confused about burn meter and eat meter totals

What does the estimate burn meter mean vs the daily calorie intake?

If I have a daily eat meter of 1900 and a burn meter of 2910, does that mean I have to burn at least 2910 calories per day?? 

The burn meter is an estimate of how many calories you burn in a day. Your daily calorie intake is just that; how many calories you eat in a day. If you have an eat meter of 1900 and a burn meter of 2910 it means you are at a caloric deficit of 2910-1900 = 1010. This means you should lose a little over a fourth of a pound today. Get it?

I was confused about this also but your explanation helps some.  On the burn meter total estimate; mines says 1980.  What does that mean? 

My burn meter says 933 cal.  I have not logged any activity today so does that mean I burn that many calories just naturally with out any excerise?  Resting heart rate?

Burn Meter
Total Estimate: 1980 cal

 

933calBurn Meter
Total Estimate: 1980 cal

 

Yes, your total estimate is how many calories (your normal expenditure)  you burn daily just by living; no additional activity. (over a 24 hr period from midnite til 11:59pm)

Your burn meter is what you have burned up to that point (notice it shows you a time of day) during the day. Right now (at 2:47pm EST) my burn meter tells me what I have burned naturally since midnite.

If you add exercise or any additional activity to your activity log, it will increase the number of calories in your total estimate to include the extra activity.

Please let me know if this helps!

Thanks for the explanations. I think I get it...but am wondering why the burn meter estimate changes? Shouldn't that stay the same based on the amount of calories I burn each day? Mine changed from 2910 to 2780 now and today says I burned 2257 cals. with my daily activities.

Yeah, and I've noticed when I've logged that I've gotten, say, 8 hours of sleep, my total calories burned goes up!  Does that mean that I've burned more calories by sleeping than I would have by staying up all night?

Hi Tylercase,

 

Cute kitty.  I'm a cat nut so I could not resist telling you!

She's adoreable at least kitty looks like a girl, I could be wrong. 

I just joined the website a few days ago.  Best of luck to you,

Kedi 

 

ohhh i was wondering this too! But i think it makes sense. I was wondering why every hour or so I woudl check in to add my food to the log and the burn meter is always a different number! Mine is really high though, I think 3680. I don't really add in every activity I do though becuase that is just annoying, but if i do vigourous cleaning then I will add that.

The total estimate on the burn meter is what CC figures you burn from being alive (breathing, heart beat, blinking, etc.) and what you put in your profile -- if you are sedentary, light, active, etc., and I think it also includes if you live in a warmer or cooler region.  According to the Help section, it includes your "demographics." The estimate is what CC thinks you should burn for the day.  Whether you actually do so or not is a different story.  :-)

Warmer climates tend to burn fat faster than cooler ones, like saunas. :-)  Think about it -- use a push mower in the heat of summer vs. in cooler weather.  Your body has to work harder and sweats when it's hot out vs. when it's not.

The burn meter (big number) shows you how much you've actually burned so far. This basically includes what you burn just by being alive (heartbeat, etc) PLUS any activities you've entered on your log - working out, etc.

If you'll notice throughout the day, the burn meter adds up as the day goes on, even if you don't enter any activities for the day. The burn meter is the "actual" meter, not an estimate.

The food meter shows you the daily goal (your limit) and the big number tells you what you've eaten so far, which may or may not be past the limit.

In order to lose weight, you have to burn more than you eat. So basically, your burn meter's big number should be more than the food meter's big number. If it's not, then you're gonna end up gaining. If it's equal, then you're going to end up maintaining your current weight. Just think, it takes 3,500 calories to equal 1 pound. So you'd have to burn this from activities or from cutting calories/eating or -- the easiest way is to do both. 

(It takes roughly 35 miles of walking to lose 1 pound too.  Gosh, that sounds so impossible to achieve.)

Also, if you'll notice with both the food and burn meter... they're 2 shades of color each, and they've got a dotted white line near the top. Think of the meters as a glass or cup. As the meter gets full, it gets filled in a darker shade of blue or green. It's considered full once it reaches the white dotted line. And yes, you can definitely pass the freakin' line like I have. LOL.

So if you don't understand the meters, you can at least figure it out by comparing them to an empty glass that's slowly filling up, right? Hope this helps!

Your burn meter goes up when you add any activity - even if it's something you'd figure you do anyway, like sleeping.  I want to explain it better though.  
What you have to do is figure out how to get an actual representation of your daily expenditure.  They don't explain that part well so it's confusing at first.
For example, you have to do one of two things, not both.
Either choose the level of activity that represents your average day - light, moderate, heavy - and realize that number is taking into account all the activities you do in a day.  Do not add in any activites unless it is a higher calorie expenditure than your normal realm of activity level (i.e. a light activity person going on a 5 mile run).
Or - choose sedentary as your activity level and manually add in any sweat burning activities.  The sedentary setting already includes your BMR (what your organs require just to exist) plus normal activites in a sedentary day - sleeping, brushing teeth, driving, sitting around...so these do not need to be added in.  If you add in everything that you do, then some things will be repetitive and your burned calories will falsely go up.
I don't even know they give you the option to add in sleeping other than to show you how many calories you burn.  Some things definitely need to be cleaned up or better explained on this website.

kiwikim - the number of hours sleep you get on average is one of the questions in a member's account settings.  So yeah, the option is there -- if you can find it.  It's about as easy as finding anything else on this site that isn't in a forum. :-)

Haha that was supposed to say "WHY they give you the option to add in sleep" - it's factored in no matter what activity level you choose.

Wow this REALLY helped I just joined today and was wondering about the burn meter too! Now I don't have to ask-you just told me! Thanks so much!

Does it matter when you put in your activities for the day? Sometimes I have an extra minute in the morning, so I'll put in the activities I plan to do all day. My job basically stays the same from day to day, and I count that. Will that affect the rest of the day, or doesn't it matter?

OMG thank you - I was so confused by this whole burn meter business! I think I'm finally getting a hang of this tool ;)

HOW is the burn meter number figured?

And what is figured in with the burn meter number?

Part of my information is due to my workout 5x a week I considered myself to have a moderate activity level.

What about the days I don't workout?

Do I add my workout on days I do workout?

 

As confusing as this is for me at this beginning point, I do think the concept here and the reality of what this website offers is phenomenal!