Eliptical calorie burn discrepancy

[annetteoc]

Hi,

I just did a 65 minute eliptical workout. I entered my age and weight into the machine and used the heart rate monitor as well. The machine says I burned 617 calories, but my Fitbit HR is only giving me 459 calories.

That's a big difference!

Any thoughts on which is more accurate?

Thanks!

Annette

[shipo]

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@annetteoc wrote:

Hi,

I just did a 65 minute eliptical workout. I entered my age and weight into the machine and used the heart rate monitor as well. The machine says I burned 617 calories, but my Fitbit HR is only giving me 459 calories.

That's a big difference!

Any thoughts on which is more accurate?

Thanks!

Annette

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Pretty hard to say; the Fitbit/459 number looks a little low, the machine's 617 number looks better, but the truth of the matter, either (or neither for that matter) could be correct.

Argument in favor of the machine; it knows how much energy was put into it.

Argument in favor of the Fitbit; it knows your resting heart rate and can calculate the delta between that and the average heart rate during your workout.

Sorry I cannot be more help.

[GershonSurge]

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@annetteoc wrote:

Hi,

I just did a 65 minute eliptical workout. I entered my age and weight into the machine and used the heart rate monitor as well. The machine says I burned 617 calories, but my Fitbit HR is only giving me 459 calories.

That's a big difference!

Any thoughts on which is more accurate?

Thanks!

Annette

---

The reason calories are important to me is I am interested in the daily calorie deficit for weight loss. I find if I call everything but  taking a walk or going for a run a workout, it takes about a 4,000 calorie deficit to lose a pound. No more worrying about counting steps or the type of exercise. I can hold the shopping cart with two hands and hold a cane in my watch hand. 

Perceived effort is often inaccurate. For instance, I burn fewer calories per minute jogging at an old man pace than I do walking normally. 

There is no way to tell if Fitbit is more accurate than the elliptical, but Fitbit will give you the answer you need to the question "Will I lose/maintain/gain weight?"  

One thing I do is calculate the calories per minute I burn during a workout including planned rest periods. I multiply that by my Resting Metabolic Rate/60. This is the old definition of Metabolic Equivalent (MET), which is good enough for me. The number shows how hard a person is working compared to sleeping.

To find my RMR, I started a workout when I went to bed and found how many calories I burn when asleep. 

It sounds like lots of work, but now I have an excellent comparison for exercises. 

[emili]

machines typically over estimate calorie burn even when entering your data. Your HR is monitoring you constantly so that would be the more accurate number. None of them are exact- there is a plus/minus margin for calories in and out. I use what fitbit tells me, I don't even pay attention to the machines.