How accurate is MFPs exercise calorie log?

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GhostDahlia
GhostDahlia Posts: 4
in Fitness and Exercise
Does anyone know if MFP gives accurate estimates for calories burned? I've only been using it for two days now, but both activities I entered seems to have a rather high burn rate for what I thought it should be. So much that I put in far fewer minutes than I actually did.

For instance, today I did about 90 minutes of gardening. I was doing moderate work with almost no breaks the entire time. My heart rate seemed to be between 125 and 145 most of the time, so nothing too outrageous. However, when I entered 90 minutes into MFP it said I burned 353 calories. That just seems WAY too high.

Replies

  • ephiemarie
    ephiemarie Posts: 264 Member
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    For me personally, MFP's calories are 30-50% higher than what I actually burn. I have a low resting heart rate and am fairly fit. For my husband, who is slightly overweight and has a higher resting heart rate, the estimates are far too low. Do you use a heart rate monitor? Although they are not accurate for anything other than steady state cardio, it would give you an idea of how YOU compare to MFP's calculations. For instance, MFP says I would burn about 1000 calories for a 7.5 mile run. My HRM says 550. I use the discrepancy as a guideline for activities not conducive to HRM use.

    Hope that helps!
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,590 Member
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    I think it pretty much doubles the number of what we actually burn.
  • libbydoodle11
    libbydoodle11 Posts: 1,351 Member
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    I don't trust it.
  • tuiccim
    tuiccim Posts: 689 Member
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    Once I started using my Polar Fit heart monitor, I found that MFP was consistently high. As another mentioned usually around 30% higher.
  • GhostDahlia
    GhostDahlia Posts: 4
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    Thanks for the advice! I really did think it seemed WAY too high. I'm not in awesome shape, so I am not sure about my actual calorie burn, but I'll probably subtract 30% or so from the suggested total.
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
    edited November 2014
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    I find it always puts in more calories than what the machine says, but that I am losing faster than my calorie deficit would give me, even with those extra calories, so I am a bit confused ;)

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