Determining how much to decrease calories burned

someturtlefan

I use a treadmill with a desk, i.e., an actual treadmill with a large desk on it. I use my computer on it and/or write notes so sometimes my hands or fingers are resting on the desk. I'd say I'm doing this 50% of the time, give or take.

Is reducing my calories burned by 20% a good amount to compensate for this? So if the walking calculator I use online says 800 calories burned, I'd only record 640.

barbecuesauce

This sounds like something only you, through trial and error, will be able to figure out. But I would suggest this instead: If you have made it part of your job to plod along on the treadmill and you do this for a portion of each working day, change your activity level instead. It may give you only a few hundred extra calories, but that's better than eating an extra 640 and wondering why you're plateauing/losing too slowly.

someturtlefan

Any faster than what I'm doing now and I'll be miserable and unable to work. "Plodding along" at a 10% incline may be something you laugh at, but it works for me.

Thanks for the insult though. Reminds me why I don't post much.

kristinareisinger

I have to come to barbequesauce's defense. If you are walking slow enough to write and work then i don't see how you were being judged, let alone insulted, by a stranger's use of the word plod. Try to not to read so much into each word.

Besides, that ^ was a good idea. When you can be hands free for a few moments, take the pace up a notch or two. Variety and change in heart rate will shock your body in a good way and help it get stronger and fitter.

In thinking about your question though:
You may want to think about a heartrate monitor. - it's really the only accurate measure of calories burned and if you are "of a certain age" like me, you burn significantly less than a machine will tell you.

Good luck with everything - i admire you using a walking desk! Not everyone can multitask like that!

leggup

How did you get insulted at the word plod?

When you've got your hands on the machine you're burning 50-75% less than you would without hands on it. In addition, many treadmills way overestimate calorie burns, again, in the 50-75% range in my experience. If this is an every day activity from 9-5, then you should be changing your activity level.

If you did want to calculate your burn for one day, for funsies or whatever, give yourself about 100 calories per mile. for any mile where your hands are touching things and not swinging freely, multiply that by .5-.75.

It's possible you're even burning less than that. The longer I walk on a treadmill, if I'm watching a movie or tv show, the more my posture disintegrates. Hunched shoulders, disengaged core, leaning forward, etc. Here's a good list of things to not only help you burn more while on the treadmill (bringing you closer to being able to estimate accurately) while also reducing the risk of injury or strain. For example, I hope your computer is at eye level and that your arms are swinging most of the time.
http://walking.about.com/od/treadmillworkouts/ss/treadmillmistak.htm#step3

someturtlefan

I'm not using the machine. I'm using http://42.195km.net/e/treadsim/

I walk at 3.1MPH and 10% grade. My heart rate is about 150, which at my age according to the (220-35)*x formula, is 81%. I'm well into the aerobic zone. http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx puts my burn at 990 calories for 99 minutes of exercise.

I will dig out my heart rate monitor and do regular readings other than taking my carotid pulse.