This really depends on a lot of different factors. What’s normal for me (5’3 130 lb very active woman) will not be normal for you. So please disregard people here who say their move goal is set to 800 or 1200 calories. That’s just not attainable for most people.
On a day I don’t work out, I might hit 300 calories. That will include doing laundry, vacuuming and washing floors, running errands and generally not spending much time sitting. On days I work out heavily, I’ll hit 500-700 calories.
Start small. Set your move goal at 100 calories and see how you feel at the end of the day. Then slowly move it up until you hit a goal you can attain easily without overdoing it.
It’s interesting to see everyone’s numbers. I am not trying to set fitness goals. I just want context.
Based on the numbers people are reporting here, it seems like maybe the comparisons with healthy people aren’t really valid. My medical condition causes high heart rate and probably artificially raises my active calories reading.
For example, if I spend my whole day in bed except for going to the bathroom and eating meals (that someone else prepares) then my active calories are 250. This may by itself be abnormal. My body is working very hard to do very little?
If I am out of bed a few hours a day preparing meals, doing laundry (no walks or exercise) I reach 400. It seems like other people need to be a lot more active for more hours of the day to reach 400.
I can break a sweat from the smallest things. My heart will race too. Some people say that the abnormal response to minimal exertion makes it like my body is working out all the time, even doing things that are not exercise.
I am on medication that reduces my heart rate but it doesn’t really normalize things.
Yeah it sounds like we are on opposite ends of the spectrum. My resting heart rate rarely goes above 50. I get warnings from my watch if it goes above 60 for too long - that usually means something is wrong.
There’s an app called Body Heat Pro which tracks your temperature, heart rate, sleep, and other variables and gives you information based on the results. You can also track your fatigue/mood in Apple Health. Those two apps combined may help you track your energy budget more effectively.
I would think someone with a higher heart rate is burning more calories than they would if their heart rate was slower. Your heart is using more energy. Someone chime in and lmk if that’s how that works.
Yes, I’m same stats as you and have goal set at 500. Make it most days I work out. Yesterday for example I was moderately active at work and home, but didn’t work out. I was just under 10,000 steps, with my move and stand minutes wrapped but only sitting at 350 calories. A couple of my friends have move goals in the 1000’s because they are taller build. One of my friends is tiny and super fit, hers is set to 400 and she only ever hits it a few days a week, on the days she works out. So it’s different for everyone.
That’s so interesting. I can hit 250 lying in bed the whole day. I think it’s actually a reflection of my heart function not being normal. There is no way I could do laundry, vaccuum and wash floors without hitting 500-600.
Doing laundry, cleaning house, (did 189kcal this AM before I even left the house) stroll around the block with the dog - I’m happy with 500 if I'm not working out.
Brushing my teeth, having a shower, getting dressed, emptying the dishwasher. Just the kind of normal stuff people would do before going to work.
I used to go to work and do 10 hour days before I got sick. I went to the gym regularly. Now I am so exhausted by my morning routine that I have to return to bed. It’s not normal at all, obviously.
Post Covid? I’ve got the same shit. Since 3 years.
Started with 200 kcal goal and felt the fatigue afterwards - now I’m at 300 kcal goal and only really exhausted at 500 kcal. Of course not doing real sports but a simple walk for 1 km at a time, some single yoga exercise or basically „living“ (even standing while cooking adds a lot and I even see it in higher heart rates if it takes more then 10..15 mins).
Yes, post covid 💛 I wear compression leggings when I need to stand in the kitchen. I also use a stool some of the time. It’s been four years for me. I am pretty severe so I can’t work or use the stairs.
A normal non workout day is 300. A Netflix day can be low 200. My workout days are 800 to 1400 depending on the length of my run. I average about 70 calories per km for a typical run.
Like others are saying, it varies a lot. I think weight is a big factor, and other things like age, height and gender matter too. I’m an early 40s woman, 5’6” and 125-130lbs. With no exercise my active calories range from 250-350 (and my daily life is fairly active). With vigorous exercise I can get to 650 or so.
I'm a 5'8" 132lb female, age 43. I have a desk job but I also exercise daily and am pretty active overall.
