Over 6000 calories burned a day?

datsundriver87

I just started running/walking a few days ago and got a body media fit. I walk/run 2-2.5 miles a day and also work on my feet all day for a moving company, I know I get a decent amount of exercise but the first three days I've used the body media it's telling me I've burned between 6100-6600 calories a day, to me that seems like an absolute absurd amount. I weigh 280 pounds so I know my body burns close to 2800 a day stationary, and my calorie intake the last few days has been between 2000-2500...
Is this even reasonably accurate?

Supertact

I'd say no, it's not accurate.

Running some numbers through a tdee calculator assuming your 6 feet tall daily exercise + physical job and the tdee comes out to 4400.

Mr_Knight

That's a huge number. For a 280 pound human, a 3000 calorie exercise burn is the equivalent of running 17 miles.

Based on what you've shared that seems....unlikely.

I also think you may be over-estimating your non-exercise burn. The standard calculators don't do well with high body-fat data. Using your numbers I get somewhere around 1900 for BMR and 2300 for a sedentary TDEE.

heybales

The Bodymedia starts out using BMR based on age, weight, height.

If you are overfat - that BMR is usually inflated, I've seen 200-400 easily.

They adjust that BMR based on sleeping temps - if the sensors work well for you. A slight majority they do, the others have varying degrees of decent estimates.

If the sensors aren't working well for you, it is assuming BMR for all non-moving time, and if it's inflated, and that's 2/3 of your day, that would add on some bogus calories.

Also, confirm you got your stats in there correct. Because moving time is based on weight and step based movement.

If you want to see what they are using as BMR, look at your calorie burn per minute during sleep. Find the average low, like if it bounces between 1.4 and 1.5 cal/min regularly, it's 1.45 of course.
That figure x 1440 is the BMR they are using.

How does that compare to say MFP's Mifflin BMR figure?

Now find some time during the day where you also didn't move at all but were awake, watching movie, or long meeting at work, ect. Same math.
That figure is your RMR, and should be higher, if the sensors working decently for you.

Also, their site says it could take a week to adjust, if you just got it, it is on default calculated values right now.

datsundriver87

Thank you all very the answers I figure this is giving me high numbers I just wonder how high. I checked my sleep calories almost all night I stayed in the 2-2.2 calories a minute category except for a period of 30 mins in which it was 1.6.. For the most part all day I'm getting between 6 and 11 calories burned per minute and during just a relaxing period awake it's around 2.2-2.3 so not much higher at all than my sleep calories. I do sweat ALLOT if that means anything.

datsundriver87

So I guess my question becomes... If I know it's registering high, would it be safe to say if it's saying 6500 calories a day (yesterday was 7100) that realistically burning 5000 a day is a reasonable number? I hope it ends up calibrating right because now I just feel like the thing is worthless and giving me false hope. I double checked my stats are in there correct 280 lbs at 5 '9

Pugwash4x4

I used to burn 6500-7000cals per day when I was playing professional sport.

I weighed 18.5 stone (15% fat), 6ft1, ran for 45 mins every morning, weight trained 5 hours per week, and did intensive rugby training for 3hours over 5 days (2 of wich were match days). It was calculated that I would burn around 2100cal per match (a very interesting more recent study here backed it up http://www.rfu.com/takingpart/fitness/rugbydemands/~/media/files/2009/fitness/090728 bc an_evaluation_of_the_physiological_demands.ashx) , my BMR was around 3800cals/day.

I used to have to get up at night to eat protein or my lean muscle started to drop away.

When I stopped training due to injury, I kept eting the same amount for 12 months. I put on over 100lb in that year.

Might help you understand how many calories that is!

Greenrun99

I weigh 280 pounds so I know my body burns close to 2800 a day stationary, and my calorie intake the last few days has been between 2000-2500...
Is this even reasonably accurate?

Besides what your body media fit tells you.. what are your results during this time.. scale go down a little? Go down alot? Not move? I mean based off what you said and your numbers your creating 1000 calorie daily deficit, so without cheat days eating 2500 you should see about 2 lb weight loss a week.. if you see nothing obviously its off and maybe you really only are creating a 200 calorie deficit.. or something else is up.. kinda get what you can figure out from the numbers?

WalkingAlong

So I guess my question becomes... If I know it's registering high, would it be safe to say if it's saying 6500 calories a day (yesterday was 7100) that realistically burning 5000 a day is a reasonable number? I hope it ends up calibrating right because now I just feel like the thing is worthless and giving me false hope. I double checked my stats are in there correct 280 lbs at 5 '9

If it never does seem to get more realistic for you, you could always lie about your stats to ratchet it down to what you think is a more reasonable BMR level for you.

If the sensors are overcounting due to your professed sweatiness, I wonder if a sensor-less tracker like a Fitbit would work better on you?