can't afford a heart rate monitor

higgins8283801
higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
How can I better gauge what MFP is telling me I burn? I've read they can be off so I'm concerned about "eating back" too many calories.

Replies

  • hermann341
    hermann341 Posts: 443 Member
    You can measure your pulse with the artery in your neck and a stop watch. Take several measurements during exercise and use this website to calculate calories: http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

    or

    Only take credit for 80% of the MFP calories.
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
    You can measure your pulse with the artery in your neck and a stop watch. Take several measurements during exercise and use this website to calculate calories: http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

    or

    Only take credit for 80% of the MFP calories.

    More like 50%.
  • Madame_Goldbricker
    Madame_Goldbricker Posts: 1,625 Member
    Or switch to the TDEE method and not have to eat back your calories burnt.
  • zetodd
    zetodd Posts: 22 Member
    As long as you use the same measurement system you should be able to dial it in. Use MFP for a few weeks and adjust your caloric intake accordingly.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    All of the above would work. Or you could just not eat back exercise calories....
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
    You can measure your pulse with the artery in your neck and a stop watch. Take several measurements during exercise and use this website to calculate calories: http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

    or

    Only take credit for 80% of the MFP calories.

    More like 50%.

    Good lord are they really off that badly?!?
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    Many just eat back half the calories.

    Otherwise, go by TDEE-20% instead (or 10-15% if you don't have much to lose), that way you don't need to eat back exercise calories and just eat consistently from day to day.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    All of the above would work. Or you could just not eat back exercise calories....

    Only do this if you eat TDEE-20%. if you eat NET, then do NOT do this.
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
    All of the above would work. Or you could just not eat back exercise calories....

    I'm hungry though so I have to. Lol

    I eat 1300-1400 and when I'm done exercising I'm needing to eat. I do measure in my kitchen scale and use my measuring cups.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    You don't need a HRM. They are useful, but they aren't exact either.

    Your ticker says you have 31 pounds to lose, so you would be around average burns. In your case, anything over 10 calories a minute, I'd be wary of. The heavier you are the more you burn, but in your case, you won't be getting huge calorie burns unless you are doing all out intensity.

    MFP isn't as off as people like to believe for certain things. Things like walking and running are well researched and the estimates MFP gives are fairly reasonable as long as you have time and pace. Things that have more variables will be less accurate, like aerobics, ellipitcal (with no intensity or speed), etc.

    Here are two great blogs that help breakdown ways to breakdown calorie estimates.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/estimating-calories-activity-databases-198041

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/exercise-calories-sometimes-the-cardio-machines-are-more-accurate-404739

    I have never used a HRM and lost weight following MFP's exercise calories just fine. Consistency is what is key. If you find you stop losing weight (over a period of weeks not just one or two), then re-evalutate your exercise calories. You don't have to cut them all, you can just cut down.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    All of the above would work. Or you could just not eat back exercise calories....

    I'm hungry though so I have to. Lol

    I eat 1300-1400 and when I'm done exercising I'm needing to eat. I do measure in my kitchen scale and use my measuring cups.

    Your diary isn't open and I don't have your stats. It's important that you're consuming adequate calories, micro/ macros, etc. unfortunately the MFP estimation is 50-60% inaccurate in my case. Considering I have very little to lose (2-3lbs) and my deficit is not very high I don't eat them back because in accurately calculating these could completely undo my deficit.

    Perhaps you can provide your SW CW GW Height and activity level and we could make better suggestions?

    I'm of the opinion that overestimation of cals burned and underestimation of cals eaten is a pretty common problem.
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
    Just use what MFP says, I did it for a long time and I did fine. Measure your food and it will work.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Depends on what entry.
    The walking and jogging entries are more accurate than HRM actually.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/774337-how-to-test-hrm-for-how-accurate-calorie-burn-is

    You just have to be honest with what pace, and if level/flat.