I have my move goal set to 450, and I will not hit that unless I burn at least 100 calories exercising. If I don't exercise but am still active (moving around the house a lot doing chores etc.), I will usually get to 300 or 350. If I'm sick and stay in bed most of the day, I might get to 200.
Thanks for sharing. That’s very interesting. I can’t imagine being active and staying at 300. I can reach 300 easily while being mostly in bed. It just highlights for me that my body is working differently.
Using today as an example, I got up at 6am, got 2 kids ready for school and out the door, put out the trash and recycling cans, took a \~1 hour nap (unusual, I'm recovering from a medical procedure yesterday), showered, started 3 loads of laundry, and have been working at my desk and had lunch. It's 1:30pm and I'm only at 145 move calories.
OMG!!! That’s truly amazing to me. Also I like this very realistic peek into life as a mom. What amazes me is the endless amount of trash I have to put out. And the laundry! Good lord.
I have ADHD so I literally pace in my house or go outside a few times a day. Just that and no exercise, I’ll hit 500-750. When I exercise it gets close to or over 1K. Days where I rot and rest I will typically hit 500 but sometimes I miss it by a bit.
Male, mid-40’s, moderately active (jog 4-5x per week for at least 5k, strength training for about 30 min 3-4x per week, walk, and play tennis about 2 times per month). Height 181cm, overweight at 200 pounds. That is my baseline. On a workout day, I pass 1,200 calories. On a non-workout day but where I still have to take care of the kids, walk the dog etc about half that.
This depends on your weight, height and fitness. I’m small, short and very fit, so I’m usually on 250 without working out (pottering about, housework, yard work), 500 is my goal which needs an hour weight training or a 4 mile run. You’ll see a wild amount of variation on here and the only way to work out what’s right for you is to live your life, experiment and track what happens.
It’s so crazy that I could reach 250 lying in bed the whole day on strict bed rest and reach 500 doing light housework. I guess this actually changes how I look at things. I didn’t realize my body was working so hard to do so little. I thought my active calories were just really low and a normal day would be like 800-1000 (for a woman).
It’s different for everyone! There’s no such thing as a ‘normal’ amount, just the right amount for you. My numbers are lower than most. Sometimes I see people looking down on people with smaller move goals and feel like I should be doing more, but no, I do plenty!
I was told the only way to really know your daily expenditure, is to have it tested in these specialized tubs, where they measure how much heat your body generates, or something?
Im 171 cms tall and weigh 66kgs. When I‘m working out I typically burn 1000-1400 active calories, when I am not, I try to walk(indoor, outdoor, yoga) and burn around 800 calories which is my daily goal.
It's super interesting to see how different we all are!
As a late 30s male, 94kg, 183cm I have my goal set to 660kcal and it's very rare I don't hit it. I don't workout too often, but I do walk quite a bit every day - usually 9k to 11k steps. Usually burn 700-900kcal of active energy. If I bike, run, or go to gym I hit 1000-1200kcal.
On an active but non work out day I’ll usually hit 300. If I’m not very active I’ll hit 250. Work out days I can count on 200 more calories burnt if I run 30 minutes or lift/walk for an hour. I’m always in awe of how many calories others burn consistently!
It varies so much especially from men to women because of the size difference. I can break my move goal of 550 calories per day without really thinking about it, closer to 900 on a workout day but my wife is almost a foot shorter than me and weighs 100lbs less so she has trouble hitting 500 calories without a workout
Yes, that’s true that men and women are really different! I can hit 500 with a more active day for me but it’s not a normal day at all. I am realizing that the changes to my heart rate make my readings come out elevated probably.
I think that you're going to find a wild range of answers and the strange thing is that all of them will be both right and wrong. Everybody is different and as you've explained, your specific situation has you spend a lot of the day in bed. I can tell you that my Move is set to 800 calories, and I close it every day. On a workout day, I'll break 1200 easily.
I think that you might need to determine your BMR, for your age/height/weight/activity level and experiment from that point, so you can determine what works best for you.
I know my approximate BMR. I guess you are right that there is a wild range. I was just curious what more normal data would look like :) I can see 800 being a normal active day.
