Do those devices really tell you how much you burn in a day?

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  • lavendy17
    lavendy17 Posts: 309 Member
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    Thanks!
    I think I will try the long way of experimenting for 3-4 weeks and adjusting. I guess at the end of the day that's what really matters- cause and effect.

    Great advise from everyone!
    Really appreciate it!
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
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    How difference was their estimate from what MFP gave you when you entered your calorie goals?

    It tracks my overall burn for the day and I can eat accordingly. No guesswork on my part. MFP tends to overestimate the burn.

    Yep, the BodyMedia Fit makes it SO easy to achieve a deficit every day. Just moving around burns way more calories than you'd imagine--that's why I when I first started to drop a few pounds, I'd be good for a 3-4 days and then binge. I was eating 1800 calories, but some days my calorie burn would be over 2800, creating too large of a deficit. With my BMF, I was able to eat to my activity and the weight came off fast.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,604 Member
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    I know a lot of people wear HRMs and the like, and I wondered about that.
    Will it tell me how much I actually burn every 24 hours? That would be really helpful to determine how many calories to consume, you know?
    How does it work?
    What has been your experience with such monitors? Is it very different than MFP's estimates?
    HRM's aren't designed for anything but to track heart rate during activity and may count calories approximately when doing steady state cardio exercise.
    They aren't designed to accurately read calorie burns for weight lifting, chores around the house, shopping, etc.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • soozy84
    soozy84 Posts: 118
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    I wear my HRM only for my workouts, but I've noticed that both the gym machines and MFP don't come anywhere close to what I've actually burned during a workout. I love that it's much more accurate and it's helped me to calculate my calories in so I can lose weight quicker. I stick closer to 1550 calories/day but burn anywhere from 600-1000 during my workouts. Using MFP's estimates, I would be way off.


    Same here.
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
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    Another BodyMedia FIT user here. I wouldn't trade it for the world. Can't beat its accuracy; MFP actually *under* estimates my maintenance calories by a good 200. I eat faithfully according to its numbers and I have always gained, maintained, or lost according to what it says over a period of time.
  • Shropshire1959
    Shropshire1959 Posts: 982 Member
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    NO. Not exactly.

    A HRM on it's own will Help with a 'Estimate' of your total energy expenditure, it (or better the software where you log the data, like say MFP) also needs to know your gender, Height and weight so that it can ESTIMATE your energy expenditure (and better than nothing or a full on guess).

    N.B a lot of folks early have said that the trackers CALCULATE your energy expenditure - they don't the ESTIMATE it based upon the data that you provide and their internal model - how accurate the results it gives is based upon the accuracy of the data provided and the software model.

    To CALCULATE your expenditure, the tracker would need a lot more sensors that just a HRM and a pedometer!! You really need to spend time in a calorimeter to get more accurate data - where ALL of your inputs and outputs are measured .. yes that too!!
  • nosebag1212
    nosebag1212 Posts: 621 Member
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    I can confirm, I use a bodymedia fit and it is scary accurate for me, it's also the only device on the market that has been proven to be accurate within clinical trials, WAY better than the crappy mfp suggestions which I find to be on the low side more often than not, feelsgoodman.jpg knowing your exact maintenance for sure and never having to guess if you're actually in a deficit

    bodymedia fit + a food scale are the two best investments I've made
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,604 Member
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    I can confirm, I use a bodymedia fit and it is scary accurate for me, it's also the only device on the market that has been proven to be accurate within clinical trials, WAY better than the crappy mfp suggestions which I find to be on the low side more often than not, feelsgoodman.jpg knowing your exact maintenance for sure and never having to guess if you're actually in a deficit

    bodymedia fit + a food scale are the two best investments I've made
    I agree about bodymedia. I wore a Bodybugg for a couple of years (I even have pics with it on in my profile pics) and can attest it's quite accurate. I stopped using it because of cost (monthly fee) wasn't worth it to me anymore.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • Ginaxx22
    Ginaxx22 Posts: 13 Member
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    At the end of the day I don't mind if its not accurate. I am just using it as some motivation to exercise for a mile or so. I don't always stay strict with the diet either, I am just using it as a guide to try and stick to a certain amount of calories to loose some weight. If its not working I will adjust it though and try to go to the gym more
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
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    I know a lot of people wear HRMs and the like, and I wondered about that.
    Will it tell me how much I actually burn every 24 hours? That would be really helpful to determine how many calories to consume, you know?
    How does it work?
    What has been your experience with such monitors? Is it very different than MFP's estimates?

    HRMs are meant to be worn for steady rate cardio..not weight training, yoga, or just to wear 24 hours.

    Different types of other devices tend to be pedometers. I like Bodymedia Link because it does a bit more than most other pedometer type tracking devices.

