Are exercise cals accurate in MFP? Plus do you always eat them back?

TaraSpottyCat
TaraSpottyCat Posts: 42 Member
edited March 2019 in Fitness and Exercise
Are exercise cals accurate in MFP? I find they are nowhere near what the treadmill states I've burned, and other online sources all say different! So who or where is correct?!

Plus...I'm a regular exercise noob; do you always eat your exercise cals back? In my case, due to certain disabilities, I live a sedentary life otherwise, so wonder if I shouldn't eat them, as I'm only really burning cals that others do in their daily lives, them being more active than me. I'm not sure what to do!

Also, I use various toning chairs and tables. I can't find any exercise in the list that is close - I had to use 'shovelling snow' just to get something close in cals terms 😄
(I find many exercises / sports in the list are catered to Americans, and there are few UK gym component terms)

Thanks in advance for any help.

Tara

Replies

  • estherdragonbat
    estherdragonbat Posts: 5,283 Member
    It varies. If I plug in that I walked at 3.5MPH for an hour and I actually did, then it will be right. But suppose I was going mostly 3.5, but due to the terrain, traffic lights, etc., sometimes I was going 3.3, sometimes I was going 3.6 BUT it was downhill, and I averaged 3.4. Well... I'm pretty close, but it's not exact.

    If your treadmill doesn't have you input your weight at the start, it will base what it tells you you burned off of what the programmers consider and average user (I heard that's typically 150lbs). If you're heavier, you'll burn a bit more. Lighter, you'll burn a bit less.

    I generally eat back 50% of my exercise calories and use the rest as a cushion against improper estimating. If I'm hungry, I'll do 75%. Usually I'm not.

    Try 50% for 4-6 weeks and see if you're losing where you ought to be. If it's too fast, eat back more. Too slow, eat back less and/or check your food entries to make sure you're eating as little as you think you are. (Weighing your food will give you far greater accuracy than measuring/eyeballing).
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited March 2019
    Are exercise cals accurate in MFP? I find they are nowhere near what the treadmill states I've burned, and other online sources all say different! So who or where is correct?!
    The general inaccuracy is that MFP often gives gross calories instead of net calories, for short duration exercise that's not really significant and lost in the general inaccuracy of food, exercise and activity estimates.
    If you are walking on the treadmill (without incline or holding on to the rails) your bodyweight in lbs x 0.3 x miles will give you a perfectly reasonable estimate.
    It's a huge database and there is no single percentage of inaccuracy that can be applied to all exercise or indeed all people.

    Plus...I'm a regular exercise noob; do you always eat your exercise cals back?
    Being new to exercise is irrelevant - exercise isn't accounted for in your daily goal.
    Yes I always eat back my exercise calories but often I don't use the database here for those estimates.

    In my case, due to certain disabilities, I live a sedentary life otherwise, so wonder if I shouldn't eat them, as I'm only really burning cals that others do in their daily lives, them being more active than me. I'm not sure what to do!
    There is absolutely no overlap between activity setting and exercise, they are completely separate. If you are sedentary then set your activity as sedentary and that's all you need to do.

    Also, I use various toning tables. I can't find any exercise in the list that is close - I had to use 'shovelling snow' just to get something close in cals terms 😄
    What is a toning table?

    (I find many exercises / sports in the list are catered to Americans, and there are few UK gym component terms)
    I'm in the UK too - what precisely can't you find? Do check if you are looking in the right part of your exercise diary (only the cardio part has calorie functionality by the way). The database has a huge number of exercises and you can also create your own custom ones.


  • kbmnurse1
    kbmnurse1 Posts: 316 Member
    I am only going to eat back 25-50% of my calories.
  • TaraSpottyCat
    TaraSpottyCat Posts: 42 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    Are exercise cals accurate in MFP? I find they are nowhere near what the treadmill states I've burned, and other online sources all say different! So who or where is correct?!
    The general inaccuracy is that MFP often gives gross calories instead of net calories, for short duration exercise that's not really significant and lost in the general inaccuracy of food, exercise and activity estimates.
    If you are walking on the treadmill (without incline or holding on to the rails) your bodyweight in lbs x 0.3 x miles will give you a perfectly reasonable estimate.
    It's a huge database and there is no single percentage of inaccuracy that can be applied to all exercise or indeed all people.

    Plus...I'm a regular exercise noob; do you always eat your exercise cals back?
    Being new to exercise is irrelevant - exercise isn't accounted for in your daily goal.
    Yes I always eat back my exercise calories but often I don't use the database here for those estimates.

