Is this site accurate?

Taylor521
Taylor521 Posts: 48 Member
edited September 25 in Success Stories
I just started this site, and now that I am able to keep track of what I eat exactly I don't think I'll have trouble staying in the guidelines for losing weight. But is this site really that accurate? Have any of you religiously kept your logs accurate and still did not lose weight? Or any other discrepancies that this site can lead too? For example, I was a little surprised when I burn 133 calories by cleaning my apartment for half an hour. It made me wonder if I should completely trust the site or not.

Replies

  • kao708
    kao708 Posts: 813 Member
    There is no way that any site like this can be completely accurate all the time. The calories burned is an estimate based on your height, weight, etc. If you really want to calculate an accurate calorie burn, buy a heart rate monitor.

    As far as success, check this board...there are tons of posts from people that have lost weight following MFP.

    Good luck!
  • maurapie
    maurapie Posts: 48 Member
    I've been tracking everything I eat religiously since I joined 15 days ago, and it's working great for me. Unfortunately though, burned calories are always going to be estimated, and it varies for different people. I've found better calculators online, and theres also this thing called BodyBugg- it's a little pricey, (which is why I haven't bought it yet!) but I have heard only great things. You wear it 23 hours a day, and it tells you how many calories you are burning at all times. It even monitors your sleep cycles!
  • Taylor521
    Taylor521 Posts: 48 Member
    I built in a buffer just to be safe, I said I had a sedentary lifestyle and trying to lose weight at the higher rates. Even if I don't land on target I should lose something. Still I really like this site, looking forward to seeing how it progresses.
  • nuttybuttersmommy
    nuttybuttersmommy Posts: 77 Member
    I dont count activities like house work... Dont mean to offend any one that does count house work as exercise but stuff like house work should be counted as an every day activity and not exercise... Something I think is funny this web site will not count sex as exercise but it will house work...
  • maurapie
    maurapie Posts: 48 Member
    I dont count activities like house work... Dont mean to offend any one that does count house work as exercise but stuff like house work should be counted as an every day activity and not exercise... Something I think is funny this web site will not count sex as exercise but it will house work...

    LOL! I'm pretty surprised about that! Last year I did weight watchers online, and they even counted sex as an exercise lol
  • hroderick
    hroderick Posts: 756 Member
    I use a heart rate monitor and kitchen scale for accuracy.
    I also got a dr office beam scale off ebay
    I subtract my bmr from calories on hrm
    I add 20% to purchased prepared foods like lean cuisine and to restaurant meals

    It boils town to are you accurate. As you continue to carefully log you'll discover what is right for you
  • aflane
    aflane Posts: 625 Member
    I find that the caloric input for foods eaten is pretty accurate. HOWEVER, the caloric burn is waaaay off. I use a heart rate monitor (HRM) to obtain my actual caloric burn during exercising. When I enter 60 mins of stationary bike riding, MFP calculates it at over 1100 cals burned, however, my HRM puts me between 620-740 (depending on my constant heart rate). The stationary bike is even worse!! It says I only burned 270-310 cals.

    I recommend getting a HRM, preferably one with a chest telemetry band -- they're more accurate. It's the only way to know the actual calories burned.
  • slapshotgolf
    slapshotgolf Posts: 163 Member
    The site is fairly accurate, however on the food side you'll find various calories for the same types of food - I believe the database of foods is built from member input, so people's calculations may differ, as well as variances for things like cuts of meats, etc. Even packaged foods vary depend upon the country of origin (US v. Canada), or even depnding upon which local distributor prepares certain foods. My advice is to input your own foods from the info provided on the packaging, and adding it to your own foods list wherever possible. On the calories burned side, an HRM is the most accurate calculation of cals burned, as you can program in your sex (M/F), age and weight. Again, just taking info for cals burned from the database opens up the possibility of variances. What you track for cals burned also varies. For example I don't track routine tasks like house cleaining or cooking, as I feel they form part of your normal burn, including your MBR (metabollic base rate), but I do track all my exercises where my heart rate excceds 100. You'll get out of this site what you put into it. If you're mentally prepared to commit to change, the tools and support are here to help you along.
  • ampjorgensen
    ampjorgensen Posts: 86 Member
    haha i'd have more sex if it counted haha
  • MooseWizard
    MooseWizard Posts: 295 Member
    But who would log sex? Do you really want your friends to know how frequent/infrequent you are getting in an 'extra workout'?
  • RatBoyGL
    RatBoyGL Posts: 100
    I would say the most inaccurate thing is the calories burned for things, as many have eluded to above.