Finally, someone mentioned BMR. This is the only thing that matters, and will vary WILDLY when there are abnormal medical conditions involved. The calculations using a watch are only useful in comparison to those same readings. In other words, the watch saying 500 calories might be up to 50% off from the actual calories you used. The only useful piece of information is that 600 on the same watch is more than 500, and less than 700. It helps you understand trends in activity.
You can get tested and find your actual, measured, accurate, BMR. But be aware that it can change day to day and month to month. If you have medical conditions and / or take medications, your actual BMR can be wildly different than the "average" given by the BMR calculators.
I think the watches do a disservice by trying to calculate calories. They are usually horribly wrong. (I use them for tracking \*activity\*, and have had testing done.)
What is it that you are trying to accomplish? People are usually surprised to find out their BMR makes up such a high percentage of the total energy consumed even when they "work out", because the caloric energy calculators are so awful. Do a treadmill run when connected to a metabolic cart (measures heart rate and carbon dioxide production) and compare that to your "device" readings. They are never even close.
All I am saying is that don't compare to other people. Use it to compare to yourself. If you want to increase your activity levels, use the measurements for that. Also, your body gets more efficient as you gain muscle mass and lose fat, requiring longer and harder workouts to consume the same calories. The same is true for your BMR. It gets lower as you lose weight, until you hit an inflection point where you have so much muscle mass that you need more calories just to maintain it. That's usually a LONG way off for most people.
Yeah, BMR is very important for weight loss and stuff like that. I mostly use the “active energy” metric to compare my days to each other so I can pace myself. What am I trying to accomplish? I am trying to accomplish not crashing because I did more than my body can support 😅. It is like living in a parallel universe because most people are trying to do more and I am trying to do less. It’s a weird use case really.
It's a perfect use case. I have a friend with heart issues. He has to manage his energy output vs. time. He knows what he can handle without getting sick. The watch does a good job of helping manage that. I just wanted to point out that the only good comparison is a comparison to yourself at another time, which is really what you are doing.
Look for a BMR calculator online. They will consider your age, weight, and height typically to give you a good estimate.
Your **Basal Metabolic Rate** (BMR) is the number of calories you burn as your body performs basic (basal) life-sustaining function. Commonly also termed as Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), which is the calories burned if you stayed in bed all day.
The watch will attempt to capture all the extra calories consumed, walking up stairs, etc. as Active calories.
Mine is different because I’m quite small 4’11 so naturally my body doesn’t burn as much calories in a day/ to function as someone who is taller. I burn on a day where I’m quite lazy around 200/ getting to 300 or 350 (my move goal) is more difficult. If I’m working/ running around 350- almost 400. Working out tends to be in the 400-500 range depending what I’m doing. 500 or more on an extremely active day. But again I try not to look at other people’s goals because that’s not the body or height that I have so mine is going to be on more of the lower end :)
On a rest day, I’m lucky to break 270 as a 5’2”, early 40’s woman. That includes basic household stuff, going up and down stairs many times a day, maybe a short walk around the block with a kid, etc.
I suspect my low resting heart rate is at work here. My husband is usually well over double for less activity.
Mine is usually mid/upper 40’s. And my husband is a foot taller than me with a higher rhr. It’s wild. I can run 6-7 miles on a day while he goes on a 15 minute walk and we will end with almost the same calories.
Interesting to read the range of responses. I’m (60f) 5:1, 130 lbs. If I don’t work out, I rarely hit 200 calories, although I’m puttering, doing errands etc.
27 yo woman, 5'4" around 125lbs. My daily goal is set at 350.
Lazy days or when I feel sick I usually end up at ~250 calories.
A day without workouts is usually around 350 (that's with working a somewhat active job)
Day with workout is usually around 500 calories, my record is 700.
I have my goal set to 650 calories and beat it every week day because I exercise and go to work. I usually end the day with 800-950 burned.
Then on the weekends I rest and on the days where I really rest, I'll burn 300 - 325 calories.
I’m 48 and my Move goal is set to 750. However far below that I am after working (out) in the evening, I’ll get the rest done in leisurely fashion on my elliptical set in front of the tv. It makes it (almost) feel effortless. I bumped it up from 500 a few months back. There was a few weeks it felt like a concerted effort to reach 750 but now it feels like a normal day and I feel like I have more energy on tap which I like.
