How much am I really burning?!

Alright, I'm sure that this has been asked before, but I'd like to know the answer...

My workout consists of 60 minutes on an elliptical.  At school, the elliptical I use (well, it's not quite an elliptical, but that's the closest to what it is) asks you to input your age and weight, and on an average day, it'll say I burn ~650 cals/hour.  At home, the ellipticals I use only ask for my weight, and I'll burn, on average, closer to 750-800 cals/hour.  Granted, the two machines are different, but are they THAT different?  Then, according to cc, 60 minutes of "vigorous" exercise on the elliptical burns 580 calories.

So!  Obviously I'd much rather burn 800 calories than 580, but I'm assuming that cc is using the stats I put in to come up with this number.  So, what's the happy medium?  What do you think would be a more reasonable number of calories burned?

For the record, I'm 19, female, 5'4", about 106 pounds.  Thanks!

i'm really not sure, but when i find myself in a similar situation i log the smallest amount of calories burned just in case

are you tryign to lose weight? if so you really shouldnt...

I also have the same question though, but mine is more f** up :/ I walk for 20 minutes at 3.0 mph and the machine says i burned 121 calories...while CC tells me I burned 47...go figure

I dont know what to trust, since its such a huge difference...

No, I'm not trying to lose weight.  (And I just realized I accidentally posted this in the "weight loss" forum.  Oops, I'm pretty sure I meant to post in the fitness section.  But anyway.)  I'm technically supposed to be gaining weight, but I can't just give up exercising.  I'd just like to know how much is actually burned.  I just put in what cc says (which does happen to be lowest amount), but still...just for curiosity's sake, really...

It's so frustrating about all these discrepencies!  The walking (121 vs. 47) is a pretty big difference, too.  Sheesh.

I also never know what to classify as "vigorous" or "medium" or "light."  Is there any guideline that cc follows, that I dont' know about?

oh lol same here then

im supposed to be gaining weight and its kinda hard :/  i weigh around 101 and i must gain the weight back! i wsa 115 stupid me felt ugly and fat, when all i needed to do was get fit

 

anywho..yes 121 v.s. 47 is a HUGE difference...i seriously dont know what to think...

about the vigorous, medium stuff....does the machine u work out in tell you how much mph you are covering in the speed you chose? mine tells me..it lets me select....maybe u should check out if it does have that option, that way you'll know for sure what intensity you're working out on...

 

good luck!

I took a fitness walking class several years ago, and they gave me this for walking ( I don't know if it'll help)

 

If you walk at 2 mph, multiply your weight in KG by .0357 . This is how many calories you burn per minute.

 2.5 mph, multiply by .0429

 3.0 mph, .0529

 3.5 mph, .0600

 4 mph, .0786

 4.5 mph, .1000

5 mph, .1186 

This all assumes a flat surface.

Hope that helps. 

Ohhh, that's good info to keep in mind.  I use different resistance and stuff, but that's a good start.  Thanks for everything, guys! :)