Calories burned walking around Disney World

Hello everyone! My family took our first trip to Disney World last weekend which included walking around Magic Kingdom and Epcot. My fitbit recorded over 22,000 steps taken and 8.9 miles walked. I have looked online on several sites to get an estimate for calories burned but it just seems way too high, saying as much as 1500 burned. We loved going so much that we ended up purchasing season passes so we can go several times a month.

I just wanted to get some advice about how to figure this all in. We packed and will be packing our own food every time so that we can weigh and record everything beforehand. We definitely did not pack enough food the first time and had to break down and split a few things in the evening. If we plan on going often I just want to make sure I am not horribly under or over eating at any point. So does 1500 calories seem a bit high for (leisurely) 8.9 miles (4'11 female, 157lbs) ? Thanks!

Replies

janejellyroll

Do you have a general reason not to trust your Fitbit calorie burns?

cmriverside

Use the fitbit numbers.

If you don't want to eat that much, don't. I would probably look at it as 200-400 extra calories, depending on your current weight.

DX2JX2

contact5885 wrote: »

Hello everyone! My family took our first trip to Disney World last weekend which included walking around Magic Kingdom and Epcot. My fitbit recorded over 22,000 steps taken and 8.9 miles walked. I have looked online on several sites to get an estimate for calories burned but it just seems way too high, saying as much as 1500 burned. We loved going so much that we ended up purchasing season passes so we can go several times a month.

I just wanted to get some advice about how to figure this all in. We packed and will be packing our own food every time so that we can weigh and record everything beforehand. We definitely did not pack enough food the first time and had to break down and split a few things in the evening. If we plan on going often I just want to make sure I am not horribly under or over eating at any point. So does 1500 calories seem a bit high for (leisurely) 8.9 miles (4'11 female, 157lbs) ? Thanks!

That burn is a bit high. It's probably half that at most. Conventional wisdom used to say that you burned your body weight times 0.31 for each mile walked though a recent study concluded that walking burns more than that, probably on order of double the 0.31 number.

Aaron_K123

If the site you used asked you to enter your info in terms of your height and weight and also asked for the amount of time you were doing the activity it is quite possible that it added your BMR into the calorie calculation. If you use that same site to ask how many calories you would burn sleeping for 24 hours does it also say you would burn ~1500 calories?

DevilsFan1

DX2JX2 wrote: »

contact5885 wrote: »

Hello everyone! My family took our first trip to Disney World last weekend which included walking around Magic Kingdom and Epcot. My fitbit recorded over 22,000 steps taken and 8.9 miles walked. I have looked online on several sites to get an estimate for calories burned but it just seems way too high, saying as much as 1500 burned. We loved going so much that we ended up purchasing season passes so we can go several times a month.

I just wanted to get some advice about how to figure this all in. We packed and will be packing our own food every time so that we can weigh and record everything beforehand. We definitely did not pack enough food the first time and had to break down and split a few things in the evening. If we plan on going often I just want to make sure I am not horribly under or over eating at any point. So does 1500 calories seem a bit high for (leisurely) 8.9 miles (4'11 female, 157lbs) ? Thanks!

That burn is a bit high. It's probably half that at most. Conventional wisdom used to say that you burned your body weight times 0.31 for each mile walked though a recent study concluded that walking burns more than that, probably on order of double the 0.31 number.

Can you provide a source for that study? I'm highly skeptical that walking burns that many calories.

Tacklewasher

157 * 8.9 miles * .3 = ~420

See the bottom of this page for the formulas

https://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/how-many-calories-are-you-really-burning

jjpptt2

Isn't walking cals = .3 * BW * distance?

So .3*8.9*157 = 419 cals. That's walking/exercise cals, so as far as how much to eat... figure that number on top of whatever your body is burning normally. Looking at it in that context, 1500 cals in total for the day doesn't sound all that unreasonable.