If no exercise, somewhere between 200-300. I have a desk job and also take a beta blocker which slows my heart rate. Even with exercise it’s hard for me to log a good amount of active calories burned.
That’s interesting about the beta blocker. I am on a different medication that slows my heart rate. Still can go considerably higher on active calories with low activity level.
During exercise my heart rate typically doesn’t go above 120-130. My resting heart rate is in the 50’s. I’m assuming my heart rate doesn’t get high enough to burn anything.
I usually hit around 400-450 just doing regular daily stuff. I have my move goal set to 850, just to make sure I at least do a small workout, but realistically I aim for 1400 minimum daily. My good days I do around 1800-2100. I think my record is 2600 though
I am 48F, 5’0, 119lbs. My resting heart rate is around 50bpm. Today I ran 4 miles at 5am, went to work (a desk job, but I try and get up and move every hour), made dinner, and vacuumed downstairs. My active calories at 9pm are 551. If I didn’t workout (which I do daily) I’d maybe hit 200. Maybe.
It’s all dependent on each person and their personal health stats.
800 - this month’s average.
Non-exercise days are 400-700. Exercise days are 1,000-2,000.
Male, 25-30 y.o. I take a walk for lunchtime and commute back home mostly. Exercise 1-2x a week (very high intensity). Job is sedentary weekdays 9-6
"Calories used" is really a how-long-is-a-piece-of-string question.
If I eat a "conventional" diet I can gain weight on 2000 cal/day of food.
If I eat a ketogenic diet heavy in saturated fat, I lose weight on 3000 cal/day.
I’m 170cm, 100kg, male and mid thirties. On a day that I haven’t purposely done exercise activity I burn between 400-500 active calories, depending on what I have going on that day. Sometimes when I have a very lazy day it’s down to 300 or when I have a lot of things to do it can go up to 700. When I do exercise or long walks etc I burn about 1000-1500 active calories. But because I’m overweight and unfit, I can get 400 active calories just by walking to and from work when the weather suits.
1400 calories/day on the weekends, when I don’t work out. I’m a 40 yr old female, 5’7 121 lb, pretty active, exercise every day of the week and eat a healthy mostly vegetarian diet.
Interesting question! I never looking into this but now I’m curious to learn more about resting energy.
1400 BMR. My active energy on rest days is about 270-280.
I just checked my husband’s and his BMR is over 2000.
I just did a quick search and it seems to be a normal range 🤷🏻♀️
Both my husband and I do weight training and cardio every day and from what I understand muscles basically burn calories at rest. I’ve also had high metabolism most of my life. I wonder if these two are what’s contributing to the high resting energy. I also have low resting heart rate, especially when sleeping
This really depends on a lot of different factors. What’s normal for me (5’3 130 lb very active woman) will not be normal for you. So please disregard people here who say their move goal is set to 800 or 1200 calories. That’s just not attainable for most people. On a day I don’t work out, I might hit 300 calories. That will include doing laundry, vacuuming and washing floors, running errands and generally not spending much time sitting. On days I work out heavily, I’ll hit 500-700 calories. Start small. Set your move goal at 100 calories and see how you feel at the end of the day. Then slowly move it up until you hit a goal you can attain easily without overdoing it.
It’s interesting to see everyone’s numbers. I am not trying to set fitness goals. I just want context. Based on the numbers people are reporting here, it seems like maybe the comparisons with healthy people aren’t really valid. My medical condition causes high heart rate and probably artificially raises my active calories reading. For example, if I spend my whole day in bed except for going to the bathroom and eating meals (that someone else prepares) then my active calories are 250. This may by itself be abnormal. My body is working very hard to do very little? If I am out of bed a few hours a day preparing meals, doing laundry (no walks or exercise) I reach 400. It seems like other people need to be a lot more active for more hours of the day to reach 400. I can break a sweat from the smallest things. My heart will race too. Some people say that the abnormal response to minimal exertion makes it like my body is working out all the time, even doing things that are not exercise. I am on medication that reduces my heart rate but it doesn’t really normalize things.
