Changing exercise calories

christineja
christineja Posts: 22 Member
edited November 8 in Fitness and Exercise
I'm not sure whether this is weight loss of fitness, but here goes. I've been doing an hour of Zumba pretty regularly while wearing a HRM. At first my calorie burn matched what Zumba and MFP said, but now MFP is easily 100 calories over. I'm going in and changing it to what my HRM says, but I'm bummed out because an hour of Zumba used to get me easily over 600 calories, now it's barely 500. For those who exercise hoping to eat back calories, do you just keep upping your exercise intensity?

Replies

  • cstevenson86
    cstevenson86 Posts: 158 Member
    I do Zumba as well for my exercise routine. When I put in 60 minutes to MyFitness Pal it was saying I burned over 1,000 calories. After doing some research, I decided that number was more than likely NOT correct. From that point on, even though I'm doing 60 minutes of Zumba, I put in that I do 40. MyFitness Pal equated that to 635 calories burned. Which I feel is a more realistic number. It's working for me! Maybe it would help you to do it that way.
  • christineja
    christineja Posts: 22 Member
    Thanks for your help!
  • Solar_Cat
    Solar_Cat Posts: 188 Member
    ShapeSense.com has some of the best available calculators imo. Notice the notes about converting gross calories to net. This is crucial for the MFP "eat back your exercise calories" approach. Most calculators give you gross calories, which includes the portion of your BMR that's already counted in your basic daily activity level here. You can't help but overestimate exercise calories based on gross calories, because you're counting your BMR twice for the time you spent exercising.

    Heart Rate Based Calorie Burn Calculator
    Activity Based Calorie Burn Calculator
    Net Versus Gross Calorie Burn Conversion Calculator
  • Patttience
    Patttience Posts: 975 Member
    At the very least check your total calories against a TDEE calculator.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    As far as burning less for the same activity......that's what happens as you become more fit. A fit body has to work less hard to raise your heart rate. Calorie burn is just one benefit of exercise.....not even the best benefit.

    The heart rate monitor compares your resting heart rate against your active heart rate & uses that as your exertion level. MFP can't even guess at your exertion level.
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