Do I need to buy a HRM? And questions about daily calorie in

nycstudent
nycstudent Posts: 8
edited November 12 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi! I asked a question a few days ago about how to lose belly fat without a gym and I got a lot of helpful answers. So I have more questions! I have been reading through the forums and a lot of people reccommend a heart rate monitior. Do I need one?

My plan to lose the belly fat, along with 10lbs, is to adhere to a healthy eating plan like the Mediterranean Diet and try exercise videos and a little HIIT (30 second sprint/1min walk repeated for about 10 minutes) and continuing to walk about a mile a day during the course of my daily activities. I'm specifically interested in Physique 57 30min Express video and element:Pilates Weight Loss for Beginners by Brooke Siler. I have an iPhone with a pedometer app that easily tracks steps taken/calories burned/mph and I read that HRM are not really effective for walking, just for specific aerobic exercise. Can't use my iphone for the videos or HIIT because I have nowhere to put it plus i dont want it to get sweaty. I know my max heart rate for my age is 198, so 65-85% is 128.7-168.3.
How would I accurately track and record calories burned during the exercise video workouts without a HRM? Since I only have 10lbs to lose, I really don't want to waste money on a $50+ device that I won't be using for very long.

So 2nd question. Once I figure out calories burned during these workout videos, what is this business about eating them back? And going through the forums, i found posts from other females that are my age and height (22/4'11") that are eating 1700-1900 calories a day. Then why do so many websites say that you should lower your calories to 1200/day?! I went on freediet.com and they said that at 112 lbs, I should eat 1718 cal for maintenance, 1374 for fat loss, and 1031 for extreme fat loss. Is this accurate?! I'm just really confused about what to do because everything is telling me something different!! So if I eat 1374 calories a day for 7 days/week and you need a calorie deficit or 3500cal to lose 1lb, thats 9618-3500(estimating 500 cals/day burned)= 6118! Is that right??

I'm so confused. I just need someone to tell me what to do! :)

Replies

  • ALH1981
    ALH1981 Posts: 538 Member
    i would say get an HRM.

    MFP estiamtes for you but its always WAAAAAY off. my calculations were completely incorrect for a long time, meaning i was not actually burning what i thought i was, and then eating more thinking they were my excersise calls!!! Notgood.

    I bought the polar FT4 - after suggestion from people on the forums - its great!
  • nycstudent
    nycstudent Posts: 8
    And what about my daily calorie intake? What should I be shooting for? The 1700-1900 calories that other females here my size are eating, or 1200/day like many websites say?! Or what freediet said: at 112 lbs, I should eat 1718 cal for maintenance, 1374 for fat loss, and 1031 for extreme fat loss.

    Can someone please explain what the eating back calories is about? Is it necessary to have a meal of X calories right after a workout so that it burns the glycogen fat? What if I don't eat it back? How much do I need to eat??

    Thanks!
  • mesalem
    mesalem Posts: 10
    First off, I second the opinion that a HRM would be extremely beneficial. MFP overestimates calories burned. And you don't have to just use it until you lose the 10 lb, it provides good guidance for when you work out at any weight. After all, you want to keep the weight off :)

    Second, about the calories, it's a matter of simple math: calories in, calories out. If you eat your exercise calories, but keep the original deficit below your normal-day activity calories, you'll be hitting the initial weekly weight loss goal you set on MFP (as if you didn't exercise). Of course, you'll be getting fitter and healthier and building lean muscle, which accelerates metabolism, but not lose any more weight than your deficit creates. For more weight loss, don't eat back all your exercise calories.

    And you should never lower your caloric intake below 1200, or you'll just be losing lean muscle.

    Hope that helps :)
  • thinkpositive3
    thinkpositive3 Posts: 85 Member
    i would say get an HRM.

    MFP estiamtes for you but its always WAAAAAY off. my calculations were completely incorrect for a long time, meaning i was not actually burning what i thought i was, and then eating more thinking they were my excersise calls!!! Notgood.

    I bought the polar FT4 - after suggestion from people on the forums - its great!

    ^^ THIS! ^^

    Love my FT4. TOTALLY worth the purchase- it actually makes me work harder.

    Check out bodytronics.com with the promo code of POPO. Mine came in under $60.
  • avibachar
    avibachar Posts: 47
    i would say get an HRM.

    MFP estiamtes for you but its always WAAAAAY off. my calculations were completely incorrect for a long time, meaning i was not actually burning what i thought i was, and then eating more thinking they were my excersise calls!!! Notgood.

    I bought the polar FT4 - after suggestion from people on the forums - its great!

    ^^ THIS! ^^

    Love my FT4. TOTALLY worth the purchase- it actually makes me work harder.

    Check out bodytronics.com with the promo code of POPO. Mine came in under $60.


