How accurate are the calories burned in my fitness pal?

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mouser79
mouser79 Posts: 68
in Fitness and Exercise
How accurate are the calories burned in my fitness pal, they seem high?

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  • gettinfitmama
    gettinfitmama Posts: 164 Member
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    I don't know the technical answer but I use them as a estimate.
  • MacMadame
    MacMadame Posts: 1,893 Member
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    They are an estimate based on averages. For me, some are high and some are low. Also, as I get more fit, they get less accurate.
  • sassyredgirl
    sassyredgirl Posts: 162 Member
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    Ill say this a million times, the only way to truely know what you are burning is to invest in a HRM. Best money i every could have spent for myself. Even the machines at the gym are high....Buy one it will make a huge difference..
  • chgudnitz
    chgudnitz Posts: 4,079
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    As long as you are honest with yourself about the effort being put forth, they are close enough.

    To the exact calorie, no way, but (remember, being honest) will it say 800 calories burned and it is only 100? No. The numbers are close.
  • n8tveca
    n8tveca Posts: 12 Member
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    Ill say this a million times, the only way to truely know what you are burning is to invest in a HRM. Best money i every could have spent for myself. Even the machines at the gym are high....Buy one it will make a huge difference..

    YEP!

    I play with the minutes in the Exercise tab until it equals the calories burned on my HRM.
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
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    I always check them against my HRM numbers and they are pretty close, when I am honest about how hard I worked.

    I did an experiment with another member who was male and younger. he put in 45 minutes of cardio and I did too and the numbers were way different. So it is not the same numbers for everyone.

    I think the system uses your age, height and weight to determine your calories burned.

    So feel pretty safe in using these numbers. A LOT of ppl on here do not have an HRM and have lost tons and tons of weight!

    :drinker: Good luck!
  • n8tveca
    n8tveca Posts: 12 Member
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    I always check them against my HRM numbers and they are pretty close, when I am honest about how hard I worked.

    I did an experiment with another member who was male and younger. he put in 45 minutes of cardio and I did too and the numbers were way different. So it is not the same numbers for everyone.

    I think the system uses your age, height and weight to determine your calories burned.

    So feel pretty safe in using these numbers. A LOT of ppl on here do not have an HRM and have lost tons and tons of weight!


    Thats a very good point regarding the people that do not have a HRM. However, if your aiming for efficiency to get the most out of your workouts a HRM is a very good investment to keep yourself in the right zones. This was very important to me in my beginning stages as I often had to pause in order to bring my heart rate to a safe level. So for me, the better I eat, the more I keep my heart rate in the proper zones the more efficient my works become. As always....do your best and forget the rest :)

    I never considered that the calories were related to specific individual stats, that makes sense. I think I'll play around with the actual amounts in the databse instead of tweaking them to my HRM calories burned, thanks!

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