BMF vs in place of a road map

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jaz050465
jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've done lots of number crunching and feel that myBMF is over estimating my calorie burn by about 200 cals a day. What do other people find.

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  • norcal_yogi
    norcal_yogi Posts: 675 Member
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    word....^. my previous BMF was way overestimating. gained 5 pounds unfortunately...
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    What do you do now? Is it working?
  • norcal_yogi
    norcal_yogi Posts: 675 Member
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    What do you do now? Is it working?

    i've since sold it... lol.

    said i was burning around 3000 cals a day (give or take)...and i'd eat 15-2000 a day..and only *gain*. yes, i could have upped my cals even further, but i am not a huge person... 5'7" 125 most of my life and now 134#. i didn't have the heart to eat 2900 or 3000 with a 10-20% cut.
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
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    Tools such as the BMF and Fitbit which try to track your daily calorie expenditure will only get you into trouble. You would see better results guesstimating it based on IPOARM and sticking to that.
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    Tools such as the BMF and Fitbit which try to track your daily calorie expenditure will only get you into trouble. You would see better results guesstimating it based on IPOARM and sticking to that.

    Why do you say that- I agree with fitbit but BMF is supposed to be 90% accurate. My problem is that my activity level varies from day to,say so I wanted something to track it. It's all sooooo confusing Beverly body I talk too says something different.
  • chellebublz
    chellebublz Posts: 568 Member
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    I trust BMF 100% with the numbers it gives me. On a non active day I have a 2400-2500 burn. On active days it can go as much as 3200 but is usually 2700-2900 depending what I do and how much. I usually burn around 600 with exercise on days I workout. BMF and my Polar FT4 both agree to this within 30 calories of each other. I eat to make sure I keep NO MORE than a 1000 deficit every day. And BMF gives me a base calorie goal of 1510 but I do eat exercise calories back until I have that 1000 deficit.

    I have never followed IPOARM, but according to scooby's website, my BMR is 1787, my TDEE is 2770 and TDEE-20 2216. Well if you do the math, it works out to be around the same. If anything I would say that my BMF is underestimating and not overestimating by about 200 calories which isn't a big deal IMO

    ETA: I've lost about 5 pounds so far with it over a month, with about 10 days of that being lovely lady TOM bloat and now that that's over I'm losing again, so I am pleased with it.
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    I trust BMF 100% with the numbers it gives me. On a non active day I have a 2400-2500 burn. On active days it can go as much as 3200 but is usually 2700-2900 depending what I do and how much. I usually burn around 600 with exercise on days I workout. BMF and my Polar FT4 both agree to this within 30 calories of each other. I eat to make sure I keep NO MORE than a 1000 deficit every day. And BMF gives me a base calorie goal of 1510 but I do eat exercise calories back until I have that 1000 deficit.

    I have never followed IPOARM, but according to scooby's website, my BMR is 1787, my TDEE is 2770 and TDEE-20 2216. Well if you do the math, it works out to be around the same. If anything I would say that my BMF is underestimating and not overestimating by about 200 calories which isn't a big deal IMO

    ETA: I've lost about 5 pounds so far with it over a month, with about 10 days of that being lovely lady TOM bloat and now that that's over I'm losing again, so I am pleased with it.

    Am I Sri g- 2900- 1000 friOM BMF is 1900 whereas. Scoobies 2216 is actually a lot higher. 1000 is a large deficit though. But if its working - well done!!
  • chellebublz
    chellebublz Posts: 568 Member
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    Yea but now that I'm doing c25k plus Body Revolution and playing Dance Central on non-c25k days. I've been seeing a steady 3200 the last 3 days. But even on my 2900 days it's only 300 calories off from Scooby's calculator. And that's an underestimate, rather than an overestimate like some are concerned about. But honestly, even IPOARM isn't going to be 100% accurate, it's all just estimations.

    1000 is a large deficit, but I have 80lbs to go. If I were down to my last few pounds like you I would be shooting for more like 500 deficit I think.
  • jendarlin
    jendarlin Posts: 184 Member
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    I've done lots of number crunching and feel that myBMF is over estimating my calorie burn by about 200 cals a day. What do other people find.


    I know my BMF is not correct for me. I linked it with mfp and tried various deficits over several months time, I did not lose a thing, inches or lbs.
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    I've done lots of number crunching and feel that myBMF is over estimating my calorie burn by about 200 cals a day. What do other people find.


    I know my BMF is not correct for me. I linked it with mfp and tried various deficits over several months time, I did not lose a thing, inches or lbs.

