Getting confused with deficit!!!!

kayveebee7

The HRM/calories burned thing confused me for the longest as well. I couldn't understand WHY you couldn't use it all day to determine your calorie burn.
Finally someone explained it in a way that made sense.
Simply having an increase in heart rate doesn't burn more calories. (Heck, my resting rate is around 90, so I should be a stick by now)
The HRM assumes that you are actually taxing your muscles and organs with strenuous exercise when your HR goes up. It uses your HR as a way to measure assumed physical activity.
It is the physical activity that burns the calories, NOT just the increased HR.

For this reason, the HRM cannot be an accurate way to determine calorie burn thru out the day.
It also explains why people who are a lot overweight, don't actually burn the amount of calories that a HRM says they do. The increased HR comes more from being out of shape, than from actually intensity of exercise.

Thanks, pertaining to the PP, I would use it to get a "normal" and a baseline, not to track a deficit.

stealthq

Just to give you a rough idea, I'm 5' 3", 39, female. I am sedentary - desk job at work, a couch potato at home. I do one 30min heavy lifting session a wk (don't laugh, it actually has been effective for increasing strength - just slow).

At 143 lbs, I was losing 1 lb per week averaging 1500 cals per day.

You are starting with a lot more weight to lose, are younger, and are a heck of a lot more active than me. It is no wonder you would be hungry eating 1500 cals. It shouldn't be necessary (barring medical issues). I think the advice to log your maintenance diet and adjust from that is excellent. I believe you will find you have a couple of hundred more calories available to you - at least until you lose a fair amount.

KimberlyinMN

One thing to try when it comes to food - stop when you are satisfied, not FULL. Also, don't wait until you are famished to eat.

Weighing my food has given me the best option for portion control. I am not a good estimator when it comes to how much food I actually eat. It's also too easy STUFF food into a measuring cup to get that one cup of whatever. Once you know how much a serving should weigh, use the food scale and only eat that serving size.

I'm definitely a pro-snack person. Those mini bags of microwave popcorn (Orville Reddenbacher SmartPop), good protein bars (Quest), or even a protein shake (Syntrax Nectar) are snacks that I like.

linnilu

This may not work for those with a larger family, but since it is just my husband and me, I no longer put the food on the table. I leave it on the kitchen counter, buffet style. I find that if I actually have to get up and go to the kitchen for a second helping, I am more apt to think it over and decide if I am really still hungry or if I just think I want more. When we are done, I immediately put it away so it doesn't keep 'calling' to me. I also quite often have a light snack such as a piece of string cheese, in the mid afternoon.

nhoffman26

I am actually overweight. And I don't think my HRM shows that I burned more calories due to my size. I go into the gym 6 days a week for 2 hours. And my resting heart rate is perfect. And I weight 370. My routine is 44 minutes on the stair climbing elliptical, 33 minutes on the jogging elliptical, and the rest is weights. And after I'm done my heart rate drops back down within mere minutes. I think someone told you wrong.

Greytfish

This may not work for those with a larger family, but since it is just my husband and me, I no longer put the food on the table. I leave it on the kitchen counter, buffet style. I find that if I actually have to get up and go to the kitchen for a second helping, I am more apt to think it over and decide if I am really still hungry or if I just think I want more. When we are done, I immediately put it away so it doesn't keep 'calling' to me. I also quite often have a light snack such as a piece of string cheese, in the mid afternoon.

I make the food, portion and plate it, and immediately put the rest in containers and put them in the fridge/freezer.

psuLemon

Although MFP's number can be a good reference point, it is only a reference point. It may be accurate for your particular system, or it may be way off.

Personally, I would have taken one or two weeks tracking the calories in your pre-existing diet as well as your weight.

After two weeks if you had maintained your weight you would then know that the calories you were averaging per day were your "Maintenance Calories" for the activity level in your life.

Anything below that level and you are operating at a deficit. It is as simple as that.

3,500 calories is another reference point for the amount of calories to add/drop a pound of weight. Thus, if you cut 500 calories a day over a week, you'll THEORETCALLY loose a pound of weight. Alternatively, you can maitain your calories and increase your activity level to burn that amount of calories. You can reference this article from the Mayo Clinic:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/calories/ART-20048065

You are an individual and what works for others may not work for you. Take these online calculators as just one reference point. You should not be feeling hungry all the time within the context of losing a pound a week.

I was actually thinking of doing this. I got a Polar watch for Christmas. I was thinking of wearing it all day to see how many calories I burn in a normal, minus planned workouts.

Sugar is a carb and is processed as one. Don't even worry about tracking it. Second, wearing a HRM all day won't provide you any good insight. HRM are designed only to work with intense cardio. They are pretty useless outside of that. Fat is very good for you. In fact, increasing fat will increase satiety. If anything, your account shoudl be lightly active and you should lower your carb intake and substitute protein, fats and fiber.

Thanks! My Polar tracks my calories. I've worn it for regular activity and saw my caloric usage, such as taking in groceries, cleaning around the house, etc. Is this not helpful? I actually don't pay much attention to the HRM feature unless I am working out. Is your advice still the same? I would think if I wore my Polar all day I could actually see if what MFP has for my daily burn is accurate.

Essentially, HRM are limited by their algorithms. They aren't designed to work under daily movements. If you want to know more, below is a good post.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/965362-accuracy-of-heart-rate-monitor-calories