Overestimating calories burned and weight loss
alereck
Posts: 343 Member
I will start by saying I am no expert but I have noticed that most people using this website seem to be grossly overestimating the calories they burn when exercising. I am not sure how people calculate the calories they burn or how accurate HRMs are but burning 1,000 calories is very hard.
I have participated in gym programs where they claim you will burn an average of 1,000 calorie per workout (they will offer these after the holidays to burn all the food we inhaled) and these are excruciating nonstop circuits that work your whole body with a mixture of cardio/plyo/strength… I find it very hard to believe that people are working out this intensely every day of the week.
I have seen logs that will relate a higher than 1,000 calories burn with walking and Zumba. I do not care how long and fast you walk or how many Zumba classes you do, you are not burning 1,000 calories on those alone.
I am not writing this to judge. Everyone here has similar goals of being healthier and the posts contain a lot of good information for those who seek it. I am hoping those who have more concrete information can either agree or disagree with me so that no one ends up harming their progress because they are making mistakes.
Think about it, if you estimate you burned 1,000 calories but you actually burned 200, then you would be overeating by 800. Most people trying to lose weight will eat at a deficit of 500 that means you are eating to gain weight, 300 more calories a day then you actually burned. Then if you tell yourself you don’t eat back all the calories you burn then you are just screwing up the math and counting calories do not work anymore.
Some of those logging this kind of numbers are the same ones posting comments about how they are struggling to lose weight. I wanted to throw this out there and have people talk about it to make sure it is not stopping those trying to lose weight from achieving their goals.
I have participated in gym programs where they claim you will burn an average of 1,000 calorie per workout (they will offer these after the holidays to burn all the food we inhaled) and these are excruciating nonstop circuits that work your whole body with a mixture of cardio/plyo/strength… I find it very hard to believe that people are working out this intensely every day of the week.
I have seen logs that will relate a higher than 1,000 calories burn with walking and Zumba. I do not care how long and fast you walk or how many Zumba classes you do, you are not burning 1,000 calories on those alone.
I am not writing this to judge. Everyone here has similar goals of being healthier and the posts contain a lot of good information for those who seek it. I am hoping those who have more concrete information can either agree or disagree with me so that no one ends up harming their progress because they are making mistakes.
Think about it, if you estimate you burned 1,000 calories but you actually burned 200, then you would be overeating by 800. Most people trying to lose weight will eat at a deficit of 500 that means you are eating to gain weight, 300 more calories a day then you actually burned. Then if you tell yourself you don’t eat back all the calories you burn then you are just screwing up the math and counting calories do not work anymore.
Some of those logging this kind of numbers are the same ones posting comments about how they are struggling to lose weight. I wanted to throw this out there and have people talk about it to make sure it is not stopping those trying to lose weight from achieving their goals.
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If you were referring to my Zumba and walking I posted today, I mentioned in the comments that it was wrong. I had added "dancing" instead of Zumba, before I knew Zumba was listed in the exercise list. When I deleted dancing and added Zumba, it added up all my calories from BOTH instead of deleting the first entry. I burned around 550 in Zumba, and 60 in walking.0
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No, I was not. I have noticed this for quite a while on a lot of posts. I was not referring to anyone in particular, if it was intended to a person in particular I would have sent a private message.
This website can be very helpful when used correctly, I'm just trying to help those who are serious about calorie counting and it can be very frustating when you think you are doing things well and you are dieting but not seeing results.0 -
Do you think the sites estimates in general are accurate? On Friday I went for a 3.5 hour (22.9 miles) bike ride. The tracking app I use said I burned 1,230 calories. Using the amount of time the app said I was actually moving and the average speed, I entered it in the exercise diary here as "Bicycling, <10 mph, leisure (cycling, biking, bike riding) for 210 minutes" and the site said I burned 1,130 calories.
I know it was a long ride, but both those numbers seem a bit high to me...0 -
I did Banish Fat Boost Metabolism and No more Trouble Zones (each are 55 minutes) by Jillian Michaels yesterday, plus random bursts of burpees throughout the day. I cut out the warm up and cool down times and it calculated a burn of over 700 cals. They are pretty intense and one has a lot of plyo moves. Still, 700 cals seems like a lot - and I ate them back 'cause I've got the PMS hunger demon on my back.
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you worry about you, i will worry about me.0
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I personally have to run 10 miles to burn 1,000 calories, but I don't weigh a lot and my body is efficient. People with greater mass will burn more calories. But I do agree that people sometimes overestimate. I saw someone here the other day who was claiming an 800 calorie burn for a 30 minute walk. That's insane!0
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That's why its best to invest in an HRM for a more accurate burn calculation.