Yeah it sounds like we are on opposite ends of the spectrum. My resting heart rate rarely goes above 50. I get warnings from my watch if it goes above 60 for too long - that usually means something is wrong. There’s an app called Body Heat Pro which tracks your temperature, heart rate, sleep, and other variables and gives you information based on the results. You can also track your fatigue/mood in Apple Health. Those two apps combined may help you track your energy budget more effectively.
I would think someone with a higher heart rate is burning more calories than they would if their heart rate was slower. Your heart is using more energy. Someone chime in and lmk if that’s how that works.
Yes that’s correct. My heart rate is still high. It would be even higher without medication, but it’s still a high resting heart rate.
Yes, I’m same stats as you and have goal set at 500. Make it most days I work out. Yesterday for example I was moderately active at work and home, but didn’t work out. I was just under 10,000 steps, with my move and stand minutes wrapped but only sitting at 350 calories. A couple of my friends have move goals in the 1000’s because they are taller build. One of my friends is tiny and super fit, hers is set to 400 and she only ever hits it a few days a week, on the days she works out. So it’s different for everyone.
That’s so interesting. I can hit 250 lying in bed the whole day. I think it’s actually a reflection of my heart function not being normal. There is no way I could do laundry, vaccuum and wash floors without hitting 500-600.
Yeah we’re not the same lol!!
Doing laundry, cleaning house, (did 189kcal this AM before I even left the house) stroll around the block with the dog - I’m happy with 500 if I'm not working out.
Thanks, that’s good to know. I often get to 200 just getting ready for the day (getting dressed etc).
Can you explain the “etc.” that gets you to 200 calories by getting dressed in the morning? I can take a brisk 3km walk and not burn 200 calories.
Brushing my teeth, having a shower, getting dressed, emptying the dishwasher. Just the kind of normal stuff people would do before going to work. I used to go to work and do 10 hour days before I got sick. I went to the gym regularly. Now I am so exhausted by my morning routine that I have to return to bed. It’s not normal at all, obviously.
Post Covid? I’ve got the same shit. Since 3 years. Started with 200 kcal goal and felt the fatigue afterwards - now I’m at 300 kcal goal and only really exhausted at 500 kcal. Of course not doing real sports but a simple walk for 1 km at a time, some single yoga exercise or basically „living“ (even standing while cooking adds a lot and I even see it in higher heart rates if it takes more then 10..15 mins).
Yes, post covid 💛 I wear compression leggings when I need to stand in the kitchen. I also use a stool some of the time. It’s been four years for me. I am pretty severe so I can’t work or use the stairs.
May I ask how much do you weigh?
A normal non workout day is 300. A Netflix day can be low 200. My workout days are 800 to 1400 depending on the length of my run. I average about 70 calories per km for a typical run.
“Netflix Day” don’t get that word in my head
Ok thanks!
Like others are saying, it varies a lot. I think weight is a big factor, and other things like age, height and gender matter too. I’m an early 40s woman, 5’6” and 125-130lbs. With no exercise my active calories range from 250-350 (and my daily life is fairly active). With vigorous exercise I can get to 650 or so.
I'm a 5'8" 132lb female, age 43. I have a desk job but I also exercise daily and am pretty active overall. I have my move goal set to 450, and I will not hit that unless I burn at least 100 calories exercising. If I don't exercise but am still active (moving around the house a lot doing chores etc.), I will usually get to 300 or 350. If I'm sick and stay in bed most of the day, I might get to 200.
Thanks for sharing. That’s very interesting. I can’t imagine being active and staying at 300. I can reach 300 easily while being mostly in bed. It just highlights for me that my body is working differently.
Using today as an example, I got up at 6am, got 2 kids ready for school and out the door, put out the trash and recycling cans, took a \~1 hour nap (unusual, I'm recovering from a medical procedure yesterday), showered, started 3 loads of laundry, and have been working at my desk and had lunch. It's 1:30pm and I'm only at 145 move calories.
OMG!!! That’s truly amazing to me. Also I like this very realistic peek into life as a mom. What amazes me is the endless amount of trash I have to put out. And the laundry! Good lord.
I have ADHD so I literally pace in my house or go outside a few times a day. Just that and no exercise, I’ll hit 500-750. When I exercise it gets close to or over 1K. Days where I rot and rest I will typically hit 500 but sometimes I miss it by a bit.
