Calories burned are way off on MyFitnessPal?

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  • shellsrenee01
    shellsrenee01 Posts: 357 Member
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    Thanks for the advice with the chest strap and HRM. I think the strap would annoy the crap out of me, even if it fit around me. I can't see myself using it regularly. I love my FitBit though.

    I've been successful so far with 22 pounds lost by logging my food and exercise on MFP. I am averaging about 1.5-2 pounds a week. Depending on the cost of a HRM, I may just save my $ for a bit longer and stick to what I've been doing. I think the food intake makes much more of a difference for my lifestyle than the exercise does. MFP works well for the calories in monitoring. :drinker: (water...0 calories...:laugh: )
  • oilphins
    oilphins Posts: 240 Member
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    I go by what my treadmill says. I just enter the amount of minutes mfp says to equal my calories burned. this way you still know what you've burned acurately.
  • scloyd
    scloyd Posts: 327 Member
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    I look at the calories burned on MFP as just an estimate and that's it. I'm not going to worry about a few calories here and there. I never eat all of my exercise calories anyway. It's seems to be working for me. If I wasn't losing, I might consider an HRM.

    My food calories is a different story. I read every label and compare every product with the the MFP calories listed.

    Besides I would rather spend my money on new clothes that fit me than spend it on a HRM or Fitbit. I'm down from a size 40 pants to a 36 pants and an XXL shirt to XL shirts. Clothes are expensive and I don't have unlimited funds.
  • Christine1110
    Christine1110 Posts: 1,786 Member
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    It is so true...the only true way to know is to have a HRM.
  • kba0708
    kba0708 Posts: 17
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    I use MFP to log my calories and keep track of when I've been exercising so i know if im meeting personal fitness goals. (I also rarely "eat back" any calories burned) You can add calories burned manually if you have a HRM but the exercises in the data base give WAY too much credit. I had someone post that they cleaned for an hour and burned like 200 calories... Sorry, that doesn't happen!
  • Zangpakto
    Zangpakto Posts: 336 Member
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    Yea tell me about it... I mean they have an add calorie for food, but not for training? That is just stupid programming on their part...

    Also it is all user entered and I'm sorry but every one is going to be different.... Weight, Height, HR, MHR, BHR etc etc....

    For instance, I have a HR usually around 50-55 resting, I train cycling around 130-140 I train running around 170-180 when king intervals or 150-160 on long runs... I can run marathons and even a few ultra marathons, what I burn won't be the same as someone whose HR is likely 70-80 but trains the same.... I can train at threshold for 30m almost... not most people can do that... But I will be given same values for someone who can't even run a 5km.... Just not right....

    Go for what your HRM says and find closest entry, go for 1m less instead of having over calorie burnt and less stress...
  • DaBossLady24
    DaBossLady24 Posts: 556 Member
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    Unfortunately they are right =/ I invested in a HRM to more accurately track calories burned and manually enter them. MFP and the machines themselves are saying I am burning almost double as to what my HRM tells me.

    ^This. At some points, MFP and my HRM are super close, but on other days, it's NO where near. You could always find another site/mobile app like "calories burned" which may help, but still, you're probably better off investing in some form of fitbit or HRM.

    Good luck on your goals! :flowerforyou:
  • lizzynewm
    lizzynewm Posts: 199 Member
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    They're totally off, but I still log my exercise simply to keep track of how much I've been exercising. That's why I don't trust eating back my exercise calories :/
  • healthyliving_girl
    healthyliving_girl Posts: 290 Member
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    They are off, but I was still able to lose weight using the estimates. I invested in a HRM and noticed that I burn almost 1/2 less than what the machines say.

    Thing is, though....I was still losing weight using the amounts MFP and the machines gave.

    So sometimes I use the HRm, sometimes not.
  • hersheythecat
    hersheythecat Posts: 128 Member
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    Yes, the calories are off.

    I no longer have a heart rate monitor, but I use this calculator: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php and it seems to be pretty accurate (compared with what I was burning when I had a HRM, and compared to my Nike+ calculations).

    Interesting... I normally use MFP for calories but I thought I would test the above. I sewed for 6 hours on Saturday - MFP said I burned like 226 calories which I thought was really low. The above website said I burned 1619 calories which I think is high but considering how much I was doing, I wouldn't be surprised if it was correct. Thoughts?
  • Cazza2
    Cazza2 Posts: 4
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    I can't commit whether it's accurate or not but would like to add that its not accurate by only tracking calories burned from cardio. Strength exercises when done properly burn as many calories, in fact continue to burn calories long after you finish exercising.
  • shiseido_faerie
    shiseido_faerie Posts: 771 Member
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    Yes, the calories are off.

    I no longer have a heart rate monitor, but I use this calculator: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php and it seems to be pretty accurate (compared with what I was burning when I had a HRM, and compared to my Nike+ calculations).

    This calculates the same as MFP for me, unfortunately I don't yet have a HRM to compare to
  • ekloretto
    ekloretto Posts: 15 Member
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    In addition to tracking in MFP I wear a bodybugg all day long and track my food there too. When it comes to the calories burned in MFP I only log the exercises that were a true "workout" and I log the time accurately and override the calories with what my bodybugg says. And those numbers are normally 50 - 60% of what MFP suggests.
  • dhoody
    dhoody Posts: 49
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    I do a lot of boxing workouts pretty close on the calories so far
  • Jess81620
    Jess81620 Posts: 72 Member
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    Yes, the calories are off.

    I no longer have a heart rate monitor, but I use this calculator: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php and it seems to be pretty accurate (compared with what I was burning when I had a HRM, and compared to my Nike+ calculations).

    I actually found this to be pretty similiar. Although there are a lot more activities on this website and you can define what you are doing a lot more which is nice.
  • LiviLou2011
    LiviLou2011 Posts: 437 Member
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    I make my own and go from the accurate calories burned calculator..google it...and its a little different from myfitnesspal..i cant afford an HRM sooo i just go with that..i mean whatever it might be off so what i still exercised, and im losing weight so its working lol
  • w2bab
    w2bab Posts: 353 Member
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    I have a heart rate monitor that I wear while exercising. I have found that MFP is off on some of the numbers, but is right on target for others. I really don't think that MFP is so far off that it wouldn't benefit you to log your exercise. If you are worried about the numbers being too far off, maybe try to get yourself a heart rate monitor. :smile:

    I agree with this. There are other calorie-burned calculators out there too. The ones I have checked to compare to MFP's numbers have been pretty close. I eat back about half of the calories it says I've burned and I've lost 36 lbs. since mid-January, so I'm doing something right.
  • vhiarose
    vhiarose Posts: 13 Member
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    I bought a HRM, or what I think is one in the form of an exercise watch that tracks calories burned while I exercise. But the numbers seem too good to be true - did the 30 Day Shred and it said I burnt 540 calories in half an hour, I think that may be a little too optimistic. Last night I was changing the bed covers for about 15mins or less and it said I burnt 200 calories. Seems a little excessive to me.

    I looked up vigorous calisthenics on MFP (seems closest to what 30 Day Shred is) and it says I would burn about 230 calories in 30 mins. So does another website that another person recommended on this thread, so at least MFP and that website are on par. I'm talking about this one --> http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php

    Soooo... my question is, is that the right kind of heart monitor or is there something more expensive that is more accurate? Thoughts?
  • run2jeepn
    run2jeepn Posts: 183 Member
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    I burn way more the MFP says I do, according to my HRM

    x2
  • Hickyvikki69
    Hickyvikki69 Posts: 371 Member
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    i gave n saved money for 2-3mo. to get a HRM. some of these calculations without it is def. wrong.

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