Which calorie count for exercise should I trust?

Asked by: Jay Butler

Should you count exercise when counting calories?

It’s better to create a calorie deficit through nutrition than through exercise, experts say. Workout in ways you enjoy to make fitness a sustainable part of your life, not a way to burn calories.

Are exercise calorie counters accurate?

While some types of cardio machines are more accurate than others, none of them will be 100% accurate. In general, they overestimate your calorie burn by 15% to 20% because they can’t account for all the individual factors involved in calorie-burning.

What should my exercise calorie goal be?

A general rule is to aim to burn 400 to 500 calories, five days a week during your workouts. Remember, the number of calories you burn in a workout depends on your weight, sex, age and many other factors, but this number is a good starting place.

Should I trust calorie counters?

Our bodies are not bomb calorimeters, and there are many variables in play, so calorie counts are notoriously unreliable. Paying attention to calories still does help you be more aware of how calorie-dense your food is. It can also help you regulate portion size.

Should I count active or total calories?

If you are counting exercise calories to lose weight, try to track your total daily caloric expenditure (TDEE) rather than just the calories burned during your workout. You may find that you make adjustments to your activity level and food intake that negate the calories burned from exercise.

Should I look at total calories or active calories?

If you’re unsure of the difference, we’ve got answers. Simply put, active calories are those you burn while walking, climbing, jogging — whatever you do for exercise. Total calories include active calories and resting calories, which are those your body burns naturally, even when you’re just lounging on the couch.

Is Fitbit or Apple Watch more accurate for calories burned?

Apple allows for a distinction between “active” and “resting” calories. Because of this, your Move ring only shows the active calories. Ultimately, both the Apple Watch and Fitbit are equally accurate at tracking calories burned, but the Fitbit will show a larger number because of the inclusion of “resting calories.”

Is calories burned on Apple Watch accurate?

Your Apple Watch uses information such as your height, weight, age, gender, heart rate, and movement throughout the day to calculate how many calories you burn. It’s an estimation of course, but in general, the results are considered fairly accurate.

Is heart rate a good indicator of calories burned?

Your heart rate indicates how much effort it takes for you to do a certain activity, and that effort determines the calories you burn. If a heart rate monitor indicates your calorie burn, it’s more likely to be accurate than the average activity tracker because it’s taken your specific heart rate in to account.

Which calorie calculator is most accurate?

What is the best calorie calculator? If you don’t know your body fat percentage, the Mifflin-St Jeor calorie calculator equation tends to produce the most accurate results. If you know your body fat percentage, the Katch-McArdle equation is the most accurate BMR equation.

Is the Fitbit calories burned accurate?

But how accurate is the calorie counter on a Fitbit? The quick answer: Definitely not 100 percent accurate. The slightly longer answer: It’s not perfect, but no calorie counter is and Fitbit is likely as good as any. A 2017 study found the Fitbit Surge had a median error of 27 percent when counting calories burned.

Is MyFitnessPal accurate with calories?

Conclusions: Dietary analysis with MyFitnessPal is accurate and efficient for total energy intake, macronutrients, sugar, and fiber, but not for cholesterol and sodium.

Should I eat back the calories I burn through exercise?

Most adults do not need to eat back their exercise calories because they are doing moderate activities, like walking, biking, swimming, weight-lifting, etc. These activities do not burn enough calories to require a post-workout snack, particularly if weight-loss is the intended goal.

Can you eat more calories if you exercise?

Key Takeaways. Eating back the calories you burn during exercise is unnecessary and usually just slows weight loss. Most of the methods people use to calculate how many calories they burn during exercise overestimate their actual calorie burn, which can lead people to eat more than they should.