calorie confusion

treesjg
treesjg Posts: 7
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi could anyone offer some advice please.?

I am trying to eat back calories im burning at the gym, but, The calorie counter on here says i have burned for instance 200 calories, yet the machine says I've burned 90?

what shall i go with, I know that eating back calories is important but i dont want to eat back more than I have burned.

would a fitbit or other calorie counting device just add to the confusion? :huh:

so confused!!

Thanks in advance. x

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    well the machine was there and the web site wasn't so I would be more inclined to believe the machine - especially as eating too much may reduce your progress.

    Heart rate monitors are best for cardio exercise calories
  • ctinawilson
    ctinawilson Posts: 127 Member
    Hello!

    Both the calorie counter on MFP and the machine at the gym have estimated your burn - neither will be spot on. Even a HRM (unless you invest in a VERY advanced one) estimates your calorie burn to a certain extent based on the info you give it - height, weight, gender.

    But this game is all about guesswork - the calories you eat and log are estimates as well as the exercise. Plus machines and MFP both tend to over estimate exercise calories burned.

    If the exercise you're logging is something you do very regularly, I'd suggest logging somewhere in the middle, maybe 150 calories? Then you can watch your progress over the next month or so, and if eating back 150 calories is working for you, i.e you're losing weight (if that's your goal) then the estimate works.

    I tend to log calories burned slightly lower than MFP tells me, but if i'm still hungry after eating back my calories, I eat! Have to fuel that body!

    Hope this helps, think the most important thing to remember is its all about estimates and guesswork, so find what suits you and go from there.

    :flowerforyou:
  • cdjs77
    cdjs77 Posts: 176 Member
    The amount of calories burned depends on the effort exerted. Both MFP and the machine are estimates, however, the machine is more likely to have an accurate estimate of the effort you exerted. For example, MFP only has one input for the elliptical, but the amount of calories you burn on the elliptical can vary drastically depending on how fast you "pedal" and what level of resistance you are on. So, in such a case, it is unlikely MFP will accurately predict your calories burned, since it doesn't take into account your effort and difficulty level.
  • treesjg
    treesjg Posts: 7
    HI thankyou for replying.

    I will go with the machines amount. after reading all you comments.

    Thankyou. x
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Use whichever one gives you the least and then only eat back 50%. If you had a HRM I'd put more stock in the numbers since it would at least know how much effort you were exerting.

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