how to track calories burned????

Dnarules

1000 will get old quick. But everything often leads to a plateau.

Okay, agreed. But why not encourage eating at a deficit that is more sustainable. It is much easier to cut from there if you plateau.

heybales

I work on a beef cattle farm, so as far as a work out its everything from cardio to weight lifting and everything in between. However, I'm not sure how to figure out how many calories I burn while I'm there. Does anyone have any good ideas on how I could keep track?

Are you this?

Very Active: Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter)

That's from your Diet/Fitness profile.

Were you honest with that, or picked sedentary because you thought it would be better?

Are you going to be just as honest with the food logging?

Why not be honest with both.

CyberEd312

You're not eating enough.

According to the OP's profile, she needs to lose 80 lbs. If that is the case, her intake is fine, assuming it works for her and she is hitting her macros/micros.

But it's unnecessary.

So is losing any weight at all.

Everybody has to find their own path.

Why eat at such a restricted caloric intake when it is absolutely not necessary? I lost the vast majority of my weight eating over 3000 calories a day... Establishing a modest deficit and losing the weight over time is a sustainable path to take and one that offers a greater chance at adherence in my opinion.... and OP I would not factor in an calorie burns that are based of my everyday job... If anything set your status to active and go from there..... Best of Luck

Dnarules

You're not eating enough.

According to the OP's profile, she needs to lose 80 lbs. If that is the case, her intake is fine, assuming it works for her and she is hitting her macros/micros.

But it's unnecessary.

So is losing any weight at all.

Everybody has to find their own path.

Why eat at such a restricted caloric intake when it is absolutely not necessary? I lost the vast majority of my weight eating over 3000 calories a day... Establishing a modest deficit and losing the weight over time is a sustainable path to take and one that offers a greater chance at adherence in my opinion.... and OP I would not factor in an calorie burns that are based of my everyday job... If anything set your status to active and go from there..... Best of Luck

I am not the OP. but thank you.

annastasia_82

Ok, so first I don't appreciate being called a liar. I work three different jobs. One full time two part time. I work atleast 20 hours a week at a cattle farm (on these days I eat more protein and more calories), 40 hours a week as a lab tech ( a lot of walking, moving around, and some sitting,) and 32 hours at a tax office ( a lot of sitting). So I set my activity level low because two of my jobs I don't consider to be active. In the summer I'm much more active riding horses and working on my own farm (all hay ground, no animals yet), so I'd would definitely change it to active then. I'm new to this, so I'm still trying to find what works for me. So, HEYBALES, I am honest. I never said that I only work on a beef farm, I was curious about what would work to count the calories I burn while I'm there. I know I'm not burning much at my other jobs.

This whole debate about eating the right amount of calories as long as macro and micro are ok and eating too few calories is enough to send someone screaming for the hills. I prepare all of my meals for the week on Sunday and if you look at what I'm eating, you'd see that I eat a lot though out the day. There are so many conflicting theories about how many calories to eat. One person says to go by your BMR and TDEE and another says never go below 1200. Have I messed up and not ate enough, I guess so.

I also know, that if I don't see results I wont stick with it. I have changed my settings to loose 1 pound a week instead of two as someone on another thread suggested. So, now my suggested calorie intake is 1600, I currently find it hard to always make it to that amount but I'm still trying to find what works. Obviously what I was doing in the past didn't work (before I got on this site and decided to dedicate myself to loosing weight), so I'm changing up how, when, and what I eat.


DID YOU KNOW WHAT WORKED BEST FOR YOU ON THE VERY FIRST DAY? I'M GUESSING NOT.

annastasia_82

Thank you for the great links and the positive comments and the positive suggestions/constructive criticism. I definitely appreciate all of them and take each one to heart and give them all equal consideration. That's why I'm here, to learn from others what has worked for them and what hasn't.

Dnarules

Ok, so first I don't appreciate being called a liar. I work three different jobs. One full time two part time. I work atleast 20 hours a week at a cattle farm (on these days I eat more protein and more calories), 40 hours a week as a lab tech ( a lot of walking, moving around, and some sitting,) and 32 hours at a tax office ( a lot of sitting). So I set my activity level low because two of my jobs I don't consider to be active. In the summer I'm much more active riding horses and working on my own farm (all hay ground, no animals yet), so I'd would definitely change it to active then. I'm new to this, so I'm still trying to find what works for me. So, HEYBALES, I am honest. I never said that I only work on a beef farm, I was curious about what would work to count the calories I burn while I'm there. I know I'm not burning much at my other jobs.

