Possible dumb question? Quick-adding exercise

Options
amiclvrt
amiclvrt Posts: 27
in Fitness and Exercise
Okay...here goes. I work out 5x a week (3x heavy weights and 2x cardio) for 30 minutes a day. I have lost inches and I absolutely love the weight lifting.

I have read in a lot of posts that MFP overestimates calorie burn for exercises. AND I am horrible at math! So...couldn't I just create my own "exercise" on MFP and enter, say, 200 calories for each 30 minute session and be more accurate?

I have no idea how to accurately figure out how much calorie burn I do at the gym. Every web site seems to give a different answer. And, doesn't it matter how much you weigh? For instance, wouldn't a 250 lb person burn more calories walking a mile than a 150 lb person? (Just from the amount of energy it takes to move that extra 100 lbs around).

I am eating my exercise calories, but I don't want to go overboard!

Okay, so there it is...bash or not...I would like to hear it!

Replies

  • LiftHeavyWeights
    LiftHeavyWeights Posts: 336 Member
    Options
    Get a heart rate monitor as you plug in your stats & it gives you the amount of calories you burn. I currently have a Polar FT80 HRM as I strength train & use the built in Star program to tell me the hours & calories I should exercise & burn per week in each of the heart rate categories to maximize my fitness.
  • ChrisLindsay9
    ChrisLindsay9 Posts: 837 Member
    Options
    Congrats on your progress! In my opinion, losing inches is better than losing pounds. Hope you continue to find success!

    I don't think your question is dumb. It's been brought up a lot - and in a variety of ways, and unfortunately, there's not one answer. You'll likely receive a variety of answers based on opinions and anecdotes.

    The first thing I want to ask, because it wasn't clear to me from your post, is if you know that you can log calories burned through strength training? If not, here's how you can log it ...in the Cardiovascular section, find "Strength Training (Weightlifting, Weight Training) from the dropdown box and just fill in the duration of time spent weight lifting. If you've updated your profile and weight, then it will give you an estimate on calories burned. It's an estimate, since there's not really a way to gauge caloric burn from strength training.

    It sounds like what you're doing is working, so I wouldn't stress out about it too much. In my anecdotal experience, going with MFP's calories burned calculation for strength training has worked for me. But I also will override the numbers and put in a smaller amount if I know that my workout was either less intense or heavy on small muscle groups. It's a total crapshoot, based on "feel" which is not likely to be science. But with experience and observing your progress, you'll get a good sense of how to adjust the numbers a bit.

    So if you find that your progress is going well, stay the course. If things start to change, then you can experiment with logging 3/4 or 1/2 of the calories burned, just to see if that helps. Use the numbers to help give you a bigger perspective of things, but don't let them overwhelm you. Just continue to work hard, eat the best you can, and have some patience. And you'll be fine. The fact that you're finding success already makes me think that you will find continued success.

    Keep up the great work!

    P.S. I am also an advocate of eating back exercise calories.
  • amiclvrt
    amiclvrt Posts: 27
    Options
    The first thing I want to ask, because it wasn't clear to me from your post, is if you know that you can log calories burned through strength training? If not, here's how you can log it ...in the Cardiovascular section, find "Strength Training (Weightlifting, Weight Training) from the dropdown box and just fill in the duration of time spent weight lifting. If you've updated your profile and weight, then it will give you an estimate on calories burned. It's an estimate, since there's not really a way to gauge caloric burn from strength training.

    Yes, that is exactly how I do it! Thanks for the encouraging words. I have a long way to go but I will get there! This is the first time in my life I have not done some crazy fad diet and it is mental warfare to actually eat to lose weight.

    Last week, when someone looked at my diary they said I was crazy to count 200 calories burned for weight lifting and 400 calories burned for stationary bike. I work so hard at the gym! I lift heavy free weights and when I ride the stationary bike I do a lot of resistance. It seems pretty reasonable to me...but what do I know!

    Thanks again!
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Options
    Weight lifting isn't a big calorie burner. That isn't the reason you do it and 200 calories for a 1/2 does seem high. I burn about 300 calories running 5 km in 30 minutes and there's no way 30 minutes of weights comes close to that level of exertion. Same with the stationary bike. One hour of road cycling is lucky to burn 400 calories so half that on a stationary seems high too.

    If you're logging and eating them and still losing great!
  • amiclvrt
    amiclvrt Posts: 27
    Options
    Thanks Mokey41...I will keep that in mind. I try to not eat back all the calories that MFP gives me for exercise. I wonder why they estimate so high? I'm netting around 1000.

    I just want to be careful because when I was hungry all the time and netting around 700 I was not losing weight at all. I've finally started to drop the lbs with upping the calories a little.

    This weekend will be my one-month measurement time so I am anxious to see if progress was made! :smile:
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Options
    Thanks Mokey41...I will keep that in mind. I try to not eat back all the calories that MFP gives me for exercise. I wonder why they estimate so high? I'm netting around 1000.

    I just want to be careful because when I was hungry all the time and netting around 700 I was not losing weight at all. I've finally started to drop the lbs with upping the calories a little.

    This weekend will be my one-month measurement time so I am anxious to see if progress was made! :smile:

    You probably see progress logging those extra calories because you're trying to stick to the 1200 calorie diet. My BMR is 1194 and I'm 5'2", 56 yrs old and 115 lbs. I would imagine yours is higher than that. Probably re evaluate your program and set yourself up with a sustainable budget so you don't have to try to reach for enough to eat.

Categories