Tacklewasher wrote: »

157 * 8.9 miles * .3 = ~420

See the bottom of this page for the formulas

https://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss/how-many-calories-are-you-really-burning

Dammit... beat me to it.

jjpptt2

DevilsFan1 wrote: »

DX2JX2 wrote: »

contact5885 wrote: »

Hello everyone! My family took our first trip to Disney World last weekend which included walking around Magic Kingdom and Epcot. My fitbit recorded over 22,000 steps taken and 8.9 miles walked. I have looked online on several sites to get an estimate for calories burned but it just seems way too high, saying as much as 1500 burned. We loved going so much that we ended up purchasing season passes so we can go several times a month.

I just wanted to get some advice about how to figure this all in. We packed and will be packing our own food every time so that we can weigh and record everything beforehand. We definitely did not pack enough food the first time and had to break down and split a few things in the evening. If we plan on going often I just want to make sure I am not horribly under or over eating at any point. So does 1500 calories seem a bit high for (leisurely) 8.9 miles (4'11 female, 157lbs) ? Thanks!

That burn is a bit high. It's probably half that at most. Conventional wisdom used to say that you burned your body weight times 0.31 for each mile walked though a recent study concluded that walking burns more than that, probably on order of double the 0.31 number.

Can you provide a source for that study? I'm highly skeptical that walking burns that many calories.

If so, then that puts it about equal to the conventional formula used for running... which makes me think the running forumla would get bumped up as well.

olong

With utmost respect, I wouldn't trust the Fitbit in this instance. I took my daughters to Disney last spring break and will again this spring break. SOOOOO many of my steps were waiting in line.... not actually a calorie-burning activity. Your average pace was probably far less than 2.0 mph, meaning your body did "work", per se. For me, I wouldn't add any calories out. You could enter your exercise as Walking 2.0 mph, convert your miles to time -- 8.9 miles at a 2.0 mph rate is about 4.5 hours or 270 minutes. MyFitnessPal computes that as about 900K for my body. MFP is notoriously generous with their calories burned computations. Maybe, eat back only half of that. I wouldn't eat back any -- just smile at the number of steps I took and get ready for the next day!

contact5885

Thanks everyone! I plugged in 400 cal of exercise for that day knowing the app grossly overestimated. I agree that a lot of that was waiting in line or just standing but I was also pushing or holding a toddler for a good bit of the day. I'm going to try to pack a few hundred extra calories to eat when we go and see how that works for me. I'm not concerned if I eat a little more on those days because I am usually a little under every other day.

DX2JX2

DevilsFan1 wrote: »

DX2JX2 wrote: »

contact5885 wrote: »

Hello everyone! My family took our first trip to Disney World last weekend which included walking around Magic Kingdom and Epcot. My fitbit recorded over 22,000 steps taken and 8.9 miles walked. I have looked online on several sites to get an estimate for calories burned but it just seems way too high, saying as much as 1500 burned. We loved going so much that we ended up purchasing season passes so we can go several times a month.

I just wanted to get some advice about how to figure this all in. We packed and will be packing our own food every time so that we can weigh and record everything beforehand. We definitely did not pack enough food the first time and had to break down and split a few things in the evening. If we plan on going often I just want to make sure I am not horribly under or over eating at any point. So does 1500 calories seem a bit high for (leisurely) 8.9 miles (4'11 female, 157lbs) ? Thanks!

That burn is a bit high. It's probably half that at most. Conventional wisdom used to say that you burned your body weight times 0.31 for each mile walked though a recent study concluded that walking burns more than that, probably on order of double the 0.31 number.

Can you provide a source for that study? I'm highly skeptical that walking burns that many calories.

I'll see if I can find it. It's been discussed here before and is relatively recent. Maybe 2016 or so.

