Calories burned per MFP

lecia125
lecia125 Posts: 126 Member
edited September 27 in Fitness and Exercise
Has anyone else noticed that the calories burned for one person for a set exercise is not the same as for another person. Walking dog for me is 322 and for my friend it is 293. Does MFP take into consideration your current weight how that would effect your calorie burn?
Anyone have any ideas regarding the discrepancy?

Replies

  • LauriinSB
    LauriinSB Posts: 34 Member
    Yes, it uses your current weight to calculate, so if one person weighs more, they will burn more
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Has anyone else noticed that the calories burned for one person for a set exercise is not the same as for another person. Walking dog for me is 322 and for my friend it is 293. Does MFP take into consideration your current weight how that would effect your calorie burn?
    Anyone have any ideas regarding the discrepancy?

    MFP takes into account your age, weight, and gender, when calculating calories burned.
  • ESVABelle
    ESVABelle Posts: 1,264 Member
    Yes. It goes by your height and weight. But bear in mind, it is an estimation. For a truly accurate read, get a Heart Rate Monitor with a calorie burn feature. MFP over-burns you. By a LOT sometimes. It can be misleading and frustrating. But they are trying to be generic enough for everyone, but everyone is different. So for YOUR personal read, use a HRM or, if you use a treadmill or elliptical, go by the calorie burn on that after you've input your information.
  • jraps17
    jraps17 Posts: 179 Member
    Yeah typically the more you weight the more calories you burn doing the same activities as some one weighs less. Thats why it is important to update your weight as you lose it.
  • heathersmilez
    heathersmilez Posts: 2,579 Member
    For a truly accurate read, get a Heart Rate Monitor with a calorie burn feature.

    True but I have found the cals here are within 20-40 cals of my HRM so MFP is an excellent reference.
  • poesch77
    poesch77 Posts: 1,005 Member
    My treadmill says I burn more than what MFP says by like 100 calories....!!
  • MayhemModels
    MayhemModels Posts: 367 Member
    Yes those figures are just an average, they actually show you burned more than you actually do, thats why i only eat back about 70% of my calories burned
  • lecia125
    lecia125 Posts: 126 Member
    That's what I thought. Thanks for the input, my HRM should be in tomorrow!
  • kobzal
    kobzal Posts: 74 Member
    Yes. It goes by your height and weight. But bear in mind, it is an estimation. For a truly accurate read, get a Heart Rate Monitor with a calorie burn feature. MFP over-burns you. By a LOT sometimes. It can be misleading and frustrating. But they are trying to be generic enough for everyone, but everyone is different. So for YOUR personal read, use a HRM or, if you use a treadmill or elliptical, go by the calorie burn on that after you've input your information.

    I couldn't agree more with this! I went for a bike ride last week, 17 miles in about an hour and 10 minutes. This is a rate of 14.5mph. My HRM said I burned 334 calories. When I went to enter it into the MFP using the database (biking 14-16mph) it said I burned over 800 calories! I have been finding other big discrepancies as well, so I only go by my HRM now.
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