    Overall, though, it's all an estimate. You can succeed without any of these tools but if you do use them, just educate yourself on the device (i.e. realizing HRMs can't be used for most activities outside of things like running, swimming, etc) and how they work with MFP (i.e with Bodymedia, I don't log exercises with the MFP estimates).
  • tjohnoconnor
    tjohnoconnor Posts: 58 Member
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    All of them are estimates and some are better than others. There are so many things that go into those estimates as well. Even an HRM can only estimate. Without measuring lung capacity and blood gases and co2 and a plethora of other things it is all an estimate. What you can do is find which one works the best for you. For 1 month I ran MFP, Endomondo, mapmyfitness and fitbit doing the same exercises and eating the same number of calories and the same balance of macros all balanced at my settings at each meal. Compared calories consumed to calories burned and the weight loss and was shocked to find fitbit was closest for me. A friend in town here did the same and fitbit wasn't close at all. There are other ways to find out as well, you just have to figure it out.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
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    NO. Not exactly.

    A HRM on it's own will Help with a 'Estimate' of your total energy expenditure, it (or better the software where you log the data, like say MFP) also needs to know your gender, Height and weight so that it can ESTIMATE your energy expenditure (and better than nothing or a full on guess).

    N.B a lot of folks early have said that the trackers CALCULATE your energy expenditure - they don't the ESTIMATE it based upon the data that you provide and their internal model - how accurate the results it gives is based upon the accuracy of the data provided and the software model.

    To CALCULATE your expenditure, the tracker would need a lot more sensors that just a HRM and a pedometer!! You really need to spend time in a calorimeter to get more accurate data - where ALL of your inputs and outputs are measured .. yes that too!!

    The BodyMedia Fit is NOT a heart rate monitor, nor does it contain one. A few of the things it looks at are skin temperature, amount of sweat, and acceleration.
  • Shropshire1959
    Shropshire1959 Posts: 982 Member
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    The BodyMedia Fit is NOT a heart rate monitor, nor does it contain one. A few of the things it looks at are skin temperature, amount of sweat, and acceleration.

    Cool - still only an estimate :-p
  • lindsey1979
    lindsey1979 Posts: 2,395 Member
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    I'm also a Bodymedia Fit monitor --- I love it and find it to be very accurate. My calculated deficits align very well with my weight loss. I love seeing the different graphs, reports and calorie burns -- I find them very motivational. I recommend it very highly.
  • ravenmiss
    ravenmiss Posts: 384 Member
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    Have only looked a little but I seem to think that the BodyMedia is only available in the US?

    I think there's a UK version of it but it's a lot more expensive :(
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,367 Member
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    I had a HRM first, back when I first started working out. That was before I joined MFP. Now I find MFP overestimates my burn from cardio by about 30%, so I overwrite MFP's number with the HRM number when I log my exercise.

    Within the past year I got a Fitbit, mainly to track sleep as I sleep very, very badly (perimenopause). I don't have it synched with MFP as I think that's just way too confusing, lol.

    I figure the Fitbit is a pretty decent reflection of my TDEE... I average around 1600/day, and that seems to align with online TDEE calculators that I've played with, considering I'm a 50 year old female with a desk job.
  • PLAID1977
    PLAID1977 Posts: 70 Member
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    I researched a variety of activity monitors for the same reasons you are asking. I wanted to know if I actually could be eating more and still losing without spending much time trying out...for fear it wouldn't work!

    I finally bought the Body Media Link armband about 5 weeks ago. It was the best $100 I ever spent. I have been able to increase my calories many of the days and feel pretty confident about my calories burned throughout the entire day, not just in a workout. It is also motivating to me.

    I have consistently lost the 2 lbs each week that I have been working toward. This was not the case when I was going strictly by MFP's numbers. And this is not new weight loss/water weight as I've been at this a long time. I reset my goal to lose only 1 lb the next few weeks as I am much closer to goal. I'm confident that I will now do that as well.

    I love my Body Media. It is the most accurate choice out there, considered a medical device...not a glorified pedometer. Totally worth every penny for me!

    Edited to add: You could play around with your TDEE and probably get similar results. But this simplified it for me and took my own user error out of the equation!
  • Chain_Ring
    Chain_Ring Posts: 753 Member
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    Buy a Garmin device, it will make all others look like toys............... :-)
  • Mommy2two_2
    Mommy2two_2 Posts: 33 Member
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    Im in love with my bodymedia arm band! I just got the basic core but it has been eye opening!!! I way underestimated my calorie burn and was under eating for soooo long!! Could not maintain that and would binge. Now I get to eat more!!!!!! When calculating I always didn't believe it or would underestimate it because I thought there is no way I can eat that much and still lose. With this it says heres what you burned.. Heres how much to eat.. Bam that simple!!! I spent $80 on it and would do it all over again in a heartbeat!

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