If you're not losing weight...

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dewsmom78
dewsmom78 Posts: 498 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
And using the calories burned on MFP, they are NOT accurate. Invest in a heart rate monitor. I see alot of my mfp friends posting that they're burning 600+ calories in a half hour, on an elliptical or walking. I am 10lbs overweight and I burn about 100 calories walking in 30 minutes. So - if you're not accurately posting calories burned and you're eating those calories back, you're not going to lose weight. Just a tip....
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  • 81Katz
    81Katz Posts: 7,074 Member
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    Or people not weighing their food or liquids. They are probably over-estimating their food intake. I've been at this for a while now and even *I* still can't eyeball a portion.
  • kcjchang
    kcjchang Posts: 709 Member
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    Estimates from a heart rate monitor are not going to be any better as it measures your heart rate, period.
  • isulo_kura
    isulo_kura Posts: 818 Member
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    dewsmom78 wrote: »
    And using the calories burned on MFP, they are NOT accurate. Invest in a heart rate monitor. I see alot of my mfp friends posting that they're burning 600+ calories in a half hour, on an elliptical or walking. I am 10lbs overweight and I burn about 100 calories walking in 30 minutes. So - if you're not accurately posting calories burned and you're eating those calories back, you're not going to lose weight. Just a tip....

    Heart rate monitors have limitations. They are only any good for steady state cardio. otherwise they are wildly inacurate. Ironically steady state cardio such as running are the calories estimates that MFP are most accurate on. Whatever method you use you just need to take into account you are working on estimates. If your eating those calories back and gaining weight then reduce the % of them you eat back. Also check the accuracy of your food logging
  • beamer0821
    beamer0821 Posts: 488 Member
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    agreed. i keep seeing huge calorie burns which seem unrealistic. people tend to over estimate their exercise burn. just be conservative about how many calories you actually burned.
  • dewsmom78
    dewsmom78 Posts: 498 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Right, I know HRM's are not perfect, but like pp said, they're good for cardio. Maybe not so much strength training. My HRM shows calories burned much lower than mfp, because the HRM takes into consideration your age, weight and height.

    I also agree about weighing food, it is so easy to under estimate how much food you're actually eating. And you have to log every single thing you eat. People tend to forget things like coffee creamer, condiments, or even two bites of their kid's hot dog and mac n cheese. Guilty of that one lol.
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
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    i have found the estimates from mfp to be fairly close to my HRM. I might have to adjust a few minutes here and there but its not as widely inaccurate as the myths on the forums tend to be.
  • MyaPapaya75
    MyaPapaya75 Posts: 3,143 Member
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    I do agree about the HRM and its superb advice if the person is only going by MFP calculations and eating back the workout calories ..measuring and using a HRM are almost essential to doing MFP properly..it would be like riding a bike without wheels otherwise.
  • kcjchang
    kcjchang Posts: 709 Member
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    Funny, so the circulatory system dictates one's metabolic rate and it's efficiency? Contributing is a far cry to draw a conclusion based on cause and effect.

    HRM is like a tachometer (engine rpm gauge) in a car. It tells you how fast the pistons are rotating but does NOTHING on how fast you are going or how much fuel is being used. Under certain ideal conditions you can make an inference but you have to know exact details on the rest of environment to get a good idea on the economy.

    It a good tool but use it for what it can do, not what you hope it will or what the marketing is espousing.
  • brendak76
    brendak76 Posts: 241 Member
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    What works for me: take what mfp says for exercise and cut that in half. Then only eat back half of that. If mfp says I burn 400 calories, I assume I really only burn 200 and then eat back 100.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    dewsmom78 wrote: »
    And using the calories burned on MFP, they are NOT accurate. Invest in a heart rate monitor. I see alot of my mfp friends posting that they're burning 600+ calories in a half hour, on an elliptical or walking. I am 10lbs overweight and I burn about 100 calories walking in 30 minutes. So - if you're not accurately posting calories burned and you're eating those calories back, you're not going to lose weight. Just a tip....

