to say ...inaccurate calorie and exercise counts.....
vkk123
Posts: 6 Member
I have friends on here and i will read their diary and want to scream. A pat of butter has more than 20 calories. No walking for 45 minutes does not burn 600 calories.........should i say something or just let them sit back and wonder why they aren't losing anything? Also they will change their calorie goal everyday to look like they are under calories.
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Replies
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I have a tendency to trim my friends list when I see things like that...I don't think you should say anything, or rather I am personally not comfortable, confronting them. They don't motivate me and they are only cheating themselves when they cheat the system.0
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I would let it go. It is not your problem and if they bs themselves than it is them who are paying for it! If they complain that they do not lose weight, then it might be the right time to rub it in.
I personally never look at other peoples' diaries as I would have to look at quite a lot of days to get a better idea of their life style. At the end of the day we all have our own life styles and forms of dieting, so it does not help me much to look at somebody else's foods.
Stef.0 -
You should tell them nicely. Perhaps wait for the next time they add that "pat" and when they offer you some, mention something like " No thank you, I'm close to my goal already and can't afford another 200." If they say they went for a 45 minute walk say something like way to go, 130 calories torched. It's a sensitive subject, but if the lack of weight loss is affecting his or her morale and motivation to be healthy, then it could be worth slipping in.0
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Yeah, I only check out other folks' diaries when they ask me to and when I wanna see the macro distribution for someone really successful or someone with a similar body type to mine. You can't run yourself ragged trying to save everyone, you know? Most of us have been fooling ourselves for years to get to where we are/were, and sometimes people just aren't ready to stop, I guess.0
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I have friends on here and i will read their diary and want to scream. A pat of butter has more than 20 calories. No walking for 45 minutes does not burn 600 calories.........should i say something or just let them sit back and wonder why they aren't losing anything? Also they will change their calorie goal everyday to look like they are under calories.
Have you ever thought instead about educating them? Ask them if they weighed their butter maybe? Or yes a 300 pound person can burn 600 calories walking for 45 minutes. Are they using a hrm or mfp? MFP is very wrong in estimating burns, are your friends aware of that? And as you add in exercise calories your daily allowance automatically changes, that's how MFP is designed so that is why you eat your exercise calories back.
I know I ask questions before I tend to judge. I also know I can burn 600 calories running 4mph for 60 minutes so why is 600 calories walking so far off? And I use a heart rate monitor so I can say it's pretty accurate.0 -
Yeah, I only check out other folks' diaries when they ask me to and when I wanna see the macro distribution for someone really successful or someone with a similar body type to mine. You can't run yourself ragged trying to save everyone, you know? Most of us have been fooling ourselves for years to get to where we are/were, and sometimes people just aren't ready to stop, I guess.
This.0 -
Good rule of thumb: If a person is not asking for input or advice on their diary, you should probably not give it.
MFP doesn't display current weight unless you set your ticker to show it. Without knowing the height and weight of a person, it is impossible to say whether their 45 minute walk burned 600 calories or not.
I've had people give me a hard time about my burns, even when I use a calorimeter to track them. Why? Because I regularly register burns of over 1000 calories for an hour's worth of aerobic exercise. They can't conceive of the possibility that it's even possible, let alone that my sedentary TDEE average was/is over 3400 calories. It boils down to a general lack of understanding when it comes to bigger people and their burns.
A standard pat of butter is 36 calories. However, a small pat of butter can very well be 20 calories. Sometimes people amend their entries so that it's only counting .66 of one unit, or they are electing a selection that better matches what they actually ate. Without knowing the details, it's impossible to say.
People use the logs here for all sorts of reasons. I know many who don't count any of the exercise calories, so it really doesn't matter whether it says 50 or 1000, they aren't eating them back. Same with food... some people are just writing down the food, but not concentrating on the calories so much as building a logging habit. If inaccuracy bothers you, it's your prerogative to delete them, but there's no rule that requires diary accuracy.
Basically, do it at your own risk, I guess.
Editing to add that if you're paying such close attention to a particular person that you can see with relative certainty that they are actually manually changing their calorie goals, I think it's time to back off and move on. However, getting under goal can be due to exercise and things as well... and frankly, if a person wants to see if today's calories would fit under a .5lb/week loss as opposed to their 1lb/week loss original goal, who cares?0 -
Good rule of thumb: If a person is not asking for input or advice on their diary, you should probably not give it.
MFP doesn't display current weight unless you set your ticker to show it. Without knowing the height and weight of a person, it is impossible to say whether their 45 minute walk burned 600 calories or not.
