What?? Well no Wonder!

thirtyby40
thirtyby40 Posts: 702 Member
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
So I have a Nordic Track Elliptical. I love it. I have used it to take off my initial weight. I have been stuck though for about 3 months now. I see people put in their calories on an elliptical that are much lower than mine all the time. I knew mine probably overestimated my burn but since I managed to lose 40 pounds and eat my exercise calories I figured it was close. Especially since I was under-eating before I started here last June so i had to up my calories significantly and eat my exercise calories according to my machines reading..

Boy was I wrong. I just bought a HRM which I used for the first time tonight with the elliptical. Well my machine said I burned 624 calories, my HRM says 286. :noway: That is less than half. I knew it would be bad when my husband did his workout earlier and it said about half for him too on his HRM.

Well no wonder I stalled. I am amazed I lost as much as I have in the first place. So either I need to kick up my workouts or curb my eating. I am going to ponder it over a glass of wine... Maybe I can fit in another workout tonight. :wink:

Replies

  • kenlc
    kenlc Posts: 11 Member
    I also bought a HRM this weekend, and am seeing the same thing. I am not burning as many calories as I thought I was. Luckily, I am not eating my exercise calories, so it didnt slow my weight loss, but it was a surprise. I will use my HRM all the time now...
  • Dom_m
    Dom_m Posts: 336 Member
    I think that's exactly what happened to me. After I injured my knee and couldn't run I started using the eliptical for half of my cardio. Since I'm already fairly fit, I think it massively overestimated the burn.

    You probably got results earlier because you weren't as fit or lean before, so the same output took more effort. I don't know, you may still think you aren't fit or lean (although after loosing 40lb you're certainly a lot closer than you were), but at the least, you're more efficient at using the elliptical.

    Try going for a run or swim or cycle. Do something else and don't touch the elliptical for a month. Then go back to it.
  • daniellevargas
    daniellevargas Posts: 31
    I am in the same boat. I got my HRM for Mother's Day! I was so excited to use it at the gym and see how many calories I burn the whole time (including my strength training). Well lets just say it wasnt as many calories as I had been guessing. I guess the good news is that I will have better control over my worksouts now.!!! I do love my HRM
  • salter3321
    salter3321 Posts: 5
    What is HRM?
  • kenlc
    kenlc Posts: 11 Member
    HRM = heart rate monitor
  • selbyhutch
    selbyhutch Posts: 531 Member
    So I have a Nordic Track Elliptical. I love it. I have used it to take off my initial weight. I have been stuck though for about 3 months now. I see people put in their calories on an elliptical that are much lower than mine all the time. I knew mine probably overestimated my burn but since I managed to lose 40 pounds and eat my exercise calories I figured it was close. Especially since I was under-eating before I started here last June so i had to up my calories significantly and eat my exercise calories according to my machines reading..

    Boy was I wrong. I just bought a HRM which I used for the first time tonight with the elliptical. Well my machine said I burned 624 calories, my HRM says 286. :noway: That is less than half. I knew it would be bad when my husband did his workout earlier and it said about half for him too on his HRM.

    Well no wonder I stalled. I am amazed I lost as much as I have in the first place. So either I need to kick up my workouts or curb my eating. I am going to ponder it over a glass of wine... Maybe I can fit in another workout tonight. :wink:

    Oh no!! What Nordic Track Elliptical do you have? LOL - my husband & I just turned a spare bedroom into a workout room & I bought one. I've been debating on buying a HRM... but guess I should. What HRM did you buy?
  • mommyhof3
    mommyhof3 Posts: 551 Member
    That is what happened to me. I stopped losing. Then I bought a HRM and went by that. What an eye opener. I love my HRM and won't rely on anything else ever again lol
  • FireRox21
    FireRox21 Posts: 424 Member
    Totally the same thing here. I stalled out on my weight loss and in fact have gained. I was completely going off of what MFP said were my calories burned and I have been eating those calories. With how much I work out, my exercise calories alone are over 1000 a day. I bought a HRM, and OMG, what a shock!!! I almost cried when I saw the difference in what the HRM said and what MFP said. Basically, I have been overeating by 300-400 calories a day!!! No wonder I haven't lost any weight!

    Now, I enter in all of my foods and exercise then break out the handy calculator and subtract the HRM calories from MFP calories and try not to go over that.

    I love, love, love my HRM and will in fact start wearing it when I'm working around the house or gardening. Every calorie counts!
  • aunienue
    aunienue Posts: 416
    What can I say...BUMMER!
  • zoink66
    zoink66 Posts: 116 Member
    Total bummer! I'm always anxious about eating all of my exercise calories for that exact reason!
  • SimonLondon
    SimonLondon Posts: 350
    Now, I enter in all of my foods and exercise then break out the handy calculator and subtract the HRM calories from MFP calories and try not to go over that.

    You can manually enter the HRM calories to replace the MFP ones. MFP was double what my HRM said so I inputted the HRM instead so I can a realistic total.

    This why I never eat more than half of my exercise calories because I never know for sure how accurate it is.
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
    Yep, I generally tell everyone the same thing...eat half of your exercise calories back because as a "general" guide those counters are off by 1/2.
  • FireRox21
    FireRox21 Posts: 424 Member
    [/quote]

    You can manually enter the HRM calories to replace the MFP ones. MFP was double what my HRM said so I inputted the HRM instead so I can a realistic total.

