School me on HR, BMR, and exercise

goodgalpal

I am a 33 (nearly 34)yr old female, and want to lose 140-150lb. I'm trying to learn about what I need to do to make exercise work the best for me. I am currently quite sedentary and know virtually nothing about how HR and BMR come in to the role of exercise and weight loss.

I mean, I understand that your HR needs to be a certain rate (although I do not know what that rate is), and that BMR is the calories your body burns by just being alive and laying there...

Please share the basics so I can get started and understand what I am doing. Thanks!

mcarter99

I would say at your place, you don't need to know a thing about HR, BMR and exercise. Use a tool to get a calorie goal and start losing weight through eating less, and if you feel like it, moving a little more. Keep it simple. This place makes a simple thing into rocket science. Good luck!

Heatherjg0419

I think what mcarter99 said is a good place to start. After you get a good start (although 17lbs down is a good start) just with the food, then add in exercise. And really, it's just about moving.

I'm in a similar place as you, and at the beginning (probably first 40-50 pounds), it really doesn't matter how you move or what your heart rate is, just that you move and expend more calories than you take in.

After that (or when you hit a plateau, which you will .. hang in there), then it may become more important to change how you move, what exercises you're doing to get you off the plateau and get the scale moving again.

Then, when you're solidly set into the lifestyle routine of eat well, move more ... then if it still matters, you can educate yourself on all that higher fitness stuff (like target HR and BMR, etc.).

And there are plenty of places online (just make sure it's a site with a good reputation and not some sketchy uber-athlete/starvation site) to find out about that stuff.

goodgalpal

The point is, I want to know. So please someone, help me out.

drgndancer

BMR is pretty easy to grasp, it stands for basic metabolic rate, and as you said, it's basically the number of calories you burn just by existing. MFP has a calculator that will tell you your BMR right here on the site, just give it height, weight, age, and sex and it will estimate your BMR. The importantance of this number is simple. Your shouldn't eat less than your BMR in a day. It can really screw with your metabolism to routinely eat less than BMR, it makes your body think it's starving. You want to eat fewer calories than you burn, but not so few that your body thinks it's in starvation mode.

HR is a lot more complicated. In order to worry about it much, the first thing you need is a monitor. These can be gotten at athletic stores. Usually they are attached to a chest strap and link to a watch. Newer ones can also be setup to link with a smartphone (I have one of these). They will tell you what your heart rate is, and can often make estimates about calories burned if you tell the device some details like height and weight. It will also warn you if your heart rate gets to high ("to high" is based on variables like your height, weight, sex, and the type of activity you're doing). Obviously the longer you maintain an elevated heart rate, and the more elevated it is (up to a point) the more calories you burn.

This is a simple explanation, there's a lot more to it, but it should get you started.

vtachycardia

Heart rate is a measure of the exertion you are applying to the task and it is possible to make calculations for the calories burned and plenty of free calorie calculators (need to know heart rate) exist and of course Myfitnesspal has an excellent database but to learn anything about your heart rate you need to purchase a Heart Rate Monitor HRM (I have the cheapest Polar FT1,) and start to exercise or just wear it at work and see what happens to your heart rate during the day. There are plenty of resources that can tell you about target heart rate training and the "fat burning zone" but any activity burns calories, more vigourous the more calories.

BMR, has nothing to do with exercise and Myfitnesspal already calculates your BMR and then deducts the calories required to lose weight. Likewise, it calculates exercise calories and converts that information to your calorie goal.

The rule of thumb is that 3500 calories lost equals 1 pound of weight. So, 150lb is 525,000 calories. If your BMR is 2000 calories per day then to lose 1lb you need to cut to 1500 and that will take you 3 years to get to your target weight.

Stand 5 minutes every hour whilst awake - burn an extra 200 calories per day, walk about a bit during those 5 minutes an additional 200 calories. 400 * 7 is 2800 nearly a 1lb and target weight becomes 19 months.

Do 4 one hour sessions (or 8 half hour or 16 quarter hour) where your heart rate is elevated to 65% of maximum and burn another 3500 calories - 52lb in a year - invest in a personal trainer (rather than a gym membership) perhaps once a month for 6 months

Suddenly, 12 months and in theory you have hit your weight loss goal.

Edit: Some research is stating that 3500 is not the magic bullet number, raising metabolic rates via exercise may decrease that number. But apparently some people just do not respond to weight loss in this way and due to that quit health programs, a bit like "buyers remorse" - even so, my experience is restricted calories and exercise has made me lose weight. Sure it will do the same for you.

mcarter99

The point is, I want to know. So please someone, help me out.

