Ignorance = Bliss? (HRM Question)

de1amo

i am English but live in Turkey and never eat branded food--everything comes from places like the small bakers or local fruit and veg farmer--food is completely different in size- and not overdone with info on the packet-a slice of bread here means nothing to me because my bread is a small round 4inch diameter wholemeal--things should have weights and measures applied to them to give a better idea --and also make it metric as most of the world (including Britain) has become metric!

AnnieeR

I think it really depends on the food. I'm from the UK so most food on here is incorrect for me.

Out of curiosity - what sort of foods are coming up incorrect for you? I'm also in the UK but I find most of the foods and brands I buy are in the database and correct, and I don't question fruit, veg, etc. as I assume they're right (and they can't be far off given that I am losing....)

On the original topic, my HRM gives me a calorie count about 100 higher than the treadmill and pretty close to MFP. I go by my HRM as it has far more information to use for calculating so I presume it's the most accurate. I do subtract 10% as I agree that nothing is going to give you an exact count....

Rea_K

I think it really depends on the food. I'm from the UK so most food on here is incorrect for me.

Out of curiosity - what sort of foods are coming up incorrect for you? I'm also in the UK but I find most of the foods and brands I buy are in the database and correct, and I don't question fruit, veg, etc. as I assume they're right (and they can't be far off given that I am losing....)

On the original topic, my HRM gives me a calorie count about 100 higher than the treadmill and pretty close to MFP. I go by my HRM as it has far more information to use for calculating so I presume it's the most accurate. I do subtract 10% as I agree that nothing is going to give you an exact count....

Well I buy absolutely all of my food from Asda, and so I like the calories to be the same as on the labels. Obviously each supermarket can have different nutrition info, and some things are general, so aren't exactly the same, but I'm just fussy with it. Bananas are lower on here than what the labels say on my Asda bananas, and some other fruits and veg are. Also my porridge was incorrect. And potatoes, beans, rice, some snacks also. I can't really list everything but I find myself mostly creating the foods I eat. Sometimes it's just because the fat or sat fat might be incorrect or not there. I'm just very particular and like to ensure it is right, as I don't want to go over on my cals,fat or sat fat. Even if stuff is only around 40 calories out I don't want to accidently eat 100 calories extra by not realising. I love MFP and think it's great. But not everything can be correct all the time, and I can't expect all the foods to be listed according to what my Asda labels say, so I just like to double check everything. I'm quite strict with myself as you can probably tell!! Even if somethings only like 2 calories out I'd have to create it again with the calories according to the label!! That's just me though!

de1amo

i tend to discount 10pc from the machines and add 10pc to the food thus making a discrepancy of 20pc which is pretty hit and miss when the base for me is 1200cals --maybe a 240calorie span

incidentally where is the best place to get a hrm in the uk for polar and the approx cost--i come home in summer

Mirlyn

Don't know if it means anything or not, but I have a Garmin Forerunner405 and trained on an elliptical set for my height and weight and both were the same within 5 calories - then when I put it into MFP, it matched up within 50 calories - not sure why you guys get all different readings?

My elliptical is also set for my height/weight/age and still shows up super incorrect. Just depends on the person and the machine I guess. MFP had "cleaning, light moderate effort" burn less than what my HRM says so that was a bonus I've found. I'll take it!

de1amo

what is moderate effort to an extremely light fit person is different to an overweight unfit person--i do wish in this age of clever computers the gym machines could do the maths on the bpm you give it --it sets you an average heart rate for cardio based on your age and if you maintain it for most of the time it must be able to give you an accurate collation

MaryDreamer

My Polar F4 says I burned MORE calories than the gym elliptical! For 35 mins the machine read 350 cals (10 cals min) and my HRM said 528! (15 cals min) That's a huge difference in my favor! And I was worried it was going to read less!