Edited to add: Here it is.

http://www.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00864.2015

One of the interesting findings is that their formula accounts for height. That is, the shorter you are the more calories you burn per mile (make sense given more steps). If you search, you should be able to find some websites that simplify/summarize the math.

cwolfman13

contact5885 wrote: »

Hello everyone! My family took our first trip to Disney World last weekend which included walking around Magic Kingdom and Epcot. My fitbit recorded over 22,000 steps taken and 8.9 miles walked. I have looked online on several sites to get an estimate for calories burned but it just seems way too high, saying as much as 1500 burned. We loved going so much that we ended up purchasing season passes so we can go several times a month.

I just wanted to get some advice about how to figure this all in. We packed and will be packing our own food every time so that we can weigh and record everything beforehand. We definitely did not pack enough food the first time and had to break down and split a few things in the evening. If we plan on going often I just want to make sure I am not horribly under or over eating at any point. So does 1500 calories seem a bit high for (leisurely) 8.9 miles (4'11 female, 157lbs) ? Thanks!

Just go by your fitbit...it's giving you the steps along with the BMR calories. I have a Charge 2 and my daily burn is a little inflated, but not by much.

The burn you're getting isn't just your steps...it's also you existing on this planet.

cwolfman13

olong wrote: »

With utmost respect, I wouldn't trust the Fitbit in this instance. I took my daughters to Disney last spring break and will again this spring break. SOOOOO many of my steps were waiting in line.... not actually a calorie-burning activity. Your average pace was probably far less than 2.0 mph, meaning your body did "work", per se. For me, I wouldn't add any calories out. You could enter your exercise as Walking 2.0 mph, convert your miles to time -- 8.9 miles at a 2.0 mph rate is about 4.5 hours or 270 minutes. MyFitnessPal computes that as about 900K for my body. MFP is notoriously generous with their calories burned computations. Maybe, eat back only half of that. I wouldn't eat back any -- just smile at the number of steps I took and get ready for the next day!

Being alive is a calorie burning activity...a huge one in fact...FitBit gives you credit for being alive in addition to steps and other exercise. Like right now I have a total of 2,661 steps and thus far an energy expenditure of 1,223 calories...most of that calorie burn is me being alive, not my steps. You burn a *kitten* ton of calories being alive.

The speed at which your walking is also irrelevant...your energy expenditure for walking is body weight moved over distance, not how fast you did it.

stanmann571

DX2JX2 wrote: »

DevilsFan1 wrote: »

DX2JX2 wrote: »

contact5885 wrote: »

Hello everyone! My family took our first trip to Disney World last weekend which included walking around Magic Kingdom and Epcot. My fitbit recorded over 22,000 steps taken and 8.9 miles walked. I have looked online on several sites to get an estimate for calories burned but it just seems way too high, saying as much as 1500 burned. We loved going so much that we ended up purchasing season passes so we can go several times a month.

I just wanted to get some advice about how to figure this all in. We packed and will be packing our own food every time so that we can weigh and record everything beforehand. We definitely did not pack enough food the first time and had to break down and split a few things in the evening. If we plan on going often I just want to make sure I am not horribly under or over eating at any point. So does 1500 calories seem a bit high for (leisurely) 8.9 miles (4'11 female, 157lbs) ? Thanks!

That burn is a bit high. It's probably half that at most. Conventional wisdom used to say that you burned your body weight times 0.31 for each mile walked though a recent study concluded that walking burns more than that, probably on order of double the 0.31 number.

Can you provide a source for that study? I'm highly skeptical that walking burns that many calories.

I'll see if I can find it. It's been discussed here before and is relatively recent. Maybe 2016 or so.

Edited to add: Here it is.

http://www.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/japplphysiol.00864.2015

One of the interesting findings is that their formula accounts for height. That is, the shorter you are the more calories you burn per mile (make sense given more steps). If you search, you should be able to find some websites that simplify/summarize the math.

Thanks

I'll have to read more thoroughly, but it appears superficially that they're comparing their formula(gross) with ACSM(net)

CricketClover

I burn (based on a chest strap HR monitor) consistently about 100 cals per mile while walking. I don't understand why sometimes people think that walking isn't really enough to be considered exercise, it is my main source of cardio and I work up a good sweat doing it even when it is cold outside.

