logging without an HRM

NoAdditives

What's the best way to log exercises such as walking (while pushing a stroller [up to 100+ lbs] and wearing a baby in a carrier), running, mountain biking, etc. if I don't have a heart rate monitor? I don't plan on getting one because it's not something I can work into our budget. I used to rely on the cardio machine readouts at the gym but I live too far away from the city now. I'll be having my third baby in about a month and once she's born I want to get back into exercising which will most likely be walks with the kids. Our road is hilly and as I said I may be pushing my two older kids in the stroller and wearing my baby. There are so many options for walking in the MFP database but I have no idea how to log when it comes to MPH, uphill/downhill, etc.

woo1324

What i used to do when i wasnt using a HRM was underestimate a bit and drop down the cals because MFP and fitness machine estimates are usually pretty wrong ,, i would take the readings of excercise machines and take off about 100 cal for anything over 300 cals so for example if i burnt 600 in a hour according to themachine, i would log 500 burned id do the same for the calorie predictions on my fitness pal for say a walk i would look it up on here and then drop it by 100 for anything over 300 cals and drop it by 50 for anything under so if i went on a 150 cal walk i would log 100 if i went on a 700 cal walk i would log 600

I found this to be more in line with what my HRM results are

radio_flyer

Since you"ll have some resistance (the stoller - uphill etc) I'd log it as a 3.5 or 4 mph walk -- which is a higher calorie burn then just walking by yourself.

NoAdditives

What i used to do when i wasnt using a HRM was underestimate a bit and drop down the cals because MFP and fitness machine estimates are usually pretty wrong ,, i would take the readings of excercise machines and take off about 100 cal for anything over 300 cals so for example if i burnt 600 in a hour according to themachine, i would log 500 burned id do the same for the calorie predictions on my fitness pal for say a walk i would look it up on here and then drop it by 100 for anything over 300 cals and drop it by 50 for anything under so if i went on a 150 cal walk i would log 100 if i went on a 700 cal walk i would log 600

I found this to be more in line with what my HRM results are

I guess I wasn't specific enough. My confusion is with which exercise option to choose, not how to log the calories. I'm pretty sure I'll mainly be walking butt here are so many different walking exercise to choose from. I have a hilly road, so I'll be walking uphill sometimes and downhill other times. I'll be pushing a stroller and carrying a baby. I don't know how many miles per hour I'll be walking. And even if I did, there's no specific entry for this combination. I'm not overly concerned with knowing exactly how many calories I'm burning, I just want to get the closest estimate. But I don't know how to do that because I don't know which option to use. (And obviously, I'm aware that an HRM is my best bet for figuring this out.)

NoAdditives

Since you"ll have some resistance (the stoller - uphill etc) I'd log it as a 3.5 or 4 mph walk -- which is a higher calorie burn then just walking by yourself.

Ok. Thanks!

moniquelessard

GOOGLE.... I google cals burned for different exercises like walking pushing a stroller etc..

also, I use a simple calculator

http://www.healthcalculators.org/calculators/calories_burned.asp

Its pretty accurate.

moniquelessard

ps. when using the calculator, add the weight of anyone your carrying to your own weight

Also, if you have a smart phone, get the runkeeper app. It calculates calories burned according to the exercise you're doing (and there's several to choose from, including mountain biking) and it also takes into account changes in altitude, hills etc...

I use it for every walk. I know how long I walked, my speed, my cals, and the distance.

Jmayhem69

The best way would be to hit the point where you feel like your heart rate has peaked and take your carodid pulse on your neck under your jaw with two fingers for 15 seconds using an analog watch or stopwatch, multiply your count by 4 to get your HBM (heart beats per minute)...that's your HRM. Oldskewl as the kids say!