how many calories are you really burning and is it enough?

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  • tappae
    tappae Posts: 568 Member
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    My HRM just reported 1077 for an hour of hill running, which I think is quite high. The MFP calculator gives me closer to 800, which I think is probably more accurate. On the other hand, I was pushing a 30+ pound stroller on a very hilly course (combined gain of maybe 400 to 600 feet over the 6 miles), so it might have been a bit more than that.
  • runfatmanrun
    runfatmanrun Posts: 1,090 Member
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    I think of MFP as a guide too. I use the food on here and figure I would use the exercise on here. Keeps is simple for the most part. I know there are more accurate ways and if I ever want to get ripped I would likely look at them but for now I will eat the food cals here and exercise here with knowing ignorance of the exact numbers. It's all about personal preferences/goals.
  • mrsjennifermaffei
    mrsjennifermaffei Posts: 469
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    Ya 20 calories per minute is very hard to do. I typically burn about 12-13 if I am busting *kitten* and almost fainting...so its hard to understand claims of 900 calories in 45 minutes. I can burn about 320 or so in 25 minutes...good enough for me!
  • RhonndaJ
    RhonndaJ Posts: 1,615 Member
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    As with everything else to each their own. If they're losing weight using the numbers they're using, then it's great for them. If they're not and wondering why that might be one of the first places to start, particularly if they eat back their calories.

    I think the calorie numbers I get from both my elliptical and MFP are high. But I don't really care. Where I am the point is simply to be exercising, for as long and as hard as I can manage at a time. My goals are to top out my times and my levels on a progressive basis.

    When I'm less fat, then I'll look at things again, but I really don't think that I'll ever worry about eating back my calories. I'm learning to listen to my body and hopefully it will tell me when I need more, or less.

    Sometimes we just take the mathematics of it all too seriously.
  • camisetgo
    camisetgo Posts: 27 Member
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    Ok...I am really confused. MFP is saying I have burned around 900 calories after 90 minutes on my elliptical. Are you saying this is innaccurate? Its about 300 less than my actual machine is saying I am burning (which I never believed anyways) I work out hard....at the top of the resistance. I am trying out the Olivia Method on here. I have lost almost 60lbs but I am stuck in a plateau with the last ten lbs. So far with using this Olivia method and MFP I am still stuck. Up two pounds, down two pounds...nothing is moving. However I have only done it for a week...but I am very concerned about gaining if these numbers are so off. Someone who really knows what they are talking about PLEASE let me know what you think!
  • LindaCWy
    LindaCWy Posts: 463 Member
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    Psychologically speaking, this would be a detriment to some individuals' plans. Sometimes the frame of mind we are in goes a long way and after reading this article, it doesn't drive me to work hard to burn such a small amount of calories. However, I have to wonder where all this "simple math" comes from...

    I think this: we need to stop overanalyzing this process (unless we are taking it to a whole new level, like bodybuilding) because as long as we are eating healthy and staying active, we'll get there. I agree that it would be extremely difficult to burn 900 in 45 minutes (I like my HRM - it never gives me this type of reading), but I also don't add up my burned calories each week to ensure I've lost x amount of pounds... I just do it. I just exercise and run and take classes at the gym because it feels good and I'm staying active. I eat more veggies and not so many processed foods because I feel better and more accomplished when I do that. I like this new lifestyle, and no matter what I'm "actually" burning, I log what my HRM says because its part of my routine to give me a psychologically pleasing result at the end of the day.

    This, deserves to be reposted.I go by my HRM, it's not a polar, but it did cost a fair penny and seems accurate... durr I dunno, still seeing results.

    People need to just focus on themselves.
  • Owlie45
    Owlie45 Posts: 806 Member
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    That's why I add my workout at the end of the day. So it doesn't matter if its accurate or not cause I'm still under my calorie goal.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    I think the problem is that some people are exercising to eat, not eating to exercise. They want/need that huge number so they can eat back those calories. I'm a fan of creating a deficit in your diet and then fueling your workouts with the food you need.....but that takes a mindset of "food=fuel" which not everyone has yet.
    I use MFP as a guideline....and I actually set my calorie goal based on the advice from fat2fitradio. So, with a daily goal of 2100 calories (just a little below maintenance for my goal weight), I have no need to eat back exercise cals or worry about whether or not my number is accurate. I'm just looking for fuel to help me push on with my daily activity.