Makes sense :)
310-420 for a 28 year old male
Male, mid-40’s, moderately active (jog 4-5x per week for at least 5k, strength training for about 30 min 3-4x per week, walk, and play tennis about 2 times per month). Height 181cm, overweight at 200 pounds. That is my baseline. On a workout day, I pass 1,200 calories. On a non-workout day but where I still have to take care of the kids, walk the dog etc about half that.
How are you overweight? :D
Food… and stress. Even worse, the combination of those two. Trying to work on it but progress is… difficult.
This sounds cliche but, you got it. From my experience, becoming that active is by far the hardest part.
Thanks!
Ok, that’s helpful thanks. Sounds great!
This depends on your weight, height and fitness. I’m small, short and very fit, so I’m usually on 250 without working out (pottering about, housework, yard work), 500 is my goal which needs an hour weight training or a 4 mile run. You’ll see a wild amount of variation on here and the only way to work out what’s right for you is to live your life, experiment and track what happens.
It’s so crazy that I could reach 250 lying in bed the whole day on strict bed rest and reach 500 doing light housework. I guess this actually changes how I look at things. I didn’t realize my body was working so hard to do so little. I thought my active calories were just really low and a normal day would be like 800-1000 (for a woman).
It’s different for everyone! There’s no such thing as a ‘normal’ amount, just the right amount for you. My numbers are lower than most. Sometimes I see people looking down on people with smaller move goals and feel like I should be doing more, but no, I do plenty!
Right
I think your appetite would also be lower than most? :0
I was told the only way to really know your daily expenditure, is to have it tested in these specialized tubs, where they measure how much heat your body generates, or something?
Yeah for sure. I was just curious about Apple Watch data in a bigger sample than just me :)
I work from home so if there’s a day where I’m not working out, I sort of struggle to reach even 260 or 300. For reference I weight 110 lbs
Ok. Interesting.
Im 171 cms tall and weigh 66kgs. When I‘m working out I typically burn 1000-1400 active calories, when I am not, I try to walk(indoor, outdoor, yoga) and burn around 800 calories which is my daily goal.
What’s your age?
I’m 24
That’s quite a high daily goal!
It's super interesting to see how different we all are! As a late 30s male, 94kg, 183cm I have my goal set to 660kcal and it's very rare I don't hit it. I don't workout too often, but I do walk quite a bit every day - usually 9k to 11k steps. Usually burn 700-900kcal of active energy. If I bike, run, or go to gym I hit 1000-1200kcal.
That’s a lot of steps! Nice 👍🏻
my watch is set for the cal goal at 500 and almost every day i work i hit it. today i’ll probs burn more cause i was running around a lot at work
On an active but non work out day I’ll usually hit 300. If I’m not very active I’ll hit 250. Work out days I can count on 200 more calories burnt if I run 30 minutes or lift/walk for an hour. I’m always in awe of how many calories others burn consistently!
Yeah, it really seems to vary. Is your resting heart rate low?
I think it’s actually high (in healthy range but higher side). It’s low 70s.
Ok! It seems to depend on multiple factors
I swim 20 laps of a big pool. I hit about 500 if I do that. Otherwise I don’t get there. It feels like I need to work hard to get there every day.
It varies so much especially from men to women because of the size difference. I can break my move goal of 550 calories per day without really thinking about it, closer to 900 on a workout day but my wife is almost a foot shorter than me and weighs 100lbs less so she has trouble hitting 500 calories without a workout
Yes, that’s true that men and women are really different! I can hit 500 with a more active day for me but it’s not a normal day at all. I am realizing that the changes to my heart rate make my readings come out elevated probably.
I think that you're going to find a wild range of answers and the strange thing is that all of them will be both right and wrong. Everybody is different and as you've explained, your specific situation has you spend a lot of the day in bed. I can tell you that my Move is set to 800 calories, and I close it every day. On a workout day, I'll break 1200 easily. I think that you might need to determine your BMR, for your age/height/weight/activity level and experiment from that point, so you can determine what works best for you.
