Question about calorie burned during walking
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kordell70
Posts: 49 Member
Hello Everyone :-) I am relatively new to this MFP site. The question I have concerns the amount of calories this site says a person of 332 lbs walking 87 minutes at a 3mph pace will burn. I was surprised to see the amount was in excess of 700. I have read other posts which say if you have already calculated your BMR and subtract 500 that you are on pace to lose a pound a week and that you can eat back your additional calories burned during exercise. I would love to be able to eat an additional 700 calories tonight, however, I would like your opinion if this site's calculations are approximately accurate. I would hate to eat 700 extra tonight only to find out I really only burned an additional 2 or 3 hundred. Thanks.
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Replies
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Yeah don't eat that. MFP's estimates are way off. Dont eat back calories unless you're way under. Congratulations on your journey.0
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I agree it sounds high. I found a count that burns 260 calories for 1hr10mins dog walking at 3mph. I think this is not far off because I have lost when sailing close to the wind on it, and other rates I found on line are of the same order. However, I am only 149lbs.
As a rule of thumb, MFP does tend to over-estimate burns so I find it helpful to find other data out on the www.
Hope this helps!0 -
3 Miles per hour is the average walking speed of the average person. Are you sure that you can keep that pace up for over 87 minutes?
I eat my exercise calories back, but only until there is about a 3-5 hundred calorie deficit for the day. While I lose weight slower, I don't feel like I am starving, so it is easier to stay on the diet.....i.e. easier not to cheat.
Cheating, whether it is with exercise metrics or food metrics won't help you lose weight.
I use a FitBit. It is a digital pedometer. It syncs wirelessly to my comuputer. I wear it all day and night (it also measures sleep quality).
My FitBit metrics flow thru to MFP, so I automatically get credit for calories burned while walking, no matter when that is during the day, thus, I don't have to key exercises/activity records. I highly recommend the FitBit. Good luck!0 -
DON'T subtract 500 calories from your BMR!!! You subtract 500 calories from your TDEE.
Just use this site's numbers. If you stop getting results, adjust.
That is a reasonable number for your size and the time/distance.0 -
Hello Everyone :-) I am relatively new to this MFP site. The question I have concerns the amount of calories this site says a person of 332 lbs walking 87 minutes at a 3mph pace will burn. I was surprised to see the amount was in excess of 700.
It's roughly 50 calories per mile per 100 pounds of weight. In your case, you did 87/60 * 3 miles, or 4.35 miles.
50 * 3.32 * 4.35 => ~722 calories.
Looks close enough to me!
EDIT: Would also suggest to focus on time and distance rather than "speed". Use an app on your phone to track that (there are a million choices). MFP's way of using speed and time just leads to confusion and error, IMO.0 -
The calories burned is probably closer to 660 than 720, but I wouldn't eat them back in either case.
Someone your size should be able to eat a decent amount of food--e.g. 1800 calories per day--and maintain a larger calorie deficit without any untoward results.
When one is doing a mild activity for an extended period of time, then the effects of subtracting BMR from your exercise calorie total become more significant. In your case, that is over 200 calories of your exercise total. So your actual net calorie burn for your walk is more in the 450-500 range. In your situation, there is no reason to "eat back" those calories, unless you are trying to do something like maintain a 1200 calorie per day diet.
Again: eat a healthy amount of food---in your case 1800 calories per day is OK, and let any extra calories burned though exercise just add to your deficit.0 -
I use endomondo on my mobile to track all outdoor walking, as it accurately tracks distance and speed. You also input your weight and it tends to track calories burned accurately. It also has the added bonus of auto syncing with MFP. When I use this to track my walks and eat back my calories to within a 100 calorie deficit, I still steadily lose weight, so this seems to be very accurate for me0
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Thanks Everyone. Your comments were very helpful.0
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If you have a smart phone I HIGHLY recommend you download runkeeper ap. It is free and you input your weight,etc and you can use it to calculate your calories, pace, distance and even gps your location. It is the most motivating thing I do as I keep mine set to announce to me every 5 minutes my pace and distance so I use it as a reminder to ramp up my pace or as a motivator to go the next five minutes. I use it with my iTunes or podcast ap and can listen to other media, use the phone, etc and it runs in the background.
