When Logging Exercise...

x_Samtastic
x_Samtastic Posts: 16 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Just curious as to how many of you enter in the net calories burned from exercise rather than the gross calories burned?
:)

-Samantha

Replies

  • hkristine1
    hkristine1 Posts: 950 Member
    Sorry if I'm an idiot, but I don't understand the question... I don't know what gross calories burned v. net calories burned are from exercise...

    I understand the difference between net/gross, as in my paycheck - but how does that apply to calories?
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    I don't understand your question either. I just enter my exercises and eat a portion to all my exercise calories back.

    Can you please explain what you mean?
  • snappingosprey
    snappingosprey Posts: 28 Member
    Sorry if I'm an idiot, but I don't understand the question... I don't know what gross calories burned v. net calories burned are from exercise...

    I understand the difference between net/gross, as in my paycheck - but how does that apply to calories?

    Gross calories burned are those calories burned to complete the physical activity plus the calories used during the activity to keep your body working. These are calories your body would have burned anyway without any physical activity

    Net calories are those calories burned to perform the activity only

    Here's a nice article summarizing the difference between gross and net calories:
    http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/articles/net-versus-gross-calorie-burn.aspx
  • raindawg
    raindawg Posts: 348 Member
    I didn't understand the question either so thanks for the explanation, that makes sense. I record net exercise calories only. Oops, just read the article. I record gross. Pretty much whatever the machine said I burned.
  • snappingosprey
    snappingosprey Posts: 28 Member
    I just enter the gross calorie burn (the number my HRM says or the number that shows up on the treadmill).

    If I were really picky, I would calculate my net calorie burn, but as long as I'm losing weight I'm happy :)
  • hkristine1
    hkristine1 Posts: 950 Member
    Sorry if I'm an idiot, but I don't understand the question... I don't know what gross calories burned v. net calories burned are from exercise...

    I understand the difference between net/gross, as in my paycheck - but how does that apply to calories?

    Gross calories burned are those calories burned to complete the physical activity plus the calories used during the activity to keep your body working. These are calories your body would have burned anyway without any physical activity

    Net calories are those calories burned to perform the activity only

    Here's a nice article summarizing the difference between gross and net calories:
    http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/articles/net-versus-gross-calorie-burn.aspx

    That was helpful. I just log the amount of calories that the websites tell me I've burned (I don't have a HRM so I usually just check what MapMyRun and MFP tell me and then take an average of the two and use that number), but I don't eat all of them back - I try to eat about half of my exercise calories back so that even if my estimated calories burned is off - either too high or too low, I'm likely neither eating too few or too many to stay at a decent caloric intake.
  • snappingosprey
    snappingosprey Posts: 28 Member
    I actually had this conversation with a friend/co-worker of mine the other day (also a MFP member). I was trying to figure out whether the numbers MFP, gym equipment, etc gives us is really the best.

    I figured, though, that I do a lot of other things during the day that I don't calculate or enter into my diary (walking around, talking, climbing stairs, etc) and that the gross numbers I do enter probably account for some of those other burned calories or at least come very close. If you are losing weight than I don't think its an issue to worry about (net vs gross).

    It may become more important, though, as you become more lean and the weight doesn't come off as fast. But I'm really not anywhere near that point yet lol
  • davidrip1
    davidrip1 Posts: 70 Member
    Those that enter gross calories instead of net are only fooling them selves. They enter their activity level and then add part of it back into their exercise calories and wonder why they are not losing/
  • x_Samtastic
    x_Samtastic Posts: 16 Member
    Yeah! I was just curious as to how many people go the extra step to calculate and log the net vs gross, I recently discovered the difference between the two and didn't know if the general majority of MFP users entered the net number instead of their gross calories burned, as I see many people commenting on how the estimates MFP calculates out are already pretty high lol :)
  • hkristine1
    hkristine1 Posts: 950 Member
    I actually had this conversation with a friend/co-worker of mine the other day (also a MFP member). I was trying to figure out whether the numbers MFP, gym equipment, etc gives us is really the best.

    I figured, though, that I do a lot of other things during the day that I don't calculate or enter into my diary (walking around, talking, climbing stairs, etc) and that the gross numbers I do enter probably account for some of those other burned calories or at least come very close. If you are losing weight than I don't think its an issue to worry about (net vs gross).

    It may become more important, though, as you become more lean and the weight doesn't come off as fast. But I'm really not anywhere near that point yet lol

    I hear ya - I don't log any strength training calories burned - only log cardio... so for instance, I did 110 squats tonight + a 10 minute arm workout video... no idea how many calories that burns (probably not very many even though it makes me sweat and kicks my bootie). I don't log it. some days, I'm a little over calories, some days under - some days I don't work as hard in spin class, some days I work harder, but I generally log the same number of calories for the workout... it will all work out in the wash, so long as I'm continuing to lose weight.
  • hkristine1
    hkristine1 Posts: 950 Member
    Those that enter gross calories instead of net are only fooling them selves. They enter their activity level and then add part of it back into their exercise calories and wonder why they are not losing/

    If they're only adding part of it back, wouldn't that end up the same as if they added all of their net calories back? For instance, if I log a 1 hr workout at 500 gross calories, but eat back 250 calories... that's "better" than if I log my net calories (which according to the website the guy posted above would be my 500 total calories minus 68 calories/hour for someone of my height/weight), which is 432, and eat all those back.
  • bbh112
    bbh112 Posts: 4
    For this site, your basal metabolic rate is already taken into account when you enter your statistics & goals. In other words, the additional calories your body would have burned in "normal body functions" had you not worked out -- and did burn when you worked out -- is already taken into account. As long as you accurately log your food & drink intake & the net calories you burn during workouts, all calories burned by your body are accounted for.
  • poohbah4
    poohbah4 Posts: 127
    There are so many variables in figuring out calories burned (i.e., your actual BMR, your actual level of effort) that I figure why get picky. As others have said, as long as you're achieving your goals, why get too anal about it.
  • IronSmasher
    IronSmasher Posts: 3,908 Member
    Don't waste time worrying about the small stuff.

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