Slowed down? Plateau? Try Taso's way!! :)

Menene

I am in the same situation you are. I have plateau and can not seem to get it going again. I Manage a lab so Iconsidered my status sedentary. I walk 2-4 miles almost every day and keep my heart rate up (accoridng to my cheap HRM but I do not eat my exercise calories. I am also looking for a better HRM, what kind do you have. Thanks for the advice I hope to get the scale going again soon. I love this site because without it I would still be at 300+.

jlzrdking

Since everyone is discussing calories on a HRM vs what MFP shows I need a little help.

Last night at the gym I walked for 20mins at brisk pace 3.5 mph and then I did 20mins on a cardio/ski machine.

My HRM says I burned just under 800 calories and MFP says I burned 367.

I think what my HRM is telling me is too high on calories so I've been going with what MFP tells me i've burned.

Any suggestions? Maybe I need to read through my HRM book again and make sure I have it setup correctly.

I know the heart rate reading on my HRM is accurate because last night I would check it on the cardio machine and my HRM was dead on with the machine.

marianne_s

Since everyone is discussing calories on a HRM vs what MFP shows I need a little help.

Last night at the gym I walked for 20mins at brisk pace 3.5 mph and then I did 20mins on a cardio/ski machine.

My HRM says I burned just under 800 calories and MFP says I burned 367.

I think what my HRM is telling me is too high on calories so I've been going with what MFP tells me i've burned.

Any suggestions? Maybe I need to read through my HRM book again and make sure I have it setup correctly.

I know the heart rate reading on my HRM is accurate because last night I would check it on the cardio machine and my HRM was dead on with the machine.

I'm interested in the answers to these questions....

kelika71

I use a Polar F6. That's just to monitor workouts. I'm starting to lean towards the Body Bugg or Body Media Fit. These monitor throughout the entire day. That's how my friend, Taso, found that his caloric intake wasn't enough. Based on his findings and links in his original post (see above for link), I re-calculated my intake and found it wasn't enough, either.

MFP is almost like a "one size fits all." It's not like that. In fact, my friend confirmed what I had been wondering all along. Yeah, I may sit at a computer a lot; however, doing all the workouts I have been doing for the past year or so has changed things. When you lose weight, MFP drops your calories. That worked for fine for awhile. Then, I just totally stalled on losing anything. After calculations and increasing calories, it jumpstarted my loss again.

I do think his post has merit, especially to those that have been doing everything and getting nowhere. Yeah, some are going to say these are estimates, too. Well, so are some of the ideas that others say: change up workouts, change the way you eat, etc. It's all estimating what works. If you take in the fact you're working out and increasing your body's ability, then extra calories probably need to be figured into the equation.

Good luck!!

cccathyyy

great advice... bump for later!

speedyv

I have gone from 28% body fat to 13. 1 % in 12 months using a heart rate monitor to gauge my calorie burn.
I found that most machines over estimate calories a LOT and the a 30 min walk will burn approximate 300 cals depending on what you weigh and if it is on an incline.
What I did find that was the basis of my cardio workouts was that if I did interval training, I carried on burning calories at a higher rate than normal for the hour or so afterwards( until I took my monitor off!)
I didn't burn a lot of calories when I did weights but building muscle is counterproductive as muscle creates heat and therefore has the capacity to burn off fat. That is why my body fat dropped- combining weights( heavy enough to ache the next day) and intervals.
Don't rely on the counts on machines, I would take off at least 100 cals off what it says! Sorry to disappoint !!!

fasttrack27

Since everyone is discussing calories on a HRM vs what MFP shows I need a little help.

Last night at the gym I walked for 20mins at brisk pace 3.5 mph and then I did 20mins on a cardio/ski machine.

My HRM says I burned just under 800 calories and MFP says I burned 367.

I think what my HRM is telling me is too high on calories so I've been going with what MFP tells me i've burned.

Any suggestions? Maybe I need to read through my HRM book again and make sure I have it setup correctly.

I know the heart rate reading on my HRM is accurate because last night I would check it on the cardio machine and my HRM was dead on with the machine.

Don't know your size or fitness level, but 800 sounds VERY high for that 40 min workout. My Polar is usually 500-650 per 45 min spin class (which are pretty intense, sweat-drenched, workouts the whole 45 min). I'm usually in the 700-800 range for my 45 min kickboxing class. Both are way more intense than walking and a cardio machine, but then again i'm in pretty good shape so my counts may be lower than someone just starting out.

mogenfire

bump

jlzrdking

Since everyone is discussing calories on a HRM vs what MFP shows I need a little help.

Last night at the gym I walked for 20mins at brisk pace 3.5 mph and then I did 20mins on a cardio/ski machine.

My HRM says I burned just under 800 calories and MFP says I burned 367.

I think what my HRM is telling me is too high on calories so I've been going with what MFP tells me i've burned.

Any suggestions? Maybe I need to read through my HRM book again and make sure I have it setup correctly.

I know the heart rate reading on my HRM is accurate because last night I would check it on the cardio machine and my HRM was dead on with the machine.

Don't know your size or fitness level, but 800 sounds VERY high for that 40 min workout. My Polar is usually 500-650 per 45 min spin class (which are pretty intense, sweat-drenched, workouts the whole 45 min). I'm usually in the 700-800 range for my 45 min kickboxing class. Both are way more intense than walking and a cardio machine, but then again i'm in pretty good shape so my counts may be lower than someone just starting out.

Maybe that is the difference, I'm just 2 months into this and I have not dropped that much weight yet and I'm not in good shape.

When I signed up with MFP I was at 233lbs now I'm at 225lbs and working my way down to 200lbs. When I reach that goal I will decide what to do from there and set new goals but for now I want to make sure I'm doing the right exercises and actually burning calories to lose weight.

My biggest fear right now is I'll spend a lot of time going to the gym, watching what I eat and not lose and not reach my goal I have set. That is why I bought an HRM to make sure I was getting a good workout but I'm new to this and it's confusing getting all the different readings about calories burned.

speedyv

Eating is about 80% of the weight loss equation with the other 20% being exercise.( some experts say 70/30 but I go with Jillian michaels)
I do 6 sessions of very strenuous weights and cardio program. I do one hour and sweat like mad- burning between 500/700 cals an hour depending on what I'm doing. As long as you get the nutrition right, then any exercise that makes you sweat for one hour should help. I wouldn' t worry about what the machines say. IF YOU ARE NOT SWEATING AND CAN HOLD a CONVERSATION YOU ARE NOT WORING HARD ENOUGH!!!!!! Get your iPod on and get into the Zone,no chatting and make sure you challenge yourself to go faster, longer or harder everyday. That is how you get fitter.
When you are exercising push yourself every time( which is had if you don't have the motivation). Because if you DON'T change you WON'T change. And remember it is ONLY for one hour, you still have another 23 house in the day to do other things.
As you can probably see I am a Jillian Michaels disciple!!!! She is fantastic and helped me train like an athlete.( from a former couch potato)