Do you still eat back 50 - 75% cals if using a HRM?

Sued0nim
Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Just wondering if people reduce the amount of calories an HRM gives you for exercise or whether you consider it sufficiently accurate to eat all the calories

(I have been eating 50% of MFP but the HRM is giving me significantly more calories to eat)

Thanks

Replies

  • helsbelshms
    helsbelshms Posts: 93 Member
    Personally, I don't think it matters how many you eat back as long as you make it consistent and aren't on a very low calorie goal to start with. E.g. your calorie goal is 1200 (the magic number :noway: ) and you only eat 50% of your HRM calories back, you are more than likely going to be eating below 1200 NET.

    I decided to use my HRM as a definite number, meaning I always aim to eat them all back or save some for a treat at the weekend (I count weekly rather than daily). I think consistency is the key more than anything, do it for a couple of weeks, if you continue to lose weight then it's fine, if not then adjust the amount you eat back.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    If it's steady state cardio, i would eat 80%, but outside of SSC, I would probably eat 30-50%. Or just say heck with it and switch over to the TDEE method and eat the same calories daily.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Thank you

    Tbh I'm a bit of a numbers geek, and like gadgets ...I'd be bored if it was just cut TDEE by 20%, where's the fun in that
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    100%
    What's the point of using toys/gadgets and then making a random guess to over-ride it?

    Use them appropriately and adjust calorie goal based on actual results. Doesn't have to be any more complex than that!
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Just wondering if people reduce the amount of calories an HRM gives you for exercise or whether you consider it sufficiently accurate to eat all the calories

    There are 8 billion threads on MFP talking about the gross inaccuracies of HRMs for the exercises most people do, most of the time. I would suggest reading a few of them.
  • katkins73
    katkins73 Posts: 416 Member
    I eat all mine and it has always worked for me :smile:
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
    all!
  • numinousnymph
    numinousnymph Posts: 249 Member
    depends on the exercise. since i know it's most reliable for steady-state cardio, i still take a bit of caution and take 50 calories off of what the final count my HRM gives me, then eat back everything else. if it's intermittent cardio i know the HRM is going to be a lot more inaccurate and i'll take off close to 100. (i tend to make my calorie burn for workouts between 300 - 400 cals).
  • lgpperry1
    lgpperry1 Posts: 11 Member
    100%
    What's the point of using toys/gadgets and then making a random guess to over-ride it?

    Use them appropriately and adjust calorie goal based on actual results. Doesn't have to be any more complex than that!

    ^^^^^^ This.

    I'm a data and numbers junkie and I use my TDEE. The data is in the calories tracked (as accurately as possible) and in the results, not in randomly eating back some number of the calories you've burned.

    In general, you shouldn't eat below your BMR. A 6 year old needs 1200 calories/day. I can only assume that you are older, wiser, and weigh more than a 6 year old. Eat.
  • carolinaem
    carolinaem Posts: 58 Member
    I eat mine back. Play with it. Eat all of them back. If you still lose at your anticipated rate, why wouldn't you? If your losses slow down, eat less back.
  • jakichan
    jakichan Posts: 109 Member
    As an experiment I had my BMR measured and ate that. I gained weight. YMMV. The body adapts.
  • Laughter_Girl
    Laughter_Girl Posts: 2,226 Member
    I only eat mine back if I want more to eat, which is most of the time. :laugh: So far, whatever I'm doing is working for me according to how I feel and my ticker.
  • ChrisM8971
    ChrisM8971 Posts: 1,067 Member
    100%
    What's the point of using toys/gadgets and then making a random guess to over-ride it?

    Use them appropriately and adjust calorie goal based on actual results. Doesn't have to be any more complex than that!

    I actually deduct about 90 cals per hour from my HRM reading to take into account what I would have burnt while sat on my *kitten* which MFP has already accounted for in my deficit

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