i mean, pedometer calories

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laurad8911
laurad8911 Posts: 99
in Fitness and Exercise
I walked to the gym and back and it took 52 minutes and 1.77 miles.... my pedometer says I burned 242 calories while MFP says 188, which is more likely to be correct? I dont know which to go by. While i realize neither is 100% accurate i would like to go with one or the other as a guideline. The reason I think the pedometer might be better is that it has the same info as MFP (my weight, the time of exercise and distance) but it also was able to track my speed the whole time. Thoughts? Anyone know which is more accuratE?

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  • DontThinkJustRun
    DontThinkJustRun Posts: 248 Member
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    Neither, unless you're wearing a heart rate monitor there is no real accurate way to measure your burn. Always error on the side of caution and take the lowest estimate.
  • deadstarsunburn
    deadstarsunburn Posts: 1,337 Member
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    If you put age, sex, height, and weight into the pedometer then that should be more accurate. If it were me in order to keep myself a bit more accountable I'd go off of MFP just because then I won't over eat so much lol.
  • KateHubb
    KateHubb Posts: 366 Member
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    My suggestion? Get a HRM. I used a pedometer until I realized it could not take into account the intensity of my workouts. When I first started here on MFP, I was confused because MFP was saying I burned 400 calories, but my pedometer said 175. I got a HRM and it turns out the pedometer and MFP were way off.... my HRM said 550 which I think is a more accurate estimate. If I'm busting my butt to lose weight, I want to make sure I'm giving myself enough credit for the calories I have burned.
  • lesley12345
    lesley12345 Posts: 89 Member
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    It depends on the type of pedometer you have. If you have one where you input your height, weight, and age and also have a chest strap that measures your heart rate than this would be more accurate.
  • laurad8911
    laurad8911 Posts: 99
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    yea im working on getting an hrm, hopefully with money from my upcoming birthday! for now ill just use the lower estimate, thankssss!
  • greg24bailey
    greg24bailey Posts: 13 Member
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    I am currently 285 pounds and a 40 year old white male at 5'9".

    I use a Garmin 310XT with a Heart Rate Monitor and it shows differences as well, I also used to use a BodyBugg (Biggest Loser) in addition to the Garmin and MFP. Anyways, I always take the lowest number so that I may or may not have extra calories to play with.

    For example, when I workout on the PRECOR AMT Full Body Elliptical for 65 minutes the machine says I burn 1200 calories, my Garmin says around 980-1050 (my HR averages 145 for the duration)...I go with an even lower number of 12.5 calories per minute or 812 input into MFP. Another example, if I run-walk and my Garmin says I burned 950 calories for a 55 minute workout, I only enter 550 calories or 10 calories per minute.

    This is just my way of keeping an extra store of calories either as extra weight loss or if I have a day in which I go over in calories for the week/month. Depending on my workouts for the week, it will give me about an extra 800 - 2000 calories per week. The 2000 calorie number I say because if I do a 60-90 minute workout Saturday and/or Sunday morning and then do another workout later in the day, I don't count the calorie burn from the second workout.

    Good luck.

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