Calculating Calories Per Miles Walked -- Need Help in 2021

AudreyPriceAz · March 2021

I did search. I found stuff from 2016 so I'm asking for an answer that is relevant in 2021...

I just downloaded this app last night and it wanted ME to calculate the calories burned walking 30 minutes. I thought that was the app's job to tell me how much that'd be lol.

I have a course around the house I found gives me 2500 steps in half an hour. At 5'2 I figure that counts as a mile with a little wiggle room. So my routine has been to turn on the timer for 30 minutes and walk til it goes off. Then repeat up to 2.5 miles, 3 miles, or 5 miles, depending on what time it is, what I have to do, etc. I am disciplined enough I do at least 1 mile a day regardless. I work so sectioning out a whole 2 and a half hours of down time is hard but I can pop in periodic half hour walks.

The app doesn't really explain how to do that so I'm hoping someone can give me the (right) answer.

My current weight is 147.4
I'm 57/F
I'm 5 ft 2

So how many calories am I burning walking 1 mile in a half an hour?

My goal is 2-3lbs a week gone & 105 buy June/July

When I get to 120ish then I'll incorporate the toning and exercise but if I did that now I'd probably pass out and die. 😁

Thanks!

callsitlikeiseeit · March 2021

you will not be 105 by july. so, lets get that notion out of your head right now.

there is no way to accurately tell the calorie loss. any and everything will be an ESTIMATE. 1 mile in a half hour is a pretty slow pace. up the intensity, and it will be more. For me... i might give it 100 calories? and i wouldn't eat all that back. honestly, at that pace i wouldn't eat any back. but until you learn your body, try eating back about half.

mfp depends on you to enter in the time and intensity of your workout. How else is it supposed to know. You can attach a fitness tracker, but even those are just estimates. I have a fitbit and FOR ME.... it is reasonably accurate but it does estimate on the high side. Sync a tracker with mfp and you wont have to enter anything.

sijomial · March 2021

Your weight loss goal is far too harsh - don't risk a crash and burn. Set far more reasonable expectations now.
Try to make the process as easy as possible to help sustainability. In two years time it won't matter how fast you get to goal but it will matter enornously that you did!

Don't wait to start "toning and exercise" - start healthy habits now and not some time in the future. Remember that exercise is not intended to boost your rate of loss. It's supposed to be calorie neutral if you use this site as designed. Just like your car - do more and you need more fuel.

Here is a walking calculator I use, select the net calorie option.
https://exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs

I would try and get your pace up from your current 2mph to get more benefit from your time and your walking.

yirara · March 2021

Walking is fairly simple to calculate, unless you're a professional speedwalker. Walking is quite simple physics, really: weight over a distance multiplied by a factor that accounts for being human. Speed doesn't matter that much, but distance and your weight does. I often see lbs*miles*0.3 here and wonder how precise it is. Maybe it's a bit more, 0.4 or so. But fact is: walking doesn't burn a lot of calories compared to running where you use a lot more muscles and jump against gravity off the ground.

As for your wish to lose a shitload of weight in an unrealistic time: I'm afraid that won't happen. 2lbs per week is really the maximum for morbidly obese people. You are very light already. Let me give you some numbers: If you are sedentary then your calorie needs are currently around 1750 calories per day.

If you wanted to lose 2lbs per week then you'd need to eat 1000 calories less per day. 1750-1000 = 750 calories. Nope. you'd burn out, binge, and more importantly get sick if you did that. You're just not heavy enough to lose so aggressively. You could maybe expect 1lbs per week at most. Sorry for being the grumpy one here, but someone has to tell you, and protect you from yourself. If you want to lose weight then do it slowly, incorporate muscle training to preserve muscles. Btw, why do you want to be close to underweight? Your goal is a BMI of just about 18.

rheddmobile · March 2021

A mile in a half hour would be a super slow mile - 2 miles per hour. Just a bit of trivia, traffic signals are supposed to be set to allow slow and elderly people who can only walk at 2 mph enough time to cross. I’m guessing that if you are deliberately walking for exercise as opposed to ambling slowly, you are walking faster than this. For most people, a relatively alert walk is about 3 mph, and a fast walk is about 4 mph. You’re petite so it may be a little slower.

You can enter 30 minutes of walking at whatever speed you choose into the MFP app and it will calculate an estimated calorie burn for you, based on your current weight. Be warned that it tends to overestimate, so keep an eye on your weight to be sure you are losing as expected if you eat back your calories.

