All day HRM?

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makelemonade14
makelemonade14 Posts: 46 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have a fitbit flex, but am curious if there is a more accurate way to estimate all day calorie burn? I'm a teacher so my day to day activity fluctuates quite a bit. I also have been doing piyo, so would like a hr reading for that workout too. Any recommendations? I know a polar with chest strap isn't meant for that use, the fitbit charge hr doesn't have great reviews for accuracy, and I think the jawbone up3 will only measure resting hr (when it eventually comes out.) am I missing an obvious option? I have 60 more pounds to lose but really like data, and want to learn more about how my body works for long term success.
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  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    edited January 2015
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    2 of the new Fitbit models (Charge HR and Surge) are all-day activity trackers that have HRMs built in to give a good estimation of all day calorie burn. I hope to upgrade my older Fitbit as soon as finaces allow.

    oops, just re-read that you've read reviews on the Charge HR.
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
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    A Polar HRM is only meant to be used while working out and as per Polar itself, will not give you an accurate calorie burn for the day. I'll try to find the link.
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
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    Oh, I just wanted to add that what you do at work that wouldn't be considered exercise is better taken care of by adjusting your mfp activity level (i.e. sedentary, lightly active etc) and then you don't have to log the little stuff, just the true exercise that you do. I think that would help with losing.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    makelemonade14 wrote: »
    ...and want to learn more about how my body works for long term success.

    Do a bit of that first, then you'll identify that an HRM isn't appropriate for either your training, or assessing your BMR :)
  • makelemonade14
    makelemonade14 Posts: 46 Member
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    I have my activity level set as lightly active, which is how I usually end up with an extra 400-600 fitbit calories at the end of the day. I usually get between 4000-9000 steps in at work, and 10-20 "active minutes" on my fitbit. My weekend days at home fit more closely to true lightly active. I've only been logging my dedicated exercise calories, but I was hoping to better understand the huge fitbit adjustment. I'm not sure I believe it's accurate... I'm new to learning abut the relationship between fitness and nutrition, so just looking for tools to better understand. I'm a nerd that way.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    Avoid the marketing blurb related to HRMs and look into how HRMs are designed to operate. Marketeers are third up against the wall come the time of the glorious revolution.

    Essentially the relationship between HR and calorie consumption is only valid in a limited range of scenarios. Note that lots of people on here don't understand that and pimp them as some kind of magic bullet.
  • makelemonade14
    makelemonade14 Posts: 46 Member
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    MeanderingMammal wrote: »
    Avoid the marketing blurb related to HRMs and look into how HRMs are designed to operate. Marketeers are third up against the wall come the time of the glorious revolution.

    Essentially the relationship between HR and calorie consumption is only valid in a limited range of scenarios. Note that lots of people on here don't understand that and pimp them as some kind of magic bullet.

    That's a good point, thank you. I will keep reading. I'm probably looking for a way to see data that probably isn't possible to obtain. :)
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
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    Personally I wouldn't log or eat back the extra calories from the fitbit unless you had done something unusual. If you just want to log for your personal reference later, you can always add a note to your diary when you log (it's at the bottom) or log it but change the calories to 1.
  • makelemonade14
    makelemonade14 Posts: 46 Member
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    blankiefinder wrote: »
    Personally I wouldn't log or eat back the extra calories from the fitbit unless you had done something unusual. If you just want to log for your personal reference later, you can always add a note to your diary when you log (it's at the bottom) or log it but change the calories to 1.

    Thanks!
    I don't eat them back, because I'm working hard for the calorie deficit right now. I'm sticking to around 1200 cals/day, but like I said my activity level is all over the place from day to day so I'm just trying to learn my daily needs a bit better. Almost every day is a bit unusual as a special ed teacher. It takes 2 minutes of fast walking to get from one end of my school building to the other, and I do that a gazillion times some days. Sometimes at a sprint if I'm tailing a kid who ran. I'm transferring 80 pound kids from wheelchairs to equipment multiple times too. Then there are days when I do paperwork for a big chunk and am truly lightly active.

    Anyways, I really have read quite a bit, and the overall message is eat less than you use, but not below a certain threshold. I was hoping there was a way to figure out my daily info a bit, but it appears not so that's ok. I'm losing at a fair clip right now and should probably increase my calories a bit on work days. (My next purchase will be a food scale for accuracy. With not measuring weight of food and every drop of oil I use for roasting veggies, I'm sure I'm already eating a bit more than logged. I figure 100-150 calories, so I aim to log 1050-1100.)
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
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    Once you have your food scale, if you accurately track all of your calories and weight for the month, you can calculate how fast you are losing compared to your projected loss and figure out where you need to be for your goals.

    For example, if over that month your projected loss based on your MFP deficit + any excess deficits - any overages, you have lost more or less than you should have, then you can figure out where your calories should be for the loss you want. If you've lost more, then either you've burned more calories in your logged exercise, or you burn more in your day than your settings.
  • makelemonade14
    makelemonade14 Posts: 46 Member
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    That's a reasonable solution. Thank you!
  • pattyjoshockley
    pattyjoshockley Posts: 53 Member
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    I have the fitbit surge for 2 days now. I doubt that it is super accurate, but combined with diligent food tracking it does help me to see how much of a deficit I am getting each day. For some reason I find having it motivating. I find that I exercise more often and at a higher intensity when I have the feedback from the surge. I wore it on the treadmill and used the chest strap for the treadmill at the same time. Both heart rates were within a few beats of each other for the duration of the workout. It is accurate enough in my opinion. The increased motivation to meet step goals and calorie goals has been helpful to me.