    I use an HRM (Polar FT4) which I feel is pretty accurate, but once again, I'm not chasing a number (for eating purposes anyway). I usually burn 700 calories a day, but that takes 3-5 miles of running and maybe some weights or a spin class thrown in. I put in a heck of a lot more time than 45 minutes though.

    I don't think anyone is suggesting that we need to criticize people for where they are in their "journey" but the forums are for advice and education.....so there is nothing wrong with discussing a topic that could benefit numerous people.
  • mia22224
    mia22224 Posts: 3
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    Simply put:

    MFP in essence is just a guide. It is almost impossible for it to be "truely" accurate for anyone. Considering that amounts may not be exact measurements and so on and so forth.

    With regards to calories burned........every body type is different, even the machines will tell you this is only an estimate.

    It is good to record everything as it forces you to "see" what your approx. calorie intake and expenditure is.

    I don't eat back calories that just doesn't make sense......generally if you are committed to a weight loss/management program you are reading the nutrition labels on the food you are eating and you are measuring your quantities of food that you are consuming. You have as good of an idea as any computer program what you consumed. In the event that I had a really vigirous workout at the gym and I know I burned "mega" calories I will eat some fruit, or something I know contains protein so that my body is not "storing" as opposed to burning.

    The only thing I really use MFP for is accountability to myself. It prevents me from making "excuses" for why I can't make it to the gym today, or justifying that "ice cream" lol

    Just my thoughts
  • alyssamiller77
    alyssamiller77 Posts: 891 Member
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    You know, before we decide to get so judgemental of other's logs let's remember a few things. Most importantly, the amount of calories you burn doing any activity depends in large part on your overall weight and the ratio of lean body mass to overall body mass (most often expressed in terms of Body Fat %). Gender also plays an indirect role. So if you're a 120 lb female, you may find it difficult to burn 500 cal/hr doing some activity while a 285 lb male might easily burn that much doing the exact same thing. Second, intensity always plays a role here and if you were to do suicides for 45 minutes I'm betting there are some who could hit the 900 calorie mark in that timeframe.

    I hear so many stories on here of people who think MFP's estimates are high and yet for me I find they are consistently low. Now I'm sure part of the problem is that the estimates are not calculated with people like me in mind. I'm 5'11" and 161 lbs with about 9% body fat (so sayeth the caliper test). In other words I'm a lot more muscle than the average 5'11" male and so I'm sure that leads to me burning at a higher rate than that average. I get annoyed with all the statements like "there's no way you could burn x calories in x minutes” because you don't know that for sure. I actually deleted someone from my friends list who took it upon themselves to tell me that the 3400 calories that my status said I burned refereeing three 90 minute soccer matches was totally inflated and that I should be using an HRM to get the right numbers because they felt it was probably only about half that amount. What this person didn't know were the specifics I gave you above nor that the calculations I use for calories burned refereeing are customized to me and based on a lot more information than an HRM alone would use.

    Everyone's body reacts to exercise differently. The Body Recomp system does not work for me but I know others that have used it to great success. I eat my calories back, I work my butt off and the fact is I've successfully lost the 30 pounds I set out to lose and am successfully maintaining while slowly building additional muscle mass.
  • Wonderob
    Wonderob Posts: 1,372 Member
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    Lately I have seen quite a few posters claiming they are burning a huge amount of calories in a short amount of time. Claims of 900 calories in 45 minutes are not unusual.

    The hard truth is, it is very unlikely you are actually burning anywhere near that amount. This only matters if you are actually eating back ALL your exercise calories, which is a personal choice.

    A harder truth is even if you are burning that many calories, it doesnt automatically translate to weight and fat loss.

    Your diet is the key factor. Without the proper deficit (not too high and not too low due to over estimating calories burned and eating them back) all the exercise in the world is not going to make you lose weight.

    See-

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/exercise-and-weightfat-loss-part-1.html

    This website is one of the best I have found for what we are doing here.

