burning calories while exercising

lightbender549
lightbender549 Posts: 4 Member
edited March 2 in Fitness and Exercise
Just wondering if I'm burning 400 calories walking briskly for an hour, shouldn't I count about 300, cause I burn approx 100 per hour doing nothing

Replies

  • liftingandlipstick
    liftingandlipstick Posts: 1,857 Member
    That's why a lot of people will tell you not to eat back all of your exercise cals. I personally eat back 50-75%, just to make sure I have a bit of a buffer.
  • Lelah77
    Lelah77 Posts: 177 Member
    I think your fitness level comes into that equation. When I walk briskly for an hour, I usually burn about 150-200 cals (per my HRM). Someone with a higher weight might burn more calories. Someone with a lower fitness level might burn more, as well. I don't think MFP factors in your weight when it gives you calories burned - I think it uses a generic average.

    My answer would be "definitely do not eat all 400 calories." I agree with PP that you shouldn't eat back more than about 50% of your exercise calories. If you want more accurate calorie counts, I would recommend a heart rate monitor, for sure!!

    Congrats for walking today!
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,569 Member
    I sort of agree with OP - it depends on what figures you use. They are only guesses anyway. What I find is best though is to accurately log for a while (a couple of months) and then you will see how accurate the exercise calories are - you can then just tweak them - 1lb is 3500 calories so you after a month you will have a pretty good estimate of how many calories you have really burned . After doing this for a couple of months you can really optimise the cal and know almost exactly how many calories you are burning.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Just wondering if I'm burning 400 calories walking briskly for an hour, shouldn't I count about 300, cause I burn approx 100 per hour doing nothing

    A 170lb person would have to walk 6 miles in an hour to net a 300 calorie burn.

    Scale according to your own weight.
  • lightbender549
    lightbender549 Posts: 4 Member
    Thanks for all those helpful responses, the 400 calories was more an example, actually a math question, I'm a newbie to dieting, as I'm not as active as I was.
  • markahardie
    markahardie Posts: 2 Member
    I am new to Fitness Pal. I have lost 30 lbs so far and I have a pretty varied work out routine thats hard to track calories for me.
    I kayak, climb and cave because that is my work as a guide. But on my own time I enjoy walking, biking and I use weights every morning. I can find my way around fitness pal cardio and the food but when I enter in the daily weight training it never credits me with any calories burned. What am I doing wrong?
    Thanks
  • honkytonks85
    honkytonks85 Posts: 669 Member
    Clever man, you have worked out what some people never do. Yes you are right, when you are getting your figures burned it is not excluding calories burned if you hadn't done the exercise.

    So since you're already calculating the calories burned in a day not doing exercise, you should only calculate the exercise calories IN EXCESS of normal calories burned. Hence why I always shave off about 100 calories an hour on exercise calories.
  • Jim_Barteck
    Jim_Barteck Posts: 274 Member
    I am new to Fitness Pal. I have lost 30 lbs so far and I have a pretty varied work out routine thats hard to track calories for me.
    I kayak, climb and cave because that is my work as a guide. But on my own time I enjoy walking, biking and I use weights every morning. I can find my way around fitness pal cardio and the food but when I enter in the daily weight training it never credits me with any calories burned. What am I doing wrong?
    Thanks

    Also log your weight training under Cardiovascular exercise and then it will give you credit based on the length of your workout.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    don't overthink it. if you aren't gaining or losing the way you wish the culprit won't be that 80-100 calories that you're worried about double counting
  • honkytonks85
    honkytonks85 Posts: 669 Member
    don't overthink it. if you aren't gaining or losing the way you wish the culprit won't be that 80-100 calories that you're worried about double counting

    Not necessarily. If someone is eating a calorie controlled diet and they are aiming for say, a few hundred calories deficit per day. That extra 100 calories a day equates to 700 calories per week difference. That's pretty significant for someone who is only aiming to shed a small amount of weight.
  • markahardie
    markahardie Posts: 2 Member
    Ah ha! Thank you JIm !
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    don't overthink it. if you aren't gaining or losing the way you wish the culprit won't be that 80-100 calories that you're worried about double counting

    Not necessarily. If someone is eating a calorie controlled diet and they are aiming for say, a few hundred calories deficit per day. That extra 100 calories a day equates to 700 calories per week difference. That's pretty significant for someone who is only aiming to shed a small amount of weight.

    Except that you're making the assumption that all of that person's food is counted with 100% accuracy AND that the rest of that person's day is 100% accounted for. This is virtually impossible as everyone will have 300 variables that will affect the total calories they burned. 80-100 calories is well within the margin of error for most everyone.
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