If you really want to learn, I would recommend you read a good book or authoritative web site. MayoClinic.org has great info. Here you're getting a big pile of opinions, myths and good info, and it's hard to tell what's what.

Honestly BMR and HR have to do with about 1% of the picture, and exercise <10%. Really BMR has 0% to do with it, unless you have a body fat percent too low to sustain deficit eating.

taso42

Figure out some activity you like to do (or are at least willing to do), and do it. Don't worry about keeping your heart rate in some zone. I recommend lifting weights.

bizorra

Two things to read to get you started... at least you'll know what to google after reading them:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
http://calorieline.com/tools/tdee

AnvilHead

...If your BMR is 2000 calories per day then to lose 1lb you need to cut to 1500 and that will take you 3 years to get to your target weight.

Just so we're not starting a newbie off with erroneous info - your caloric deficit is deducted from your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), NOT your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). BMR is the amount of calories your body would burn if you did absolutely nothing but lie completely still in bed every day - it's the expenditure that your body takes to breathe, make your organs function, etc.

To the OP - read the link provided by bizorra, it contains a wealth of information to get you started.

CoderGal

Bump because of several horribly untrue statements. Will update when I have time.

CoderGal

...If your BMR is 2000 calories per day then to lose 1lb you need to cut to 1500 and that will take you 3 years to get to your target weight.

Just so we're not starting a newbie off with erroneous info - your caloric deficit is deducted from your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), NOT your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). BMR is the amount of calories your body would burn if you did absolutely nothing but lie completely still in bed every day - it's the expenditure that your body takes to breathe, make your organs function, etc.

This and not what the other person said at all. Lots of tdee calculators around but its better to calculate it yourself. Remember if your on your feet all day your not sedentary. Sedentary is not moving around much in the run of a day. Eating anywhere below tdee will make you lose weight. If your not happy calculating your bmr you can get your rmr read by your doctor (a similar value that stands for resting metabolic rate).

Know that you can eat much more then what mfp tells you and lose weight as long as your below tdee. If you find yourself getting sick or ill and find your body is having a hard time repairing itself i highly recommend it. Also if your one to fall off the band wagon eating at a smaller deficit is much easier to stick to. Its a balance between urgency to lose weight for health reasons and ease to stick to and less likely to suffer health issues due to different deficiencies and the like..

Heart rates will be all over the place for different people. Generally 60 is a good resting heart rate. Mine was 110 before. At 100 youshould see a doctor. Make sure its read by a sensible heart rate monitor. Max heart rate varies with age but if you find doing moderate activity approaches max heart rate like mine did be careful. Build up to things slowly. Especially for the sake of your joints.

vtachycardia

TDEE calculations - great for people cutting with body fat of 8% down to 3% (ie bodybuilding) but for a person carrying 140lb of stored energy in fat content then I would stick to BMR with exercise and calorie deficit and learn to eat foods with high saiety levels and do not go low fat diet. You are not going to starve to death, enter starvation mode or any other expression designed to obfuscate weight loss. You are going to burn your onboard fuel, the fat.

Mistyblu08

http://thefitgirls.com/tdee-calculator.aspx

this one looks like a good site as well

CoderGal

TDEE calculations - great for people cutting with body fat of 8% down to 3% (ie bodybuilding) but for a person carrying 140lb of stored energy in fat content then I would stick to BMR with exercise and calorie deficit and learn to eat foods with high saiety levels and do not go low fat diet. You are not going to starve to death, enter starvation mode or any other expression designed to obfuscate weight loss. You are going to burn your onboard fuel, the fat.

^not this. The bmr calculation involves fat percentages. You can also get your rmr read by a doc. I was a sedentary blob who was nowhere near those numbers and it worked fantastic for me. I had 30 lbs to lose but i also have many friends of all sizes losing on this. But your bmr will be higher then most. That doesnt nean you have to durastically cut calories to start losing weight. Im not sure why the above poster thinks this. If you find that your onwell doing the low cal thing and you want to stop it all that doesnt mean something else wont work.

According to the fda and health canada 2000 calories a day is the rdi value for women. So you can go low cal or you can do the bmrthing or you can eat at a recommended intake or you can work out your goal tdee and just eat that...but as long as you dont go over your current tdee (which changes as you lose) you well lose.