    I basically use my average heart rate over my work out, and plug it in to this site:

    http://www.braydenwm.com/calburn.htm
  • ampjorgensen
    ampjorgensen Posts: 86 Member
    haha i so would! haha they would be like DANGGGGGGGGGGGG! haha jk
  • slainger
    slainger Posts: 150 Member
    Yes, this is working for me! I don't always add in my exercise if it is normal work around the house-I'd rather add only deliberate exercise (unless I do housework above and beyond what is normal). But you can look for other calorie burned calculators to get a "second opinion". WebMD has one that I've used. I've been using MFP religiously for 5 weeks and have lost 13.8 pounds - pounds I wouldn't have lost otherwise. Give it a try and see if it works for you. Good luck!
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
    I use a heart rate monitor and kitchen scale for accuracy.
    I also got a dr office beam scale off ebay
    I subtract my bmr from calories on hrm
    I add 20% to purchased prepared foods like lean cuisine and to restaurant meals

    It boils town to are you accurate. As you continue to carefully log you'll discover what is right for you

    This is EXACTLY the right way to utilize MFP. The more accurate the data is that YOU enter, the more likely MFP is to work for you.
  • elliecolorado
    elliecolorado Posts: 1,040
    I think that they estimate the number of calories burned higher than they actually are. The number it gives me is usually twice what my elliptical says. I always change the number to the lower number, because it I'm going to be off I'd rather be estimating burning less calories than more.
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,728 Member
    I don't count housework. Never did when I was doing Weight Watchers either (the site said to only count an activity if it got your heart rate up and was not part of your normal routine). Cleaning is part of my normal routine and it generally doesn't get my heart rate up for an extended period (more than 10 minutes), so I don't count it. I cannot emphasize how important I have found my HRM. I can log into 5 different sites and get 5 different numbers for calories burned for the same activity. The sites just can't know what intensity you were working at--and often I found I didn't know what intensity I was at either. Sometimes something feels really hard, but my HR doesn't go up all that much, while something else that feels either will have my HR monitor show me in the 85% range.

    Especially because we eat back our calories (I got it for Weight Watchers, because you ate back some of your workout calories as well), I think it is important to be accurate.
  • cthomps
    cthomps Posts: 31 Member
    The food calories are very accurate. There is a way to check and add your own foods too. I have never had problem with the food calories. The exerise is not even close for me, every person is so different and varies so much. I went and bought a HRM now I enter my own exercise and calories burned to my account. Best money I have a spent!!
  • BlazedBetty
    BlazedBetty Posts: 31
    haha i'd have more sex if it counted haha
    My BF tried to get me in the mood the other night by telling me I could count it as exercise
    I almost beat him.... that would've been better exercise, lol

    He's actually been really supportive, but I know that this change in my activity level has caused me to be tired much earlier in the night than I used to be... so we've taken to afternoon delights
    I still have energy for him and I actually find it to give me a boost of energy (after I've gotten my sea legs back anyway, lol)

    But I am pretty surprised that it's not listed... because I'm sure my heart rate is higher for sex than it is on any of my walks. But I think there are probably just too many variables... I mean it's not just how long were you doing it, but what position, was there a climax, if so how many, how long was foreplay.. I mean it wouldn't be an easy thing to just plug in numbers for it would take a HRM
  • CupcakeDefeater
    CupcakeDefeater Posts: 113 Member
    although I have not found (or looked) for it myself, i saw on the news ages ago that there is an app for iphone/ipod touch which, when you lay it on the bed during sex, it calculated calories burnt. something to think about, hey ladies....
  • TonyaJ83
    TonyaJ83 Posts: 155
    After using my HRM, I noticed how inaccurate this site is.
  • SusieB01
    SusieB01 Posts: 89
    I've learned that calories burned is subjective. Even most of the machines need to be set to each person specifically. It is slightly more accurate to use a person's height and weight to calculate how much they'll burn doing a set number of minutes of a specific exercise, but not much. For years I have had thyroid problems (low), and I've found that I generally burn less than the average. In general, men have a higher metabolism because they have more muscle than fat, and muscle uses more calories than fat. And, guess who has more fat cells? Ladies, ever try to lose weight with your husband? My husband would lose 3 or 4 lbs. a week eating more than I did to lose only one! NOT FAIR! This is one of the reasons they tell you to do strength exercises to build muscle when you're trying to lose weight.

    Another 'rule of thumb' that I learned was that if it's an activity that you regularly do, you shouldn't count the calories as part of your weight loss calories. For example, I used to walk a lot in my job, so I was burning that amount anyway and I was not losing. If I wanted burning calories to help me to lose weight, I had to do something extra. (So, if you want housework to help you to lose weight, It shouldn't be something you regularly do).

    BUT, I've found that as far as calories, this site is extremely accurate, and one of the best out there!
  • ronda_gettinghealthy
    ronda_gettinghealthy Posts: 777 Member
    I am newish to this site- I decided that I would continue to count my calories and not "eat" my exercise calories-that way I am not having to worry how close it is. Because I am currently in a non weight bearing cast due to heel surgery I cant do typical aerobic so my exercise is pilates on the ground or "chair dancing" so a heart monitor does not give me an accurate account of my exercise either. But so far I do LOVE this site.


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