I've had people give me a hard time about my burns, even when I use a calorimeter to track them. Why? Because I regularly register burns of over 1000 calories for an hour's worth of aerobic exercise. They can't conceive of the possibility that it's even possible, let alone that my sedentary TDEE average was/is over 3400 calories. It boils down to a general lack of understanding when it comes to bigger people and their burns.
A standard pat of butter is 36 calories. However, a small pat of butter can very well be 20 calories. Sometimes people amend their entries so that it's only counting .66 of one unit, or they are electing a selection that better matches what they actually ate. Without knowing the details, it's impossible to say.
People use the logs here for all sorts of reasons. I know many who don't count any of the exercise calories, so it really doesn't matter whether it says 50 or 1000, they aren't eating them back. Same with food... some people are just writing down the food, but not concentrating on the calories so much as building a logging habit. If inaccuracy bothers you, it's your prerogative to delete them, but there's no rule that requires diary accuracy.
Basically, do it at your own risk, I guess.
Editing to add that if you're paying such close attention to a particular person that you can see with relative certainty that they are actually manually changing their calorie goals, I think it's time to back off and move on. However, getting under goal can be due to exercise and things as well... and frankly, if a person wants to see if today's calories would fit under a .5lb/week loss as opposed to their 1lb/week loss original goal, who cares?
^^^ all of this
the heavier you are the higher the calorie burn when you exercise
is a "pat" of butter a standard unit? I've never heard of it before. But 20 cals for a small amount of butter, e.g. to spread on a slice of bread, does not sound unreasonable.
That said, I do recommend people to be aware that it's easy to overestimate calorie burns, and if you're not weighing your food you could be underestimating or overestimating your intake by quite a lot. But I can't just look at someone's diary and tell if that's going on.... if they ask for advice because they're not losing weight, then that's the time you need to ask them if they're weighing their food or using cups (less accurate) or even just guessing, and also to ask them how they calculate their calorie burns. OP... there's your answer. Don't say anything unless/until they ask what they're doing wrong and why they're not losing, and bear in mind that they might actually be doing everything right and losing successfully, but their diary doesn't look like what you think it should look like.0 -
I think they know they are cheating....should i say something or just let them sit back and wonder why they aren't losing anything? Also they will change their calorie goal everyday to look like they are under calories.0 -
are they asking you to look at their food diaries????
I would never comment on a diary unless a person had asked me too or posted on the forums...
I leave mine open and tell people to feel free to look at it whenever they want...and if they are curious they can look at mine for meal ideas, see how I log, what entries I use...
@neander a pat of butter is about 10g (give or take) a lot of butter sold in the US is in a small long rectangle and if you slice of a part of that it's called "a pat"...which is about 72 calories
ETA: I will however comment on their feed if I see that they are logging cleaning etc...but usually just along the lines of "not sure exercise should count"0 -
I have friends on here and i will read their diary and want to scream. A pat of butter has more than 20 calories. No walking for 45 minutes does not burn 600 calories.........should i say something or just let them sit back and wonder why they aren't losing anything? Also they will change their calorie goal everyday to look like they are under calories.
i have a couple of pals like that... i have commented to say that they should weigh everything on scales to be more accurate, but i cant make them do it.
i also love looking in diaries when its obvious they have found the lowest calorie version of something in the database to make it fit their calories... they're only fooling themselves though, so i try not ot let it bother me!0 -
Actually depending on their weight it could. If it's works for them and they're happy. Why not concentrate on what your doing and if their calorie counts bother you that much remove them off your friends listNo walking for 45 minutes does not burn 600 calories.........0 -
I have friends on here and i will read their diary and want to scream. A pat of butter has more than 20 calories. No walking for 45 minutes does not burn 600 calories.........should i say something or just let them sit back and wonder why they aren't losing anything? Also they will change their calorie goal everyday to look like they are under calories.
Have you ever thought instead about educating them? Ask them if they weighed their butter maybe? Or yes a 300 pound person can burn 600 calories walking for 45 minutes. Are they using a hrm or mfp? MFP is very wrong in estimating burns, are your friends aware of that? And as you add in exercise calories your daily allowance automatically changes, that's how MFP is designed so that is why you eat your exercise calories back.
I know I ask questions before I tend to judge. I also know I can burn 600 calories running 4mph for 60 minutes so why is 600 calories walking so far off? And I use a heart rate monitor so I can say it's pretty accurate.
