Help me understand how to count my calories burned!

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brookeashmore80
brookeashmore80 Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
When you set up with MFP it asks your daily activity level then sets a calorie limit based on your weight loss goal. I wear a Polar FT4 daily to monitor my cals burned throughout the day, not just during excersise. My cal
limit is 1200 but I burn, on average, 1500-1600 cals just doing my norm everyday. My question is this...do these cals count against my cal limit?? I don't want to eat past my cals but it would be nice to know that the cals I did burn eliminated the foods I ate.

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  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    No - MFP also assumes you're alive all day and burning calories. If you eat back every calorie you burn all day twice you'll be gaining weight in a hurry. Furthermore since the FT4 isn't meant for wearing all day it isn't going to be at all accurate. If you had a FitBit or similar all day tracker that linked with MFP you could link them and then when you earn over and above what MFP already assumes you'll burn you'd start earning extra calories.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    A Polar FT4 is a heart rate monitor, that's not the same thing as an activity tracker.

    Heart rate monitors aren't designed to be worn 24/7. They are best at measuring steady state cardio.

    Google your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). That is an estimate based on everything.....BMR + activity level + exercise. Now, your BMR are the calories used if you never got out of bed. Activity level is a range, ie: sedentary. Then there is your exercise.

    MFP counts BMR + activity level then gives you a deficit. If you used MFP you eat exercise calories back.

    If the cut was from TDEE - you don't eat exercise calories back.

  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited September 2016
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    Heart rate monitors like the FT4 are really only good for monitoring calories burned during steady state cardiovascular workouts like running or using an elliptical. They aren't going to give you an accurate calorie count if you wear them all day long. If you really want an all day calorie count you'll want to get something that's made for that like a Fitbit or a Jawbone Up or Garmin Vivofit. Even these are really a good estimate, however.

    Otherwise, set your activity level in MFP to sedentary or lightly active based on your daily non-exercise activity level. Use your HRM to measure calorie burns during actual exercise sessions in the gym or running or whatever you do and add those via the Exercise tab.

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