I just did 30 mins on the cross trainer, 5k and burned an amazing....

[MrsMingech]

...58 calories.

I realise the 5k doesn't mean much given that I'd didn't run it.

But 30 mins of sweating, puffing, hurting and I burned an effing 58 calories?!

FIFTY EIGHT 😭😭😭😭

I think there must be different types of cross-trainer. The ones I used to use at my previous gym: level 5 or 6 as a starting point and I could do more than 10 minutes easily, even when I was starting out.

New gym: five minutes at level 1 and I thought I was going to die. Granted, my fitness had dropped off in the interim but not by THAT much. And it told me I'd burned three - THREE - calories. Barely even covered the coffee I needed afterwards...

Yeah just over a "jaffa cake"
:-/

I do level 5 and burn 400 odd calories in 40mins according to the machine.

I remember reading you had to run for over 20 minutes to burn off 1 Mars bar. I'd rather not eat the Mars bar tbh. 58 cals sounds very low though for what you've done.

@DameCelia

But *@MrsMingech* exercise doesn't make you lose weight ! Eating less makes you lose weight. Never heard the expression "you can't outrun a poor diet" ? Or "Weight is lost in the kitchen not the gym"? (Lift weights, you'll build muscle which burns more calories while you're resting than fat does)

Not quite

A calorie deficit makes you lose weight. It's possible (but harder) to achieve a calorie deficit through exercise alone if you do enough of it

Those are just catchy phrases to remind people that just exercise alone isn't going to reverse the impact of a high calorie diet on your weight

Exercising a lot has helped me maintain a healthy weight. It gives me space to have a few extra packets of crisps and chocolate bars over the week. The biggest thing I noticed was my shape totally changed even though I didn’t lose weight.

OP I feel for you. I stopped relying on exercise to keep to a decent weight after working out that 15 mins on the exercise bike was the equivalent of a Penguin (quite a fancy biscuit IMO). I think it's easier to forgo the Penguin.

I think people get too caught up in the calorific benefits of exercise! A 5k won't allow you to eat whatever you want but it will aid weight loss, improve cardiovascular health, allow you to sleep better, built your muscles etc etc !

People talking about just forgoing the chocolate are missing the other benefits of exercise beyond a pure calorie burn.

As an average, running burns 100 calories per mile. Thats all! Walking is 60-80 depending on pace. I always feel so cheated!! then I started cycling and that's only 30-35 calories per mile at an average of 14mph and I really push myself but its much easier on my joints so I opt for this! I always found that cardio machines such as arc trainer and cross trainer take a very long time to burn any calories.

It is a startling and very annoying fact that you have to exercise for a very long time in order to burn a decent number of calories

That's why you can't out-exercise a bad diet. The majority of calories you burn is through all the amazing stuff your body and brain do (even when you're asleep). You have to do an absolute shit-ton of exercise to add a significant amount of calorie loss to that, and it will probably make you hungry enough to eat some of those calories back anyway! Getting fitter is great though.

OP you're just going to get the shamelessly competitive on a thread like this - come up with some of your own (non-number oriented) goals for watching your fitness improve. For example, mine was being able to run for the train without getting out of breath, and following that, being able to keep up with a ladies hiking group up the local hill trails without having to stop for a sit-down / inhaler puff. I've lost a lot of muscle tone lately and can't lift my sofas by myself to hoover underneath, so that's another one I'm aiming for.

OP you're just going to get the shamelessly competitive on a thread like this

What? Are you reading the same thread? There are no posts like that.

I know others have already told you this, but no way is that correct! If you sat on the sofa for 30 minutes you’d probably be burning the same.

If it makes you feel any better, when I got started on the cross trainer last year, I could only manage 15 minutes at a low intensity. I’ve managed to build up my fitness to the point that I can now do an hour at high intensity ☺️ It’s my proudest achievement!

Oh and for what it’s worth, I have no idea how many calories that actually burns. My FitBit says about 450, because for some reason it doesn’t always detect my heart rate when I’m on the machine. I also have a heart monitor strap. That says I burn around 600 calories and the machine itself thinks it’s 800+ calorie. Just goes to show how inaccurate these estimates are 🤷‍♀️

You didn't really earn that cup of tea and kit kat then? 🤯

@fabulousathome

Just about a biscuit's worth. But not a fabulous biscuit. Just an ordinary one.

However, I'm impressed with your efforts.

So my half hour walk would use up about 10 calories then!

We walk about two and a half miles an hour, so half an hour is a mile and a quarter, and we use on average about a hundred calories per mile.

So you can have a fabulous biscuit!

Just ignore that number OP.
Get into the mindset of finding other motivations that calories.

If you’re hanging out your arse after 30mins at level one, it won’t be long until you notice that after half an hour you’re not actually dying anymore.

You’ll notice you can up the resistance, or go a little longer.
Progress is addictive!

That can't be right- just being alive for 30 minibuses probably burns more than that!!

I use map my walk app, I walk every day, 3 miles burns approx 350 cals, personally I'd forget the burning calories through exercise and concentrate on calories in to calories out.
Watch what you eat, high protein low carbs, plenty of fruit and veg and do some weight training, invest in a set of weights and kettle bells, if you're a beginner use YouTube videos

I think the fundamental realisation that a lot of people miss when trying to lose weight is this - most foods are really, really calorie dense, and your body is super efficient at conserving energy.

This means that, in losing weight, it's far more important to control what you put in, than in trying to maximise what you burn off.

Put another way, the old maxim that it's 80% diet, 20% exercise is absolutely true.

How long is a minibus in human years, @EdenFlower?!

A calorie deficit makes you lose weight. It's possible (but harder) to achieve a calorie deficit through exercise alone if you do enough of it

I once lost two stone with exercise alone. It can be done (15 mins on a cross trainer 5 x a week, 2 hours on a Sat and a 10K run plus hour on a cross trainer on a Sunday).

@DameCelia

But *@MrsMingech* exercise doesn't make you lose weight ! Eating less makes you lose weight. Never heard the expression "you can't outrun a poor diet" ? Or "Weight is lost in the kitchen not the gym"? (Lift weights, you'll build muscle which burns more calories while you're resting than fat does)

This ⬆️ Though I say it as ‘you can’t out-train a bad diet’ And there are lots if other benefits…cardiovascular, toned muscles, endorphin release.

OP - you did 5K! That is fabulous. No way you worked off half of a lousy cheap biscuit, ignore that.

(may I share my secret? Tell nobody, but I commit (to myself) to walking 5 miles daily, and if I"m short by the time I sit down for my hour of evening telly, I I scrunch my legs up in my chair, put my hands on my knees and flap them in and out fast for as long as I can stand it. It counts as an elliptical :)) I'm the only one I'm cheating!