So I wore my HRM to work today...

8breatheout8
8breatheout8 Posts: 7
in Fitness and Exercise
...and I'm not sure what to do with the results. It says I've burned 1700 calories so far, and it's not even 1pm. MFP has me eating 1650 calories for the entire day. Am I not eating enough? Or is this 1700 just part of my normal daily burn and it doesn't count as something I can log as exercise?

Thanks :)

Replies

  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
    Most all HRM's are only accurate on their calorie burn estimates when the heart rate is over 120 bpm (or even higher for some devices). Below that and they can be very far off on their estimates. This is why people do not rely on HRM calorie burns for weight lifting, or other non-cardio type activities.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    Just ignore it. Its meaningless.
  • 8breatheout8
    8breatheout8 Posts: 7
    Didn't know that... my heart rate probably averaged around 115-120, so that makes sense now. Thanks :)
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    What they said. However, even if you did have a device that tracked overall activity (like a FitBit) and it gave you about the same results, the calories it shows you burned are for normal daily activity.

    When calculating calorie needs, it's not just based on exercise but on what your body needs just to cover basic functions like breathing, digestion, healing, etc. MFP does an estimate based on height, weight, age and gender to cover these needs. As long as you're eating less than your body needs to maintain your current weight, you will lose.
  • jamien604
    jamien604 Posts: 11 Member
    What your heart rate monitor is doing is doing a really rough calculation based off a formula for heart rate during exercise. Obviously it's incredibly inaccurate since they have to average different types of exercises.

    Anyway back to my point, you don't burn calories because your heart rate is elevated, your heart rate is elevated because youre burning calories.

    If your heart rate is elevated because of stress or whatever other factor(caffeine consumption for instance) you aren't burning the same calories as if your heart rate is elevated because your body is trying to supply your muscles with fuel/oxygen.

    It's more of a novelty then anything, I wouldn't worry about a specific number, the only thing you can compare it to is itself, so really you should only use it to try and improve upon that number. Don't base what you eat off those readings.
  • 8breatheout8
    8breatheout8 Posts: 7
    Thanks all!
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    I think it would be helpful to know what you do work wise. That would be a high resting rate so I'm assuming it's not a desk job! It could be that you should be set to very active here if you're doing something arduous.

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