MFP lacking in all exercises

KaruBlack
KaruBlack Posts: 43 Member
edited November 9 in Fitness and Exercise
Is it me or has MFP not updated their exercise list? I just finished a kettle ball routine and unless I overlooked it, I did not see kettle ball in the list of exercises for me to input.

This is not the first time I have tried to log an exercise using MFP and nothing would be there, like tabata or HIIT. It can become annoying trying to log and not being able to accurately log your work out for the day.

What do you guys do when you run into this problem?

Replies

  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    Because not all tabata, HIIT and kettle bell routines are the same or would have the same calorie burn. Most people who log their exercise either wear a heart rate monitor for a more accurate reading or they log the next closest thing (like circuit training).
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    I would not put any faith in MFP burn estimates as they tend to be overestimated…

    switch to TDEE method, then you do not have to worry about logging exercise...
  • KaruBlack
    KaruBlack Posts: 43 Member
    I have no idea what a TDEE method is. And I have no idea what or where to get a heart rate monitor.

    I'm not a big fitness person, i just exercise at home when I can. Other times, if I'm at work, I walk around the building during my breaks so I'm just trying to be healthier.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    TDEE calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure and then subtract 500 and that should equal about one pound per week loss…

    or just keep guessing..your choice...
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    "kettlebell" is not an exercise. And neither is HIIT or Tabata.
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    KaruBlack wrote: »
    I have no idea what a TDEE method is. And I have no idea what or where to get a heart rate monitor.

    I'm not a big fitness person, i just exercise at home when I can. Other times, if I'm at work, I walk around the building during my breaks so I'm just trying to be healthier.

    Google is your friend. Being healthier involves learning new things as well.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    DavPul wrote: »
    "kettlebell" is not an exercise. And neither is HIIT or Tabata.

    +1
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    DavPul wrote: »
    "kettlebell" is not an exercise. And neither is HIIT or Tabata.

    :laugh: True.
  • KaruBlack
    KaruBlack Posts: 43 Member
    I just looked through amazon with heart rate monitors and yeah I'm even more confused with what is what. One is a heart rate monitor, another is activity monitor and another is a fitness monitor. What's the difference?

    Also if the total daily energy expenditure is how many calories i need to just stay alive and then subtracting 500 from that...I don't think that would be healthy because that would been each day I would be eating max 1000 calories.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    KaruBlack wrote: »
    I just looked through amazon with heart rate monitors and yeah I'm even more confused with what is what. One is a heart rate monitor, another is activity monitor and another is a fitness monitor. What's the difference?

    Also if the total daily energy expenditure is how many calories i need to just stay alive and then subtracting 500 from that...I don't think that would be healthy because that would been each day I would be eating max 1000 calories.

    ummm..what are you stats..age, gender, height, weight?
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
    Not sure why it would matter. If you want to track exercise, just log it as generic circuit training. If you really want a specific name, create a custom exercise.
  • KaruBlack
    KaruBlack Posts: 43 Member
    female i am 28 i am 5 feet 11 inches and 182 lbs
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    according to this site:
    http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/

    your TDEE at lightly active is 2269 so if you subtract 500 from that you would need to eat 1769 calories a day to lose one pound per week...
  • KaruBlack
    KaruBlack Posts: 43 Member
    hill8570 wrote: »
    Not sure why it would matter. If you want to track exercise, just log it as generic circuit training. If you really want a specific name, create a custom exercise.
    No I do not need a specific name, I was just trying to figure out the correct calorie burn for me to log.

  • KaruBlack
    KaruBlack Posts: 43 Member
    edited December 2014
    i think that's similar to what i was talking about. With this equation here: Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

    And that should tell me how many calories minimum i need to just survive if I did nothing, and then anything under that would be the deficit?

    edited to add question mark at the end instead of period. my bad.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
    KaruBlack wrote: »
    hill8570 wrote: »
    Not sure why it would matter. If you want to track exercise, just log it as generic circuit training. If you really want a specific name, create a custom exercise.
    No I do not need a specific name, I was just trying to figure out the correct calorie burn for me to log.

    OK, then good ol' "circuit training" is going to be within spitting distance. Any mostly-cardio work that involves throwing around smallish weights fits under that heading pretty well. Trying to get more precise than that ignores the fact that there is already a pretty large fudge factor in the calorie burn numbers.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
    KaruBlack wrote: »
    i think that's similar to what i was talking about. With this equation here: Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

    And that should tell me how many calories minimum i need to just survive if I did nothing, and then anything under that would be the deficit.

    BMR is what you need to survive. By definition, you generally shouldn't eat under that (at least not by much). TDEE is the average amount you burn per day (BMR plus all your activity -- both deliberate exercise and all other movement). Your deficit is how much under your TDEE you're eating.
  • KaruBlack
    KaruBlack Posts: 43 Member
    hill8570 wrote: »
    KaruBlack wrote: »
    i think that's similar to what i was talking about. With this equation here: Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

    And that should tell me how many calories minimum i need to just survive if I did nothing, and then anything under that would be the deficit.

    BMR is what you need to survive. By definition, you generally shouldn't eat under that (at least not by much). TDEE is the average amount you burn per day (BMR plus all your activity -- both deliberate exercise and all other movement). Your deficit is how much under your TDEE you're eating.
    yeah I should have said anything under is a deficit based on exercising. My calorie goal is already my BMR, since MFP likes to just start you at 1200 calories it seems. I figured if I did that calorie goal for my day then on days I did not exercise I would at least be in the maintain state. But thanks on the circuit training information. ^_^
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
    KaruBlack wrote: »
    hill8570 wrote: »
    KaruBlack wrote: »
    i think that's similar to what i was talking about. With this equation here: Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

    And that should tell me how many calories minimum i need to just survive if I did nothing, and then anything under that would be the deficit.

    BMR is what you need to survive. By definition, you generally shouldn't eat under that (at least not by much). TDEE is the average amount you burn per day (BMR plus all your activity -- both deliberate exercise and all other movement). Your deficit is how much under your TDEE you're eating.
    yeah I should have said anything under is a deficit based on exercising. My calorie goal is already my BMR, since MFP likes to just start you at 1200 calories it seems. I figured if I did that calorie goal for my day then on days I did not exercise I would at least be in the maintain state. But thanks on the circuit training information. ^_^

    Your BMR is not your maintenance intake on non-workout days, unless you spend those non-workout days in a coma. Check one of the calorie burn calculators (the ones at IIFYM.com are quite good) and calculate your burn when you are sedentary -- that is your maintenance even if you are a couch potato on non-exercise days (hint: is quite a bit more than your BMR).

    Generally, MFP only starts you at 1200 calories if you feed it an unreasonable weight loss goal. Since you barely qualify as overweight to begin with, in your case this would be feeding MFP more than a half pound a week loss goal.
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