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I walk a lot every day. I do 10 30 minute walks @ 2.5 mph and the log says I burn a lot. Is it wrong. The log I'm talking about is the one you use to log your exercises.0
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Most people know, mfp database overestimates calorie burns.eg,i am on arrhythmia prophylaxis medication that doesnot allow ,y heartrate go beyond 90. So HRM s won't really be effective for me.i eat TDEE -20 % which is 1225 for me(yep, me a small asian woman).so it does not matter if i burn 1 or 500!
It is not all size fits one,people adjust and experiment before they can find what works for them.
P.s. if you have query about people in your friendlist ,p.m. them.friends,in real life or on line ...are to be treasured,just saying seeing the immediate response to your thread.good luck and take care0 -
Do you think the sites estimates in general are accurate? On Friday I went for a 3.5 hour (22.9 miles) bike ride. The tracking app I use said I burned 1,230 calories. Using the amount of time the app said I was actually moving and the average speed, I entered it in the exercise diary here as "Bicycling, <10 mph, leisure (cycling, biking, bike riding) for 210 minutes" and the site said I burned 1,130 calories.
I know it was a long ride, but both those numbers seem a bit high to me...
The longer the ride and the more accurate the average speed, the more accurate the math.
And that is exactly how the database entries are right on for exercise that has an intensity to it - pace, speed, ect.
And like you were - honest with the actual time and speed.0 -
I personally have to run 10 miles to burn 1,000 calories, but I don't weigh a lot and my body is efficient. People with greater mass will burn more calories. But I do agree that people sometimes overestimate. I saw someone here the other day who was claiming an 800 calorie burn for a 30 minute walk. That's insane!
Sadly there are many database entries for walking (or were a month ago) that have incomplete descriptions, the words are cut off.
And those are totally screwed up, some massive, some actually way too little.
The other entries are correct where the words are complete to the end of the description.0 -
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I walk a lot every day. I do 10 30 minute walks @ 2.5 mph and the log says I burn a lot. Is it wrong. The log I'm talking about is the one you use to log your exercises.
This is within 4% of measured in lab, so much better than the 14-35% off a HRM can be.
How does this compare? And yes, HRM, database, treadmill - all would report that gross option. Net is what you'd eat back.
http://www.exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs.html
And walking alot of time and slow is exactly where that difference of gross and net will get you badly.0 -
One of my yoga instructor constantly reiterates that we burn 2,000 calories in a one hour class. I love the guy, but it wish he would STFU. no one burns 2,000 calories in a one hour yoga class. NO ONE IN THE HISTORY IF THE WORKD NO MATTER HOW HARD IT IS. But, this kind of stupid crap is what makes some people believe it.
Wow, is he fighting with the spin instructor for getting people in the class by claiming high amount?
Think a student reported a high HRM burn because of a hot yoga class and heat elevated HR, and he jumped on it?0 -
Mid-aerobic HR zone (152) for 60 min is 1000 cal burn for me biking or running. And that's an easy cardio workout, can do that for up to 4 hrs biking, 3 running.
That is based on lab VO2max test and the data points, not a HRM calculations.0 -
I'm one of the people that post over 1k cals burned through Zumba. I wear a HRM with a chest strap and that's where I get my number from.0
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I've had a day or two with exercise over 1000 calories. I set my activity level to sedentary and my FitBit adjusts it accordingly. So, yes, my burns are often over 600 a day from walking but that's also just partially adjusting to higher activity level.
I don't think it's fair to condemn everyone without knowing their situation. Different bodies burn things differently and different classes/programs/routines can be more or less intensive than the label reveals, imho.0 -
There are a few cases where this simply may be true like in my case. You are forgetting that there are people of different sizes here. For someone just shy of 250 pounds it's not hard to burn close to 1000 calories in 90 minutes of just walking (through MFP does not agree with my HRM and says I burn 800, which is the number I use). Imagine a very brisk walk, while carrying at least a 100 pounds and I guarantee you will have that kind of burn.
But you are right, many do over-estimate, not to mention forget to subtract the calories they burn just sitting for the same period of time.0 -
MFP thinks that if i golf for 4 hours (riding in a golf cart) I burn 1200+ calories. I take every estimate with a grain of salt and if i create my own workout and shoot for a very low number and dont even think about eating it all back. I agree that the overestimating is counter productive to the folks who think cleaning for 45 mins burns 700 calories.0
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He says he sometimes wears one when he takes a peers class.
He doesn't understand at all how HRMs work. It's sad because he's giving really poor information to his students.
I may anonymously report it, along with some links to how HRMs work.
Can you post the links anyway? I've always wondered if my HRM was lying to me.0 -
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I've managed to hit that magic 1,000 calorie burn in one hour TWICE this year.....Insanity MAX Cardio, and Insanity Asylum Gameday. Let me tell you, I had to WORK WORK WORK for that number.
