HRM to track my TDEE - should I adjust my goals?

Hi guys,

Need some help please. I have always wondered about how many calories I burn in a day and therefore how many I should be eating. So I wore my HRM (Polar T4) for almost a whole day to measure. I wore it when I left home in the morning, and took it off just before going to bed. In 19.5hours, I had burnt 1930 calories! And that didn't count whatever I might have burned after that while sleeping.

Now MFP says I burn 1641 cals a day, so my daily cal goal is 1300 a day. I have only about 5 kgs to lose. Should I be eating more then? Could that be why I'm not losing as fast as I should be? I've recently done 30DS, and while I've toned a little, I've not lost on the scale. Could I benefit from eating a bit more, and keeping up the exercise, or should I stick with a lower cal goal?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks a lot!

Replies

  • wgn4166
    wgn4166 Posts: 771 Member
    Bump to read later.
    Great question BTW!!
  • wellbur
    wellbur Posts: 240 Member
    i'd like to know the answer to this to,
  • kateowp
    kateowp Posts: 103 Member
    Is the 1641 from MFP before you log/add in your exercise calories, or including them?
  • surabhit
    surabhit Posts: 94 Member
    Is the 1641 from MFP before you log/add in your exercise calories, or including them?

    It's before I add in exercise cals. I think.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
    You can't use an HRM to track your TDEE. It's only calibrated to calculate calorie burn during cardio exercise. It won't give an accurate reading during weight training (HR spikes) or swimming (can't transmit correctly through water) either. Use an online TDEE calculator set to sedentary and add your HRM calories for exercise only.
  • I use a Fitbit which tracks activity levels and provides a calorie adjustment automatically when it syncs to MFP. It's been an invaluable tool for me! Highly recommended! Good luck!
  • surabhit
    surabhit Posts: 94 Member
    I use a Fitbit which tracks activity levels and provides a calorie adjustment automatically when it syncs to MFP. It's been an invaluable tool for me! Highly recommended! Good luck!
    Wow sounds great. Might try this. Thank you.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    Another thing to consider is your body never stops burning calories. But you really need a body media to track calories all day. Hrm are really only for cardio.