New w/ Bodymedia LINK calorie burn questions...

Ptah182
Ptah182 Posts: 13
in Health and Weight Loss
Heyya,

I just interfaced MFP with the Bodymedia LINK. I have a slight bit of confusion about a couple of things. I'll try to give enough detail, but basically, I don't think I'm burning what the programs say I am.

Bodymedia and MFP have me at 2860 target calories to burn. I'm supposed to eat 1860 calories for a 1000 cal deficit leading to 2lbs per week weight loss. Bodymedia reports that I've burned 3648 calories today. I've gone to work (Have a pretty laid back desk job) and can't imagine that I've burnt an extra 800 just from walking my 6000 steps and having 28 min of moderate activity. My current weight as of 2 days ago when I hooked this stuff up is 295.6 and I'm 5'11". I don't know if that level of carrying so much extra weight explains the burn from walking around a little, or if I have a hiccup somewhere.

I'm trying to work with a keto diet, and given the calories I have at 1860 I usually don't hit my protein goal. I'm wondering if anyone has experience with the LINK and I should trust its accuracy and eat over 1860 for the deficit its reporting to MFP, or if I'm interpreting something wrong.

I've only been using the 2 a couple of days, but I want to make sure I'm doing what I need to do right. Any insight would be helpful.

Sincerely,

Peter.

Replies

  • jeffrowley72
    jeffrowley72 Posts: 9 Member
    I've been using Bodymedia for quite a few weeks now (and several months a year or so ago). I'm also about the same height/weight as you. 6'0, 290lbs. Your numbers seem to fall right around what I get. On a day when I do pretty much nothing, Bodymedia shows me about 3300-3400. With some extra walking, a busy day, etc. it can easily be over 4000. It drives my wife nuts, because I 'get' to eat so much more than she does.

    Are these numbers accurate? Who knows, but they seem to correlate to some of the other calculators, etc. that I've seen. I do know that most days I eat about 2200-2400 calories, and the weight loss seems to correlate VERY well with these deficits. I've lost about 18lbs in the last month or so, initially probably a lot of water, but it's settled out right about the 2lbs/week that it should be.

    I'm very happy with the numbers I'm getting from BM, and they seem to be working. Keep it up, and don't be afraid to eat those extras!
  • jmcreynolds91
    jmcreynolds91 Posts: 777 Member
    Hi. I have had my BM for about a month now. I am 144 pounds 22 years old, 5, 4 and i usually get a burn of about 3000 also. I have two kids so I stay very active and workout regularly. I am just starting to figure this BM thing out after stalling for a couple of weeks after getting it. I think the numbers are right, as people have told me, trust Bodymedia. I was very skeptical at first also as I did NOT know my daily burn would be that high. Also, I just upped my calories to 2100 and seem to be loosing again.
  • jeffrowley72
    jeffrowley72 Posts: 9 Member
    One other thing to remember, is that the BodyMedia does tend to start high when you first start using it. After about three days, it tends to "learn" your activity levels (or it has better data to average) a little better and will be more accurate.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    At your weight, your BMR and thus calorie burn doing anything is going to be higher than someone half your size. If you're new to the BodyMedia thing, give it a week to learn about you and then recheck.

    I'm in the normal weight range, and when I'm sitting, my BMF says I burn about .9 calories a minute. My obese friend? When she's sitting, it reads 2.2. So she may not be as active as I am, but because of her size, she burns more calories in a day.
  • AngryManx
    AngryManx Posts: 17 Member
    Also, remember to not wear it while driving as that can add calorie burn that doesn't really exist.
  • justformel
    justformel Posts: 193 Member
    I've never hear the rule of not wearing while driving, we are still burning calories while sitting there.

    I have been wearing one for years. Finally just upgraded my old body bugg for the new Link, so I could have the awesome bluetooth feature. To test the numbers I took about 12 wks of data from both my bugg and my food journal and then compared to my loses for the weeks. When it came down to what I "should" have lost and what I actually did, there was less than a pound difference. Some weeks were spot on and some were off a little, but in the end it was right. Knowing that water weight, what I ate the night before a weigh in, sodium, etc, can mess up a weekly weigh in at times, but in the end, at the end of every month it was pretty much right on. That gave me confidence the numbers were right. :happy:

    Enjoy those extra calories you get to eat, at your size your body needs them. Which is why its also easier to lose faster, if you don't eat at the level you should be for your body.
  • jeffrowley72
    jeffrowley72 Posts: 9 Member
    Also, remember to not wear it while driving as that can add calorie burn that doesn't really exist.

    I've heard people report this, but I've never seen an issue. Maybe if you lived on a really bumpy dirt road?
  • Ptah182
    Ptah182 Posts: 13
    Thank you for the help, folks! I love the community that came with my purchase. :) Yeah, I weighed myself this morning and I was down 3.3 after starting for 3 days. I will put some more faith into the device and eat more, as... I really should be. I tried using the Livestrong app and the MyNetDiary app, and they had me at 2060 and 2360 respectively. I thought it was odd myfitnesspal started me at 1860, but bodymedia also started me there.

    I'm trying to do Keto on top of it, and I've found that I'm at around 63%/28%/9% and I need to eat more protein to get my carb % Ratio down. If I trust the MFP and BodyMedia LINK I can do it without adding a workout in right now.

    The whole faith thing is weird. Just follow the plan and it should all work out mathematically. I can't even imagine how much I was taking in per day in order to gain this weight in the first place if 3300 is losing 2 lbs per week. Damn.

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