    You mention how MFP's calculator is inaccurate then later admit that even your HRM isn't. Thanks for the chuckle.


  • suenevico
    suenevico Posts: 8 Member
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    B) map my run and my polar watch are approx the same..MFP shows I burn way more calories that the other two things. I go by my polar watch and Map my Run--the calories from MFP are a general amount.
  • Britxclarity
    Britxclarity Posts: 235 Member
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    brendak76 wrote: »
    What works for me: take what mfp says for exercise and cut that in half. Then only eat back half of that. If mfp says I burn 400 calories, I assume I really only burn 200 and then eat back 100.

    I guess I will start doing this. Cause not everyone uses a HRM like myself and I rely on MFP to be at least a little correct

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,840 Member
    edited April 2015
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    dewsmom78 wrote: »
    I am 10lbs overweight and I burn about 100 calories walking in 30 minutes. .

    Yep, that sounds about right. That's what I figure for walking too.

    And for cycling, I go with 100 cal per 5 km. So if I manage to cycle at 20 km/h for an hour, that's 400 calories .... NOT 800 or 1000 or something.

  • laropmet
    laropmet Posts: 52 Member
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    Just remember though that while walking may burn 100 cals you would have burned some of that sitting on your backside watching tv so really you are only actually adding an extra 60-70 cals to the amount you can eat.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Cut MFP calories in half, judge weight lost against targeted weight loss across 8 weeks, adjust numbers or calories eaten back

    It's as valid an approach as any other

    My HRM is good for steady-state cardio and I take 100%, for calisthenics / HIIT I take about 75%, for strength about 50% ...actually what I do is round it down / cut off about 200 calories

    Estimates

    Estimates everywhere
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,840 Member
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    It is all just estimates ... but if you discover that you're losing weight with your estimates, you've got it right for you. :)

    However, if you are not losing weight ... maybe you need to adjust your estimates. Maybe you aren't burning as many calories as you think you are.
  • usernameenvy
    usernameenvy Posts: 140 Member
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    This is why im so paranoid about eating back my exercise calories !!! i never have big burns so i just leave them alone! today was 25 min cardio, 25 min strength and 25 min walk and ive logged just over 400 calories burnt, i wont eat them
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,603 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/PAV8888/view/eat-back-your-exercise-calories-741835

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/PAV8888/view/how-do-i-double-check-exercise-calories-741824
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    usernameenvy wrote: »
    This is why im so paranoid about eating back my exercise calories !!! i never have big burns so i just leave them alone! today was 25 min cardio, 25 min strength and 25 min walk and ive logged just over 400 calories burnt, i wont eat them

    Well that's just wrong then

    unless you've reset MFP to a cut from TDEE it is not designed for you to not eat them back .. it is important to fuel your body to make fitness gains
  • Ameengyrl
    Ameengyrl Posts: 127 Member
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    isulo_kura wrote: »
    dewsmom78 wrote: »
    And using the calories burned on MFP, they are NOT accurate. Invest in a heart rate monitor. I see alot of my mfp friends posting that they're burning 600+ calories in a half hour, on an elliptical or walking. I am 10lbs overweight and I burn about 100 calories walking in 30 minutes. So - if you're not accurately posting calories burned and you're eating those calories back, you're not going to lose weight. Just a tip....

    Heart rate monitors have limitations. They are only any good for steady state cardio. otherwise they are wildly inacurate. Ironically steady state cardio such as running are the calories estimates that MFP are most accurate on. Whatever method you use you just need to take into account you are working on estimates. If your eating those calories back and gaining weight then reduce the % of them you eat back. Also check the accuracy of your food logging

    This! They're all inaccurate. Exercise and don't eat back in you can bear it! If not add 100 cals at a time on days you're working out so ensure you're not eating back a bunch of calories that you never really burned

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