Polar FT4 calories vs MFP calories

sola24

Hey guys. Thanks for the input!

FitCattitude

Using FT4 from August, reliably lost goal of 1 lb a week. Eaten exercise calories back. Always counted up to 100 under each day, to cover milk I can't be bothered to track. In all this time, am only about 3-4 lbs heavier than expected (often sedentary/a lot of ill health may be reason), so I've experienced the Polar to be accurate. Knew I could trust Polar, so switched to V800 in January, as it's more personally tailored about measurings. Slight adjustment of calories as well (only about 50 or so) as MFP suggests you do after a certain amount of weight loss, and I'm doing fine. Never used MFP's exercise database.

Soundwave79

I have the FT4 as well. If you read the manual it actually tells you to wet the strap under where the receptor sits where it contacts your skin before putting it on. I think it increases the ability for it to detect your HR. Once you start sweating it's fine. It also says to rinse the strap under water after every workout and allow it to air dry, not quite sure why but I guess the buildup of sweat in the strap is bad over time. I've had mine give me some wonky numbers when I first start out like 195bpm. I usually just stop and start it again, re-wet the strap and it will be fine.

Anyway for me personally I have found the numbers I get from my FT4 are more usable then any online calculator or what MFP gives me. Typically of the three numbers my FT4 will be the lowest, when it's not I take the lower of the three. When doing HIIT or whatever I am sure to pause it during any stretching or rest periods. It gives me enough of a ballpark number that I can work with but I only eat back 70-80% of cals burned no matter where I get the number from.