Calorie Counters on Gym Equipment and MFP

geeberscreepers
geeberscreepers Posts: 19 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This is probably a really stupid question...

The calorie counters on My Fitness Pal and the ones that tick on gym equipment always give me very different numbers for the same activities.

Now I know that calories burned depends on metabolic rate etc, and neither of these figures are taking age, weight into account.

I was just wondering if there is any other system that people use to get a more accurate number?

Thanks in advance if you can help me.

Replies

  • SaraLady89
    SaraLady89 Posts: 32 Member
    I can't really say which is more accurate. When working out at the gym I just try to find that machines that have you type in your age and weight so that they are more accurate...good luck in finding your answer.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    I can't really say which is more accurate. When working out at the gym I just try to find that machines that have you type in your age and weight so that they are more accurate...good luck in finding your answer.

    Calorie burns depend upon height, weight, age, gender, exertion level & more.

    MFP cannot know how hard you are working.....and machines can't know how hard a particular workout is for you. A heart rate monitor with a chest strap attempts to caculate your exertion level by comparing your resting heart rate with heart rate while exercising. HOWEVER, heart rate monitors are designed for steady state cardio.....not strength training.

    So, many users take MFP's guesstimates & lower them (manually).....say 40% lower. After a few weeks if you are feeling run down (you are expected to eat exercise calories back)....you are not logging enough exercise calories. If your weight loss stalls, you may be logging too many calories.

    Others users do not log workouts (individually) instead they use a TDEE calculator....which includes exercise (you promise to do)......and then you take a % away from that number....this method is great because the number is averaged out....you eat the same calories everyday.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
  • geeberscreepers
    geeberscreepers Posts: 19 Member
    I can't really say which is more accurate. When working out at the gym I just try to find that machines that have you type in your age and weight so that they are more accurate...good luck in finding your answer.

    Calorie burns depend upon height, weight, age, gender, exertion level & more.

    MFP cannot know how hard you are working.....and machines can't know how hard a particular workout is for you. A heart rate monitor with a chest strap attempts to caculate your exertion level by comparing your resting heart rate with heart rate while exercising. HOWEVER, heart rate monitors are designed for steady state cardio.....not strength training.

    So, many users take MFP's guesstimates & lower them (manually).....say 40% lower. After a few weeks if you are feeling run down (you are expected to eat exercise calories back)....you are not logging enough exercise calories. If your weight loss stalls, you may be logging too many calories.

    Others users do not log workouts (individually) instead they use a TDEE calculator....which includes exercise (you promise to do)......and then you take a % away from that number....this method is great because the number is averaged out....you eat the same calories everyday.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    OK thank you so much, that was very helpful! Much appreciated.
  • FJDodd
    FJDodd Posts: 140 Member
    Heart Rate Monitors are the most accurate that I have found. MFP is usually 30%+ off of what my HRM tells me.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 8,005 Member
    I use an HRM with a chest strap. People contest whether these are accurate, but they should be more accurate than machines or the MFP database.

    I trust my HRM more, becuase it's estimate is more conservative. My typical workout is 65 minutes on the elliptical, targeting a heart rate of 140-155. I need to sprint for 20 seconds every few minutes to keep my heart rate in that zone. My HRM says I burn 500-550, the machine says around 750, and MFP database says 926.
  • geeberscreepers
    geeberscreepers Posts: 19 Member
    I use an HRM with a chest strap. People contest whether these are accurate, but they should be more accurate than machines or the MFP database.

    I trust my HRM more, becuase it's estimate is more conservative. My typical workout is 65 minutes on the elliptical, targeting a heart rate of 140-155. I need to sprint for 20 seconds every few minutes to keep my heart rate in that zone. My HRM says I burn 500-550, the machine says around 750, and MFP database says 926.

    OK, thank you! That's very helpful.

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