What a difference 200 calories makes!!

So today was my first day at the gym in a very long time. I just did 30 of elliptical at moderate intensity. MFP says I burned 383 calories. I do not believe that. I assume I burn around 200 calories. So I gave myself 200 extra. I was at 1300. I feel so much more satisfied!! But I was definitely more hungrier

Replies

  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    Do you mean that you were eating 1300 calories before adding in exercise calories, or after adding exercise? How did you arrive at that calorie goal? If you frequently feel hungry, then you may want to select a slower pace of weight loss so you can eat more. Exercise is great, and will give you more calories to eat, but as you noted it may also make you feel hungrier.
  • jenniferanderson3888
    jenniferanderson3888 Posts: 53 Member
    I was eating 1300 before exercise
  • I use a heart rate monitor for this reason! The machines always seem to over estimate, even when I adjust settings to fit me! Today for example: climbed stairs for about 20 minutes and machine read I burned 350 calories but my heart rate said 250-ish. A big difference.
  • emilysusana
    emilysusana Posts: 416 Member
    Yeah, I couldn’t keep up my deficit without exercise. Plus, it makes me feel good and gives me other goals to keep sight of beyond the scale goals, which can be important for adherence. Hope you’re able to keep it up! Don’t forget that if you feel really sore after the first day back, it won’t last forever!
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 989 Member
    I spend most of my gym time on the cross trainer (elliptical) as I watch TV. For ages, in MFP I'd enter about 50-75% of the number of minutes actually exercised as I thought MFP was overestimating the calories by a lot, Now, I've made it a habit to look at the number of calories that the machine says I've burned - I enter my weight and it knows the speed / intensity of my exercise. In MFP, I then play around with the number of minutes until I get the more realistic calorie count.

    Today, I was probably on the cross trainer for about 45 minutes, but I entered 25 mins to MFP to get 235 calories.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Exercise calories are the yummiest!