    Have you found a system that works now?
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    WHAT?!?!?! The calorie counting devices aren't 100% accurate? I'm shocked. SHOCKED, I say

    9fW17XS.gif
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    WHAT?!?!?! The calorie counting devices aren't 100% accurate? I'm shocked. SHOCKED, I say

    9fW17XS.gif

    I got it as I was DESPERATE. Whatever I do isn't working!!! It's all very well for you to s off but it's soooo frustrating counting calories for six months, trying loads of different things, yet still staying the same sizev( weight and inches).
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    seriously speaking, if you only have 9 total pounds left to lose, it's pretty slow going at this point. Like half pound or less a week slow going. with water weight fluctuations being what they are, it's hard to tell if you're stalling, regressing, or progressing without an entire month of weigh ins.

    without knowing your stats it's impossible to give concrete recommendations, but you might have to be a bit more patient and a bit more meticulous with your diet at this point. If you make adjustments I'd probably only adjust in 150ish increments and even then it would take several weeks of weigh ins before I decided if it worked our not.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Like any tool, it can be used for what it's good at, or what it's not so good at.

    The results will depend on what your exercise activity is, and how far off a better estimated BMR is from the one BMF is starting with - Harris according to their FAQ.

    The tweak that Harris BMR by night time temps, somewhat.

    But I've seen Harris BMR be 200-400 inflated over better estimated Katch BMR based on bodyfat%.

    So these devices use the BMR for sleeping time.
    Calculate RMR from BMR, and use that for awake and non-moving or slow moving time.

    If Harris BMR is good estimate, that can all be pretty good.

    Activity calories are based on weight and steps and pace.
    Which can be very accurate for walking 2-4 mph, and jogging 4.5 - 6.3 mph.

    But if it's measuring the steps wrong (like arm jiggling while driving inflating it, or not moving at all while riding bike, or mildly moving like weight lfiting), then that can be way off.

    So if your Harris BMR and Katch BMR are really close, and your exercise is mainly walking or jogging within limits, it can have a great chance of accuracy.

    If either of those things don't apply, you'll have to either tweak for getting better BMR, and/or use HRM for other exercise and remove the BMF/FitBit.

    How many calories have you been trying to deficit being this close to goal weight?
    Too much isn't going to work well at all.
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    Like any tool, it can be used for what it's good at, or what it's not so good at.

    The results will depend on what your exercise activity is, and how far off a better estimated BMR is from the one BMF is starting with - Harris according to their FAQ.

    The tweak that Harris BMR by night time temps, somewhat.

    But I've seen Harris BMR be 200-400 inflated over better estimated Katch BMR based on bodyfat%.

    So these devices use the BMR for sleeping time.
    Calculate RMR from BMR, and use that for awake and non-moving or slow moving time.

    If Harris BMR is good estimate, that can all be pretty good.

    Activity calories are based on weight and steps and pace.
    Which can be very accurate for walking 2-4 mph, and jogging 4.5 - 6.3 mph.

    But if it's measuring the steps wrong (like arm jiggling while driving inflating it, or not moving at all while riding bike, or mildly moving like weight lfiting), then that can be way off.

    So if your Harris BMR and Katch BMR are really close, and your exercise is mainly walking or jogging within limits, it can have a great chance of accuracy.

    If either of those things don't apply, you'll have to either tweak for getting better BMR, and/or use HRM for other exercise and remove the BMF/FitBit.

    How many calories have you been trying to deficit being this close to goal weight?
    Too much isn't going to work well at all.

    Thanks heybales. You were messaging me yesterday with some useful advice which I'm going to put into practice today. I'm actually using the kifit ( the UK version). With that, you can pay extra for individual support. She set me 500 deficit for a few weeks, then 750 then 1000 with no success but you were saying that as I've been on diet for so long and within healthy weight range I should try 500 deficit for at least a month. Thanks
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
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    I have yet to find a calculator that gets even close to getting my TDEE right. Even my fitbit's maintenance calories would make me lose. I would be fascinated to see if a BMF got any closer, but they cost too much to make that worth trying.

    So, I've had to work out my calories by experimenting. If I use the mfp system and set my base calories to 2450kcal and log all exercise as per mfp, I maintain. If I eat 2400kcal and ignore exercise, I lose slowly, without needing to overeat every few days. If I don't log and try to maintain, I gain :grumble: :laugh:

    Why? Do I over-estimate what I eat? Do I have way above average NEAT? Is my BMR sky high? Does it matter? Not really. What matters is to find what works for you, no matter the system you use as your base.

    I understand that it is far more frustrating if you don't lose, as in the OP's case, but I would still recommend experimentation over believing in any calculator or device.
  • shorty35565
    shorty35565 Posts: 1,425 Member
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    My BMF is pretty accurate for me.
  • Railr0aderTony
    Railr0aderTony Posts: 6,804 Member
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    My fitbit is a great little pedometer but honestly that is all it really is, lots of bells and whistles but I do not use it for my workouts, I use my HRM, I think IPORM is a great thing and the way to go if you want a healthy approach.
  • jendarlin
    jendarlin Posts: 184 Member
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    I've done lots of number crunching and feel that myBMF is over estimating my calorie burn by about 200 cals a day. What do other people find.


    I know my BMF is not correct for me. I linked it with mfp and tried various deficits over several months time, I did not lose a thing, inches or lbs.

    Have you found a system that works now?

    Yes, the system in my ticker has gotten me halfway to my goal. I'm currently on a break week then I'llbe working on the last half!

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