Polar FT4F HRM Crediting too many cals?

animatorswearbras

Hi I've just started using a HRM montitor and tried it this weekend whilst mowing the lawn (we have a rubbish mower so it usually leaves me a bit worked out) Anyhow I really put my back into it, kept my HR up to about 140-145 for the most part and after 45 mins checked my cals and apparently 386 burned. Now this seems a bit much to me and 100 cals more than my fitness pal excercise counter suggests. Don't get me wrong I'll be happy as, if this is right but was wondering if I need to discount my BMR cals for 45 mins to get a proper total if that makes sense, or will the watch take into account BMR and this is additional cals on top of those burned from just being alive?

My stats are
Female
5'5"
146 pounds
29yearsold

My BMR is something like 1400 (if I was asleep all day) meaning I would burn 45 cals just from being alive for 45 mins if my calculations are correct lol

Sorry if this is a stupid question

Cheers x

animatorswearbras

bump

heybales

Hi I've just started using a HRM montitor and tried it this weekend whilst mowing the lawn (we have a rubbish mower so it usually leaves me a bit worked out) Anyhow I really put my back into it, kept my HR up to about 140-145 for the most part and after 45 mins checked my cals and apparently 386 burned. Now this seems a bit much to me and 100 cals more than my fitness pal excercise counter suggests. Don't get me wrong I'll be happy as, if this is right but was wondering if I need to discount my BMR cals for 45 mins to get a proper total if that makes sense, or will the watch take into account BMR and this is additional cals on top of those burned from just being alive?

My stats are
Female
5'5"
146 pounds
29yearsold

The HRM will not take into account BMR that MFP knows about and is calculating with. The HRM doesn't know you are tracking cal's for weight loss - it's just telling you that during this time, with this HR, you likely burned this many cal's.

And actually, MFP wasn't calculating you used only your BMR cal's during that 45 min, it actually is assuming you had your daily maintenance during that time, a higher figure on your Goal page.

But in the scheme of inaccuracies in food labels, weighing/measuring food, other activity you get above the Sedentary activity level you selected - this is minor to nothing.

You are correct though, if you kept the HR that high for that long, it wasn't because you were anaerobic like sprinting or lifting weights - therefore that count is accurate as can be for aerobic workout. Good job keeping it high.

I tested mine one time, it was about 10 bpm higher than walking 3.6 mph on 1% incline, and I was not pushing the lawnmower nearly that fast. So keep the higher burn count, because in essence, you were moving around more weight during that time.
If you really want the accuracy in the burn, increase your weight on the HRM during that time to include probably half the lawnmower weight.

So in eating back exercise, that counts. And it sounds like a new workout for you perhaps, a good one too, since there is some strength training aspect to it.

animatorswearbras

Thankyou for the great reply so in essence if I do this sort of aerobic type excercise (also doing bokwa and zumba classes which I'm yet to try my HRM on, plus the odd home excercise bike sesh in the evening) I can just eat the calories the HRM tells me I've burned? (I suppose a cal a minute is pretty small to deduct plus I guess I burn a bit after the watch gets turned off due to cool down)

I'm on a measly 1200 cals with MFP so I would like to eat any excercise cals as I struggle to get my food intake under 1400 without feeling starved, I would ideally like to burn 1400 cals a week so I can spread them out and eat them, lol.

As for keeping my HR up that wasn't too hard unfortunatley being an unfit computer jockey and smoker (I know, I know, that's next) prob has alot to do with it.

heybales

Thankyou for the great reply so in essence if I do this sort of aerobic type excercise (also doing bokwa and zumba classes which I'm yet to try my HRM on, plus the odd home excercise bike sesh in the evening) I can just eat the calories the HRM tells me I've burned? (I suppose a cal a minute is pretty small to deduct plus I guess I burn a bit after the watch gets turned off due to cool down)

I'm on a measly 1200 cals with MFP so I would like to eat any excercise cals as I struggle to get my food intake under 1400 without feeling starved, I would ideally like to burn 1400 cals a week so I can spread them out and eat them, lol.

As for keeping my HR up that wasn't too hard unfortunatley being an unfit computer jockey and smoker (I know, I know, that's next) prob has alot to do with it.

Excellent point on stopping the workout timer and calorie count before actually cooled down, hadn't really thought about that before - everyone does that. Why? Not sure since the majority seem to use it strictly for cal count, might as well leave it running until it hits 90. Plus there is always a short period of time your metabolism can try to burn more cal's.
Or as you suggest, stop at end, and eat it all back.

I'd suggest if you are feeling that starved even though you are feeding the workouts, it means your metabolism has not slowed down.

Which is great! Faster metabolism is always better. Don't we always point to a teenager and exclaim we wished me had their metabolism? How many point to grandma and claim to want her metabolism?

Don't let it slow down! Except for some lag weeks before it does, you can lose just as fast a pace burning higher as lower, usually more actually, and get to eat more.

Check out your BMR. MFP - Tools - BMR calc. And read the explanation on it.
Are you regularly netting below that by a decent amount?

Since that 1200 goal was made ultimately by your selection of activity level (which may have no bearing on reality) and weight loss goal (which may be too aggressive for amount to lose) - you may want to rethink those things.
Because in reality, your daily maintenance to subtract 500 or 1000 from, is what you were eating before you started watching what you ate, if you were not gaining anyway. But most people have no idea how many calories they were eating, and BMR times sedentary level selection is very much lower than the truth.

20 lbs to lose is at most 1lb weekly probably, just because you don't have enough safety zone to play with.

If you want a better estimate of your activity than just selecting sedentary, use the spreadsheet referenced in here, fill in your stats, and use the activity calculator section.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/477666-eating-for-future-you-method

animatorswearbras

yeah I think I'll be aiming to lose a pound a week (although secretly wish I could do more)

My sedentary TDEE is 1740 according MFP, have been under that since I started about 10 days ago even when working out. My BMR is 1390 which is prob what I've been eating on average.

The 1740 sounds about right for what I prob ate on average before I started dieting, I eat pretty healthily, but didn't really work out enough, I would do the odd stint at working out before starting MFP but also would not worry about ordering carbonara, wine and cheesecake when at a restaurant, or eating a muffin if someone brought cakes into work (which is annoyingly regular I have noticed recently).

I am going to lose weight in 3 ways (on top of some of the minor changes I've already made to my regular diet)
ignoring work cake
exercising more
and my biggest Achille's heel cutting down the excesses of the weekends (usually down the pub or drinks and good(bad) food at someones house)

Thanks for the spreadsheet I'll keep it in mind but won't change the settings on MFP for now as what I'm doing seems to be working, really interesting and informative read

My basic plan is to eat 1400-1500 cals a day and try to burn about 1400 cals a week cardio, should hopefully work.

Thanks so much for the tips