    BUMP - may need to get me one of these HRMs
  • Meganalva
    Meganalva Posts: 282 Member
    I agree with getting an HRM. I just got an ft4 from bodytronics.com (free shipping!) and it does make me work harder, just so i can see a bigger number of calories burned! lol! Today I burned the most I ever have with it- 352! I'm not too much bigger than you- 119 lbs and I'm trying to lose a few more and mainly tone up and try to lose my post-babies belly. Add me if you like! :)

    I eat back my exercise calories always and I've successfully lost weight doing so!
  • ValRAAAAY
    ValRAAAAY Posts: 270 Member
    Is the chest strap comfortable? Do you have to keep adjusting it? I have the FT4 in my "shopping cart" right now but want to make sure it's comfortable!!! LOL
  • mesalem
    mesalem Posts: 10
    I have the Polar FT7 and yeah, it's totally comfortable. For me, I don't even feel it during my workout or have to adjust it. The only uncomfortable moment for me is when I have to wet the electrodes in the strap and then wear it, but that's just for a moment. I say go for it!
  • thinkpositive3
    thinkpositive3 Posts: 85 Member
    I have the Polar FT7 and yeah, it's totally comfortable. For me, I don't even feel it during my workout or have to adjust it. The only uncomfortable moment for me is when I have to wet the electrodes in the strap and then wear it, but that's just for a moment. I say go for it!


    Agreed!
  • ALH1981
    ALH1981 Posts: 538 Member
    I am not really the person to ask about the calls - I am really jstu maintaining, so i basically eat when I'm hungry, but don't worry to much about my calls if I'm feeling like I'm full and satisfied - mostly listen to my body. I like to see from the HRM though, and it really makes me challenge myself through my workouts...
  • jsapninz
    jsapninz Posts: 909 Member
    At the suggestion of peeps on MFP, I got my first Heart Rate Monitor (a Polar FT14) and I already LOVE it. I found it at Bodytronics online and it was only $62 with free shpping ($89.99 at sporting goods stores in town). If you aren't going to use it for very long then don't get one, but keep in mind that the HRMs are the MOST ACCURATE method of tracking calories burned, so you can use the other methods like on MFP, but I would be very conservative with relying on it.

    But ANYHOW.

    I have learned from some research that to properly lose weight, you should eat approximatly 80% of your Basal Metabolic Rate (Check under your Tools > BMR, it is usually a 150 cal low compared to other ones but it'll do), so if your BMR is 1600 then your target should be 1280. This may or may not be 1 to 2 lbs a week depending on how overweight you are (3,500 calories in a pound, so in my example it would be 320 calories a day that's only 2,240, or 11 days to lose one pound), so watch out.

    Hope that helps
  • jsapninz
    jsapninz Posts: 909 Member
    Hi! I asked a question a few days ago about how to lose belly fat without a gym and I got a lot of helpful answers. So I have more questions! I have been reading through the forums and a lot of people reccommend a heart rate monitior. Do I need one?

    My plan to lose the belly fat, along with 10lbs, is to adhere to a healthy eating plan like the Mediterranean Diet and try exercise videos and a little HIIT (30 second sprint/1min walk repeated for about 10 minutes) and continuing to walk about a mile a day during the course of my daily activities. I'm specifically interested in Physique 57 30min Express video and element:Pilates Weight Loss for Beginners by Brooke Siler. I have an iPhone with a pedometer app that easily tracks steps taken/calories burned/mph and I read that HRM are not really effective for walking, just for specific aerobic exercise. Can't use my iphone for the videos or HIIT because I have nowhere to put it plus i dont want it to get sweaty. I know my max heart rate for my age is 198, so 65-85% is 128.7-168.3.
    How would I accurately track and record calories burned during the exercise video workouts without a HRM? Since I only have 10lbs to lose, I really don't want to waste money on a $50+ device that I won't be using for very long.

    So 2nd question. Once I figure out calories burned during these workout videos, what is this business about eating them back? And going through the forums, i found posts from other females that are my age and height (22/4'11") that are eating 1700-1900 calories a day. Then why do so many websites say that you should lower your calories to 1200/day?! I went on freediet.com and they said that at 112 lbs, I should eat 1718 cal for maintenance, 1374 for fat loss, and 1031 for extreme fat loss. Is this accurate?! I'm just really confused about what to do because everything is telling me something different!! So if I eat 1374 calories a day for 7 days/week and you need a calorie deficit or 3500cal to lose 1lb, thats 9618-3500(estimating 500 cals/day burned)= 6118! Is that right??

    I'm so confused. I just need someone to tell me what to do! :)

    1700 a day for your height and goal weight sounds REALLY high. On MFP it's only 1,174 for 112 lbs 4' 11", 22 years. But this is your goal weight I am guessing, so what is your CURRENT weight? you want to measure your BMR on that and then cut it 80% from there.
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