I'm just curious as to which is closer to the actual number of calories burned. On the treadmill this morning, I entered my weight and age, and according to the readout, I burned 520 calories during my hour of walking/jogging. When I entered the activity in my Fitday log, I had burned only half that number of calories. Even adding the 35 min. of weight training and 20 min. of stretching/abs, I didn't come up to 500 calories burned on the Fitday calculator.

I really have no reason to care about how many calories I burn, but it's just a curiousity thing. Any ideas which one is closer?

I've heard that many of the machines are inaccurate. I used to have a treadmill that told me I burned 900 calories an hour. My new one says it's just a fraction of that. The amount of calories you burn will be based on your weight, age, gender, and the exercise. We don't know if the treadmill manufacturer programmed it for a 170lb 26 yr old man or a 250lb 40 yr old woman. The difference could be huge. I'd suggest sticking with the FitDay info, since it's based on your own stats.

I do have to admit, though, that when I used my old treadmill, the high number of calories it said I burned motivated me to walk a lot longer. It was exciting watching the total grow.

We have a few calulators here that might come in handy.

You should believe fitday the counter on the machines are meant to make you "feel good" and I'll bet it worked

Suzanne, I used the one that you had a link to, and it was equal to the treadmill calories burned. Like the calculator you linked to, the treadmill I use lets me put in my weight (and age--don't know if that makes any difference, but it asks so I answer ) so I'm assuming it's calculating based on that.

Although it really doesn't matter in the scheme of things, it's kind of fun to see if I can burn off my breakfast.

I did a metabolic study once in college (you have to love that they give you extra credit in college courses for being a guinea pig...). Anyway, I found that the treadmill numbers (when they take into account your weight) are more accurate than the fitday numbers. But there are so many variables on that, you can't really know for sure. The cardio machines that don't have you put in your weight are WAY off...but fitday has always run low for me in terms of what I actually burn.

Cardio machines that have handles that read your heart rate AND have you enter your weight are probably the most accurate. A $130 heart rate monitor watch that you enter your age, height, weight, and sex will give you a good idea of calories burned during any activity.

spud