Accuracy of calories burned

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PamPam1488
PamPam1488 Posts: 11 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey guys,

How I love MFP! :) I love the flexibility it offers and that we can adapt it to fit our style. However, I am confused since I have been reading on the posts that the MFP estimation of calories burned for exercising are often too generous. How are you logging it? Take 5 or 10 minutes out or enter half the time? I usually go for a 40 minute eleptical session.

Thanks

Replies

  • vbvamsi
    vbvamsi Posts: 13 Member
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    Hi, I am also confused regarding the calories. The calories burned count shown on MFP is different to what I get on the elliptical which is again different to what is shown on my heart rate monitor. Not sure which one to trust.
  • PamPam1488
    PamPam1488 Posts: 11 Member
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    Glad I am not the only one confused ! :ohwell:
  • SaltNBurnBoys
    SaltNBurnBoys Posts: 170 Member
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    Generally what people do is enter the exercise into the log, see the calories burned, and only eat about 50% of them back. That way you're allowing for the overestimated burn without logging incorrectly or not at all.
  • jms1739
    jms1739 Posts: 80 Member
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    I use Runkeeper or Map my Run apps, and it takes your age, gender, Height and weight, and thru GPS it tracks your walk and gives you a calorie burn. I have compared it to my heart rate monitor and it is pretty close. But eating back 50% sounds like a good suggestion as well.
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
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    It's not that accurate and can be off +/- 500 calories. Don't use this method... It's much much simpler to find your TDEE, start with a 10% deficit and go from there without having to track "burned" calories. It's much easier to just worry about what you're consuming.

    TDEE: Worry about calories you're consuming, live life.

    HRM & MFP: Worry about calories you're consuming, worrying about how much you're supposedly burning, and worrying about how much you have to re-consume.

    Which one sounds simpler to you? I'm not saying that HRM + MFP won't work, but one is obviously more work than the other for the same result. Spend $1 to make $5 or spend $3 to make $5? Seems like a simple answer to me, but then again I prefer simplicity because the rest of life can't be simplified.
  • numinousnymph
    numinousnymph Posts: 249 Member
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    for the elliptical, on MFP there's no option for how HARD you worked on the elliptical. so if you were on it but were on the lowest setting, there's no way you'd burn as many calories as MFP says you did. i've found that ellipticals that i can put my weight & age into will overestimate my real calorie burn by about double. i'd say look at what the elliptical says you burned, and then halve it.
  • amessam8
    amessam8 Posts: 58 Member
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    I used a hear rate monitor to measure calories burned. Get a good one where you can actually set your hear rate zones based on a few basic exercises. Timex makes a good one.
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,731 Member
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    MFP definitely overestimates calories on most exercises. Your best bet is to get a HRM for cardio (make sure it has a chest strap, way more accurate) and/or a fitness tracker for daily tracking (Fitbit is popular here, Garmin Vivofits are nice, and Bodymedia is the most accurate).

    I have the Bodymedia and I've learned a ton from it about how my calorie burns fluctuate. I have a sedentary job, but am sometimes very active, so my daily burns vary from 1700-2300 with no extra effort.
  • PamPam1488
    PamPam1488 Posts: 11 Member
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    Thank you everyone for your posts. I will follow your advices. :)

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