Help logging workout

I workout using dance fitness with Jessica. I worked out for 50 mins today. Her workouts are super tough but fun.. I have a Fitbit and my total calories burned says 3,364 but on my fitness pal it says I burned a total of 756 calories today. Am I logging something wrong or should I just leave it alone?

Replies

  • Lunasash
    Lunasash Posts: 32 Member
    Honestly, it is very hard to gauge how many calories you truly burn when exercising. I would leave it alone. Dont eat back your exercise calories.
  • I highly doubt you burned 3,000 plus calories on a 50 minute dance session. You can’t burn that much even through intense Hiit and CrossFit. For now just know that you can burn a minimal of 300 calories to a maximum of 700 calories per 50-60 minute session. Try your best not to eat more than 300 calories per workout session or you might end up with a weight gain.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,130 Member
    edited October 2019
    Your Total Calories burned on Fitbit includes your calories burned through living and daily activity.

    MFP is also telling you that it's adjusted your calorie goal by 756 calories vs how much it expected you too burn if you had done no exercise.

    50% of your calorie adjustment is a good starting point, you can gauge how accurate it is after 4-6 weeks by how much weight you've lost vs how much you were expecting to lose and can adjust accordingly.

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  • laydee_ke
    laydee_ke Posts: 14 Member
    I highly doubt you burned 3,000 plus calories on a 50 minute dance session. You can’t burn that much even through intense Hiit and CrossFit. For now just know that you can burn a minimal of 300 calories to a maximum of 700 calories per 50-60 minute session. Try your best not to eat more than 300 calories per workout session or you might end up with a weight gain.

    I get what your saying but the 3,000 calories burned was for the entire day. Not in one workout. That's why I'm confused about how to log it in fitness pal because they are connected. My workout was 50 mins and I burned 693 calories. On my Fitbit for the entire day says 3,000 but on my fitness pal it says I burned 750. That's including my steps and my exercise. So which one is wrong?
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Lunasash wrote: »
    Honestly, it is very hard to gauge how many calories you truly burn when exercising. I would leave it alone. Dont eat back your exercise calories.

    But isn't 50% of an estimate going to be closer than 0?

    After logging exercise (over time) you can tweak the % up or down based on actual results. You learn what the actual number is.

    The way My Fitness Pal works.......you get your calorie goal before exercise. That means you earn additional calories for exercise. Life lesson.....people who move more maintain their weight on more calories than sedentary people do.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
    laydee_ke wrote: »
    I highly doubt you burned 3,000 plus calories on a 50 minute dance session. You can’t burn that much even through intense Hiit and CrossFit. For now just know that you can burn a minimal of 300 calories to a maximum of 700 calories per 50-60 minute session. Try your best not to eat more than 300 calories per workout session or you might end up with a weight gain.

    I get what your saying but the 3,000 calories burned was for the entire day. Not in one workout. That's why I'm confused about how to log it in fitness pal because they are connected. My workout was 50 mins and I burned 693 calories. On my Fitbit for the entire day says 3,000 but on my fitness pal it says I burned 750. That's including my steps and my exercise. So which one is wrong?

    Well they're both wrong (in the sense of not being the exact right number) but they're probably close enough for weight loss purposes.

    Since your Fitbit is linked to MFP, you don't need to log the exercise here. Your Fitbit already captured it, and already sent the data over. Just go by the MFP number.

    After a month or two, you can compare how much weight you've lost with how much the calorie numbers predict you should have, and then you can adjust things based on real world data specific to you. Until then, don't let perfect be the enemy of good.
  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
    On Fitbit, it says 3000 calories for the whole day - which includes:

    living + regular activity+ exercise

    On MFP it says:

    [base calories] + [deficit] + 750 = close to 3000?

    [base calories] is the calories MFP says you can eat before adding exercise

    [deficit] is based on weight you told MFP you wanted to lose, ex: 500 calories for 1lb/week

    I'm actually not sure if Fitbit is also including the [deficit] but it will be obvious once you compare numbers.

    Also, you have to compare yesterday's numbers. Fitbit updates continuously throughout the day and makes assumptions on future hours based on previous hours. The numbers will only match up for previous days.
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    I highly doubt you burned 3,000 plus calories on a 50 minute dance session. You can’t burn that much even through intense Hiit and CrossFit. For now just know that you can burn a minimal of 300 calories to a maximum of 700 calories per 50-60 minute session. Try your best not to eat more than 300 calories per workout session or you might end up with a weight gain.

    Given the information provided the likelihood of gaining weight by eating back more than 300 of the 600-750 reported exercise calories is very very unlikely considering a calorie deficit is already factored into the calorie target from the get go.

    On the flip side, overly restricting and not fuelling workouts properly can often lead to negative outcomes due to lethargy and/or bingeing stemming from creating too severe a calorie deficit.