^^^ this!!0 -
Good rule of thumb: If a person is not asking for input or advice on their diary, you should probably not give it.
MFP doesn't display current weight unless you set your ticker to show it. Without knowing the height and weight of a person, it is impossible to say whether their 45 minute walk burned 600 calories or not.
I've had people give me a hard time about my burns, even when I use a calorimeter to track them. Why? Because I regularly register burns of over 1000 calories for an hour's worth of aerobic exercise. They can't conceive of the possibility that it's even possible, let alone that my sedentary TDEE average was/is over 3400 calories. It boils down to a general lack of understanding when it comes to bigger people and their burns.
A standard pat of butter is 36 calories. However, a small pat of butter can very well be 20 calories. Sometimes people amend their entries so that it's only counting .66 of one unit, or they are electing a selection that better matches what they actually ate. Without knowing the details, it's impossible to say.
People use the logs here for all sorts of reasons. I know many who don't count any of the exercise calories, so it really doesn't matter whether it says 50 or 1000, they aren't eating them back. Same with food... some people are just writing down the food, but not concentrating on the calories so much as building a logging habit. If inaccuracy bothers you, it's your prerogative to delete them, but there's no rule that requires diary accuracy.
Basically, do it at your own risk, I guess.
Editing to add that if you're paying such close attention to a particular person that you can see with relative certainty that they are actually manually changing their calorie goals, I think it's time to back off and move on. However, getting under goal can be due to exercise and things as well... and frankly, if a person wants to see if today's calories would fit under a .5lb/week loss as opposed to their 1lb/week loss original goal, who cares?0 -
Are you sure you are right? For example, maybe their pat of butter is tiny compared to what you would use, same as e.g. my portions of cereal which is on average 20 grams, will be much lower in calories than someone who considers a cup a portion and so on.
For exercises, a lot depends on the person. A 50 kilos person walking at a leisurly pace for an hour might burn just 100 calories, a 150 kilos person walking really fast could burn 500 calories in the same time (totally made up numbers, as examples). Do you have reason to doubt the exercise input is wrong?0 -
I have friends on here and i will read their diary and want to scream. A pat of butter has more than 20 calories. No walking for 45 minutes does not burn 600 calories.........should i say something or just let them sit back and wonder why they aren't losing anything? Also they will change their calorie goal everyday to look like they are under calories.
Have you ever thought instead about educating them? Ask them if they weighed their butter maybe? Or yes a 300 pound person can burn 600 calories walking for 45 minutes. Are they using a hrm or mfp? MFP is very wrong in estimating burns, are your friends aware of that? And as you add in exercise calories your daily allowance automatically changes, that's how MFP is designed so that is why you eat your exercise calories back.
I know I ask questions before I tend to judge. I also know I can burn 600 calories running 4mph for 60 minutes so why is 600 calories walking so far off? And I use a heart rate monitor so I can say it's pretty accurate.
^^^ this!!0 -
Say something! Try and be polite but don't hold back. By them miscalculating their food and exercise they are hurting themselves and will only end up being disappointed when they are on the scales. Think of it as you doing them a favour!0
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i've just burned 479 cals doing an 80 minute walk, do i think this is accurate, NO, but that is what mfp (via endomondo app) says i have burned. i don't actually take much notice of the calories i earn everyday from walking as this is normal for me, i have to do 3 school runs per day, 5 days a week, and regularly have well over 1000 calories just from walking, i log them more to clock the minutes i've spent doing the walking as it's already built into my calorie goal
i also only accurately log my food twice a week, some days i don't even finish logging all my food, why? because i'm attempting to move into life without logging preparing for maintaining my weight loss, if i start putting weight on or my weight loss stalls i will go back to logging
there are a variety of reasons why people may use there dairies differently to what you yourself are doing, don't instantly jump to the conclusion that they are cheating, and if they are in fact cheating they are only cheating themselves, unless they've asked specifically for your advice leave them to it, if it really is annoying you then delete them0 -
I tend to mind my own business unless someone is asking for help or wondering why they're not losing. Most of the time the kind of people that do these things are on low calories, so they just end up eating at a reasonable deficit somehow.
However, I'd be happy if someone told me "hey, you're doing it wrong".0 -
This is why I keep my diary closed. I have used my diary in many ways--I've been a meticulous calorie counter, I've used MFP settings, I've changed calories and macros, I had a stomach bug and ate less than 500 calories a day for a few days, I've logged days where more than half of my calories consumed were cocktails.
I'm not doing it wrong because I'm happy with my progress. If somebody decided to tell me I was doing it wrong?