    This why I never eat more than half of my exercise calories because I never know for sure how accurate it is.
    [/quote]

    I probably should know this, but where can I do that?
  • SimonLondon
    SimonLondon Posts: 350
    When you enter the time for the exercise you can delete the calories beside it with your own results.
  • kellyd23
    kellyd23 Posts: 24
    What kind of HRM does everyone have? I've heard good things about the Polar F6 I believe... wasn't sure if there was a benefit of getting one over the other or a cheap over expensive one....I definitely need one since I decided to hold off on the almost $300 Bodybugg..... :( I'm assuming this is the next best thing!
  • BADGIRLstl
    BADGIRLstl Posts: 473 Member
    This is scary!
  • alisonengland
    alisonengland Posts: 110 Member
    I have a Polar F4 as it only cost $60. It works fine and again the calories burned is way lower than those claimed on the elliptical or the treadmill. I wore it the other day to see what I burned whilst sitting on the sofa watching CSI with a glass of wine. It said 65 calories for an hour which I reckon is spot on as my maintenance weight is 1800 for a day and have a relatively sedentary job.
  • daniellevargas
    daniellevargas Posts: 31
    I have the Polar FT7, I love, love, love it!!! The best part is how it breaks down your total workout, and tells your how much time you spent in each of the target heart rate zones. Trust me I can almost guarantee that you are over working. Its an amazing tool!!!
  • Johnnyswife
    Johnnyswife Posts: 1,447 Member
    See now, my hRM watch will sometimes be lower than the machine, but most of the time its higher. The watch takes my age, where the machine just guesses based on how fast your moving.
    Plus, the bigger you are, the more calories you burn. As you lose weight, you burn less calories. Your calories burned were probably closer to 6oo when you first started. :flowerforyou:
  • LittleSpy
    LittleSpy Posts: 6,754 Member
    Well yeah, the more you do an exercise, the more efficient you become at it. You have to push yourself and increase your intensity or change up your exercise otherwise you'll be burning fewer and fewer calories each time you do it! :wink: You can still use your elliptical -- but PUSH yourself hard. Make it as hard as it was the very first time you got on.

    That's why I love interval work. I can run 30 minutes at a time. Or I can absolutely kick my butt by sprinting as fast as I can for a minute & then recovering & then sprinting again & so on. Same on my stationary bike -- I could bike 15-16mph all day. But I do the intervals instead and burn a ton more calories.
  • ra86
    ra86 Posts: 12 Member
    This is something that really irritates me as well. I have a Reebok exercise bike, and I used to enter the calories burned directly into MFP, but I'm really not confident about doing it this way, as I don't see how it could be accurate. It does actually have an HRM built into it (the pulse is taken from metal plates on the handles), but the handlebar unit isn't secure if I lean on that part, so I don't use it.

    Will have to change the way I do this...
  • amberc1982
    amberc1982 Posts: 468 Member
    My treadclimber is pretty spot on with my HRM. But I think it is because I have to enter weight and all that into the treadclimber before I work out so it gets pretty close to what my HRM says.
  • thirtyby40
    thirtyby40 Posts: 702 Member
    I was hesitant to buy the HRM. I thought it was not needed since I figured my machine must be pretty accurate since I was losing. I am glad now I did buy it. I agree I was probably burning way more back when I was 40 pounds heavier and not nearly as fit so it does make sense it was accurate then and not now. Funny I just never thought about it until it stopped working. I know that your body gets used to routine and that is why you need to switch it up, but I never stopped to think about why.

    My husband and I both bought Polar F6's. I did a lot of research and I think it is well known for accuracy. When I put my hands on the Nordic track hand sensor for HR it is the same. The thing is that my HRM takes all my personal info so it gets a more accurate calorie burn. My machine doesn't ask age or height which I know some do. Mine just starts with no input other than program.
  • ZebraHead
    ZebraHead Posts: 15,207 Member
    So what does the company say when you present this evidence to them? Can they not even get the proper readout from their own machines?
  • LittleSpy
    LittleSpy Posts: 6,754 Member
    So what does the company say when you present this evidence to them? Can they not even get the proper readout from their own machines?

    You have to understand the calories burned estimate the machine is giving may be spot on for someone else using the machine at that speed and resistance. The readouts from many exercise machines (most that I've personally used) don't take your height, weight, gender, or overall fitness level into account when spitting out those numbers. It's all just based on averages. In their estimate of calories burned, either the average they're using for the estimate weighs quite a bit more or is working a lot harder to achieve the same speed at that resistence level or both.

    That being said, your HRM is also nothing more than an estimate. Probably a better estimate since it (probably) takes your height/weight/sex/heart rate into consideration, but an **estimate** nonetheless. :wink: I wouldn't assume it's 100% accurate at all.
  • mabear74
    mabear74 Posts: 248
    I found the exact same thing when I first got my Body Bugg.....I was shocked. I learned I'm not burning nearly as many calories as I thought I was during exercise, but found I burn more on a daily basis then I thought did.
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