General observation on calorie burns: HRM vs. MFP

magerum
magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
edited November 12 in Fitness and Exercise
Nothing mind blowing here, in fact I'm just repeating what has been said many times. It is important information, especially for new folks.

MFP's calorie burn figures seem to be high, high enough that it would stop someone trying to lose weight at a small deficit.

After testing with my Polar FT80 I'm convinced of this. For mild cardio (walking etc..) it appears MFP is about 20-25% higher than what my HRM reports.

For heavier cardio that percentage seems to increase to 30-33%.

I've come to these conclusions based solely off my own observations with my own exercising. Take it for what it's worth, but based on this I typically tell people to "eat back" no more than 2/3 of the calories MFP calculates as burned.

-M

Replies

  • ahoov72
    ahoov72 Posts: 20
    i dont eat back any calories that I burn,if I did that I wouldnt lose weight!! I just try to stay at 1500 or less per day.
  • pb6012002
    pb6012002 Posts: 54
    Thanks for the info. I have a question regarding pedometers. Maybe you can answer it. Do you normally input calories burned from daily activities that show up on your pedometer. I just got one today and for example since wearing it I have burned 39 calories. Do I input that or do I just input calories burned from working out.
  • TotalTiger
    TotalTiger Posts: 74
    Just got one and am staggered at how much MFP overestimates the calories burned. I don't eat back all of my calories but if I did on MFP estimates, I think I'd gain weight.
  • TotalTiger
    TotalTiger Posts: 74
    Thanks for the info. I have a question regarding pedometers. Maybe you can answer it. Do you normally input calories burned from daily activities that show up on your pedometer. I just got one today and for example since wearing it I have burned 39 calories. Do I input that or do I just input calories burned from working out.

    I'd just do the working out ones. You account for regular ones when you are asked how active your day generally is. They factor those into your daily calorie limit.
  • pb6012002
    pb6012002 Posts: 54
    Thank you. I kind of like just seeing how many calories I burn even when I don't work out LOL
  • wahmx3
    wahmx3 Posts: 633 Member
    I only count the calories burned doing exercise, not just general walking around and stuff that we normally do.


    Thanks for the info. I have a question regarding pedometers. Maybe you can answer it. Do you normally input calories burned from daily activities that show up on your pedometer. I just got one today and for example since wearing it I have burned 39 calories. Do I input that or do I just input calories burned from working out.
    [/quote]
  • bdur76
    bdur76 Posts: 155 Member
    This is not true for everyone, and I believe it has a lot to do with intensity of workouts! I work very hard and push myself intensely, when I log my exercise I tend to find that my polar ft40 reading is much higher than the mfp estimates, even after I back out the calories I would have burned at rest. I think the best advice is to be real with yourself regarding the intensity and duration of your workouts, and log it accurately.
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    This is not true for everyone, and I believe it has a lot to do with intensity of workouts! I work very hard and push myself intensely, when I log my exercise I tend to find that my polar ft40 reading is much higher than the mfp estimates, even after I back out the calories I would have burned at rest. I think the best advice is to be real with yourself regarding the intensity and duration of your workouts, and log it accurately.

    Solid advise, intensity is key. Problem being it's a subjective term! Like you said try to be honest with yourself. Typically they rate generously on MFP and most other tools and sites do as well. A personal HRM really opened my eyes.

    -M
  • bdur76
    bdur76 Posts: 155 Member
    Great job on the weight loss by the way! 154 pounds is awesome!
  • jeniferdawn6
    jeniferdawn6 Posts: 18 Member
    bump
  • kwest_4_fitness
    kwest_4_fitness Posts: 819 Member
    This is not true for everyone, and I believe it has a lot to do with intensity of workouts! I work very hard and push myself intensely, when I log my exercise I tend to find that my polar ft40 reading is much higher than the mfp estimates, even after I back out the calories I would have burned at rest. I think the best advice is to be real with yourself regarding the intensity and duration of your workouts, and log it accurately.

    I agree with this. Once I got my HRM, I discovered MFP was low in some areas, high in others and it all really depended on how hard I worked.
  • fittiephd
    fittiephd Posts: 608 Member
    Thank you for the info!!! I can't afford a HRM so this is really important information for me :) Thank you!
  • halhix
    halhix Posts: 48 Member
    I don't know if you are there yet. As I get closer to a normal weight, I see that what MFP, HRM, and gym equipment are starting to coming close to the same number. Each of these have different ways to calculate calorie burn. I've been successful at using the HRM to calculate calorie burn overall as I tend to do some exercises that aren't easy to figure out (for example: trail running).

    As always, if you set reasonable goals you will find your chance of success to be higher.
  • nuttyfamily
    nuttyfamily Posts: 3,394 Member
    Not true for me either.

    My HRM cal burn is higher than the MPF calculations, my runkeeper or other online resources.

    Everyone is different. Thus MPF is only an estimate.

    Also, some folks lose better not eating any cals burned, some eat 1/2 and some eat all.

    You really need to play around with it and find what works for YOU.
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