Overestimating calories burned and weight loss

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  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
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    I can run 50 mins & burn 600 cal. I can then do another workout that will burn 400...... how is 1000 calorie burn hard now? I've been doing 600+ burns since day 1
  • courtney123180
    courtney123180 Posts: 86 Member
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    That's why its best to invest in an HRM for a more accurate burn calculation. :)

    does the HRM actually tell you how much you burned, or do you do math or estimate based on where your HR was during the exercise?
  • jmv7117
    jmv7117 Posts: 891 Member
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    The MFP estimation are indeed high, even for a fattie like me, but I want to track the number of minutes I exercise each day, so I log them all and that's it. I never ate back all my exercise calories, I eat probably 20% of the calories "earned" by exercise.

    I would feel really annoyed if someone was judgemental about me and my exercise logging just because MFP is overestimating. To each his own.

    Exactly! This is one reason why many choose to keep their diaries private.
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
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    I guess the accuracy of the burns are irrelevant providing the combined accuracy of your food logging and exercise logging adds up to you losing at the rate you intend to.

    If you set for 1 lb per week eat your calorie goal, burn 1,000 cals per day, don't eat them back and then lose 1 lb per week then sorry something is inaccurate in your logging.

    However, does it really matter as long as you lose at the right rate?

    On the other hand if you are eating those calories or a portion of them and maintaining or gaining consistently when trying to lose then eat less
  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,533 Member
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    Meh. These discussions happen alot.

    I regularly burn an excess of 1,000 calories. Just a quick ride home burned over 1,000 in 48minutes. And the last time I did an indoor "spin class" it was well over 1,000 calories. I wear a HRM with a hard chest strap, I know all my cool #s like VO2max & the resting heart rate, and of course my age factors in.

    It probably would matter way more if I was lifting heavy weights & pushing some serious barbells with discs the size of my legs. Think about those weight lifters who are lifting heavy but get to eat a ton of food and don't have "1,000 calorie burns" logged in.
  • allaboutthecake
    allaboutthecake Posts: 1,533 Member
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    That's why its best to invest in an HRM for a more accurate burn calculation. :)

    does the HRM actually tell you how much you burned, or do you do math or estimate based on where your HR was during the exercise?

    The HRM does all the work for you. I highly recommend it plus the chest strap.:flowerforyou:
  • IllustratedxGirl
    IllustratedxGirl Posts: 240 Member
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    My diary will say I burn over 1,000 calories in a day easily.. but I usually do a bootcamp class over lunch and strength + spin after work. I mix it up a bit, but some configuration of that sort.

    I wear a heart rate monitor and try to make sure I am not over estimating
  • AnneOdland
    AnneOdland Posts: 14 Member
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    Very interesting discussion-- I always wonder about the accuracy of MFP's calorie calculations. For example, it gives me credit for a very high calorie burn for "tennis, singles", but I know for SURE that I work harder during a (for example) Jillian Michaels 55 minute exercise video, so I never give myself credit for singles--- log it in as "doubles" and hope it's closer. I've been doing the Fitness Blender 1000 calorie HIIT workouts and also just tried Christine Salus's 1000 calorie HIIT routine… Giving myself credit for 800 calories, not b/c the routine didn't kick my *kitten* (it DID-- felt like I was going to puke after it was done), but just b/c I don't have any idea how she is calculating the calories, and I think it might be too good to be true. Guess I need to get myself a monitor… anyone have a recommendation as to the best one to get? (Fitbit? Other???)
  • christinalong1991
    christinalong1991 Posts: 74 Member
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    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.


    That's a pretty presumptuous claim to make. What makes you think just because YOU don't burn that many calories that everyone who burns more is wrong! I am heavier, have a significant amount of muscle, so yes, I CAN burn 1000 calories just walking alone, and can burn well over 700 in one hour of Zumba. It's called working my *kitten* off and getting my heart rate up! And the 40 pounds that I lost while logging those and eating my calories back would indicate I wasn't wrong...
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    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.


    That's a pretty presumptuous claim to make. What makes you think just because YOU don't burn that many calories that everyone who burns more is wrong! I am heavier, have a significant amount of muscle, so yes, I CAN burn 1000 calories just walking alone, and can burn well over 700 in one hour of Zumba. It's called working my *kitten* off and getting my heart rate up! And the 40 pounds that I lost while logging those and eating my calories back would indicate I wasn't wrong...

    Netting a 1000 calorie burn from walking comes out to an over 13 mile walk by a 250 pound person.

    Gross calories per mile walked .53 per pound ... net calories per mile walked .3 per pound.
  • TheMannon
    TheMannon Posts: 36 Member
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    I don't get the big mystery - the scale will tell you how accurate your HRM is, assuming you're accurately logging your food intake.

    And FTR, I burn about 1000 cals/hr on the treadmill (brisk pace with incline)
  • jah732
    jah732 Posts: 3 Member
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    I have several questions for folks with HRM

    1) when you log your calories burned, do you log what your HRM shows for that time (gross), or do you subtract your BMR before logging (net)? My Polar FT60 with chest strap takes into account my age, gender, weight, average HR, highest HR, VO2 max, etc. When I do 60' of cardio kickfit with weighted gloves & ankle weights, my HRM gives me ~265 calories, So minus the 55 calories I would burn in 60' without exercise = 210 exercise calories (3.5 calories/minutes) even though I am sweating profusely & breathing heavily at the end.

    I had been inputting gross but I think I need to go back and recalculate them all to input only net calories burned.

    2) do you know what calculation/formula your HRM uses to give calories burned? I have never found a calculator that gives as low a gross burn as my Polar calculates. When I use this formula
    Female: ((-59.3954 + (0.45 x HR) + (0.380 x VO2max) + (0.103 x W) + (0.274 x A))/4.184) x 60 x T a session with T(ime) 28minutes 54 seconds, average HR 121bpm, VO2max 33, W(eight) 115#, age 50, it shows 184 gross calories yet my HRM shows 124 gross calories for that session. That is 2 calories per minute difference!!

    My Fitbit and other trackers estimate much higher, but they don't know HR or VO2max so I don't trust them.

    thx for any insight

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