How many calories am I burning?

tbonejackson · 07-18-2008, 11:01 AM

I am pretty good shape already. I am 27, I weight about 189 and I am about 5'11. I am trying to get down to about 180. I am really watching what I eat and how many calories I take in and trying to compare that to how many I am burning. However, I have a hard time gaging how many calories I am burning when I exercise.

I went to this calculator online:

Calories Burned, BMI, BMR & RMR Calculator | CaloriesPerHour.com

It seems to me that it over estimates how many calories have been burned by a great deal. For example, I was at a Jujitsu/Kick Boxing class for about 3 hours yesterday and it indicated that I burned something like 2,000 calories. Does this seem right? If it is than great, but that just seems like a really high number.

I am kinda new to this calorie counting thing so any help someone could give me would be greatly appreciated.

tbone

PMC · 07-18-2008, 11:18 AM

First step is counting how many drops of sweat hit hte floor, after you've done that, then you must multiply that by 2, after that divide it by the time spent. and badabing, you have a math calculation

Oblivian · 07-18-2008, 12:30 PM

Let me geuss, you plugged in that you did kickboxing for 3 hours, right? You have to realize the calculator doesn't know what you did. Did you do 3 straight hours of intense kickboxing? Did you stand around for part of that time learning new techniques? How much of that time were you really working?
If you did 3 hours of straight kickboxing and rolling ju-jitsu, then you'll lose your weight in no time. My guess is you really did about an hour to 2 hours tops of straight kickboxing and rolling.

rbastid · 07-18-2008, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PMC

First step is counting how many drops of sweat hit hte floor, after you've done that, then you must multiply that by 2, after that divide it by the time spent. and badabing, you have a math calculation

Of course another great answer from a perfect athlete who shouldn't be bothered. Sometimes even whitebelts have real questions they need help with, it takes less energy to help them to create some insult.

I always take the calorie calculators with a grain of salt because how hard you push yourself can mean just as much as the exercise itself and the time you did it. I know many Kick Boxing classes for the masses claim that you burn 500+ in their sessions so in a legit BJJ/Kick Boxing class I would assume in 3 hours your doing just as much, if you add in the warms ups, burpies, rolling and Kick boxing 2,000 doesn;t seem too out of the picture.

**Standard** · 07-18-2008, 12:35 PM

Don't waste your time, if you are not dropping weight over at minimum a weeks time period (not daily) adjust your food intake to compensate, say 250 - 500 cals a day depending on your goals, check again in a week and reevalute then.

son_goku · 07-18-2008, 12:48 PM

I agree that you need to decrease your caloric intake by 500 cals per day, but I disagree that writing down your intake is a waste of time.

1. Keep a journal of EVERYTHING you eat and sum the calories for an entire week.

2. Decrease your daily intake by 500 calories.

3. After two weeks you should be down approximately 2-lbs [all things equal]

4. If your not losing weight decrease your caloric intake by 500 calories again. If you are loosing weight maintain this diet if not GOTO STEP 2.

Do not drink ANY alcohol or pop during your diet.

**Standard** · 07-18-2008, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by son_goku

I agree that you need to decrease your caloric intake by 500 cals per day, but I disagree that writing down your intake is a waste of time.

Who said not to write down caloric intake? trying to calculate expendature via an online source is a waste though

tbonejackson · 07-18-2008, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oblivian

Let me geuss, you plugged in that you did kickboxing for 3 hours, right? You have to realize the calculator doesn't know what you did. Did you do 3 straight hours of intense kickboxing? Did you stand around for part of that time learning new techniques? How much of that time were you really working?
If you did 3 hours of straight kickboxing and rolling ju-jitsu, then you'll lose your weight in no time. My guess is you really did about an hour to 2 hours tops of straight kickboxing and rolling.

I see what you are saying. This is exactly the sort of thing I was having a hard time with. A good portion of the class is going to be actual kicking and punching, but a solid chunk of it is standing there and listening to instruction. How the heck would you calculate that? I'm perfeclty fine with an estimate. How many calories do you think an average person who exercises daily can burn? 1,000? 5,000? I don't even know what is reasonable. I have dramatically changed my diet though. The last two days I have taken in 2700 and 2300 calories respectively. Is this a reasonable amount? I tried to actually eat a little less than that but I started getting weak and nauseous and had to eat more.

thanks for the great feedback so far. I look forward to hearing more of it.

tbone