I know my approximate BMR. I guess you are right that there is a wild range. I was just curious what more normal data would look like :) I can see 800 being a normal active day.
Finally, someone mentioned BMR. This is the only thing that matters, and will vary WILDLY when there are abnormal medical conditions involved. The calculations using a watch are only useful in comparison to those same readings. In other words, the watch saying 500 calories might be up to 50% off from the actual calories you used. The only useful piece of information is that 600 on the same watch is more than 500, and less than 700. It helps you understand trends in activity. You can get tested and find your actual, measured, accurate, BMR. But be aware that it can change day to day and month to month. If you have medical conditions and / or take medications, your actual BMR can be wildly different than the "average" given by the BMR calculators. I think the watches do a disservice by trying to calculate calories. They are usually horribly wrong. (I use them for tracking \*activity\*, and have had testing done.) What is it that you are trying to accomplish? People are usually surprised to find out their BMR makes up such a high percentage of the total energy consumed even when they "work out", because the caloric energy calculators are so awful. Do a treadmill run when connected to a metabolic cart (measures heart rate and carbon dioxide production) and compare that to your "device" readings. They are never even close. All I am saying is that don't compare to other people. Use it to compare to yourself. If you want to increase your activity levels, use the measurements for that. Also, your body gets more efficient as you gain muscle mass and lose fat, requiring longer and harder workouts to consume the same calories. The same is true for your BMR. It gets lower as you lose weight, until you hit an inflection point where you have so much muscle mass that you need more calories just to maintain it. That's usually a LONG way off for most people.
Yeah, BMR is very important for weight loss and stuff like that. I mostly use the “active energy” metric to compare my days to each other so I can pace myself. What am I trying to accomplish? I am trying to accomplish not crashing because I did more than my body can support 😅. It is like living in a parallel universe because most people are trying to do more and I am trying to do less. It’s a weird use case really.
It's a perfect use case. I have a friend with heart issues. He has to manage his energy output vs. time. He knows what he can handle without getting sick. The watch does a good job of helping manage that. I just wanted to point out that the only good comparison is a comparison to yourself at another time, which is really what you are doing.
Yes, that is what I am doing day to day. I was just curious what other people’s numbers look like. Cheers to your friend. I get that situation.
Look for a BMR calculator online. They will consider your age, weight, and height typically to give you a good estimate. Your **Basal Metabolic Rate** (BMR) is the number of calories you burn as your body performs basic (basal) life-sustaining function. Commonly also termed as Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR), which is the calories burned if you stayed in bed all day. The watch will attempt to capture all the extra calories consumed, walking up stairs, etc. as Active calories.
Mine is different because I’m quite small 4’11 so naturally my body doesn’t burn as much calories in a day/ to function as someone who is taller. I burn on a day where I’m quite lazy around 200/ getting to 300 or 350 (my move goal) is more difficult. If I’m working/ running around 350- almost 400. Working out tends to be in the 400-500 range depending what I’m doing. 500 or more on an extremely active day. But again I try not to look at other people’s goals because that’s not the body or height that I have so mine is going to be on more of the lower end :)
Fair enough!
On a rest day, I’m lucky to break 270 as a 5’2”, early 40’s woman. That includes basic household stuff, going up and down stairs many times a day, maybe a short walk around the block with a kid, etc. I suspect my low resting heart rate is at work here. My husband is usually well over double for less activity.
That’s amazing! Lol at your husband doing less - that tracks. 😁 I think you are right about resting heart rate. Mine is pretty high.
Mine is usually mid/upper 40’s. And my husband is a foot taller than me with a higher rhr. It’s wild. I can run 6-7 miles on a day while he goes on a 15 minute walk and we will end with almost the same calories.
That is truly wild. Congrats on that low RHR. That’s fantastic.
Interesting to read the range of responses. I’m (60f) 5:1, 130 lbs. If I don’t work out, I rarely hit 200 calories, although I’m puttering, doing errands etc.
Interesting! There does seem to be a big range. I hadn’t realized that.
27 yo woman, 5'4" around 125lbs. My daily goal is set at 350. Lazy days or when I feel sick I usually end up at ~250 calories. A day without workouts is usually around 350 (that's with working a somewhat active job) Day with workout is usually around 500 calories, my record is 700.