This whole debate about eating the right amount of calories as long as macro and micro are ok and eating too few calories is enough to send someone screaming for the hills. I prepare all of my meals for the week on Sunday and if you look at what I'm eating, you'd see that I eat a lot though out the day. There are so many conflicting theories about how many calories to eat. One person says to go by your BMR and TDEE and another says never go below 1200. Have I messed up and not ate enough, I guess so.

I also know, that if I don't see results I wont stick with it. I have changed my settings to loose 1 pound a week instead of two as someone on another thread suggested. So, now my suggested calorie intake is 1600, I currently find it hard to always make it to that amount but I'm still trying to find what works. Obviously what I was doing in the past didn't work (before I got on this site and decided to dedicate myself to loosing weight), so I'm changing up how, when, and what I eat.


DID YOU KNOW WHAT WORKED BEST FOR YOU ON THE VERY FIRST DAY? I'M GUESSING NOT.

I can understand your frustration. There is a lot of conflicting info out there, and it is tough to know the right thing to do. But I think you misunderstood heybales post. He is actually one of the most knowledgable people on here, and he has helped many, including me (from afar, and on a different account). He wasn't calling you a liar. I think he was telling you to honestly look at your activity level. You are probably more active than you think. And it is probably time to re-evaluate you goal.

And many of us didn't know what the heck we were doing at first. But being on here and trying to learn is a great step.

annastasia_82

That may be so, but I did post that I wanted to keep track of calories burned so that I knew where I was at. That's what this was about. Finding a way to keep track so I could set myself up for success.

annastasia_82

I realize that my job does not constitute as my work out, but knowing how many calories I use on a regular day without exercise will allow me to set a better calorie intake goal for the day so that my calories out exceeds those going in.

my activity level is also set at lightly active, not sedentary.

Dnarules

I realize that my job does not constitute as my work out, but knowing how many calories I use on a regular day without exercise will allow me to set a better calorie intake goal for the day so that my calories out exceeds those going in.

I'm actually on your side here. That is why in the beginning I recommended something like a fitbit or Bodymedia fit. They can help you get an overall picture of where you are at. It is very difficult for you because you are very active some days, and fairly sedentary on others.

But any number you get, be it from a Fitbit, and Bodymedia fit, or an estimated TDEE based on activity level, is going to be an estimate. And it will take a little trial and error to come up with a reasonable goal that works for you. I just don't want to see you unnecessarily eat a low number of calories.

luckydays27

I wear a FitBit One 24/7. Its great for determining cals burned for walking based activities. Its not great for lifting, cycling, swimming etc. It cant read your heart rate so it does not know what you are doing except for step based activities. Does not accurately measure cals burned during strength training or times of heavy exertion

Cost $99 no monthly fee. Great customer service. The FB force costs $129

My sister had the Body Fit Media, It measures your movements as well as skin temps or something like that to determine your cals burn. It does not measure your heart rate. Does not accurately measure cals burned during strength training or times of heavy exertion.

Costs $100+ depending on model and has a monthly subscription fee after the intro period.

As you can see, neither can accurately measure cals burned during times of heavy exertion. No device can do this accurately at the consumer level. Heart Rate Monitors can give a better estimate but are not designed to be worn all day long and work best during steady state cardio.

I use my HRM during strength training because I do more of a circuit style of workout where my heart rate is elevated the entire time. Its not 100% accurate but its close enough. Actually its close enough that I lose my expected loss week after week.

I think a FB might be a good option for you. You can try it for a month and if you lost more weight than expected, you increase your cal intake. If you lost less, you decrease your intake.

Either way, you probably need to eat more food than 1000 and 1400 depending on your day. On my laziest day where I barely get off the couch, I eat around 1500 and still lose. Most days I am eating around 1900 and lose at a crazy pace.

No matter what, dont give up. It will take time to figure all this out. You have to honest about your intake though to truly figure out what you need each and every day. Weighing and measuring your foods will help.

Good luck!

annastasia_82

Thank you. It sounds like there a lot of options, I just need to figure out which one will meet my needs the best.

I have been trying to increase my calorie intake but I just don't want to be eating like I used to. Although in the past I would eat large portions and maybe only eat once or twice a day. Now I eat the suggested serving size portion and each a lot through out the day. Watching my sodium and sugar intake has always been a big one for me that's helped me loose in the past, so I try to keep those in check even if I go over on my calories.