    I don't think anyone needs to have this kind of tech. It's not a magic bullet of any kind. I'm just kind of nerdy and like gadgets.
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
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    pattyjoshockley wrote: »
    I have the fitbit surge for 2 days now. I doubt that it is super accurate, but combined with diligent food tracking it does help me to see how much of a deficit I am getting each day. For some reason I find having it motivating. I find that I exercise more often and at a higher intensity when I have the feedback from the surge. I wore it on the treadmill and used the chest strap for the treadmill at the same time. Both heart rates were within a few beats of each other for the duration of the workout. It is accurate enough in my opinion. The increased motivation to meet step goals and calorie goals has been helpful to me.

    I don't think anyone needs to have this kind of tech. It's not a magic bullet of any kind. I'm just kind of nerdy and like gadgets.

    I use a heart rate monitor at the gym too, Patty, for that it is great! It just doesn't work to wear it all day to calculate your TDEE :)

  • ivygirl1937
    ivygirl1937 Posts: 899 Member
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    I have had the Fitbit Charge HR for about a month and a half and I think the calorie burns are pretty accurate, actually. I still don't eat back my exercise calories but I definitely know how I'm doing during the day.
  • T1DCarnivoreRunner
    T1DCarnivoreRunner Posts: 11,502 Member
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    I have been using the Surge since yesterday, so not an expert. Also, even if I had been using a Surge since the beginning of time, different consumers have different experiences.

    Having said that, I was curious about accuracy at rest because that is what everyone was saying will be way off. At one point yesterday, at rest, I took my pulse manually and compared to the Surge. My manual count was 60 and the Surge showed 61 at the time, so it was basically right on. That is just one instance, and I'm just one user, but it works really well based on my experience thus far.
  • RichardDiggins
    RichardDiggins Posts: 2
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    The Microsoft Band is what I use. It tracks HR all day and reports it back to MFP and can be used to track workouts too. It tracks your sleeping HR and restful sleep as well. I would recommend it to anyone.
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
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    midwesterner85 wrote: »
    I have been using the Surge since yesterday, so not an expert. Also, even if I had been using a Surge since the beginning of time, different consumers have different experiences.

    Having said that, I was curious about accuracy at rest because that is what everyone was saying will be way off. At one point yesterday, at rest, I took my pulse manually and compared to the Surge. My manual count was 60 and the Surge showed 61 at the time, so it was basically right on. That is just one instance, and I'm just one user, but it works really well based on my experience thus far.

    The heart rate will be accurate at all times if it's decent, but the calorie burn will not.
  • spingirl605
    spingirl605 Posts: 181 Member
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    I have a bodymedia, and it does exactly what you're looking for. I absolutely love it, and I wear it every day and love the data it provides. Only problem is that they were bought out by jawbone. Oh, and you have to pay a monthly fee (first 3 months are free) but I don't even mind that because the data is so awesome. I bought the BodyMedia Core on amazon for 79.99 which is a heck of a lot cheaper than jawbone's new one that is supposed to be as good...I'm not sure...Anyway, i do not regret buying my body media at all!!!
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    edited January 2015
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    makelemonade14 wrote: »
    I don't eat them back, because I'm working hard for the calorie deficit right now. I'm sticking to around 1200 cals/day, but like I said my activity level is all over the place from day to day so I'm just trying to learn my daily needs a bit better. Almost every day is a bit unusual as a special ed teacher. It takes 2 minutes of fast walking to get from one end of my school building to the other, and I do that a gazillion times some days. Sometimes at a sprint if I'm tailing a kid who ran. I'm transferring 80 pound kids from wheelchairs to equipment multiple times too. Then there are days when I do paperwork for a big chunk and am truly lightly active.

    I would suggest that something of the ilk of a Fitbit or Vivofit would probably give you a good approximation of your background calorie expenditure. Whilst the wheelchair lifting and the like plays in the actual calories expended from that kind of thing is more limited, so you may have a perception of higher expenditure that actual.

    Note that given whaqt you describe an HRM is of absolutely no value to you. I use one when I'm running and cycling, but if I'm doing interval sessions or sprint training I'm very sceptical of any calorie approximations that come from that. Similarly if you're below their optimal operating range.

    If you are losing rapidly then the value of having this information is that your landing should be easier. It really sounds to me as if you're underfueling yourself, given that you're limiting yourself to 1200, then intentionally going under that to compensate for measurement error. Not a sustainable situation really.

    You could probably afford to come up on your intake, and still lose at a sustainable rate.

    Personally I don't weight or measure anything, but the amount of phys that I do means that I'm expending several hundred calories per session, so I'm left with a big deficit anyway. I currently have 1600 cals allowance for my dinner and at best I'll eat 1200.



  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    midwesterner85 wrote: »
    different consumers have different experiences.

    The physics tends to not be particularly variable though, that's the nature of the science.

    Whilst it may measure spot HR with reasonable accuracy, that datum is meaningless without context.

    Have you been in a lab and had your maximum heart rate and lactate threshold measured? Without those key items anything else is pretty arbitrary.

    An HRM is a useful tool to understand how the heart performs under training stress, and to support analysis of performance improvement over time. Within a fairly narrow set of circumstances it can provide a reasonable approximation of calorie expenditure. The vast majority of consumer grade usage isn't within those parameters.

    Note my point about googly eyed marketeers and the fate that they deserve.

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