Those who are doing Chalean and using fitbit and hrm...
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twostepsforward
Posts: 113 Member
Just finding my way through the numbers. I got a fitbit at the start of the month and am watching it very carefully to get my tdee. Its averaged at 2000, with the very lowest and laziest day being 1738 and the highest so far being 2310.
When I do a Chalean workout, I have been using an HRM to get calorie burn and subtracting the background calories, so example I burned 230 doing Burn1 but then took off 36 cals for the calories I burn just breathing etc. (ireckon on about one cal per min for this) So this gives me a burn of 194. I manually entered this into the fitbit site.
Does this seem the right thing to do?
So now I can take my cut from what fitbit tells me I can eat for the day (as this now includes my workout)....Or do I stick to the average burn (2000) for the month and take my cut from that? I really am having trouble with deciding what the important numbers are gross calories in, net calories...?! Which one to take my cut from?! I don't know whether to start at 1500, 1600, 1700 cals or more!
5'3, 174lbs, 37%ish bf from spreadsheet avg.
When I am working out my cals in versus cals burned, should I use net or total cals eaten...why can't I get this straight in my head?! :explode:
Thanks for any advice!
When I do a Chalean workout, I have been using an HRM to get calorie burn and subtracting the background calories, so example I burned 230 doing Burn1 but then took off 36 cals for the calories I burn just breathing etc. (ireckon on about one cal per min for this) So this gives me a burn of 194. I manually entered this into the fitbit site.
Does this seem the right thing to do?
So now I can take my cut from what fitbit tells me I can eat for the day (as this now includes my workout)....Or do I stick to the average burn (2000) for the month and take my cut from that? I really am having trouble with deciding what the important numbers are gross calories in, net calories...?! Which one to take my cut from?! I don't know whether to start at 1500, 1600, 1700 cals or more!
5'3, 174lbs, 37%ish bf from spreadsheet avg.
When I am working out my cals in versus cals burned, should I use net or total cals eaten...why can't I get this straight in my head?! :explode:
Thanks for any advice!
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I'm not an expert and certainly can't offer help with some of your specific questions (I'm sure some helpful people will be answering you soon), but I can tell you what I've been doing. I have had a fitbit for almost a year now and I've been consistently wearing it. I can tell what my average calorie burn is from daily exercise (not counting gym/videos) and have finally settled on 1515 calories as my daily goal on myfitnesspal. It took some trial and error, but I eventually landed there as it's definitely above my BMR and I don't tend to get huge adjustments from ftibit anymore (which I'm assuming means I've hit on my typical daily expenditure - with a small cut). Of course, days when I do get a bigger adjustment (or workout), I will eat my net. On extra lazy days, I will sometimes get a negative adjustment (and still try to eat my net - but I don't worry about it as long as I'm around that 1515 goal). My weight has been pretty consistent now for several months.
I'm using this strategy because I tend to have a weird workout schedule but walk a fair amount each day, so I'd prefer knowing what I can eat on a day to day basis, rather than make too many estimates based on my "ideal" exercise level
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So very good method of updating FitBit site, and that's exactly why they allow it compared to BodyMedia which doesn't, to input more correct figures for what it may not be correct about.
The only problem here is if that Chalean extreme is more lifting focused, then the HRM isn't going to be correct either.
It's formula's for calorie burn are based on steady-state HR for 2-5 min and aerobic exercise range.
Lifting focus is anaerobic and no where near steady state, so inflated values.
If that workout is closer to lifting with sets, reps, and rests, than use MFP estimate for strength training, it's low but more correct.
That's why for the FitBit and the exercise, the TDEE deficit method can work so well, don't have to track that kind of stuff.
Here's what you do to keep it simple. Go back over your non-exercise typical days, including normal non-exercise weekend days. Avg those days up for avg non-exercise TDEE.
Now go into spreadsheet and remove from the Activity Calculator the planned exercise time.
Notice the TDEE in Your Results. Close?
Add hrs of time to the service trades or labor trades lines to get the TDEE up to what FitBit says (caveat here, spreadsheet uses Katch BMR, FitBit uses Harris BMR which is usually inflated, sometimes badly, let me know if that is the case by looking at those 2 BMR's on the MFP Tweak tab)
Now you have the spreadsheet using the same non-exercise TDEE. Now put in your minutes of exercise at whatever level is correct. Not sure if Chalean is high cardio or lifting, but use the description of lifting to confirm.
Now you have a better avg TDEE.
Unsync your FitBit and just use it for curious sake, or leave it synced but remember your TDEG no matter what adjustments MFP puts in there.0 -
Of course, I keep forgetting that HRM isn't so good for strength training. Changed that and just went by what MFP gave me for strength training, a fair bit less, but as expected. The Burn 1 workout is definitely strength training, no more than 12 reps max in any set. (there are cardio dvds to do in Chalean to on inbetween days, interval training and high rep weights so I would mark this down as cardio).
So I took a really quiet week without exercise and got my fitbit tdee as you said. It was 1874. Pretty sedentary week that, too. Went to spreadsheet as you said and removed activity. TDEE given was 1789. To bring it up to the fitbit I put 4 hours in the labor trades box. (This brought the spreadsheet tdee up to 1884.
Looked at the MFP tweak tab for BMRs: Katch = 1430, Harris = 1556. So 126 out - is this very bad?
Chalean is 3x week heavy lifting and 2xcardio intervals/hi rep endurance weights. I think about total 105 min lifting and 85 min cardio. Well, at least in the Burn phase anyway.
That gives me a tdee of 1997. TDEG is 1430 (same as BMR - is that not a bit low? Or is that ok? I am thinking to round up to 1500.)
Thanks very much that was a great explanation. I'll keep it at that for a month and see what happens.0 -
Different BMR's just means that if you use a TDEE site that basis it on Harris BMR, you are inflated by 126 x whatever the multiplier is.
That TDEG will change then as you lose. It's safe eating that close if you have a lot to lose.
Because in reality, as you noticed, lifting doesn't burn much during the session. Remove the already accounted for sedentary TDEE calories for each hr (83 cals), and your 250 cal workout is now 167 calories actual burn above and beyond what you have accounted for already.
Now 3 x 167 = 501 weekly calories for that workout / 7 day avg = 76 calories a day to feed that workout. Not much.
If body is stressed though, or has been, more isn't going to hurt anything except potential deficit amount.
You know your range to still get a deficit.0