    So really taking total time and total distance to get avg pace, not the highest you got up to.

    Strength training is assumed sets with rests of 1-3 min, and heavy enough that reps are down 10 or less. It may seem small, but that's correct.

    Circuit training is assumed rests of 30 sec or less, reps 15-20. It's higher burn, still not as much as cardio.

    Biking with speeds can be decent if a longer ride where up/down hill and head/tail wind cancel each other out. But a bunch of stop signs and lights knocks your average down lower than reality, so that's a good chance of underestimated, plus if on heavy mountain bike or hybrid sitting up compared to bent over road bike.

    But the other stuff with no descriptions, could be all over depending on your intensity level. Just starting cardio you may not be going as intense as the entry is assuming.
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
    You can measure your pulse with the artery in your neck and a stop watch. Take several measurements during exercise and use this website to calculate calories: http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

    or

    Only take credit for 80% of the MFP calories.

    More like 50%.

    Good lord are they really off that badly?!?
    No they aren't that off, just use MFP
  • higgins8283801
    higgins8283801 Posts: 844 Member
    All of the above would work. Or you could just not eat back exercise calories....

    I'm hungry though so I have to. Lol

    I eat 1300-1400 and when I'm done exercising I'm needing to eat. I do measure in my kitchen scale and use my measuring cups.

    Your diary isn't open and I don't have your stats. It's important that you're consuming adequate calories, micro/ macros, etc. unfortunately the MFP estimation is 50-60% inaccurate in my case. Considering I have very little to lose (2-3lbs) and my deficit is not very high I don't eat them back because in accurately calculating these could completely undo my deficit.

    Perhaps you can provide your SW CW GW Height and activity level and we could make better suggestions?

    I'm of the opinion that overestimation of cals burned and underestimation of cals eaten is a pretty common problem.

    I actually took a nutrition class and use the recommended amounts of protein, sodium, carbs and fat. The range on mpf for those are pretty close to what I had in my book.

    I stay within it or over by maybe 1-50.

    My starting weight was 171. My current weight is 166 and my goal is 135. haven't lost any inches yet
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Just use what MFP says, I did it for a long time and I did fine. Measure your food and it will work.

    This is what I did and it worked like a charm.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Just use what MFP says, I did it for a long time and I did fine. Measure your food and it will work.

    This is what I did and it worked like a charm.

    Pretty much what I was trying to say but much more to the point. This worked for me as well.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    Just use what MFP says, I did it for a long time and I did fine. Measure your food and it will work.

    This is what I did and it worked like a charm.

    Pretty much what I was trying to say but much more to the point. This worked for me as well.

    Pretty much what he was saying too-

    "As long as you use the same measurement system you should be able to dial it in. Use MFP for a few weeks and adjust your caloric intake accordingly."

    It's about consistency. Not losing? Adjust accordingly.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    You don't need a HRM. They are useful, but they aren't exact either.

    Your ticker says you have 31 pounds to lose, so you would be around average burns. In your case, anything over 10 calories a minute, I'd be wary of.
    I agree. I'd use a max of 10 calories a minute for your hardest cardio. So if you run for 30 minutes, call it 300. If you run and walk, call it 150-200. It's all estimates, anyway.

    If you do the same workouts over and over, you could also look up the METs value for each and calc it that way. Though it's probably what MFP uses.

    https://sites.google.com/site/compendiumofphysicalactivities/Activity-Categories

    The multiplier is applied to BMR so if your BMR is around 1 calorie a minute, a 30-minute workout of an activity with a METs value of 5 would be 5*1*30= 150 calories (or 120 net, ignoring what you would burn doing nothing those 30 minutes).
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    How can I better gauge what MFP is telling me I burn? I've read they can be off so I'm concerned about "eating back" too many calories.

    If you don't want to believe the numbers then just eat back a proportion of the calories expended.

    HRMs aren't a reliable indicator of calories expended for most of the types of exercise that dieters do anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it.

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