And forget the heart rate zones everyone is different so its not accurate. I hate how silly gym machines tell you your burning fat if your excited or have a spike-e heart rate. You can get some crazy watches (watch out some of the polars are not accurate for womeb) abd you cab do graphs on power output. You'll notice how everything is a curve. You can push yourself really hard but theres a point that its to hard and your only benefiting a little.

vtachycardia

TDEE calculations - great for people cutting with body fat of 8% down to 3% (ie bodybuilding) but for a person carrying 140lb of stored energy in fat content then I would stick to BMR with exercise and calorie deficit and learn to eat foods with high saiety levels and do not go low fat diet. You are not going to starve to death, enter starvation mode or any other expression designed to obfuscate weight loss. You are going to burn your onboard fuel, the fat.

^not this. The bmr calculation involves fat percentages. You can also get your rmr read by a doc. I was a sedentary blob who was nowhere near those numbers and it worked fantastic for me. I had 30 lbs to lose but i also have many friends of all sizes losing on this. But your bmr will be higher then most. That doesnt nean you have to durastically cut calories to start losing weight. Im not sure why the above poster thinks this. If you find that your onwell doing the low cal thing and you want to stop it all that doesnt mean something else wont work.

I do not think drastically cutting calories works, never said that never wrote that. I said you should stick to the MFP calorie guide, ie your daily target. which will change as you lose weight, so emphasising that point is weak.

My point is, ignore TDEE for a very overweight, inactive person. The fat is the calories being used to fuel the body, which is rather the point, not calorie deficit and then replace exercise calories - you will get nowhere fast.

The rest of your information is about as spurious and "your belief system" as it gets in terms of working out and heart rate. Heart rate is an excellent indicator for people who do not know what their body is capable of, or indeed to demonstrate that you are just not working out hard enough to really burn calories or look at Perceived Exertion Rate (PER). Of course, heart rate is not the scientific way for counting calories burned but few of us have the laboratory equipment for accurate measurement.

There is no easy way, but reduce calories and exercise or even stay eating the exactly the same and exercise - what is wholly evident through thousands of studies is that diet on it's own seldom works.

CoderGal

TDEE calculations - great for people cutting with body fat of 8% down to 3% (ie bodybuilding) but for a person carrying 140lb of stored energy in fat content then I would stick to BMR with exercise and calorie deficit and learn to eat foods with high saiety levels and do not go low fat diet. You are not going to starve to death, enter starvation mode or any other expression designed to obfuscate weight loss. You are going to burn your onboard fuel, the fat.

^not this. The bmr calculation involves fat percentages. You can also get your rmr read by a doc. I was a sedentary blob who was nowhere near those numbers and it worked fantastic for me. I had 30 lbs to lose but i also have many friends of all sizes losing on this. But your bmr will be higher then most. That doesnt nean you have to durastically cut calories to start losing weight. Im not sure why the above poster thinks this. If you find that your onwell doing the low cal thing and you want to stop it all that doesnt mean something else wont work.

I do not think drastically cutting calories works, never said that never wrote that. I said you should stick to the MFP calorie guide, ie your daily target. which will change as you lose weight, so emphasising that point is weak.

My point is, ignore TDEE for a very overweight, inactive person. The fat is the calories being used to fuel the body, which is rather the point, not calorie deficit and then replace exercise calories - you will get nowhere fast.

The rest of your information is about as spurious and "your belief system" as it gets in terms of working out and heart rate. Heart rate is an excellent indicator for people who do not know what their body is capable of, or indeed to demonstrate that you are just not working out hard enough to really burn calories or look at Perceived Exertion Rate (PER). Of course, heart rate is not the scientific way for counting calories burned but few of us have the laboratory equipment for accurate measurement.

There is no easy way, but reduce calories and exercise or even stay eating the exactly the same and exercise - what is wholly evident through thousands of studies is that diet on it's own seldom works.

Wooh Nelly, put your panties back on. I read something wrong.

I do not think drastically cutting calories works, never said that never wrote that.

I apologize, you're correct. I got that from you saying she should eat at her BMR, which can be drastically cutting calories if you ask me. I skipped past that exercise word :P BMR + exercise calories is TDEE btw. So technically if this was done accurately a person shouldn't lose any weight doing this since they're eating what they burn. Then you went on to say ignore TDEE if you're an overweight inactive person. Excuse me for being confused, that doesn't make sense. I was an overweight inactive person and it worked for me, along with a bunch of other people who have tried it. Then you said TDEE is used for body builders like only they use it? What? What does that even mean? Implying things that relate to TDEE is only used for people who are body builders like it doesn't work for the rest of us who are losing weight doing it on this site (like me) is wrong.

