my new weight.

    Edited to add....

    I think it depends on the person, perhaps my cardiovascular system is close to the model they used when figuring out calories burned. We are all built different.
  • Jennessaphilip
    Jennessaphilip Posts: 33
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    I use a HRM too. MFP seems to only over calculate about 10-15 calories per 30 minutes of exercise that I do. This includes mainly walking and zumba
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
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    OP Neither of your methods of calculation are particularly accurate there are other different factors to consider than the estimates on a website give. A more accurate reading would come from a HRM with chest strap :flowerforyou:

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