I was going to get a fitbit or the like but this free ap gives me the info I want and is the number one thing that motivates me to push myself in my walking program. When you are ready to run it has different training programs you can follow but it works great for those of us who simply walk.0 -
I started at 352lbs when I first started using MFP (I had been as high as 380 and did stupid crash diets). Anyway, a few things I have learned on this journey.
Be honest about journaling your food.
Calorie counting and burning is not an exact science just do your best with the information you have
Don't eat back any exercise calories more than once a week if possible
If you go over your calories for the day or eat things you feel bad about eating just move on. FORGIVE YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY!
Spread out your calories over 5 times a day. I personally use 3 meals and two snacks but it doesn't matter as long as your eat every 3 hours or so. This keeps the metabolism going and is crucial to consistent weight loss.
Runtastic is my favorite app for tracking activity (I also bought the heart rate monitor). It tracks running, walking, elliptical, etc... I love it!
Have fun! Remember you are making you a better person!
Cheers,
Dave0 -
I use endomondo on my mobile to track all outdoor walking, as it accurately tracks distance and speed. You also input your weight and it tends to track calories burned accurately. It also has the added bonus of auto syncing with MFP. When I use this to track my walks and eat back my calories to within a 100 calorie deficit, I still steadily lose weight, so this seems to be very accurate for me
I do this too! It works great. Sometimes I eat back some of my exercise cals and sometimes I don't. Mainly because I am at 1200.
Great work so far
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I started at 352lbs when I first started using MFP (I had been as high as 380 and did stupid crash diets). Anyway, a few things I have learned on this journey.
Be honest about journaling your food.
Calorie counting and burning is not an exact science just do your best with the information you have
Don't eat back any exercise calories more than once a week if possible
If you go over your calories for the day or eat things you feel bad about eating just move on. FORGIVE YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY!
Spread out your calories over 5 times a day. I personally use 3 meals and two snacks but it doesn't matter as long as your eat every 3 hours or so. This keeps the metabolism going and is crucial to consistent weight loss.
Runtastic is my favorite app for tracking activity (I also bought the heart rate monitor). It tracks running, walking, elliptical, etc... I love it!
Have fun! Remember you are making you a better person!
Cheers,
Dave
This is a perfect reply. WTG, Dave! I agree and have had good success. I do eat back part of my exercise calories and sometimes use exercise to "buy" a treat.0 -
The calorie burn doesn't sound right. When I first got on this site I used the calories that the site said I burned. After a while of not being sure if those calories were correct I went ahead and ordered myself an HRM that calculates calories burned during my workouts! I love it and I can't live without it. That's another option for you to consider if you'd like.0
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If you have an HRM, it's really helpful. I find that I don't burn much of anything, especially when I calculate net calories (the number of calories I burn over what I would have "burned" by sitting on the couch). I use http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/net-versus-gross-calorie-burn-conversion-calculator.aspx for all of my exercise before logging it to MFP.0
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I have used mapmyrun to log my time/pace and then enter that into mfp. This has been my primary source of exercise for the last 9 months (walking fast) and I eat back my calories. It must be fairly accurate since I continued to loose up to 40 lbs eating back the calories. You could get a heart rate monitor tough and get a very accurate reading of calories burned to find out.0
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Hello Everyone :-) I am relatively new to this MFP site. The question I have concerns the amount of calories this site says a person of 332 lbs walking 87 minutes at a 3mph pace will burn. I was surprised to see the amount was in excess of 700. I have read other posts which say if you have already calculated your BMR and subtract 500 that you are on pace to lose a pound a week and that you can eat back your additional calories burned during exercise. I would love to be able to eat an additional 700 calories tonight, however, I would like your opinion if this site's calculations are approximately accurate. I would hate to eat 700 extra tonight only to find out I really only burned an additional 2 or 3 hundred. Thanks.
TDEE - total daily energy expenditure already INCLUDES exercise. So starting with TDEE and subtracting 500 would be a 1 pound loss per week goal. Then you don't need to worry about eating calories back because the exercise is built in up front. Many people on MFP use TDEE less xx.0 -
Don't eat back any exercise calories more than once a week if possible
This is a perfect reply. WTG, Dave! I agree and have had good success. I do eat back part of my exercise calories and sometimes use exercise to "buy" a treat.
Umm .... NO! ...............this is not true for all people. Let's say I plan on using MFP as DESIGNED and set a really agressive weight loss goal.
