Calories burned? Clearly I'm doing something wrong...

[RachelShrinks]

Okay, so, I am aware that it takes A LOT to get my heartrate up to what is considered a peak rate for me (my resting heartrate is 60 and I have to work very hard to get over about 150 bpm while running/elliptical/killingmyselfdoinginsanityworkouts), but I feel like other people out there are burning a lot more calories than I am.

If I workout an hour a day (run/walk HIIT at a rate of 7mph/4mph, or insanity recovery vids [not up to the other insanity—though maybe that's my problem]), I still only burn about 500 extra calories and only end up with 2500-2900 calories that day. I'm 5'5" and weigh 181 pounds. Fat and working hard—and even on an off day I average 10k to 12.5k steps.

Yet I see other people getting 4000 and 5000 calories a day (which would ROCK). Are they doing WAY more than me, or more effective workouts? Or is my low heartrate skewing the results? Or do I just not understand how it works?

Lost and confused. Okay, not so much lost, but curious and confused.

[_Lilac_]

Your calories burned is based on your height, weight, heartrate, etc etc. I almost always burn more than 4000 per day with two moderate workouts. But this is because I'm VERY heavy. I'm over 300lbs. Just moving and living burns a lot of calories at this weight. So, if you are looking at other peoples' calories burned, please be aware that they might be really tall, have an active job that burns all day long, might be a lot heavier than you are, etc. Do you have your stats programmed into the app or the site properly for your device? If you are using the base factory settings only, without adjusting them for YOU, it might read low. I think it's set at 5'4", 125lb for a woman. I had to set my mom's for her so it was more accurate. Good luck with it. 

Edit: My treadmill shows my calorie burn much lower than my fitbit tells me, though the treadmill is not constantly recording my heartrate. If it was, it might show it as higher.

[emili]

I am 46 5'7 and 135 pounds. I work out for an hour and a half sat through thurs whether its running/walking/crosstrainer or all three. I get above 2100 calories burned maybe once per week. Which is why I manage my weight with calories in instead of out. It works better for me. I think we are all so different that comparing even the same weight and height leads to big differences. If you feel good, are meeting your fitness goals and happy then you are a rock star. Also, if you have a healthy heart, your rate will be lower than someone who is out of shape- so good work on treating that sucker right.

[Dominique · Accepted solution]

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@RachelShrinks wrote:

Yet I see other people getting 4000 and 5000 calories a day (which would ROCK).

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You shouldn’t compare yourself to other people regarding the energy you expend in absolute terms. Chances are people who regularly burn 4000-5000 a day are: 1) men, or 2) younger than you, or 3) taller than you, or 4) heavier than you. Have a look at the Mifflin St Jeor equation (similar to what Fitbit is using) found in this link and use it to make some simulations. According to it, your BMR is "only" 1467 and TDEE at the highest (5/5) activity level is "only" 2787. No wonder 4000 feels unattainable for you. In almost four years of fitbitting, I probably haven’t exceeded 4000 more than 15 times. 

[RachelShrinks]

See, and this is why this forum is awesome. Thank you all.

I took a good hard look after my workout today (running 2.5 miles at a 12.5 minute pace, then 20 minutes of weights = 580 calories burned), and decided I should just give myself a break. I'm doing what I planned—losing weight and getting fitter—so maybe the numbers don't matter so much. I feel great and I'll just go with that, shall I? 

[emili]

Yes. Yes you should