New Rules of Lifting For Women (NROL4W)

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tracking with MFP

agirlscamaro
agirlscamaro Posts: 175 Member
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Do you guys track through MFP by each work out? What are your thoughts on using a HRM and tracking that way?

I guess what my real problem is, is that i'm used to doing cardio, tracking it and seeing calories burned. I don't see that and I don't feel like I've really worked out (my body says something different). I'm on Stage1, W/O 3, so i'm new. I think this is something that I'll get used to but just want some feedback.

I don't always eat back my exercise calories but it's nice to know what I have if I want to. I guess I just won't have the cushion on lifting days. I'm trying to lose about 40lb, so I don't need to cheat anyway. :)

Replies

  • morkiemama
    morkiemama Posts: 894 Member
    The book recommends a type of TDEE approach (with lifting day and non-lifting day calorie allotments). You need to have the necessary amount of calories/nutrients for your body to retain LBM and repair your muscles from lifting. You also need the energy to fuel your workouts. Have you considered using the flat rates suggested in the book and not eating back workout calories?

    HRMs are for tracking steady state cardio. It is important to note that HRMs are not accurate for weight lifting and will not give you an accurate burn. They are also not meant for HIIT. Temperature extremes and daily burn tracking (e.g. I wear it all day to find out what I should be taking in) are also inaccurate. HRMs are for steady state aerobic exercise only!

    This is a helpful blog post:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472

    It isn't about "cheating" really, it is about fueling your body so it can do amazing things (and eventually look amazing! ;D ).

    I, personally, have my MFP calories set to the non-lifting calories and then on lift days I log the exercise for the difference between my lift and non-lift calories to bring me up to lift day levels.

    Other people use the TDEE method and eat at the same level every day (a good thread can be found here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974888-in-place-of-a-road-map-2k13 ). They log their exercise as 1 calorie burns since their calorie allotments already take exercise into account.

    I actually compared my lift/non-lift calories recommended in the book to the flat every day TDEE method and they averaged out to be basically the same intake. I just prefer to eat some higher calorie and some lower calorie days rather than a flat intake. :)
  • Beeps2011
    Beeps2011 Posts: 12,157 Member
    I do track on mfp - I do not track with any HRM or other gizmo.

    When I switched from "cardio-bunny" mode to "weight-lifting" mode, it DID take some time (mentally) to adjust to the fact I wasn't huffing-puffing all the time, wasn't sweating like a pig all the time, etc.

    But, boy am I EVER glad I did....for 25+ years, I did cardio 6- to 7- times per week, and remained, for 25+ years, SKINNY FAT.

    Now, I'm SKINNY STRONG. Period.

    Here's my 16-month-progress link:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/976497-women-heavy-lifting-free-weights-16-month-progress
  • paprad
    paprad Posts: 321 Member
    I had this doubt about how to enter exercise calories for each workout. In MFP, under the Cardiovascular segment of Exercise, there is an option to enter workout for "Strength training (weight lifting, weight training)". My doubt is this : at Stage 1, I don't take that long to do the 5 workouts - maybe a max of 10-12 minutes, excluding the 60 secs recovery mandated in between. If I enter 12 minutes, I get c50alories as exericse which isn't anything to shout out from the rooftops. I know lifting is not about calories expended during workout, but about increasing LBM so that ongoing fat loss is enabled even while at rest - but since the book recommends around 250 calorie difference between 'no workout' days and "workout" days - something seems off with my 50 calories. If I am to eat back half of this as recommended elsewhere, the additional calories are not worth the effort of inputting the exercise calories in the first place! Should I be entering it as 30 minutes - which would include recovery and stretching as well? Even then it only climbs to 120 calories.
  • mrs_mab
    mrs_mab Posts: 1,024 Member
    I do track on mfp - I do not track with any HRM or other gizmo.

    When I switched from "cardio-bunny" mode to "weight-lifting" mode, it DID take some time (mentally) to adjust to the fact I wasn't huffing-puffing all the time, wasn't sweating like a pig all the time, etc.

    But, boy am I EVER glad I did....for 25+ years, I did cardio 6- to 7- times per week, and remained, for 25+ years, SKINNY FAT.

    Now, I'm SKINNY STRONG. Period.

    Here's my 16-month-progress link:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/976497-women-heavy-lifting-free-weights-16-month-progress

    You look fricken killer! Did you stop cadrio cold trukey or do you do any on your rest days?

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