One vote for keeping your expertise to yourself until you're asked.0 -
That depends on your relationship with the fiend I think. If they are a new person and have an open mind and are trying to learn then be nice and give them some tips. If they are an older person that you talk to alot then also bring it up. If they are close minded and going to take offense then ignore it. I would also de-friend them personally because I would consider them dead weight at that point, but that is just me.0
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Same thing here! I want to say something so badly but don't. I'm like No, Cleaning for 20 minutes, moderate effort does not equal 350 calories! LOL Then I know they're putting that in just so they can eat an extra 350 calories today, which makes them go way over since the overestimates exercise calories and underestimated food calories. Then I feel bad when I lost 6-8 pounds last month and they lost 2 and don't know why. I don't wanna be the person that tells them and they get mad or label me as a "know it all"0
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If they aren't a real life friend and you use other peoples' diaries to inspire your own eating habits, cut them. No one says you have to stay friends with people on MFP.
Don't offer unsolicited advice about anyone's diary ever.
Sometimes it's not clear why people do certain things in their diaries. I am friends on MFP with one girl who only logs 1 calorie for every workout, no matter how intense, because she doesn't eat back her exercise calories and has them built in already.
Also- as far as a pat of butter. . . I have added 20 calories worth of fake butter to things. And I do adjust my calories regularly (though always down).0 -
I have a tendency to trim my friends list when I see things like that...I don't think you should say anything, or rather I am personally not comfortable, confronting them. They don't motivate me and they are only cheating themselves when they cheat the system.
This exactly. The minute I see someone log 500 calories for cleaning or preparing dinner, I'm out.0 -
It's really none of your business unless they ask you for advice/opinion.0
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I have a tendency to trim my friends list when I see things like that...I don't think you should say anything, or rather I am personally not comfortable, confronting them. They don't motivate me and they are only cheating themselves when they cheat the system.
This exactly. The minute I see someone log 500 calories for cleaning or preparing dinner, I'm out.
See I would take offence to this. Off Topic I know. I spend 1 day a week cleaning a 3000 sq ft house. When I had a fitbit it would give me an extra 400-500 calories on that day because I was a lot more active. I don't have a fitbit anymore but I still add that in as a "workout" since that is a once a week thing for 4-5 hours of my day. So for some people that is extra activity not part of a daily schedual so it is kind of like a workout.
As for OP I would just not even bother. I tried a few times to be helpful and it wasn't taken well at all by the other user. Typically I would just say things like, do you use a HRM? because MFP overestimates and they would get offended when I saw 1000+ calories burned.
Also calories burned varies person to person depending on weight and intensity. So it is hard to say how many the other person really is burning.
Like many have said each persons serving is different so where I might use 1/4 tbsp of butter 25 cal vs 1 tbsp is 100 calories in my cooking I messure this out and weigh is so I know what I am doing but would be annoyed at someone questioning my calories in my diary.0 -
I agree that you don't necessarily know. And some things have words after in the food database that don't change when you change the weight, so say the butter, if they had 10g butter (1 pat), and they weighed out 2g, so said they has 0.2 of the serving, it would still say 2 g butter (1 pat), I've had this happen with things a few times.
Also, burns vary a lot with weight, their burns won't be the same as yours.
Also, are they consistently losing weight at a sensible rate. I've had a few people say to me, with the best intentions, that my burns sound high and MFP overestimates, but I've been consistently losing 1-2lb a week, pretty spot on compared to my numbers, so right now a heart rate monitor, whilst more accurate, doesn't seem like a necessary expense, but I will continue to track my exercise and eat back some or sometimes even all, of the calories while it works.0 -
If they didn't ask for your advice or opinion, then mind your own business...
Delete them if you can't keep it to yourself.0 -
It feels like you are making a number of assumptions. I burned 400 calories in 38 minutes last night (jogging and boxing). I burn over 3000 when I hit 7,000 steps per day. I'm sure people would question some of my food choices or accuse me of inaccurate logging because I have homemade recipes (my own homemade recipes) entered. Whatever.
If they ask why they aren't losing, then feel free to respond that after taking a look at their diary/exercise log, you think that maybe this is a problem - how certain are they of their burns? are they weighing their food?
I do not weight my food (only measure) because weighing takes me to a mental space that is very unhealthy for me, given my past history and obsessive personality. But hot diggity, even without that, I am currently losing 1.5 - 2 lbs per week.0 -
3000 calories burned when you walk 7000 steps? That's 3 1/2 miles.....0
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