Walked 700 calories, do i add it?

jmido
jmido Posts: 18
edited November 8 in Getting Started
Just started using myfitness pal. I also use nike fuelband and nike+ running but they don't sync with the app so I have to input the data manually. I inputted my run, but I don't know if I should put in my calories from walking and other stuff. Today, according to my nike fuelband, I burned 1080 calories, 370 of which are from my run, which means that I burned about 700 more calories through walking and other various activities. My fitness pal is set to light activity atm, should I put in a walk for about 700 calories, leave it alone, or change my activity level and leave it alone? 600-700 calories is probably average for what I burn through walking every day.

Thanks!

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited November 2014
    No...that activity is accounted for in your activity level. You only log exercise activity that goes beyond your activity level. Your calorie goals already include an estimate of those calories you would burn walking around and such and being lightly active...

    You have to understand that your calorie goals include amounts for these kind of things...you "burn" calories 24/7 whether you do anything or not. I "burn" around 1800 calories simply by existing....everything I do beyond that "burns" more calories. MFP uses NEAT as it's basis for determining your calorie goal...this is going to include those basal calories that you "burn" merely existing along with your daily activity...if you're set to light active then some estimate of that walking is already included in your calorie goals.
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    Leave it alone. I only log organized exercise: treadmill, rebounder, biking, etc. I have a fitbit and it calculates my total calorie burn for the day. Yes, my steps do add some to my calorie expenditure, but the number includes my BMR. What does it mean that you burned 1080 calories? Is that your total expenditure for the day?
  • jmido
    jmido Posts: 18
    Yeah, I burned 1080 calories for the entire day according to nike fuelband (includes my workout and just normal walking around). Nike fuelband says 350ish calories of that total was from my run which means I lost about 700ish just from normal every day stuff. If I'm burning 700ish a day from normal activity, is the slightly active option an appropriate pick for me?
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
    My doctor & dietician told me to ignore exercise calories.
    1 - most people underestimate what they eat
    2 - most machines (including the ones you've listed) overestimate calories burned
    They'll cancel each other out.
    Think of exercise as a bonus toward weight loss, and essential for health.

    If you're really hungry at the end of the day, you could have a snack of 1/3 to 1/2 of what it says you've burned.
    According to MFP, my BMR is 1700 & most days I've been doing 700-1000 cal of walking/hiking on the treadmill, and I've been eating around 1400-1600 (aiming for 1400, but some days go over).
    Pretty steadily losing weight.

    51637601.png
  • PokeyBug
    PokeyBug Posts: 482 Member
    It's giving you a readout of 1080 calories burned, including your run? That sounds awfully low for an active day. Surely, that's not including your BMR, is it? It sounds like a fun gadget, maybe, but I don't think I'd be patient enough to learn how to use it, lol.

    I don't believe in overcomplicating what I see as a basically simple process. Figure out your BMR and your TDEE (I recommend using the calculators on IIFYM.com). Shoot for eating about halfway between those numbers. Any exercise you get is bonus weight loss. You can choose to log it or not, but, unless you exercise a lot and need a lot of fuel on a particular day (and your body will let you know if you need to do that), don't worry about eating it back.
  • jmido
    jmido Posts: 18
    No, it doesn't include my BMR. The nike fuelband is just a fancy pedometer that counts how much you move during the day and translates it to calories burned based on your height, weight, age and gender. It basically counts the calories you burn outside of your BMR.

    There's nothing really to figure out about it though haha. You wear it all day (sleeping, showering, going for a walk, a run, etc) and it tracks everything. It automatically synches to your iphone app and you can just read the data as you will. It doesn't seem to be compatible with myfitnesspal thought which sucks, i have to input all the extra data myself if I want to include it.

    I'll just leave the secondary walking information out though and only count in my runs. This way, just like MKEgal said, I have some wiggle room if my calories aren't calculated accurately or something (which they definitely aren't haha).
  • gabrielleelliott90
    gabrielleelliott90 Posts: 854 Member
    MKEgal wrote: »
    My doctor & dietician told me to ignore exercise calories.
    1 - most people underestimate what they eat
    2 - most machines (including the ones you've listed) overestimate calories burned
    They'll cancel each other out.
    Think of exercise as a bonus toward weight loss, and essential for health.

    If you're really hungry at the end of the day, you could have a snack of 1/3 to 1/2 of what it says you've burned.
    According to MFP, my BMR is 1700 & most days I've been doing 700-1000 cal of walking/hiking on the treadmill, and I've been eating around 1400-1600 (aiming for 1400, but some days go over).
    Pretty steadily losing weight.

    51637601.png

    Good idea, I personally stick to my tdee and don't eat back exercise calories, and it's a weight off the shoulders, and excellent to lose weight when you're in a plateau.
  • ChrisM32205
    ChrisM32205 Posts: 218 Member
    Just curious.. how many miles did you walk to burn the 700 calories?
  • jmido
    jmido Posts: 18
    edited November 2014
    ChrisM32205 wrote: »
    Just curious.. how many miles did you walk to burn the 700 calories?

    I recorded 14800 steps for the day. Most things online say it's about 2000 steps to a mile. That includes steps from a 5k I ran though, I don't know if the conversion is still 2000 steps to a mile when talking about running. The fuelband seems fairly accurate, I'v tried counting my steps and comparing it to what the fuelband records and it's always pretty close. I'v only had my fuelband for 4-5 days now though so i'm still getting used to it. The calorie counter on the band is probably just a rough estimate, because you need other stats like heart rate and such to calculate calories most efficiently, but it should at least give a pretty good idea.

    I live in china though and walk/take public transportation everywhere. I have about a 15 minute walk each way from the closest places to eat and a 5-7 minute walk to the closest convenient store I go to for things like water, fruits, and other various stuff. I get a lot of walking in just from getting to where I have to eat. It's also like a 10 minute walk to the closest bus stop near me so I get a little walk in every time I go and take a bus.

    I enjoy life in China, I'm doing my masters degree here and it definitely keeps me way more active than in the US. I was at 170ish pounds when I left the US. After being in China for about 3 months now, I'm at around 157lbs. Since I got my fuelband, I like taking longer routes back home or accompanying my friends to the store when they have to buy things just so I can get the extra walk in and try to reach/surpass my daily nike goal.
  • JoshuaL86
    JoshuaL86 Posts: 403 Member
    How many calories is it from LA to New York?
This discussion has been closed.

Categories