Help please!

spirited_angel

Hi just need some advice.My husband bought me a heart rate monitor for my birthday.When im working im burning just under 4000 cals inc my gym work but im not sure how to work that with the cals im been given on here!!It means yesterday for instance i ate nearly 2000 less than i burned!!Will this cause me to go into starvtion mode yet again as i work 5 days a week and work out 5 days a week too!!!Also it wasnt a busy day at work yesterday by any means which would mean im burning even more on days when its very busy!!!

chels1605

I'm rubbish at advice - but I would say that you need to make sure your net is 1200 at least.... also try to eat back 50% of your calories you burn - that way you can prevent your body from being in shock & storing fats instead of burning them!

Pebble321

MFP already accounts for your daily activities - so if you are active at work then set your activity level accordingly and only add extra calories from actual exercise.

spirited_angel

Ruby i have set my daily activity to active but it still means im burning nearly 2000 or more than im actually comsuming,last time i was doing that my body went into starvation mode and because i didnt know it was there for quite some time and has taken me ages to get it out of that and even now im not so sure its right!!

Cait_Sidhe

4000 seems like a lot to me. Are you sure the HRM is accurate at calculating calories burned? What kind is it? Before you go eating back 2000 more calories, I'd make sure that is an accurate number.

spirited_angel

4000 seems like a lot to me. Are you sure the HRM is accurate at calculating calories burned? What kind is it? Before you go eating back 2000 more calories, I'd make sure that is an accurate number.

Hi hun,yeah its a brand new polar ft40f hun and they are very acurate!!Yesterday i burnt 3975 cals inc an hour n half workout tho!!It actually reads less than the gym equipment i was on yesterday,so im glad he got it me as i had been using that as a guide until i got hrm!!I am on my feet for almost 8 hours at work inc serving and cleaning auditoriums between films!!

Mads1997

Even 2000 seems extremely high for a workout. What exercise are you doing to burn that much and what kind of HRM do you have?

Pebble321

Hmmm, i it was me, I would try this: make sure your daily activity is set to account for your work, then just use the HRM to log calories from extra exercise. Eat your daily allowance plus these exercise cals and see how you go for a few weeks.
Once you've tried it for a few weeks then you will have a better idea of how this works for you.
If you are concerned about "starvation mode" then it's better to be eating more rather than less. Good luck!

Pebble321

4000 seems like a lot to me. Are you sure the HRM is accurate at calculating calories burned? What kind is it? Before you go eating back 2000 more calories, I'd make sure that is an accurate number.

Hi hun,yeah its a brand new polar ft40f hun and they are very acurate!!Yesterday i burnt 3975 cals inc an hour n half workout tho!!It actually reads less than the gym equipment i was on yesterday,so im glad he got it me as i had been using that as a guide until i got hrm!!I am on my feet for almost 8 hours at work inc serving and cleaning auditoriums between films!!

Woah, if you are truly burning that much during a workout, plus being active at work, then I would seriously cut down your exercise!

I don't have an HRM but I think I burn a bit under 10 cals a minute when I'm running. Your HRM is giving you 44 cals/minute - I'm sure you would be working out much harder than I do, but that still seems really high. Are there any settings to check - age, height etc?

spirited_angel

I didnt burn 2000 in a workout hun thats how much i burnt in the 8 hours i was working!!I burnt about 700-800 cals in my workout!!My hrm is a polar ft40f and they are a good one as my husband did all his homework before deciding which one to get me!!

Mads1997

If you have yourself set to active then you should only be counting and logging your actual exercise in the gym not your job as that has already been accounted for in your MFP setup.

Pebble321

OK, that makes more sense. So, eat your daily allowance from MFP (which accounts for the cals you burnt during work) plus the 700 from exercise and see how that works for you. That way you'd be taking in around 2000 or so a day (assuming you are on 1200, which most people seem to choose), with a 1200 net. Sounds like a healthy days intake to me.

Don't panic too much about the actual cals during work, I don't beleive that HRM's give you an accurate calorie reading while you are standing at work, but they are very good for when you are moving and raising your heart rate.

spirited_angel

Thanks everyone x ya been a great help!!

Robin1117

Right---HRM's are only for your actual workouts. They are not meant to be worn all day. I don't know much about it but I have heard people talk about a bodybugg that is something you can wear all day and get your actual calories burned during the day.

So yes, use your base from MFP, with your activity level set appropriately, and add back only those calories burned during workouts. It should work well!

spirited_angel

Thanks Robin xxx i only wore the once during the day as i wasnt sure if i had my daily burn rate set ok but now i know im ok it is just for the workouts hun x