I said you should stick to the MFP calorie guide

MFP suggested I eat 1200 calories a day. I lost 1 lb a week. I switched that to netting 1650 and lost all my weight...losing 1 lb a week. I really don't like the untrue assumptions they make about the metabolism. Yes, 3500 = 1 lb fat. But that doesn't mean every bit of weight you lose is in fat. I was starving on MFP's recommendations. I was also cold got sick easily and my nails started cracking off (they were always about 1/2 cm in the white). It was unpleasant.

---

My point is some people can walk slowly and hit the 'fat burning zones' that are listed in gyms, especially if they're out of shape. I don't have laboratory equipment either. I have a 20 dollar watch that I let my Engineering friend compare against his polar and they were both spot on.

I'd like to see these evident studies that show that dieting on it's own doesn't work, considering I lost most of my weight this way.

Maude_Lewbowski

zOMG

vtachycardia

Well, as long as you are happy doing your own thing, which you obviously are at losing 1lb per week. Whoopee. You, you, you.

a) Your heart rate monitor - I said Polar - you say Polar are inaccurate for WOMEN. But now you tested your HRM against a male ENGINEERS friend Polar watch and it was accurate.
b) Who said that MFP calorie recommendation is BMR, it isn't.
c) If you were unwell at 1200, I do not know where you were getting those 1200 calories. Could be 2 Big Macs or 3 Snickers. As opposed to saiety led foods.

Now, explain to me this. My MFP is 1800 calories per day and at least 5 times per week I exercise and that exercise is about 690-900 calories excluding EPOC, most of my exercise is HIIT. I am usually under my calories goal or 1800 and my BMR is 2387 leaving 587 calories, I rarely touch the exercise calories because the fat burnt is the fat I am trying to lose but under TDEE I would use some of the exercise calories as food and therefore sacrifice fat loss. It is simple math.

I have lost in UK money 5 stones, I am now less than 30% body fat but another 2 stones to go, I have gained about 1 and a half stone in muscle mass over two years. I know now that I could have lost the first 5 stones in 6-8 months with the knowledge that I now have about exercise and diet.

So yes, ignore TDEE it obfuscates the numbers for people who are severley overweight or obese. Too much inaccuracy beomes involved in the equation. As I said, you are not going to die by being rigid with the restricted calories, and if you do fail on one day that is a harmless blip rather than a disastrous one.

And do get a HRM and try to exercise at 65% to 75% of your guideline heart rate. Since Christmas, I started with the HRM and my set goal was 115 bpm for 45 minutes peaking at 135- my average now is 136 peakiing at 160, that is changing training method and getting to understand exactly what I was capable of with the assistance of the HRM.

A woman friend, who is on here is testament to the HIIT (20 minutes of HIIT and increase in nightly fidget factor) HRM restricted calories diet (1700) that I created for her. 6 months, average 8lb per month with muscle mass increase and lovely toning.

So, congrats again on 31lbs but I could have accelerated your result, guaranteed. Please snipe and contradict no more, you will not change my opinion and I think your experience though worthy is just wrong and outdated and sounds to me like someone looking for the easy way out. So, the OP can choose - fact or nearly fact.

CoderGal

Wow you're still going lol ok...But I suggest you seek help for your anger management problem. Some people when they eat to little get very moody, this may be you. I'm going to answer your questions incase someone is wondering where I'm getting my information.

a) Your heart rate monitor - I said Polar - you say Polar are inaccurate for WOMEN. But now you tested your HRM against a male ENGINEERS friend Polar watch and it was accurate.

I would say good observation, but this is not what I said. I said some of the polars are not accurate. And I didn't say anything about them being inaccurate about their heart rates. If you're going to get a good watch and you're paying for it, pay for one that works fully. Eastern Illinois University pointed out that Polar watches could be 33% inaccurate for EE.

b) Who said that MFP calorie recommendation is BMR, it isn't.

I have no what you're talking about, neither did I. What I think you're talking about is:

I would stick to BMR with exercise

To me this says BMR + exercise calories. Maybe you meant eat at a deficit that your body would use unconscious and then burn off more calories until you're barely living on anythinig, but that seems like a silly recommendation.

c) If you were unwell at 1200, I do not know where you were getting those 1200 calories. Could be 2 Big Macs or 3 Snickers. As opposed to saiety led foods.