The rule of thumb for a safe maximum rate of weight loss is no more than 1% of your current weight per week, so for you that would be a pound and a half. Three pounds and you risk muscle loss, hair loss, and other unfortunate side effects. I know it’s boring but you have your whole life ahead of you, it took you a while to gain the weight, it will take a while to lose it.

BarbaraHelen2013 · March 2021

Well...taking a real life example from this morning. I burned 131 calories by walking 6.25 miles in just a few minutes under 2 hours.

I’m 2 years older than you and 2 inches shorter, and a bit lighter at 118lbs but it seems to me that even 100 cals per hour would be a bit optimistic. 🤷‍♀️

Edit to add that I’m an idiot! I took the calories above from the wrong walk today! The 131 was actually from the 35 minute walk with the dog at lunchtime, not the longer walk this morning!

The true calories for the 6.25 mile was 565 cals. I’ve confused myself so I’m just going to leave that there for you to draw your own conclusions as to cals over time/distance! 😳

riffraff2112 · March 2021

I found quite a few calorie estimators online with a simple google search. They all seem to yield similar results. I let my fitness watch just track my steps and it automatically syncs with MFP so I don't enter it as exercise per directly.

heybales · March 2021

azaudreyprice wrote: »

I did search. I found stuff from 2016 so I'm asking for an answer that is relevant in 2021...

I just downloaded this app last night and it wanted ME to calculate the calories burned walking 30 minutes. I thought that was the app's job to tell me how much that'd be lol.

I have a course around the house I found gives me 2500 steps in half an hour. At 5'2 I figure that counts as a mile with a little wiggle room. So my routine has been to turn on the timer for 30 minutes and walk til it goes off. Then repeat up to 2.5 miles, 3 miles, or 5 miles, depending on what time it is, what I have to do, etc. I am disciplined enough I do at least 1 mile a day regardless. I work so sectioning out a whole 2 and a half hours of down time is hard but I can pop in periodic half hour walks.

The app doesn't really explain how to do that so I'm hoping someone can give me the (right) answer.

My current weight is 147.4
I'm 57/F
I'm 5 ft 2

So how many calories am I burning walking 1 mile in a half an hour?

My goal is 2-3lbs a week gone & 105 buy June/July

When I get to 120ish then I'll incorporate the toning and exercise but if I did that now I'd probably pass out and die. 😁

Thanks!

I'm just curious where you were at in the app where it was asking you for calorie burn and it was providing nothing?

Ditto's to using the link in a comment, use the NET option when you log on MFP.
Look at the gross if curious what you burned in that chunk of time in total.

And huge emphasis to what has been stated - don't attempt that weight loss rate, you'll regret that sooner and later.
Don't have goal weight or you'll just stress yourself out.
Do start body weight resistance training now, not after you've already lost some muscle mass, which many find about impossible to put back on with what they are willing to do.

GummiMundi · March 2021

I don't use the app, I use the desktop version, but I suppose it's similar. Go to the Exercise tab. On your Exercise Diary, under Cardiovascular, click on "Add Exercise". In the Search box, type "walking". It'll give you several different speeds, pick the one closest to what you did. Then it'll show a box in front of "How long?". Fill in the minutes. Click on the green button "Add Exercise" and it's done.

You don't need any extra calculations, MFP does them for you. No need to complicate what's simple.

Edited to add: Considering your pace, I'd choose the entry "Walking, 18.5 mins per km, slow pace". With time and practice, you can be sure your pace will increase.

Best wishes to you!

AudreyPriceAz · March 2021

Thanks.

So on the calories burned it's the exercise link when you put in the time and it said calories burned. I think it said a reasonable average is 100 burned per mile.

I just went with that and will be updating the log thing.

Redordeadhead · March 2021

azaudreyprice wrote: »

Thanks.

So on the calories burned it's the exercise link when you put in the time and it said calories burned. I think it said a reasonable average is 100 burned per mile.

I just went with that and will be updating the log thing.

Hmm, my exercise options look a bit different. When I add an exercise and enter "walking", I have to choose a pace and enter minutes performed, then it gives me a calorie estimate so I don't put the calories myself. There's no option for me to enter the distance. If I take your example and select "walking, slow place" (2mph) I get 70 calories for 30 minutes.

GummiMundi · March 2021

For me, it will give 65 calories for 30 minutes, but that estimate varies from person to person because it accounts for height and weight. I use the metric system, that's why mine is in kms instead of miles.

Here's what mine looks like:

AudreyPriceAz · March 2021

Yes...that's it. It wasn't doing it initially, but it seems to be doing it now. Remember, I just started this on Sunday night so I'm learning how it all works...but this one seems to have worked itself out.

thanks!

Calculating Calories Per Miles Walked -- Need Help in 2021

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