Inaccurate Readings?

A lot of people feel like the estimates given by machines are inflated. If it's really concerning you (which it does concern a lot of people) you could consider purchasing a heart rate monitor with a chest strap and the ability to estimate calorie burn during exercise. A lot of people on here use those instead of the estimates given by machines or MFP and feel like they give more realistic numbers. There are also other devices that people use like BodyBugg, BodyMediaFit, and FitBit that use different methods other than heartrate to attempt to estimate calorie burn. It's all still an estimate, but many people feel like the estimates given by those devices is a little more trustworthy. :-)

I've actually stopped logging a lot of exercise and focused just on maintaining logging my food intake, because I feel like the days I enter exercise estimates either from the machine I used or the suggestion MFP gives me, I gain those weeks. I just log the minimal I did that day to remind myself I need to get up off my *kitten* and make sure I've made an effort...and then I leave those calories lie, I don't eat them up. The weeks I do that, I lose. Hate to say that, because I know losing slowly and safely means getting calorie credit for exercise, but it doesn't work for me. I have one contact that can't figure out why she doesn't lose, but counts food prep as exercise every day. My advice is simply if you do count exercise, low-ball it for sure and certain!