My Humbling Story...And a Warning

Hopeinanguish

I'm making this post not as an expert, but as someone who has discovered a real problem that I want to warn others about. My intent is not to argue with anyone or insist I'm right...but simply to tell you what happened.

When I became serious about my commitment to good health, I heard from people on this website and those on other fitness websites that a heart rate monitor was not only a great tool, but that it was vital to knowing exactly where you stand as far as calorie intake and loss every day. I agreed then, and I still agree now. But, as I will explain, a heart rate monitor, coupled with the "eat your exercise calories" philosophy, can be dangerous and damaging to achieving your weight loss goals on this site.

When I made up my mind that I should purchase a heart rate monitor for the reasons above, I made the mistake (as I'm sure many have) of not researching heart rate monitors. Because of this, I didn't understand how important it is to have a GOOD heart rate monitor...so I bought a BAD heart rate monitor. I won't name the brand or type--that doesn't matter. What I will say about it is that it was a watch with a simple fingertip touch sensor on it. The principle that it worked on was you start the timer, you occasionally touch the sensor, and by the time your workout is over, you have a picture of how many calories you've burned. Not sophisticated, but good enough, right? WRONG.

My friends on MFP know that I do the Walk Away the Pounds 4 Mile DVD 6 days a week. As I grew stronger, I was able to push myself harder through the DVD, burning more calories. What started out as 550 calories became 650...and then 750. I was so happy that despite being over 200 pounds, I was able to "run with the big boys", so to speak. I was wrong. If I'm honest with myself, having a watch with a sensor on it allowed for touching the sensor at "convenient" times and forgetting to touch it again for a while. My watch did not allow me to enter any stats except my sex and age. Because of this, not only was the sensor ineffective, but it gave me credit for more calories burned than it should have.

if you team up this poor tool with the idea that one should eat back their exercise calories, it spells trouble. At one point, I was plateauing with my weight loss. I now believe this to be the explanation. Today I bought what I would consider a high end heart rate monitor (Polar FT7) , suspecting there may be an issue. I was right. Instead of an easy 700 calories, I struggled to work off 500. IMAGINE how much of a problem I would have if I had chosen to eat back all my exercise calories.

So this is my warning...be careful to either have an accurate heart rate monitor (one that asks for weight, height, age, and sex AND uses a chest strap so touching a sensor isn't required!) or to realize that no matter what you do, this is a flawed system. You may be hurting your goals and not realizing it. Anyone who has any questions, please feel free to send me a message or friend me. I'm here to help! I hope this helps so that no one else will struggle the way I did. Needless to say, it's incredibly embarrassing and humbling to admit that I made such mistakes, but I hope I can prevent others from doing the same.

Positive thoughts for success to all my MFP pals. You guys mean the world to me. Thanks for reading.

samntim

So well explained.

I have a heart rate monitor with a chest strap and it really is an eye opener how doing the same exercise on different days the calories burned can be a difference of up to 250.

ItsMeMaryW

I also made the mistake of getting a cheaper one with the touch sensors... I don't use it at all. Saving up for a good one this time.

Athena413

I have a Garmin HRM and LOVE it! I talked to a lot of people and researched before I bought it because it was almost $100 and that's a significant purchase for me. As far as eating back exercise calories...I believe in that to an extent. I tend to burn a lot of calories in a fairly short amount of time, so if I were to eat back ALL of my exercise calories, I'd be doomed to never losing weight! I usually try to NET 1200 calories in a day...that way I know my body has the fuel it needs to perform the exercises I'm doing. Thanks for sharing your story!!

DakotaKeogh

I totally agree with you. As I've been using an HRM with chest strap I've learned a lot about calorie burns. First of all as you go from exercise to exercise, your heart rate changes. So the burn isn't consistent. A simple formula of minutes times heart rate won't work because the second number keeps changing. Also I've learned that workouts in the morning or evening burn differently. As do workouts that are shortly after eating or several hours after eating. The heart strap seems pretty required to me.

And I don't eat back the calories. Some yes.It's been nice to get an extra hundred calories or two depending on what my workout burned. But I'm doing the exercise specifically to lose weight. I just make sure I get a good recovery drink after. And that the food I do eat concentrates on protein to rebuild the muscle damage from exercise.

Thanks for putting this out there.

kr3851

I'm so glad you posted this! I was just about to...

I'd been relying on the equipment at the gym (which asks for weight, age and target heart rate) for my calories burned, and was eating them all back. Then I got a HRM (a Polar one as well... at the advice of everyone here!) and realised that I'd been burning up to 400 cals LESS than I thought. Probably the reason I wasn't losing weight.

I really don't trust the machines (or even MFP's values) for the count. I don't even really trust my HRM to be 100% accurate so don't always eat them ALL back.