DX2JX2

stanmann571 wrote: »

I'll have to read more thoroughly, but it appears superficially that they're comparing their formula(gross) with ACSM(net)

If I recall properly, they do adjust for that by having a VO2rest variable in their burn equation.

Tacklewasher

jjpptt2 wrote: »

Dammit... beat me to it.

Gave you a hug for that

VintageFeline

400 calories for 9 miles? Even if a lot of that is shuffle standing, you're still standing as opposed to sitting. I don't track at Disney so can't do an n=1 of calories in vs out but getting the same amount of calories for 9 miles of walking as I get for 1 hour of reasonable intense cardio seems low.

I am of course completely open to being wrong!

sllm1

I would trust the FitBit as well, but when I didn't have one I estimated with 100 calories per mile. Maybe take off the first two miles as they would have been counted in your normal daily activity setting.

Noreenmarie1234

DX2JX2 wrote: »

contact5885 wrote: »

Hello everyone! My family took our first trip to Disney World last weekend which included walking around Magic Kingdom and Epcot. My fitbit recorded over 22,000 steps taken and 8.9 miles walked. I have looked online on several sites to get an estimate for calories burned but it just seems way too high, saying as much as 1500 burned. We loved going so much that we ended up purchasing season passes so we can go several times a month.

I just wanted to get some advice about how to figure this all in. We packed and will be packing our own food every time so that we can weigh and record everything beforehand. We definitely did not pack enough food the first time and had to break down and split a few things in the evening. If we plan on going often I just want to make sure I am not horribly under or over eating at any point. So does 1500 calories seem a bit high for (leisurely) 8.9 miles (4'11 female, 157lbs) ? Thanks!

That burn is a bit high. It's probably half that at most. Conventional wisdom used to say that you burned your body weight times 0.31 for each mile walked though a recent study concluded that walking burns more than that, probably on order of double the 0.31 number.

This seems accurate given I only burn like 300 for walking 8 miles.

Francl27

It's not non stop walking though. You said you looked online, but you didn't say how many calories your fitbit gave you. My Fitbit is pretty accurate (for 22k active steps I typically get a 1000 calories adjustment.. with some standing in line it would probably be closer to 600).

Noreenmarie1234

Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »

DX2JX2 wrote: »

contact5885 wrote: »

Hello everyone! My family took our first trip to Disney World last weekend which included walking around Magic Kingdom and Epcot. My fitbit recorded over 22,000 steps taken and 8.9 miles walked. I have looked online on several sites to get an estimate for calories burned but it just seems way too high, saying as much as 1500 burned. We loved going so much that we ended up purchasing season passes so we can go several times a month.

I just wanted to get some advice about how to figure this all in. We packed and will be packing our own food every time so that we can weigh and record everything beforehand. We definitely did not pack enough food the first time and had to break down and split a few things in the evening. If we plan on going often I just want to make sure I am not horribly under or over eating at any point. So does 1500 calories seem a bit high for (leisurely) 8.9 miles (4'11 female, 157lbs) ? Thanks!

That burn is a bit high. It's probably half that at most. Conventional wisdom used to say that you burned your body weight times 0.31 for each mile walked though a recent study concluded that walking burns more than that, probably on order of double the 0.31 number.

This seems accurate given I only burn like 300 for walking 8 miles.

Why is this a woo ...?

kam3190

My Fitbit is very accurate for me. I get on average 18000 steps a day. I get a tdee around 3300 from Fitbit and I eat all of my earned calories back pretty much every day. I'm eating 2500 to 2800 calories a day to lose 1 to 2 lbs a week. I do absolutely no purposeful exercise this is all just work and daily living(neat).I would advise at least eating some if what you earn on those days because your body counts all activities even standing in line.