What is going to happen is this; MFP will give me a measly 1200 calories .... if do cardio everyday (I know better) ..... but let's say I burn 600 calories everyday........per your instructions ........I would net 600 calories 6 days a week and 1200 net one day a week.
Now if I used MFP's calories .... I really didn't burn 600 calories (360 is more likely) .... but I am still under my BMR everyday. Yes, I will lose weight quickly ..... but losing muscle mass is not my goal.0 -
Hello Everyone :-) I am relatively new to this MFP site. The question I have concerns the amount of calories this site says a person of 332 lbs walking 87 minutes at a 3mph pace will burn. I was surprised to see the amount was in excess of 700.
It's roughly 50 calories per mile per 100 pounds of weight. In your case, you did 87/60 * 3 miles, or 4.35 miles.
50 * 3.32 * 4.35 => ~722 calories.
Looks close enough to me!
EDIT: Would also suggest to focus on time and distance rather than "speed". Use an app on your phone to track that (there are a million choices). MFP's way of using speed and time just leads to confusion and error, IMO.
This is so neat! I just tried the calculation out to see how it compared to what my Polar FT4 HRM gives me for walks and it's pretty darn close!
OP, if you're concerned, just plan on eating back at least half of the calories. As you're obese, you can handle a larger calorie deficit...BUT you still want to have a gradual healthy loss as you're more likely to stick with it and continue/maintain that loss for a long time. Good luck!0 -
Don't eat back any exercise calories more than once a week if possible
This is a perfect reply. WTG, Dave! I agree and have had good success. I do eat back part of my exercise calories and sometimes use exercise to "buy" a treat.
Umm .... NO! ...............this is not true for all people. Let's say I plan on using MFP as DESIGNED and set a really agressive weight loss goal.
What is going to happen is this; MFP will give me a measly 1200 calories .... if do cardio everyday (I know better) ..... but let's say I burn 600 calories everyday........per your instructions ........I would net 600 calories 6 days a week and 1200 net one day a week.
Now if I used MFP's calories .... I really didn't burn 600 calories (360 is more likely) .... but I am still under my BMR everyday. Yes, I will lose weight quickly ..... but losing muscle mass is not my goal.
You are correct, no one thing will work for EVERYONE. However, with the OP being about the same weight as me when I started I think this should work for them. I am no expert here, I just know what worked for me and try and share that with people. Currently MFP has me at 1400 calories a day, this is with a goal of losing 2lbs a week. I burn between 600-1100 calories a day 6 days a week and I rarely ever go over 1500 calories a day. I typically eat a bad meal or two on the weekends and still lose 2 lbs a week.0 -
Don't eat back any exercise calories more than once a week if possible
This is a perfect reply. WTG, Dave! I agree and have had good success. I do eat back part of my exercise calories and sometimes use exercise to "buy" a treat.
Umm .... NO! ...............this is not true for all people. Let's say I plan on using MFP as DESIGNED and set a really agressive weight loss goal.
What is going to happen is this; MFP will give me a measly 1200 calories .... if do cardio everyday (I know better) ..... but let's say I burn 600 calories everyday........per your instructions ........I would net 600 calories 6 days a week and 1200 net one day a week.
Now if I used MFP's calories .... I really didn't burn 600 calories (360 is more likely) .... but I am still under my BMR everyday. Yes, I will lose weight quickly ..... but losing muscle mass is not my goal.
You are correct, no one thing will work for EVERYONE. However, with the OP being about the same weight as me when I started I think this should work for them. I am no expert here, I just know what worked for me and try and share that with people. Currently MFP has me at 1400 calories a day, this is with a goal of losing 2lbs a week. I burn between 600-1100 calories a day 6 days a week and I rarely ever go over 1500 calories a day. I typically eat a bad meal or two on the weekends and still lose 2 lbs a week.
2 pounds a week is great when you have more than 75 pounds to lose. But as you get closer to goal, you will need to scale back on your pounds per week. Obese people have some protection from muscle loss when eating very low calories (and netting less than 1200 qualifies). The rest of us are not so fortunate.
For those who don't know what moderate (healthy) weight loss goals are:
Pounds per week
75+ lbs to lose 2 lb range
Between 40 - 75 lbs to lose 1.5 lb range
Between 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lb range
Between 15-25 lbs to lose 1 -.50 lb range
Less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs range0
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