Fat Burning Zone vs Burned Calories

HGarcia1527
HGarcia1527 Posts: 69 Member
edited November 17 in Health and Weight Loss
So I borrowed my husbands fitbit yesterday just to see what my day looks like. I did my regular cardio routine last night followed by 30 minutes on the elliptical. When looking at the records for the day it says I was only in my fat burning zone for two minutes during my warm up with a heart rate of 102 and then my heart rate was around 157 the rest of my workout.

Will I still lose weight by doing my regular high intensity cardio workouts or do I need to basically do my low intensity warm up at a lower heart rate in my fat burning zone to lose more. Please help.

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I would ignore the "fat burning zone" setting on Fitbit personally. To lose fat, just focus on a calorie deficit. Workouts -- high or low intensity -- can be part of that deficit, but you don't need to hit a specific range in order to lose fat.
  • amyepdx
    amyepdx Posts: 750 Member
    I'd imagine it was going by your husband's settings and it's giving you what his fat burning zone would be.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    The fuel being used for a particular activity is irrelevant. Your body is constantly cycling through fuel sources and constantly cycling between fat oxidation and fat storage. Your net energy position over time is what matters. You can do all of the fat burning zone exercise you want, but if you eat at maintenance or a surplus, you aren't going to have net fat loss.

    You burn more fat (i.e in the fat burning zone) sleeping than any other thing you do...but I'd hardly call long naps and sleeping in a recipe for weight loss (though sleep is important).

    QFT
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    The fuel being used for a particular activity is irrelevant. Your body is constantly cycling through fuel sources and constantly cycling between fat oxidation and fat storage. Your net energy position over time is what matters. You can do all of the fat burning zone exercise you want, but if you eat at maintenance or a surplus, you aren't going to have net fat loss.

    You burn more fat (i.e in the fat burning zone) sleeping than any other thing you do...but I'd hardly call long naps and sleeping in a recipe for weight loss (though sleep is important).

    I'd be so skinny if sleep burned all my excess fat!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,028 Member
    I can't stand that the fitness industry even brings up the relevance of the "fat burning zone". It's pretty much irrelevant when it comes to actual weight loss.

    Burn as many calories as you can in ANY time duration.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • xsmilexforxmex
    xsmilexforxmex Posts: 1,216 Member
    edited April 2017
    http://www.builtlean.com/2013/04/01/fat-burning-zone-myth/

    TL;DR: High intensity burns more fat calories, but also a higher percentage from other resources.
  • HGarcia1527
    HGarcia1527 Posts: 69 Member
    Thank you all so much. I feel dumb I even had to ask but I was curious. I create a good deficit each day and eat pretty healthy as well as workout everyday. I have been losing quite consistently but seeing the "fat burning zone" status on the Fitbit totally tossed me off wanting more information on how relevant that was. You have all been very helpful in advising that it isn't very relevant so thanks so much.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    HGarcia1527 wrote: »
    Thank you all so much. I feel dumb I even had to ask but I was curious. I create a good deficit each day and eat pretty healthy as well as workout everyday. I have been losing quite consistently but seeing the "fat burning zone" status on the Fitbit totally tossed me off wanting more information on how relevant that was. You have all been very helpful in advising that it isn't very relevant so thanks so much.

    Don't feel dumb :) There's so much bad info out there that keeps getting repeated it's hard to tell sometimes!
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    HGarcia1527 wrote: »
    Thank you all so much. I feel dumb I even had to ask but I was curious. I create a good deficit each day and eat pretty healthy as well as workout everyday. I have been losing quite consistently but seeing the "fat burning zone" status on the Fitbit totally tossed me off wanting more information on how relevant that was. You have all been very helpful in advising that it isn't very relevant so thanks so much.

    "Fat burning zone" isn't better than any of the higher zones. I kind of like getting the "time spent in each zone during the day" data - but only because I use "minutes in fat burning zone plus all higher zones" as a general indication of how much I was on my feet that day. I would never actively try to stay in fat burning zone at the expense of either higher one.
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