I hate fast food (unless they sell wraps with veggies) and snickers. It usually came from fresh meat, leafy veg, peppers, cawliflower, carrots, broccoli and the like. I also make my own ezekiel bread so some of that was in there too for sandwiches and the like. Similar to what I eat now but a lot less of it.

I exercise and that exercise is about 690-900 calories

What are those numbers based on?

I am usually under my calories goal or 1800 and my BMR is 2387 leaving 587 calories

I hope you know that your deficit isn't 587 calories, thats a deficit of what you'd need unconcious, not your TDEE. And that doesn't leave 587 calories, that's minus 587 calories. If you are trying to net 587 calories, you have a eating disorder, not even myfitnesspal recommends this. And if you're exercising off 900 calories, that's below 1200. Not even myfitnesspal recommends this.

I rarely touch the exercise calories because the fat burnt is the fat I am trying to lose but under TDEE I would use some of the exercise calories as food and therefore sacrifice fat loss. It is simple math.

Have you calculated power outputs of your workouts? If you make energy graphs based on your exercise numbers you'll notice that they're curved. It will spike up and then level off, so there's a point that exercising doesn'tt add a lot of benefit. What makes you think the only thing you're losing is fat? What you're doing is not healthy, and it's not good you're recommending other people do this to themselves. Weight loss is simple math, and you're not doing it right. I can eat 5 times 500 and lose weight if I'm exercising.

So yes, ignore TDEE it obfuscates the numbers for people who are severley overweight or obese.

You are wrong.

if you do fail on one day that is a harmless blip rather than a disastrous one.

I had binge days that were up to 3500 calories while on my diet, at fancy restaurants, it wasn't a disaster at all. I still managed to lose my pound for that week in fact.

And do get a HRM and try to exercise at 65% to 75% of your guideline heart rate.

I'm not going to argue with this.

So, congrats again on 31lbs but I could have accelerated your result, guaranteed.

By what? Making me eat (BMR-500-900.....) ... minus 100 calories a day? lol. Believe me if I was slowing down on 1200, that would make me lose weight but I would have also been hospitalized.

Please snipe and contradict no more, you will not change my opinion and I think your experience though worthy is just wrong and outdated and sounds to me like someone looking for the easy way out. So, the OP can choose - fact or nearly fact.

What's outdated about eating sensibly in sensible portions and not running my deficits into the 3 digits or no numbers? What's wrong about it? What's easier about it? "sensible" or "Healthier" and full of natural vitamins are the words I would use.

vtachycardia

I see what the original reply to the OP meant now.

You are deliberately not comprehending, why I do not know. Why you came in all agressive and self-righteous I do not know. If I have anger issues it is having to deal with people who cannot read - you have already stated that you misread.

You are a pointless point scorer. Still missing the point. So, i will state it yet again

MFP when you register gives you a calorie score (you said that yours was 1200 and that amount made you feel unwell, and therefore you went to 1600 - your choice and therefore that is fine. (But demonstrates your nature to wish to prove everything wrong)

I have said that "do not get involved in TDEE" - because when carrying 35% to 65% or above bodyweight in fat then you force the body to use the FAT it has stored for your exercise. You do not have to worry about the calorie net, stick to the food based calorie amount. That is the simple fact, backed by 100's of studies dating back to 1920. But you know better, because of "YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE" 1600 calories to 1800 calories is more than enough to sustain life especially at a 45% protein, 35% saturated fats, 20% CARB level ideal splits for exercise and controlled calories. Force the body to pay back the FAT STORAGE, simple simple simple. Start to reevaluate at a 22% or less body fat or a lower BMI, yes upping calories might be appropriate.

Keep flogging your point, I will keep flogging mine. It is possible to safely lose 14lbs per month in weight on a calorie controlled diet (irregardless of TDEE) whilst doing higher levels of exercise which (if you are 145 -150lb) overweight is not going to harm you, only benefit.

So, keep spreading your myths that are designed to stop people ever bothering. Like undereating makes you cranky, you probably mean someone addicted to simple carbs who constantly crashes and that upsets their mood.

Shove TDEE where the sun don't shine. Unless you are an athlete where fine tuning of calories, macronutrients is essential.

The OP asked for simple advice. Mine is eat well, move more, if you are worried about heart rate and exercise then buy a monitor. I have the POLAR FT1, I can only speak about that and my friend has one and they are accurate. As for exercise, to help again I say with your weight OP, get a personal trainer once a month for 6 months if you can afford it. If not, get a group session. But a personal trainer would have saved me 15 months of trial and error gained from the internet.