Now when I run, that's another story. I run 8 miles, I burn 1,000 calories in 75 minutes....when I ran my marathon, I burned like 3,000 calories LOL0 -
Can you post the links anyway? I've always wondered if my HRM was lying to me.
You can also test it.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/774337-how-to-test-hrm-for-how-accurate-calorie-burn-is0 -
My first (mean thought) is MYOB. I've removed my calorie burn updates from my feed because I don't want people judging. I burn a lot of calories because I am a gym rat and I workout hard. My figures are deliberate underestimates and I usually log 500-700 for a gym session. I've had the odd 1000kcal, andeven a 1300kcal for a half marathon (my estimates). I'm 5'9 and currently about 160lb. Trying to get back to my happy weight of between 150-155lb.
I don't trust HRMs either, as there are many reasons for heart rate fluctuations that do not coincide with exercise. They'd be hopeless for HIIT cardio and strength training.
I do a fairly stereotyped set of exercises and I've calculated my average calorie burn per minute, erring on the low side to cover for the fact that I usually underestimate my food intake (peanut butter!!!) for the day. Then I enter a time in the MFP database that roughly corresponds to the calorie burn for the day and leave it at that.
Some days I can tell that they are underestimates from my perceived effort and post-workout hunger; but over the course of 2 years or so the figures seem to be right.0 -
There are a few cases where this simply may be true like in my case. You are forgetting that there are people of different sizes here. For someone just shy of 250 pounds it's not hard to burn close to 1000 calories in 90 minutes of just walking (through MFP does not agree with my HRM and says I burn 800, which is the number I use). Imagine a very brisk walk, while carrying at least a 100 pounds and I guarantee you will have that kind of burn.
Forgive me, but that ain't necessarily so. I weigh 245 pounds and I walk a lot, tracking with the distance/time with Endomondo and calories with an HRM. I burn around 200 calories an hour walking over uneven 'field' terrain. Even on a cross-country setting on an elliptical my HRM is only reporting a 400 calorie burn over an hour. However if I do something I'm not conditioned to doing - heavy circuits or something - then the calorie burn shoots up because my heart-rate's right up and I'm sweating like a P.I.G.
I did a bootcamp just over a week ago and they were reckoning that, *on average*, we'd be burning 2,000 calories through exercise a day. That was 7-8 HOURS of exercise - some high intensity (kick boxing, circuits, running) and some lower (kettles, Yoga, aqua aerobics.)0 -
I swim 60-70 minutes continuously x 6 times a week. I consider it light intensity - mainly cause no one could swim hard for that long.
The MFP says around 700 -750 cals.
I don't eat them back most of thie time, sometimes I eat some if I'm hungry.
Its boosted my weightloss upwards, I'm a 55 year old woman and need all the help I can to lose.
Your body tells you what you are doing. If I ate them all back I wouldn't lose weight I am sure.
If I don't eat some of them back some of the time I want to bust out and eat.
Its most important to listen to our bodies. My body today told me I was pushing hard today. I need my rest day tomorrow.
Numbers are all well and good but listening to my body is what really helps me.0 -
aw man. is that Cidney?One of my yoga instructor constantly reiterates that we burn 2,000 calories in a one hour class. I love the guy, but it wish he would STFU. no one burns 2,000 calories in a one hour yoga class. NO ONE IN THE HISTORY IF THE WORKD NO MATTER HOW HARD IT IS. But, this kind of stupid crap is what makes some people believe it.0 -
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There are a few cases where this simply may be true like in my case. You are forgetting that there are people of different sizes here. For someone just shy of 250 pounds it's not hard to burn close to 1000 calories in 90 minutes of just walking (through MFP does not agree with my HRM and says I burn 800, which is the number I use). Imagine a very brisk walk, while carrying at least a 100 pounds and I guarantee you will have that kind of burn.
Forgive me, but that ain't necessarily so. I weigh 245 pounds and I walk a lot, tracking with the distance/time with Endomondo and calories with an HRM. I burn around 200 calories an hour walking over uneven 'field' terrain. Even on a cross-country setting on an elliptical my HRM is only reporting a 400 calorie burn over an hour. However if I do something I'm not conditioned to doing - heavy circuits or something - then the calorie burn shoots up because my heart-rate's right up and I'm sweating like a P.I.G.
I did a bootcamp just over a week ago and they were reckoning that, *on average*, we'd be burning 2,000 calories through exercise a day. That was 7-8 HOURS of exercise - some high intensity (kick boxing, circuits, running) and some lower (kettles, Yoga, aqua aerobics.)
You may be exceptionally fit. On a brisk walk (measured an average speed of 4.1 mph) my average heart rate hovers around 16x - my resting heart rate is 57, just so you know how much effort it takes. On the calculator listed by heybales I clock close to 900, so somewhere in between my heart rate monitor and MFP. Mind you I was talking about GROSS numbers. My net numbers on that calculator is around 700.0
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