[kassiebby1124]

Hi, all! I have a question. I own a Wii console with Just Dance 2&3. On the days when I can't make it to the gym, I use those games (like today). But honestly, how many calories do you burn? For those who've played it, does dividing 4.2 by the number of sweat points you gain REALLY equal the amount you've burned? Or is there a different way to tell?

[sontaikle]

Just Dance is fun, but I doubt the calorie count burned is accurate. I never use it when I play (nor do I try to figure out calories burned for anything I do). Even machines at the gym are notoriously inaccurate.

I think the only way to get an accurate number on your calories burned is to buy a fitbit or a little device like that.

[DietVet]

Yeah, if you want to track your calorie burn you'd need to get a heart rate monitor or fitbit or something--and even those are only estimates.

You might find it helpful to think about it this way: as a (VERY) general rule*, a person burns around 10 calories/minute doing high intensity exercise--going close to all out. An out of shape runner really pushing herself on speed and distance might burn around 9-11 cals/minute. Lower intensity exercise burns fewer calories. But the point is that you are unlikely to EVER burn more than 10 calories/minute, and only that when you're working really hard. If you're doing something like a Wii sport game that has you moving around at a moderate level of intensity with some high intensity bits and some lower intensity bits, you'll be burning less than 10 cal/min. If I had to make a totally random, uninformed guestimation, I'd reckon that about 250 cals would be a fair guess for 30 minutes of dancing with your wii. It might be as high as 300 if you are out of shape and dancing really hard; or it might be closer to 200 if you're not.

Either way, this is a great example of why 'eating back' calories based on estimated calorie burn during exercise is generally frowned up. If your game is telling you that you've burned 500 calories in 30 minutes (or whatever), and you eat back those calories, you'll be undoing all the hard work of the calories you did burn!

*This is all completely affected by height/weight/level of fitness/etc. It's just a ballpark way of thinking about exercise and calorie burn. If you want a more accurate answer, save up for a HRM or fitbit.

[astrophe]

I just wear my heart rate monitor while playing Wii.

A.