calories burnt doing nothing!!

bmw4deb

Hi everyone,

Thanks for reading my post
MFP tells me that by doing nothing I burn about 1500 calories a day
So i wore my HRM from wake up until bedtime the other day (doing no exercise
this day) and it shows i burnt almost 5000 calories just in a normal day.
could this be why my weight loss has been at a stall for 5 weeks now?

emilyc92

I'd love to know the answer to this too!

spngebobmyhero

i'm interested in knowing the answer to this too!

twinmama1987

I dont know, I guess it all depends on what you do AND what HRM you use. Some are quite "Generous" the best to use for something like that would be the BodyBugg

thordisintho

I've been thinking of wearing my HRM to see what my daily burn is.. Bump for later

SueInAz

Heart rate monitors don't do a good job calculating calories burned when you're just sitting around wearing it. They are meant to calculate calorie burns during aerobic activity.

CrimsonHellkite

hrm's arent really meant for all day use they really only measure activity as if you were exercising while wearing it, for all day use ya gotta get something made for that purpose like bodybugg

usmcmp

Most of the time if you read the directions on heart rate monitors they state that they are not to be worn all day. Most of them have some explaination as to why the calories burned will be off. This entire process isn't exact any way. A 100 calorie bag of popcorn could have more or less than 100 calories. Each egg will have slightly different nutrition.

wendyannie1976

i think therefore opinion from reading articles that it will depend on the hrm you have, some of the typical chest strap hrms find it difficult to calculate the correct burn at low hrm activity which can give a higher cal burn reading but only from what I've read and probably hrms compared to bodybugs/k-fit devices.

hope someone can give you a difinitive answer

humanskin

That's interesting. I've also noticed that my HRM is showing that I burn on average 2-3x more calories than what MFP estimates in their exercise logs. I'd like to know what other think...

Skydemon53

Did you set up your HRM with your personal data? (sex, age, weight)?

kated930

HRM can be tricky. I had a Timex ironman HRM that told me I was burning a bunch of calories during my workouts. I was a little skeptical and even posted about it. I ended up returning it because it had a scratch on the face of the watch, and decided to get a Polar since everyone raves about them. The Polar HRM says that I am burning way less calories than the Ironman was saying. Which one is right? Who knows! It is kind of frustrating!

If someone else you know has a HRM, maybe try wearing theirs for a day and see if you get similar results

akgrl1020

Most HRM's do not accurately track calories burned, when you are at a resting heart rate. They can also be pickup "interference" from other electronics, like computers, and report incorrectly. I wouldn't trust that number, from wearing yours all day.

silkysly

WOW! What are you doing to burn 5000 in a day? I’m a runner & don’t burn that much. Is your HRM set to you?

lenwie

Hi everyone,

Thanks for reading my post
MFP tells me that by doing nothing I burn about 1500 calories a day
So i wore my HRM from wake up until bedtime the other day (doing no exercise
this day) and it shows i burnt almost 5000 calories just in a normal day.
could this be why my weight loss has been at a stall for 5 weeks now?

my understanding is that this is the amount that you would burn literally doing nothing but just lying or sitting on a sofa breathing, this does not take into account any other movement or the cals it takes to burn the food that you eat etc.

Jemmuno

I think also your BMR has to do with if you just lied in bed all day or on the couch all day, like you didn't walk at all, and you didn't go up and down any stairs. You would use 1500 calories if you were completely sedentary all day long. At least that has always been my understanding.

redheadmommy

There is no way you are burning 5000 calories a day. That what burns associated with running a marathon or being a body builder doing 2-3 hr heavy lifting a day.
HRM can not measure how much you burn in a day. If you want to do that there are tools to do that like bodybug, which is similar to a HRM, but design to wear 24 hr to calculate the calories burnt

kimbux

My Fitness Pal is providing an estimate of your RMR - which is your Resting Metabolic Rate. Your RMR is the amount of calories your body burns AT REST... meaning if you were just sitting on the couch and watching TV all day. Using your HRM, you measured your daily caloric output for the day. This should be higher than your RMR because you were active - either walking from one room to another or going to work.

Your RMR is a good baseline to know so that you don't go over your calories when you are not active. It also indicates that you can eat 1500 calories per day and not gain or lose any weight.

The other number that is good to know is your BMR - Basel Metabolic Rate. This is the number of calories you burn at rest - in a dark room after waking up form 8 hours of sleep and fasting for 12 hours. Your BMR should be less than your RMR.

Hope this helps -

bmw4deb

I know wide range of answers :noway: lol
I just found it interesting , I use the polar 7
it is set to me exactly. 5000 calories everyday
I doubt ! but I do know it is not impossible my job can be non-stop some days
I tend to be on the go constantly after work laundry up and down 2 flights if steps
sweep mop ect, but the other day was not one of those days !

I just still believe MFP is way low on calories burnt on a regular day

Acg67

BMR is cals burned if you laid down all day, your HRM is your BRM + your activity level which is close to your TDEE, i'm not sure on the accuracy of your HRM for calories burned though