How it’s
calculated.
Food calories become activity minutes through a serving weight, an activity intensity, and your body weight. Here are the sources and formulas.
Food and serving sizes
The catalog comes from USDA FoodData Central’s SR Legacy release, April 2018. Each food links to its original record. We use energy in kcal per 100 g (nutrient 1008) and the published portion weights.
Serving kcal = kcal per 100 g × portion grams ÷ 100
The catalog includes generic foods and older branded products. For a current packaged product, check its label. Some familiar brand searches suggest a generic food: Corona, for example, can suggest regular beer. Those matches are labeled as generic estimates.
Daily and weekly totals
Total kcal = serving kcal × servings per day × days
A week is seven days; a month here is 30 days. Weekly servings are divided by seven for a daily average. Calculations use the full values and round only for display.
The reduction slider removes servings from the weekly total, then scales the change to the selected period. It assumes those servings are not replaced with another food.
Activity time
Activity intensities come from the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities. A MET describes energy use relative to rest. The Adult Compendium covers ages 19–59; it provides population estimates, not measurements of your individual energy use.
Gross kcal/min = MET × 3.5 × body weight in kg ÷ 200
By default, we subtract the energy you would use at rest during that time:
Net kcal/min = (MET − 1) × 3.5 × body weight in kg ÷ 200
Activity minutes = total food kcal ÷ kcal/min
You can switch between net and gross energy under Adjust. Each activity compares with the whole calorie total.
Activity sources
| Activity | Code / MET | Pace or intensity |
|---|---|---|
| Walking | 17190 / 3.8 | 3 mph, level ground |
| Running | 12030 / 8.5 | 5 mph · 12-minute mile |
| Cycling | 01020 / 6.8 | 11 mph · easy road ride |
| Hiking | 17080 / 6.0 | Cross-country hiking |
| Walking the dog | 17165 / 3.0 | General dog walking |
| Pushups | 02022 / 3.8 | Moderate calisthenics |
| Climbing stairs | 17131 / 6.8 | General stair climbing, up |
| Jumping rope | 15551 / 11.8 | Moderate pace · two-foot skips |
| Indoor rowing | 02071 / 5.0 | Moderate effort · below 100 watts |
| Hatha yoga | 02150 / 2.3 | Traditional Hatha practice |
| Weight training | 02054 / 3.5 | Multiple exercises · 8–15 reps |
| Swimming | 18292 / 5.8 | Slow front crawl · moderate effort |
| Basketball | 15040 / 8.0 | Game play |
| Tennis | 15690 / 8.0 | Singles play |
| Soccer | 15610 / 7.0 | Casual play |
| Dancing | 03070 / 3.8 | Contemporary dancing, general |
| Vacuuming | 05043 / 3.0 | General, moderate effort |
Distance and repetitions
Walking miles = minutes ÷ 60 × 3 mph. A track lap is 400 m; a mile is 1,609.344 m. Other distances use the pace shown for that activity.
Pushups use moderate calisthenics at 3.8 MET and an assumed 20 repetitions per minute. The Compendium does not give calories per pushup. Counts exclude breaks and become less practical as they grow.
All pace and counting assumptions
- Walking / illustrative steps: Assumes 100 steps/minute. Actual stride length and cadence vary.
- Walking / 5K distances: A 5K is 5 km (3.11 miles), walked at 3 mph.
- Walking / 400 m track laps: One lap is 400 m, walked at 3 mph. This is a distance equivalent.
- Walking / miles: Walking continuously at 3 mph.
- Running / 5K distances: At a constant 5 mph. Counts distance equivalents, not organized races or recovery time.
- Running / miles: Running continuously at 5 mph.
- Cycling / miles cycled: Assumes 11 mph within the source's 10–11.9 mph range. Terrain, wind, and coasting affect effort.
- Hiking / one-hour hiking blocks: One block is 60 active minutes. Terrain, stops, and pack weight vary.
- Walking the dog / 20-minute dog walks: Each walk represents 20 active minutes. Stops and the dog's pace change the estimate.
- Pushups / illustrative pushups: Assumes 20 reps/minute of continuous moderate calisthenics. Breaks are excluded; large counts are especially hypothetical.
- Climbing stairs / illustrative flights of stairs: Assumes 60 steps/minute and 12 steps per flight, ascending only. Stair height and pace vary; descending and breaks are excluded.
- Jumping rope / illustrative skips: Assumes 110 skips/minute within the source's 100–120 range, without rest breaks.
- Hatha yoga / one-hour practice blocks: One block is 60 minutes at the listed intensity, not an estimate for every yoga class or style.
- Weight training / 45-minute training blocks: Assumes 45 minutes at the listed average intensity. Extra rest changes elapsed workout time.
- Swimming / 25 m pool lengths: Assumes 30 yards/minute within the source's 30–45 range. One length is 25 m, one way; wall rests are excluded.
- Basketball / 20-minute game blocks: One block is 20 active minutes of game play, excluding time on the bench and breaks.
- Tennis / hours of singles play: One block is 60 minutes at the listed game-play intensity, excluding extra breaks.
- Soccer / 90-minute play blocks: A comparison block of 90 active minutes, not a prediction for a match with halftime or substitutions.
- Dancing / songs danced through: Assumes 3½ minutes per song with continuous dancing at the listed intensity. Song lengths and dance styles vary.
- 30-minute blocks: Total active minutes divided by 30.
The drawing shows up to 24 tiles, with any remainder listed in text. A partly filled tile represents a fraction of its unit.
Reading the results
Actual energy use varies with pace, technique, and physiology. Long activity totals assume continuous effort and exclude extra breaks. These comparisons do not predict weight loss or account for changes in appetite or food intake.