Yet another Burn Meter question - and I'm not a newb'!

So I'm a bit confused ...

My account is set at "sedentary" and I add in my activity. Without activity, the Burn Meter on my home-page says I'd burn 1870 per day, and yet when I use the "Burn Meter" tool (off of the tools menu), I'm told I burn 1900 per day while "sendentary". Only a 30 calorie discrepancy, but ... let the confusion begin!

Now, when I enter activity that totals a burn of 504 calories, the Burn Meter on my home-page says I'll burn 2290 for the day ... which doesn't add up.

How can I burn either 1900 or 1870 per day naturally PLUS another 504 with excercise, and have it come to 2290 on my home-page burn meter? The math makes no sense as it comes to either 2404 or 2374 total burn, depending on which basic burn is accurate (adding 1900 or 1870 to the 504). How is this possible???

Granted, the difference in deficit is only 114 to 84 calories, but over the course of a week (when I burn 504 cals, 5 times per week), that could add up to 420 to 570 calories per week - and that's nothing to sneeze at!

Anyone else as puzzled as I am? Anyone know why it works this way, or what I should count on as a true measure of my daily burn?

i think it includes the calories your body uses to keep your organs going and since that's already included in your daily burn without exercise, it's subtracting that from your calories burned exercising... does that make sense at all?

edit: i think there are already posts talking about this that I've read before that will explain it more clearly

I noticed the same problem on my account too! I have no idea why it does this.. but  I end up burning an additional 100 or so calories just to make myself feel better. You should check this website: www.phord.com/cc . It will tell you what your body burns in a given day, and your recommended calorie intake.

If you know what you're burning and consuming per day, and as long as there is that deficit of 500-1000 per day, you can do the math and make sure it totals up to a deficit of at least 3500 calories (1 lb. lost) and you should be fine... Hope this helps.

Auralay, I hadn't thought of that, but that does make sense. I did look for other posts, but I'm at the office on my lunch hour and when I didn't find what I wanted in a cursory search, I just posted. But thanks, that helps explain it!

Also, thanks for the link Harmony, but I've been there a ton of times. :-) I like that site, but it doesn't jibe with what CC tells me for my burn and since this is where I log my cals, I figured I'd stick to what is given here for consistency sake.

Thanks!

To harmonpl,

Thank you so much for the website www.phord.com/cc.  Wow, that makes it so much easier to understand and also, gave me a more realistic daily calorie intake.  this site (CC) tells me I should consume 1650 per day, and the site above says only 1533.  I have always known that 1650 was too much, cause I won't lose any weight.  I try to keep my intake between 1300-1400, but now I know I can eat just a little more and still lose, or so it says, 2 lbs. per week.  I love CC and am so greatful for having found it, but this new site is a little more accurate cause you can enter your measurements too.

It is a great tool to use in addition to CC.  Thank you very much.  Lisa

Original Post by lslisalou:

To harmonpl,

Thank you so much for the website www.phord.com/cc.  Wow, that makes it so much easier to understand and also, gave me a more realistic daily calorie intake.  this site (CC) tells me I should consume 1650 per day, and the site above says only 1533.  I have always known that 1650 was too much, cause I won't lose any weight.  I try to keep my intake between 1300-1400, but now I know I can eat just a little more and still lose, or so it says, 2 lbs. per week.  I love CC and am so greatful for having found it, but this new site is a little more accurate cause you can enter your measurements too.

It is a great tool to use in addition to CC.  Thank you very much.  Lisa

Hey lslisalou, and anyone else who might read this post, I've got a links entry in my journal here on CC with some other helpful places online that you might want to check out. Enjoy!

Since we are all different, it's likely that the numbers given in the burn meter are estimates at best.  I agree that the important thing is to remember to burn more than you eat and ultimately, you'll lose weight.  In my too many years of taking it off (and putting it back), I've found that if I go too low on the consuming end, I plateau.  Maintaining IS better than gaining, but it's frustrating.  We "know" it takes 3500 kilo calories to burn off a pound.  Keep that number in mind, and don't worry too much if there's a little discrepancy one way or the other.  Remember to hang in there for the long haul!

Original Post by auralay:

i think it includes the calories your body uses to keep your organs going and since that's already included in your daily burn without exercise, it's subtracting that from your calories burned exercising... does that make sense at all?

edit: i think there are already posts talking about this that I've read before that will explain it more clearly

I think this is the answer. Lets say you work out for an hour to burn those 504 calories. Had you been at rest your body would have burned x calories per hour, so 504 - x is whatever the number its putting up there.