Gemini_1980

We have the same story:bigsmile: I had a similar "bad monitor" when I started and thought I burned a fair amount of calories etc. I upgraded to a FT4 with a chest strap and found that I was burning approx 200-300 calories less then what the "bad monitor" had given me. Combined with my exercise calories that could spell disaster:sad: glad I wised up and upgraded.

JackieLM

You have to take the calories burned and eaten very loosely. I take them as an "estimate" on here. Sometimes I am good... and I am under. Sometimes I go a little over. It is so hard to be right on... like you said, you shouldn't eat back all of the calories unless you know 100 percent exactly what you burned and that is just so hard to be 100 percent sure on.

Keep your chin up, even if you haven't lost as much as you could have been losing... you are still losing...

Good luck for the future!

Hopeinanguish

Thanks for the kind words, guys. I feel humiliated...and yet, I have a renewed sense of understanding of what has really been going on. I'm beat up...but lucky.

mrschappet

I made the same mistake and bought a HRM that was only a touch sensor... luckily i realized with in the first week of having it that it was a POS.. so i took it back and bought one with a chest strap . I love the HRM I have now!!!

km323

Thank you so much for this! I have been exercising like crazy for months - for longer stretches of time, increasingly getting stronger. But I have been logging what the MFP database tells me I burn rather than using an HRM (can't afford it, tbh) and eating back quite a few exercise calories (I'm usually not under on the days I don't exercise). I have been really struggling to lose weight, and even though I have been exercising regularly for months and months, the scale won't budge. I'm hoping that eating back fewer calories will help me start seeing some movement on the scale.

Maria_81

I'm new to the site but thanks for sharing your take on this. I am in the market for a heart monitor so this was very helpful. I don't trust my exercise equipment at all. Right now I'm just focusing on low calorie foods and moderate exercise until I purchase the right one

BabyDuchess

I eat 50-75% of my exercise calories back to allow for any inaccuracies and I haven't had a plateau so far. :flowerforyou:

Ambria0516

You are truly spot on. For the first 4 months I relied on MFP and then finally bought a good polar heart monitor. I was shocked at the actual calories i burned. If i did 60 minutes on the treadmill mfp would say i burnt 1200 calories, the machine would say even more sometimes, and it was actually around 550. I still lost weight because i try not to eat my exercise calories back (I am 275 lbs). I am just glad I bought my hrm when I did. They are truly a great investment.

_gwen

great post, thanks for the insight.

Whatnow50

Thank you for sharing... that's part of how we all help each other right?!

I just used my Polar FT7 for the first time today turned out the treadmill said I burned 100 calories more than HRM. BUT, being able to check HR on my wrist and feeling it was accurate helped me push hard and faster to keep the rate up longer. So overall I think it will be a great tool to get and stay on the best course of action.

Keep in touch on how it is for you.

velvetkat

I also have a HRM with a chest strap and it seems to work well.. Thing is.. I read somewhere that you(people) tend to over estimate their exercise calories by 40% and underestimate their calories eaten by 20%. With this in mind I figure that eating back my exercise calories would be counter effective. I go for a goal of 1350 give or take a 100 or so.. usually on the light side and so far I have had good results. I also know that if it works stick with it. I do take and mix things up with my exercise as I always want to keep my body guessing so I dont plateau.
I have been at this for 4 1/2 months now and have lost 68lbs without a plateau.
My advice is to get a decent HRM with good reviews BUT dont rely solely on it for your results may suffer.


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jennyferk

Good post. I made the exact same mistake and ended up taking it back. I now have a Polar FT7 and love it. At first I did not want a chest strap, but it's really no big deal!

barbarajean3

I do not have a HR monitor but I workout at curves and their computer tells you how many cals burned at end of work out. I then only enter half or a lillte more depending on how I think I did. then only eat back part of that. Its not science but it seems to be working for me.

VStar55

I agree 100% and would like to add that there is one strapless HRM that works well. It's called the ePulse2 strapless heart rate monitor, the strap is actually built into the armband and you wear it on your forearm and allows for continuous monitoring during your work out.

http://www.bodytronics.com/p/strapless_heart_rate_monitors/EPULSE2?s=g&gclid=CMHg9qPF5akCFYUaQgodh2ZWXw

luvmybentley

I have never agreed with eating back your exercise calories, unless you are marathon training. I alternate between 60 min treadmill and 30 min circuit training 6 days a week, and stick to 1200 calories a day, has been working for me. I never eat back my exercise calories, but I do splurge on a 100-200 calorie treat (usually an alcoholic beverage) once or twice a week. So far it's been a steady 2 lbs a week loss.

That said, I do want to get a good HRM to help me with my body fat % goal. Sounds like the Polar FT7 is a favorite, thanks for the recommendation:)