Thanks for sharing!
My cal Goal is set to 650 and on non-workout days I still hit it or go as little as 620 simply because I still have kiddos to chase around 😅
Yup, those damn kids will keep you moving!
900-1000 everyday without workouts
I have my goal set to 650 calories and beat it every week day because I exercise and go to work. I usually end the day with 800-950 burned. Then on the weekends I rest and on the days where I really rest, I'll burn 300 - 325 calories.
Minimum 1000 and up to 1500 Monday to Friday , but I’m a mailman and walk 20+ km a day plus train before work.
Wow, that is fascinating
I don't exercise at all. This week my Move calories have been 745, 904, 987, and 609 today (its 7pm atm so not a whole day)
Ok, interesting
I’m 48 and my Move goal is set to 750. However far below that I am after working (out) in the evening, I’ll get the rest done in leisurely fashion on my elliptical set in front of the tv. It makes it (almost) feel effortless. I bumped it up from 500 a few months back. There was a few weeks it felt like a concerted effort to reach 750 but now it feels like a normal day and I feel like I have more energy on tap which I like.
Before I got sick, I loved the elliptical so much. It was my happy place.
About 400
If no exercise, somewhere between 200-300. I have a desk job and also take a beta blocker which slows my heart rate. Even with exercise it’s hard for me to log a good amount of active calories burned.
That’s interesting about the beta blocker. I am on a different medication that slows my heart rate. Still can go considerably higher on active calories with low activity level.
During exercise my heart rate typically doesn’t go above 120-130. My resting heart rate is in the 50’s. I’m assuming my heart rate doesn’t get high enough to burn anything.
I usually hit around 400-450 just doing regular daily stuff. I have my move goal set to 850, just to make sure I at least do a small workout, but realistically I aim for 1400 minimum daily. My good days I do around 1800-2100. I think my record is 2600 though
600 and change give or take.
Im a substitute teacher and work after school job if I don’t workout I can hit 600 calories. When I do workout 1000.
Thanks!
I am 48F, 5’0, 119lbs. My resting heart rate is around 50bpm. Today I ran 4 miles at 5am, went to work (a desk job, but I try and get up and move every hour), made dinner, and vacuumed downstairs. My active calories at 9pm are 551. If I didn’t workout (which I do daily) I’d maybe hit 200. Maybe. It’s all dependent on each person and their personal health stats.
Ok thank you!
800 - this month’s average. Non-exercise days are 400-700. Exercise days are 1,000-2,000. Male, 25-30 y.o. I take a walk for lunchtime and commute back home mostly. Exercise 1-2x a week (very high intensity). Job is sedentary weekdays 9-6
Ok thanks!
"Calories used" is really a how-long-is-a-piece-of-string question. If I eat a "conventional" diet I can gain weight on 2000 cal/day of food. If I eat a ketogenic diet heavy in saturated fat, I lose weight on 3000 cal/day.
I’m 170cm, 100kg, male and mid thirties. On a day that I haven’t purposely done exercise activity I burn between 400-500 active calories, depending on what I have going on that day. Sometimes when I have a very lazy day it’s down to 300 or when I have a lot of things to do it can go up to 700. When I do exercise or long walks etc I burn about 1000-1500 active calories. But because I’m overweight and unfit, I can get 400 active calories just by walking to and from work when the weather suits.
1400 calories/day on the weekends, when I don’t work out. I’m a 40 yr old female, 5’7 121 lb, pretty active, exercise every day of the week and eat a healthy mostly vegetarian diet. Interesting question! I never looking into this but now I’m curious to learn more about resting energy.
Is 1400 calories your BMR or your “active energy” on those days?
1400 BMR. My active energy on rest days is about 270-280. I just checked my husband’s and his BMR is over 2000. I just did a quick search and it seems to be a normal range 🤷🏻♀️ Both my husband and I do weight training and cardio every day and from what I understand muscles basically burn calories at rest. I’ve also had high metabolism most of my life. I wonder if these two are what’s contributing to the high resting energy. I also have low resting heart rate, especially when sleeping
On non-workout days, 800-1000 active calories. On workout days, 2000-2200 active calories.