Do I trust mfp or my elliptical for calories burned?

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18JessieS
18JessieS Posts: 10 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Which one is the most accurate in telling me my calories burned-the elliptical or Mfp?

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  • Ishii19
    Ishii19 Posts: 115 Member
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    I pick the more conservative choice - for me it's MFP. But I think as long as you're consistent you can monitor your results and then tweak your plan from there... I guess the most accurate calories burned count, though, would come from a hrm.
  • R1rainbows
    R1rainbows Posts: 129 Member
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    I don't trust my elliptical calorie reads or mfp's. I only eat back like 100-200 calories of it, but the majority of the time I don't eat them back at all... Have been steady and not too fast on the loss track so far, I'll listen to my body though if I get tired or slow or shakes or headaches!
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    I go with the lower number
  • ScubaSteve1962
    ScubaSteve1962 Posts: 612 Member
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    This morning's workout, elliptical a little over 700 calories, MFP's calorie burn 842, my activity monitor 545 calories. big difference between the 3. The elliptical and my activity monitor were getting my heart rate from the same source.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    Neither is terribly accurate.

    Best way is to measure over the long term based on actual weight loss results, but it would be a long & tedious process.

    Most people on here would suggest taking a percentage (half is the general recommendation) of the smaller number.
  • shrinkingletters
    shrinkingletters Posts: 1,008 Member
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    Whatever the number is, just don't eat more than half the calories back. I think that's the general rule people around here roll with.
  • M30834134
    M30834134 Posts: 411 Member
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    Not accurate for me at all. 8 miles on an elliptical in 60 min at 18-20 resistance (20 is the max), the machine shows that I burn around 1,200-1,300 calories but my HRM shows only in 700 range. I usually record less than 600 and eat back maybe around 400-500 of that. All these numbers with my age, height, and weight entered into the machine.

    The machines have ulterior goal to grossly overestimate the calories - they want to show you "look how many calories you burn on our equipment! We are better than XXXX".
  • hollysmithtalton
    hollysmithtalton Posts: 8 Member
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    Elipticals are notorious for over-estimating calorie burn. MFP is better, a heart rate monitor is best. In my experience ALL machines overestimate but elipticals are the worst.
  • barryplumber
    barryplumber Posts: 401 Member
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    For any machine do a formula to work or your gross calories
    Keiko385 wrote: »
    That seems very low but try a different calculator and see what you get

    http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

    http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/activity-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx
  • barryplumber
    barryplumber Posts: 401 Member
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    This will help you understand meet and gross
    barryplumber wrote: »
    Good read why the machines bike, treadmill and elliptical all seem to have high readings for calorie burns
    http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/articles/net-versus-gross-calorie-burn.aspx

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