Logging exercise

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delaney056
delaney056 Posts: 475
in Fitness and Exercise
I use my stationary bike for cardio most of the time. I don't have a heart rate monitor, but it does have a thing on it that records the amount of calories burned. I don't know how accurate it is.
I ride for 45 minutes at 25 mph or greater. The machine tells me I burn around 500 calories, MFP tells me about the same. I don't want to overestimate...
Are there any online calculators or anything that use something (such as weight and age) to more accurately determine the calories you burn, or is that what MFP uses? Or is the number the same for everyone?

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  • 16griffin
    16griffin Posts: 20
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    I would also like to know the answer to that and if there are any recommendations on watches that can give an accurate readings on calories burned durning exercise. I have heard from numerous people that treadmills / stationary bikes don't always tend to be correct and if I am doing a class I am pretty much just guessing how many calories I have burned. Any suggestions would be helpful! Thanks!
  • Brittonloves
    Brittonloves Posts: 60
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    While waiting for the day I can buy an HRM (soon, I hope!) I use this website: http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc along with MFP's estimations, and average the two. I also tend to log exercise very conservatively. If I do an hour of circuit training, I log the average of MFP and that website (which let's you break things down a bit more) but only for 45 minutes worth. I'd rather under-estimate the calories I'm burning than over-estimate and think I'm doing better than I am.
  • lunchlady1208
    lunchlady1208 Posts: 127
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    http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

    http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/fitness/directory/

    You can compare to these places. The LiveStrong site you have to input your info just once if you make an account, the other page you can do each time you go but do not need to sign up for anything. I usually go with the lower number just so I do not over estimate. Usually the MFP and these site are fairly close.
  • sharleengc
    sharleengc Posts: 792 Member
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    For over a year, until I broke down and bought an HRM, I used the machine ##'s because I figured that accounts a little bit more for slowing down/speeding up and MFP just oes a straight shot. Using the machine total didn't affect my progress at all. I'd say if using the machine # doesn't affect your progress then go with that.
  • delaney056
    delaney056 Posts: 475
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    While waiting for the day I can buy an HRM (soon, I hope!) I use this website: http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc along with MFP's estimations, and average the two. I also tend to log exercise very conservatively. If I do an hour of circuit training, I log the average of MFP and that website (which let's you break things down a bit more) but only for 45 minutes worth. I'd rather under-estimate the calories I'm burning than over-estimate and think I'm doing better than I am.

    Thanks! I took MFP, which gave me 457, and averaged it with the site you gave me, which was 495, and got 476. So I guess I'm gonna go with that :) It had cycling at vigorous... do you think 25mph would be very vigorous?

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