    In my case, due to certain disabilities, I live a sedentary life otherwise, so wonder if I shouldn't eat them, as I'm only really burning cals that others do in their daily lives, them being more active than me. I'm not sure what to do!
    There is absolutely no overlap between activity setting and exercise, they are completely separate. If you are sedentary then set your activity as sedentary and that's all you need to do.

    Also, I use various toning tables. I can't find any exercise in the list that is close - I had to use 'shovelling snow' just to get something close in cals terms 😄
    What is a toning table?

    (I find many exercises / sports in the list are catered to Americans, and there are few UK gym component terms)
    I'm in the UK too - what precisely can't you find? Do check if you are looking in the right part of your exercise diary (only the cardio part has calorie functionality by the way). The database has a huge number of exercises and you can also create your own custom ones.


    There is absolutely nothing that is close to toning tables or chairs in either of the two lists.
    They work you pretty hard as long as you put the resistance in. I use 8 different chairs and tables that concentrate on different parts of the body. You program them either beginner, intermediate, or advanced, then choose level 1-3. They are motorised, and you work against them. Not easy at all!

    This is just one image of a toning chair:

    https://www.google.com/search?q=toning+chairs&client=ms-android-samsung&source=android-browser&prmd=sivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUycDlwozhAhXhURUIHbEwCyEQ_AUoAnoECA8QAg&biw=412&bih=670&dpr=2.63#imgrc=jC2R-33IDPpt5M
  • TaraSpottyCat
    TaraSpottyCat Posts: 42 Member
    estherdragonbat wrote: »
    It varies. If I plug in that I walked at 3.5MPH for an hour and I actually did, then it will be right. But suppose I was going mostly 3.5, but due to the terrain, traffic lights, etc., sometimes I was going 3.3, sometimes I was going 3.6 BUT it was downhill, and I averaged 3.4. Well... I'm pretty close, but it's not exact.

    If your treadmill doesn't have you input your weight at the start, it will base what it tells you you burned off of what the programmers consider and average user (I heard that's typically 150lbs). If you're heavier, you'll burn a bit more. Lighter, you'll burn a bit less.

    I generally eat back 50% of my exercise calories and use the rest as a cushion against improper estimating. If I'm hungry, I'll do 75%. Usually I'm not.

    Try 50% for 4-6 weeks and see if you're losing where you ought to be. If it's too fast, eat back more. Too slow, eat back less and/or check your food entries to make sure you're eating as little as you think you are. (Weighing your food will give you far greater accuracy than measuring/eyeballing).

    Hi I do enter my weight on the treadmill, but it states I've burned much much more than MFP. I fast walk on no 7-8 incline at a constant speed of 6 mph or kph - It doesn't state which, and I need to ask which unit of measurement the machines run on.
    I do 30 mins non stop, then move onto other equipment.

    I'm OCD about logging my foods, so I know I'm ok there. Everything is weighed 😊
  • TaraSpottyCat
    TaraSpottyCat Posts: 42 Member
    estherdragonbat wrote: »
    It varies. If I plug in that I walked at 3.5MPH for an hour and I actually did, then it will be right. But suppose I was going mostly 3.5, but due to the terrain, traffic lights, etc., sometimes I was going 3.3, sometimes I was going 3.6 BUT it was downhill, and I averaged 3.4. Well... I'm pretty close, but it's not exact.

    If your treadmill doesn't have you input your weight at the start, it will base what it tells you you burned off of what the programmers consider and average user (I heard that's typically 150lbs). If you're heavier, you'll burn a bit more. Lighter, you'll burn a bit less.

    I generally eat back 50% of my exercise calories and use the rest as a cushion against improper estimating. If I'm hungry, I'll do 75%. Usually I'm not.

    Try 50% for 4-6 weeks and see if you're losing where you ought to be. If it's too fast, eat back more. Too slow, eat back less and/or check your food entries to make sure you're eating as little as you think you are. (Weighing your food will give you far greater accuracy than measuring/eyeballing).

    I'll try eating 30% back, because I'm so sedentary the rest of the time, and see what happens 😊
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited March 2019
    TaraSpottyCat wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    Are exercise cals accurate in MFP? I find they are nowhere near what the treadmill states I've burned, and other online sources all say different! So who or where is correct?!
    The general inaccuracy is that MFP often gives gross calories instead of net calories, for short duration exercise that's not really significant and lost in the general inaccuracy of food, exercise and activity estimates.
    If you are walking on the treadmill (without incline or holding on to the rails) your bodyweight in lbs x 0.3 x miles will give you a perfectly reasonable estimate.
    It's a huge database and there is no single percentage of inaccuracy that can be applied to all exercise or indeed all people.