Thank you all though for the concern on getting my calorie numbers up. I'm not sure how to do that without gaining, but I guess its just trial and error. :flowerforyou:

JRKWebb

I use a Fitbit Force. It seems to work pretty well and be pretty accurate. I never 'eat back' my calories though. I work to a set number regardless of how active I am in a day and find I meet my (current) weight gain goals.

AusEliza

i use to use a polar heart rate monitor/watch, but it never worked as well as it should have, so can't recommend it, but hey it might be an option.

annastasia_82

lol. note to self: don't bother with a polar heart rate monitor/watch. lol.

Yeah, I don't understand the eating back your work out calories thing. That doesn't make sense to me, and what your doing is obviously working very well for you.

luckydays27

I use a Polar FT60 HRM when exercising. It works just fine for doing what i need it to do.

Regarding eating exercise cals back, I do eat mine (or most of them anyway). For me to lose weight (.5 lbs a week) I can eat 1380 worth of cals. This does not take exercise into consideration though. If I want to work out to get fit, I need to eat more because I cant function on 1380 cals AND workout. The gas tank would run dry. So I am not eating back my calories to lose weight, I am eating my calories to get fit.

heybales

Ok, so first I don't appreciate being called a liar. I work three different jobs. One full time two part time. I work atleast 20 hours a week at a cattle farm (on these days I eat more protein and more calories), 40 hours a week as a lab tech ( a lot of walking, moving around, and some sitting,) and 32 hours at a tax office ( a lot of sitting). So I set my activity level low because two of my jobs I don't consider to be active. In the summer I'm much more active riding horses and working on my own farm (all hay ground, no animals yet), so I'd would definitely change it to active then. I'm new to this, so I'm still trying to find what works for me. So, HEYBALES, I am honest. I never said that I only work on a beef farm, I was curious about what would work to count the calories I burn while I'm there. I know I'm not burning much at my other jobs.

If you thought I was calling you a liar, please reread and remove emotion, as that will cause undo stress and that won't help weight loss.

I was asking if you were being honest with yourself.

As others have said, I'm trying to get you to be honest if your are going to use the MFP method, which will see better long term results than thinking you are going to make it faster and better by making an even bigger deficit.

Even if you get one of the devices that measures your daily activity better than an estimate, guess what they compare your daily calorie burn with?

The level of calories your choices of Activity level causes the daily maintenance figure for.
So you'll be getting these adjustments every day, and bigger ones if you underestimate your activity level purposely because you think you know better - when right within these posts you admit you don't know, at all.

So it's good to see you thinking about accepting the advice of those commenting that are more experienced than you.
Keep it up, learn from others mistakes, perhaps you'll be able to avoid going through your own school of hard-knocks.

Sadly, some people must do that. Some people even then don't learn either. Such is the interesting nature of man (and woman).

As to what your activity level would be in MFP without exercise - I was just thinking farm chores, now you added a 40 hr job standing mostly some walking.

You might be surprised to learn how many FitBit users after first getting their unit discover that their sedentary desk jobs, without counting exercise or the motivation to move more, are already Lightly Active because of rest of their life.

So by wanting to underestimate so badly about your activity level usually says a couple of things.
1 - You have no actual knowledge about calorie levels beyond perhaps seeing 1200 minimum around, you just know if you picked a higher level you'd be eating more, and you think that is wrong. Unless you actually logged how much you used to eat that got you into trouble, without actually changing what you ate by the mere fact of logging, you've never know a calorie level to compare to. So forget trying to compare if a stated calorie level sounds high or low - you have no idea likely.
2 - You think bigger is better, without having knowledge why it usually is not, especially long term. Unless you enjoy being stressed out because the process ends up taking longer over all than required.


Have you read why MFP has you eat back your exercise calories?
You like math?

MFP takes your BMR x activity factor based on your choice of non-exercise activity level causes.
BMR 1500 x 1.8 Very active = 2700 maintenance calories without exercise. No gain or loss if you ate that, and no exercise. Obviously estimated, this is what FitBit and others attempt to estimate better.

Non-exercise Maintenance 2700 - 1000 calories deficit for 2 lbs weekly = 1700 eating goal.

Now, you exercise 500 calorie burn one day. What just happened to your maintenance?
2700 + 500 = 3200 total daily burn with exercise included.
3200 - 1000 calorie deficit = 2200 eating goal.

Look there - same 1000 calorie deficit is still there.

That is the basis for MFP's method to keep your deficit the same daily, whether you workout or not.

If you truly think bigger is better, why don't you stop eating until you get down to desired weight?
Why not, what do you think will happen?
Why do you think that won't happen over a long period of time doing half the damage say?

annastasia_82

Thank you for explaining further