Can someone help me out here please?

nerva0729
nerva0729 Posts: 14 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello I'm just starting with MFP and I started doing exersise, the thing is that my husband just bought a new bike, he did 55 minutes of exersise and burned 155 calories, I went on it did the same and burned only 80, I'm kind of dissapointed I think why waste my time in that thing, if I burned the same just by moving around the house? I'm a little heavy and I didn't pedal too hard but I tighten the bike on the level 7 while he had it on 4 (it has 10 levels) How accurate are those calorie counters in those machines? Do the effort counts? Should I try something different? Because it's kind of dissapointing that I'm not burning any calories when I'm all sweaty and I can't breath, I would appreciate your answers, thank you for reading :)

Replies

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    The calorie burn readout on machines tend to be inaccurate. Generally they overinflate the #. But 155 calories burned for your husband and 80 for you in 55 minutes seems very LOW. If your heart rate was up and you were steadily biking for 55 minutes, then the cardio burn rate would be at a minimum 3-4 calories per minute. And that is pretty conservative.
  • spingirl605
    spingirl605 Posts: 181 Member
    Also, your husband is a man in will generally burn more calories just by breathing...I know, I know, that's totally unfair, but it's true. If you want a more accurate calorie count, you could invest in a heart rate monitor. They tend to be a little more accurate than the readout of the machine...
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    It is great to increase activity. Keep in mind that exercise has benefits other than burning calories. Improving your cardiovascular health is important. In general, I suggest eating a bit less for weight loss and being active to improve your fitness level.
  • pzarnosky
    pzarnosky Posts: 256 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    It is great to increase activity. Keep in mind that exercise has benefits other than burning calories. Improving your cardiovascular health is important. In general, I suggest eating a bit less for weight loss and being active to improve your fitness level.

    Yup. Hard truth is that you (most of us mortals) can't out run/bike/whatever a bad diet. Weight loss is not an even balance between diet and exercise. It's mostly how much you eat compared to how much you burn. The hard truth part is that you burn a lot less exercising than you will probably like. Example: I though training for a 25K meant I could eat whatever I wanted because I was running so much. Nope. Not even close to true.
    Calorie deficit to lose weight. Exercise for longevity of life, ability to climb stairs without being winded, ability to pick up heavy things, etc..
    Exercise is absolutely worth it, just not if you're trying to give yourself an extra 300 calories to eat in a short amount of time.
  • STEVE142142
    STEVE142142 Posts: 867 Member
    First of all you have to realize that the exercise counters on a lot of machines aren't accurate. They're based on a large population density and everybody's going to have different

    A couple factors as far as why your husband burned more calories. The more you weigh the more body your energy Burns during the day. To put things in perspective when I first start it I weight 288 pounds and my tdee was approximately 3000 calories a day period now that I weigh 208 pounds that tdee is about 2300 calories a day. Also Men by their genetic and muscular makeup will burn more calories than a woman.

    As far as losing weight you're not going to be able to exercise enough to lose a significant amount of calories. That comes from reducing your calorie intake. To put things in perspective over eight months I lost about 80 pounds. I estimate maximum maybe 10 pounds of that came from my exercise level. The rest came from reducing calories.

    Don't give up on the exercise exercise is great it has so many additional benefits including physical mental and spiritual. Keep on persisting with the exercise you'll start to see benefits that you won't realize but as far as weight loss reducing your calories is the most important thing
  • nerva0729
    nerva0729 Posts: 14 Member
    The thing here is that I do eat less than anybody in the house, I try to eat less than 1200 calories, I count portions, no candy, nothing but water, only half a glass of milk in the morning and that's all, and I haven't lost any weight lately, I hit the plateau, and no matter how hard I try I can't lose any weight, I can't eat even less that what I am already, because I just eat a piece of toast and a half a glass of milk in the mornings, then I have usually some yogurt, and then dinner, at dinner I have what everybody eats, I usually just have smaller portions than everybody, I really don't know what else I can do; Something else is that I have anxiety, and I live my life in fear, stress and mad most of the time, my question is if it affects me too, I don't have too many cravings, I usually just have those things to eat, thank you for reading and for all your answers :)
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    nerva0729 wrote: »
    Hello I'm just starting with MFP and I started doing exersise, the thing is that my husband just bought a new bike, he did 55 minutes of exersise and burned 155 calories, I went on it did the same and burned only 80.

    Those numbers sound unrealistically low.

    Is it possible to sell that machine and get a bike instead?

    Exercise works a lot better when you're not doing it for exercise. If you go out for fun, and burn calories and improve your fitness as icing on the cake, it's a lot more sustainable, which means you burn more calories in the long run.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited April 2017
    True. My husband likes to rub it in. "I've already burned 3000 calories today." The best I've done is about 2750 in a day and that was with running a 10k and then doing several hours of yard work. So I remind him that I'm at a healthy/maintenance weight. Its all in good humor!
    spingirl605 wrote: »
    Also, your husband is a man in will generally burn more calories just by breathing...I know, I know, that's totally unfair, but it's true. If you want a more accurate calorie count, you could invest in a heart rate monitor. They tend to be a little more accurate than the readout of the machine...

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    You don't mention your current height/weight or how much weight you're trying to lose overall. You indicate you have not lost any weight 'lately' - but how long has it been? Do you weigh less now than you did a month ago? If so, you're on the right path.

    A loss of 1-2 pounds per week, on average, is about the best case scenario. Patience is hard to find sometimes, but the thing about weight loss is it does take time. Eating at a deficit, accurately & honestly logging your food, is the way to get there.
    nerva0729 wrote: »
    The thing here is that I do eat less than anybody in the house, I try to eat less than 1200 calories, I count portions, no candy, nothing but water, only half a glass of milk in the morning and that's all, and I haven't lost any weight lately, I hit the plateau, and no matter how hard I try I can't lose any weight, I can't eat even less that what I am already, because I just eat a piece of toast and a half a glass of milk in the mornings, then I have usually some yogurt, and then dinner, at dinner I have what everybody eats, I usually just have smaller portions than everybody, I really don't know what else I can do; Something else is that I have anxiety, and I live my life in fear, stress and mad most of the time, my question is if it affects me too, I don't have too many cravings, I usually just have those things to eat, thank you for reading and for all your answers :)

  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
    nerva0729 wrote: »
    The thing here is that I do eat less than anybody in the house, I try to eat less than 1200 calories, I count portions, no candy, nothing but water, only half a glass of milk in the morning and that's all, and I haven't lost any weight lately, I hit the plateau, and no matter how hard I try I can't lose any weight, I can't eat even less that what I am already, because I just eat a piece of toast and a half a glass of milk in the mornings, then I have usually some yogurt, and then dinner, at dinner I have what everybody eats, I usually just have smaller portions than everybody, I really don't know what else I can do; Something else is that I have anxiety, and I live my life in fear, stress and mad most of the time, my question is if it affects me too, I don't have too many cravings, I usually just have those things to eat, thank you for reading and for all your answers :)

    Helpful people here will want to know the following: (sorry for so many qs)
    Why are you eating less than 1200 calories when 1200 is the minimum considered safe for women?
    How do you determine how many calories you eat each day?
    Do you weigh *all* food on a digital food scale?
    Do you log *everything* you eat in MFP?
    What was your starting weight, when did you start, what is current weight & height?
    How often do you weigh?
    When was last time you lost?
  • whatlunasaid
    whatlunasaid Posts: 173 Member
    Everyone else hit most of the points I wanted to make. So just 1 more thing...if you are PMSing or on your period, you could be retaining water. Weigh yourself when your period is over.

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