    Plus...I'm a regular exercise noob; do you always eat your exercise cals back?
    Being new to exercise is irrelevant - exercise isn't accounted for in your daily goal.
    Yes I always eat back my exercise calories but often I don't use the database here for those estimates.

    In my case, due to certain disabilities, I live a sedentary life otherwise, so wonder if I shouldn't eat them, as I'm only really burning cals that others do in their daily lives, them being more active than me. I'm not sure what to do!
    There is absolutely no overlap between activity setting and exercise, they are completely separate. If you are sedentary then set your activity as sedentary and that's all you need to do.

    Also, I use various toning tables. I can't find any exercise in the list that is close - I had to use 'shovelling snow' just to get something close in cals terms 😄
    What is a toning table?

    (I find many exercises / sports in the list are catered to Americans, and there are few UK gym component terms)
    I'm in the UK too - what precisely can't you find? Do check if you are looking in the right part of your exercise diary (only the cardio part has calorie functionality by the way). The database has a huge number of exercises and you can also create your own custom ones.


    There is absolutely nothing that is close to toning tables or chairs in either of the two lists.
    They work you pretty hard as long as you put the resistance in. I use 8 different chairs and tables that concentrate on different parts of the body. You program them either beginner, intermediate, or advanced, then choose level 1-3. They are motorised, and you work against them. Not easy at all!

    This is just one image of a toning chair:

    https://www.google.com/search?q=toning+chairs&client=ms-android-samsung&source=android-browser&prmd=sivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUycDlwozhAhXhURUIHbEwCyEQ_AUoAnoECA8QAg&biw=412&bih=670&dpr=2.63#imgrc=jC2R-33IDPpt5M

    I would suggest just logging the duration as "strength training" (under CV part of the diary).
  • fishgutzy
    fishgutzy Posts: 2,807 Member
    Just my own uniformed opinion.
    I do not believe threat the is any truly accurate calculator for exercise.
    MFP, like most calculators are based on some average for a given weight and sex.
    My Garmin shows a higher number than the MFP swim calculator. So I use the MFP member.
    Knowing some of the assumptions used in the algorithm is helpful too.
    For instance, the swimming front crawl leisurely/moderate assumes one is swimming 50 yards per minute. If one is only swimming 30 years per minute it will over calculate. But I swim a little faster than the assumption.

    I also only enter deliberate exercise. I don't enter steps or walking to office (when I'm in China).
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,168 Member
    TaraSpottyCat wrote: »
    estherdragonbat wrote: »
    It varies. If I plug in that I walked at 3.5MPH for an hour and I actually did, then it will be right. But suppose I was going mostly 3.5, but due to the terrain, traffic lights, etc., sometimes I was going 3.3, sometimes I was going 3.6 BUT it was downhill, and I averaged 3.4. Well... I'm pretty close, but it's not exact.

    If your treadmill doesn't have you input your weight at the start, it will base what it tells you you burned off of what the programmers consider and average user (I heard that's typically 150lbs). If you're heavier, you'll burn a bit more. Lighter, you'll burn a bit less.

    I generally eat back 50% of my exercise calories and use the rest as a cushion against improper estimating. If I'm hungry, I'll do 75%. Usually I'm not.

    Try 50% for 4-6 weeks and see if you're losing where you ought to be. If it's too fast, eat back more. Too slow, eat back less and/or check your food entries to make sure you're eating as little as you think you are. (Weighing your food will give you far greater accuracy than measuring/eyeballing).

    Hi I do enter my weight on the treadmill, but it states I've burned much much more than MFP. I fast walk on no 7-8 incline at a constant speed of 6 mph or kph - It doesn't state which, and I need to ask which unit of measurement the machines run on.
    I do 30 mins non stop, then move onto other equipment.

    I'm OCD about logging my foods, so I know I'm ok there. Everything is weighed 😊

    Given two or more competing estimates, with no reason to believe one is likely to be more accurate than the other, personally I'd log the lowest one. Logging exercise consistently (same estimating method every time) is more important than being 100% accurate (which is mostly close to impossible anyway), in a context where we adopt a new regimen, log carefully, wait 4-6 weeks, evaluate average weekly results, and adjust intake . . . which is what we should be doing when we use MFP in general, IMO.

    Best wishes!

    P.S. I always estimated my exercise calories carefully (comparing multiple potential sources of estimates if available) and conservatively, then ate pretty much all of them back, through the most-of-a-year when I lost 50ish pounds, and the 2+, nearly 3, years of maintenance since. It worked fine.

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