Can this be right? Help with counting calories, HRM needed

instantstudent
instantstudent Posts: 8
in Fitness and Exercise
I am doing the Banish fat, boost metabolism by Jillian Michaels and til now logged it as high impact aerobic.
One session would burn around 360 calories.
But I wanted to know the exact values, so I got myself a heart rate monitor.
It's just a cheap one, I got it from ebay.
It does not have a chest band and to measure the heart rate I have to touch 2 metal parts on the watch.
In the instructions it says it will count the calories during exercising every ten seconds after I first measured the heart rate.
I just did Banish fat, boost metabolism and it told me, I burned 756 calories. :noway:
This just can't be right.
I am 5'1 and weight 115 lb.
What did I do wrong?
I measured my heart rate several times during the workout and I guess that might be the problem.
But I figured since my heart rate increases during the workout, it would also give a false result if I just measured it once after the warm up
Any advice?

Replies

  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    What you did wrong was buy a cheap HRM and expected to get expensive results. A cheap one with no chest strap that you have to touch is going to be inaccurate and it probably doesn't ask for your gender, weight, height or any vitals to have it know who you are so it's most likely using the basic formula that most machines use of a 30 yr old 150 lb man.
  • instantstudent
    instantstudent Posts: 8
    I read on here somewhere that a cheap one would be useful too, that's why I got one in the first place.
    I got to put in height and weight and age, it did not ask for the gender, though.
    So, one without a chest strap is not useful at all?
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    My first HRM was just a watch, no chest strap. I got frustrated with having to touch the face to get a reading, and never really felt it was super accurate because, like you said, it goes off of whatever your heart rate was the last time you touched it.

    I bought a chest strap model (also from eBay, you can get deals there, just make sure it's a new model and that the seller takes returns, just in case) - so much better! I found that the watch gave me much higher burns than the chest strap model did, so of course I had been over-estimating my burns during that time.

    Shop around - I paid around $30 for my New Balance watch at Target (clearance price). A few months later I bought a brand new New Balance N4 with a chest strap on eBay for $26 ($70 regular price) - works great, and I've been using it for over a year with great results.

    Search the forums here for HRM and you'll find tons of info - lots of users love the Polar models. I had Polar and New balance on eBay watchlist, the NB just happened to come up first. :bigsmile: Good luck!
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    I read on here somewhere that a cheap one would be useful [...]
    Who ever said that was a moron.
  • instantstudent
    instantstudent Posts: 8
    Too bad I did not ask if anyone recommends that certain hrm before I bought it.
    I will try to return it and then get another one with chest strap!

    Thank you all for your input and help!
  • TheLongRunner
    TheLongRunner Posts: 688 Member
    Being that you are so small, I would assume you burned much less than that. I am 5'8 and 132 pounds and I burn anywhere from 350-400 (IF I am holding 7 pound weights for this whole DVD). I burn between 200-300 if I am just doing the DVD without weights. I add the weights to increase my burn ;)...good luck!
  • nisha0612
    nisha0612 Posts: 75 Member
    I just got a polar FT7, comes with a chest strap, tells you how long you were in the fat burning zone as well... its the new love of my life.. :D
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Whoever told you that you needed and HRM (cheap or expensive) to lose weight or burn fat was the person that steered you wrong. All you need is common sense.

    You were already doing this cardio DVD, right? And logging it as 360 calories, right? Well.....what did the scale say? Were you losing or gaining weight? If you were losing weight, was the mere purchase of an HRM supposed to make you lose more? If you were gaining weight, then lower your calories. Log it as 200 cals burned. Or 100. Or 1. Then watch the scale. What does the scale say?

    All you need to lose weight is a calorie deficit, a scale, and common sense. I know the Cult of HRM on this site is going to tell you different, but it's true.
  • iWaffle
    iWaffle Posts: 2,208 Member
    If you were gaining weight, then lower your calories. Log it as 200 cals burned. Or 100. Or 1. Then watch the scale. What does the scale say?

    All you need to lose weight is a calorie deficit, a scale, and common sense. I know the Cult of HRM on this site is going to tell you different, but it's true.

    Ha! You're making way too much sense here. Stop being logical.

    That's so true. I know, people love to be able to eat back those calories but a HRM is just a guide and isn't exact. You need to watch the scale to see if you're doing it wrong. The scale never lies. You can cheat on your diary, write down the wrong calories, or skip the gym and say you went but there's no fooling the scale.

    I use an HRM when I run to see, believe it or not, what my heart rate is and to determine if I should push myself more. If I'm under 170 bpm there's more energy laying around that I'm not using. I do write down calories burned so I know how much to eat back but only because I don't want to drop weight much if any. I actually find it a pain to eat back 800-900 calories

    I never bought one till I started running outside. If you're exercising on equipment there's probably a large readout telling you an approximation of what you're burning in calories. Just go with that if your watch isn't a good one. If you're not losing then cut out 100 calories from the amount it tells you until you see an actual decline. Like DavPul said, just use common sense. No HRM required.
  • hughtwalker
    hughtwalker Posts: 2,213 Member
    I have a Polar something or other - it is basic - just tells me the time or my HRM

    - BUT the chest strap hooks up with the receivers in the equipment at the gym ... and away we go!
  • RHHMom
    RHHMom Posts: 34 Member
    Just for your comparison: using my Garmin 405cx and chest strap, BFBM gives me right around 405 calories burned. I am 5'8", 155-160lbs, and in pretty decent shape (I run 3-4 miles 3x plus 2 strength workouts, and occasionally a video day each week).
  • instantstudent
    instantstudent Posts: 8
    Nobody told me I need a HRM to lose weight or burn fat.
    I just read on here, that a cheap one would be sufficient to determine the calories burnt during a workout.
    I just want to know exactly how much I burn and not work with the approximate numbers given in the database here.

    I am already doing the dvd, yes and I lost some weight, since I started, so I must be doing something right.
    I normally end up having around 150-200 calories "left over" in the end of the day.

    I just signed up here last week and started counting calories and the first days were really annoying and I felt haunted by the calories I consumed.
    It is a bit better now, but I would like to be able to earn some calories for little sins.
    For example, the other day I did the dvd two times back to back because I knew I would go out with friends and party in the evening.
    Using the numbers given here by RHHMom, I would burn 291 calories and MFP says it is around 360.
    I just want to know for sure how much I could eat, without feeling sorry later.

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