    Love these websites, excellent advice
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
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    I find MFP's #'s, for running, walking, and strength training (circuit training entry) to be pretty accurate. I don't have a HRM but weigh and measure daily, syncing results with CI/CO. My metabolism runs about 300 cal/day hotter than MFP's calcs. I've also done this on all sides of the coin, losing, maintaining, and gaining. I pretty much lose and gain exactly what I expect to.
  • BeyondThePixels
    BeyondThePixels Posts: 91 Member
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    I will say that 900 calories in 45 minutes is probably not accurate unless it's a very large person in relatively good shape. I would have to sprint for 45 minutes to get close to that (and I'm not physically capable of that). I can burn 700 calories in a day, but that is me running 1.3 miles at 6 am, then running another 20 minutes followed up by 40-45 minutes of lifting in the evening at the gym. The biggest problem that I see with the gym is people thinking that ellipticals burn the way that MFP indicates. You see people freewheeling away for 30 minutes and while it is a good workout, I question how much they are really accomplishing.

    I agree. And the "freewheelers" (I know a few of them) usually feel so accomplished that I don't want to rain on their parade by questioning their effort.

    I agree, it takes a LOT for me to burn 900 calories. I usually "pause" my HRM when I switch machines and don't start it again until my heart rate is elevated and stop it immediately when I cool down. What works for ME, is overestimating my calories/servings and rounding down calories burned.
  • cordianet
    cordianet Posts: 534 Member
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    Look, I agree with most all of what's been said here, we do have to be really careful with these calculations because they are after all, estimates. 900 calories in 45 minutes seems like a lot to me too, but I'm not the person claiming to have done that, so who am I to judge?

    As to the article you posted, in my opinion the author of that article is massively discounting the effect of mass in estimating calories burned. That approach just does not hold up to scientific scrutiny. We can't cheat physics here, the more mass an object contains, the more energy it requires to move it at a given speed. That's why most of the online calorie expenditure calculators (including the one here on MFP), take into consideration both the intensity of the exercise AND weight of the person exercising, something the author of the article you posted did not do.
  • Wonderob
    Wonderob Posts: 1,372 Member
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    I will say that 900 calories in 45 minutes is probably not accurate unless it's a very large person in relatively good shape. I would have to sprint for 45 minutes to get close to that (and I'm not physically capable of that). I can burn 700 calories in a day, but that is me running 1.3 miles at 6 am, then running another 20 minutes followed up by 40-45 minutes of lifting in the evening at the gym. The biggest problem that I see with the gym is people thinking that ellipticals burn the way that MFP indicates. You see people freewheeling away for 30 minutes and while it is a good workout, I question how much they are really accomplishing.

    I agree. And the "freewheelers" (I know a few of them) usually feel so accomplished that I don't want to rain on their parade by questioning their effort.

    I agree, it takes a LOT for me to burn 900 calories.

    I calculated once that I would need ro run 45 miles to burn one single pound!
  • akiramezu
    akiramezu Posts: 278
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    love it when people over estimate and i just shake my head and go about my day
  • Wonderob
    Wonderob Posts: 1,372 Member
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    love it when people over estimate and i just shake my head and go about my day

    Why do you love it?
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
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    I just ran 5 miles in 44 minutes and burned 689 calories according to my heart monitor. I can see if I picked up the pace a little, being able to hit 900 potentially. It is not totally out of this world.
  • B_Running
    B_Running Posts: 158
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    love it when people over estimate and i just shake my head and go about my day

    lol
  • Dave198lbs
    Dave198lbs Posts: 8,810 Member
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    You know, before we decide to get so judgemental of other's logs let's remember a few things.


    There were a couple of people who accused me of judging. I dont look at other peoples logs but I have seen posts on the open forum on the calorie burned issue. I wasnt judging anything, When I first started here I am sure I often over estimated my calories burned with exercise. I wish I had found the referenced website earlier in my journey. Maybe it will help just one person starting out on theirs now.

    What I did here was refer people to what I think is an excellent web site on fitness, nutrition and related information, If it doesnt apply to you, wonderful. As the original post said, if you dont eat ALL your exercise calories then it doesnt matter anyway.

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