Calories burned by walking

stjoe56
stjoe56 Posts: 2 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
What is the formula I should use to determine calories burned while walking.

I weight 296 pounds. MyFitnessPal says if I walk 20 minutes at 3 mph I burned 148 calories.

If you use the another standard, 100 calories per 150 pound per mile that equals 197 calories.

My dietician says to use .6 calories per pound per mile which equals 177 calories.

There is a huge gap between 148 calories and 197 calories!

Replies

  • kimhartley
    kimhartley Posts: 2 Member
    I use the pacer app to track steps. It will sync to MFP and show calorie burn.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited September 2021
    The MyFitnessPal estimate is problematic for most people doing low rate of burn but long duration exercise as it's a gross calorie estimate when you really want net calories (just the extra burned because you were exercising to avoid double counting the calories you would have expended anyway in that time slot).
    Gross instead of net is a common issue with standalone apps and many web formulae.

    A simple net calorie formula for walking is body weight in lbs X miles walked X 0.3 (that's a general efficiency ratio for normal walking speeds, no significant gradient).
    296 X 1 X 0.3 = 89cals

    A more nuanced solution would be to use the net calorie option from this highly regarded calculator - https://exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs
    Gives 108 cals for you walking a mile in 20 minutes.

    Your dietician's formulae looks a lot like the common net calorie formula for running rather than walking (0.63) but running is twice as inefficient a movement as walking (the energy expended to get both feet off the ground make the difference).
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,760 Member
    I second the exrx calculator. It got me out of a year long plateau where I was going by my fitbit numbers and thought I was in a deficit. I walk enough that the fitbit was verrrrry much overestimating my exercise calories burned.

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