Eating Calories Burned

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I completely understand why it is important to eat your calories burned. But I'm curious as to how accurate those numbers are. When I plug in that I have done 60 minutes of strength training, does it take into account that I am a 5'4" woman? Or is it giving me the same number of calories a 6'2" man would burn doing the same activity?

My concern is that eating the full amount of calories burned could slow down my loss IF those numbers are inaccurate to start with.

Any insight into this?

Replies

  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,426 Member
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    The most common answer you will get is to invest in a heart rate monitor with a chest strap that will accurately measure the calories YOU burn based on your gender, height, weight and age. It will detect how hard you are working and that is a much more accurate number to use. MFP will estimate your calories for the cardio workouts that are in the database based on the numbers you input but again, a HRM will be your best friend.
  • rodneyderrick
    rodneyderrick Posts: 483 Member
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    It's calculating according to your stats.
  • dougstevens
    dougstevens Posts: 208 Member
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    Check out the formula's used for calculating BMI and the other factors. Gender, height, and weight are factors.

    Example, my wife and I do "General Gardening" and log in the same number of minutes. She's smaller and it shows that she burns less calories. I'm a big guy and it shows that I burn more calories.

    A HRM device would give you a much more accurate. However, if its not in your budget, then the numbers from the site seems to work pretty good for us.
  • Kathryn72
    Kathryn72 Posts: 17 Member
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    Perfect! Thanks for the feedback! I'll keep eating those exercise calories without any reservation.
  • runlaugheatpie
    runlaugheatpie Posts: 376 Member
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    I find it pretty accurate based on another application I'm using when I cycle, walk or run. It's always within a couple of calories. This based on the same stats I used here.