Fat Calories

jdhall

I have a question. I have a treadmill at home that I have been using. It tells me how many fat calories I burn off when walking. Are these fat calories the same as the fat calories listed in your food? My son told me it was not acurate and I could not go by my machine because it does not ask my weight and height when I begin. Does anyone know?

j4nash

1 lb of fat is 3500 calories. Your son is correct about the treadmill because it does not ask for your height and weight. It also doesn't take into account your heart rate. If you want to more accurately track your calories lost then I would recommend a heart rate monitor during workout.

azwildcatfan94

the most accurate is by using a heart rate monitor. Search the posts, there is a lot of info already.

jdhall

I though maybe this was related to the fat you see on the food labels not the fat in your body? I am a little confused by it, maybe I should just ignore it. Last night I walked 30 minutes and it said I burned 50 fat calories. I do not know what my intake for the day was, but I am sure it is not that High. Just wondering.

The heart rate monitor, will it tell me anything other than my heart rate? I have never used one of these before and I do not own one. Is it much more accurate than any of the machines you use? Thank you!

Kidvicious28

I highly suggest a HRM. You can buy them pretty cheap off of Woot.com, ebay, or Buy.com. I got mine off of buy.com for only 30ish bucks. It'll help out tons!

j4nash

I though maybe this was related to the fat you see on the food labels not the fat in your body? I am a little confused by it, maybe I should just ignore it. Last night I walked 30 minutes and it said I burned 50 fat calories. I do not know what my intake for the day was, but I am sure it is not that High. Just wondering.

The heart rate monitor, will it tell me anything other than my heart rate? I have never used one of these before and I do not own one. Is it much more accurate than any of the machines you use? Thank you!

You enter your weight, age, and height and it tells you how many calories you burn in addition to the % of fat calories burned. The fat calories is not related to the food labels because carbs, protien and fat can all be stored as fat.

Kidvicious28

My HRM tells me a lot of stuff. I use it mostly to know how many cals I burn after I exercise. It's def more accurate. The exercise machines aren't accurate...unless you have one you can put your weight and height in..and still they aren't as accurate as an HRM...bc the HRM goes off of your personal HR.
Look up info Polar F6 and Pro-form Precision XT.

j4nash

My HRM tells me a lot of stuff. I use it mostly to know how many cals I burn after I exercise. It's def more accurate. The exercise machines aren't accurate...unless you have one you can put your weight and height in..and still they aren't as accurate as an HRM...bc the HRM goes off of your personal HR.
Look up info Polar F6 and Pro-form Precision XT.

I just bought a Polar F6, love it! It syncs up with the Precor machines at the gym.

jdhall

Thanks guys! I really appreciate the help! :flowerforyou:

stratdl

The most accurate way I've seen to find out how many fat calories one burns during exercise is to have an exercise metabolic rate test. You'd be hooked up to a computer that will measure the breath that you exhale as well as your heart rate (using a heart rate monitor). Then the fitness person will start you out on the treadmill, bike, or whatever and proceed to exercise the heck out of you while the computer takes data. After you "hit the wall" (i.e., get to your max heart rate), you will then be slowed down, cooled down, and the computer will calculate your heart rate zones. It will give a printout that will show, based on zones, how many total calories per minute you burn while exercising and how many fat calories you burn per minute. This computer also determines your VO2 max.

I've had this done a couple of times (about 6-8 months apart) and the good news was that my fitness level increased from the first to the second time. The bad news was that my body had gotten quite efficient at burning calories, so I didn't burn as many! :sad:

That being said, I input the info about my zones into my running computer HRM and I have found that the HRM consistently says I burn more calories than my exercise metabolic rate test does. I put the lower number into MFP. I don't usually use the machines at the gym anymore, but I found that they can be really crazy regardless. I think that the thing is that the HRMs and the machines at the gym may just think you burn either the same amount of calories per minute or they guesstimate your zones differently.

To sum up, I'd say to go with your HRM. If you'd like to err on the side of caution, you could say you burn 90% (or some other fraction) of what your HRM says.

This was probably more than you thought you'd get but I thought I'd extoll the virtues of exercise metabolic rate testing. Although it's pricey, I think it's DEFINITELY worthwhile!

Cheers, :drinker:
Deborah