Those with HRM's

lambertj
lambertj Posts: 675 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Those of you with HRM, have you ever just worn it all day to see how many calories you burn going through your day? I just wore mine for two hours and it shows i'm burning 120 per hour (just watching TV, making dinner, relaxing, etc), which means on average in the 17 hours that I am awake I'm burning 2040, add into that about 500 during sleep and i'm burning 2540, never mind exercise and yet i'm only eating 1400 and still not losing very fast. This really makes me wonder just how many should I be really eating per day. Things that make you go hmmmm

Replies

  • grnice
    grnice Posts: 96
    I have not done that because the HRM's are made for activity and not rest so I don't know how accurate it would be if you left it on all day. I can tell you though that I think MFP overestimates BMR and calories burned for their listed activities. My HRM is significantly less than what the calories burned is on MFP so I only go by the HRM. I also had my RMR tested which is similar to BMR and my RMR is 600 calories less than BMR. Based on that information, I calculated MFP is 24% higher in it's information so I adjust my calorie intake accordingly and subtract 24% to determine my weekly defecit and it seems more accurate.

    Hope that made sense!
  • lambertj
    lambertj Posts: 675 Member
    When I started MFP I had my BMR done professionally at a local hospital, it came out to 1700, add to it an sedentary office job and a ton of exercise (500-600 calories burned/5-6 times a week). I just upped my calories from 1200 a day to 1400 and in the first week gained 6 oz's. Its too soon to tell but I can't help but wonder if, even at 1400 per day, i'm eating too little. It almost seems as though before I found MFP I was losing weight faster due to not being so exact in my calculations (and most likely eating more calories than I thought)
  • purpleipod
    purpleipod Posts: 1,147 Member
    My Polar won't accurately calculate calories burned when you wear it for that period of a time. They explain that in the instructions.
  • lambertj
    lambertj Posts: 675 Member
    Mine recorded just fine, even showed a spike in my heart rate when I had a stressful moment. I just wish for once I could figure out how many calories per day I need to eat to lose weight. I guess it's just all trial and error
  • grnice
    grnice Posts: 96
    How much are you trying to lose per week?
  • lambertj
    lambertj Posts: 675 Member
    I'd settle for 1/2 lb a week at this point. I have it set to 1 lb a week but manually override to bring calories up to 1400 from 1200. I only have 10 lbs to get to goal and have been bouncing around 129-132 for weeks
  • kimmyj74
    kimmyj74 Posts: 223 Member
    I too have considered wearing my new HRM all day at work to see how many calories I burn. But then I read somewhere that a HRM isn't meant for that. Who knew? But I too wonder if my BMR is higher then what MFP says and I was eating too little, therefore not losing. I just increased my calories a little last week and it helped a lot with my hungar. I seemed to be starving all day before, but now with the increase and the added exercise calories I feel full.
    I hope someone answers your question so I too can find out.
  • takehimaway
    takehimaway Posts: 499 Member
    ... I have a FitBit, which is kinda the same, right? I didn't know you weren't supposed to wear it all day..
  • grnice
    grnice Posts: 96
    So if your BMR is 1700 and you multiply that by 1.2 for your office job you get 2040. Multiply that by 7 days in the week and you get a weekly burn of 14280. If you want to lose a half a pound per week you need to have a defecit of 1750. You should be eating 1790 calories a day ( 12530 a week) and then eat back your exercise calories.

    Of course all of this would be in a perfect world and we know that's not the case! You could try to shoot for 1790 a day and eat back half of your exercise calories and make adjustments from there if that doesn't work.
  • spearfox
    spearfox Posts: 276 Member
    I have a cheaper watch version that my wife got me. You have to put a finger on the face for it to show heart rate.
    Typically halfway through more sweat inducing exercises it will quit responding. Later it works fine.

    Lately I had been thinking about getting a Polar or one a bluetooth one that works with my Droid phone and two other apps I use, Sport Tracker and Endomondo. Just a few days ago I read a blog here on MFP about HRM's are not totally accurate to tell calories burned. That blog stuck with me while I still considered spending $70 to $200 for a HRM.

    I finally have come to the point that it will just be another electronic gizmo that I might live without. So for my upcoming birthday instead of paying for a fidget gadget I think I will purchase a new bicycle and hand my old one down to "little" boy(He's taller than me at 13 years old). My thought was a bike will directly benefit my fitness.

    This may not be exactly what you, or others want to hear, but I figured I would throw in my thoughts.
  • Fitness4Paul
    Fitness4Paul Posts: 166 Member
    ... I have a FitBit, which is kinda the same, right? I didn't know you weren't supposed to wear it all day..


    You can wear your fitbit all day. It's more like a pedometer and will track your steps and stair climbs all day.
  • realme56
    realme56 Posts: 1,093 Member
    ... I have a FitBit, which is kinda the same, right? I didn't know you weren't supposed to wear it all day..

    Fit bit is designed to be worn continually.
  • Howbouto
    Howbouto Posts: 2,121 Member
    HRM are not accurate when your heart is under 90 bpm.
  • abdmps
    abdmps Posts: 48 Member
    ... I have a FitBit, which is kinda the same, right? I didn't know you weren't supposed to wear it all day..


    You can wear your fitbit all day. It's more like a pedometer and will track your steps and stair climbs all day.

    I love my fitbit. Wear it all day and it motivates me to get up and walk more.
  • Byrdsong1920
    Byrdsong1920 Posts: 336 Member
    Hi,

    Here is my 2 cents :) I just bought the Timex HRM and was amazed how much I burned doing basic things like chores around the house. I even wore to my 2.5 hour Salsa class last week and burned 1400 calories. I was so excited! I knew that this class was burning major calories because I was sweating and my heart was pumpin!!!

    I say all of that to say this: my bestfriend is a trainer and I've also read this: It takes 3500 calorie deficit to lose one pound of fat! That means, if your caloric suggested intake is 1000/day (easy math), you will have to work out daily--and burn 1000 calories, 3.5 times a week to lose one pound of fat. The things is, most of the time we don't workout daily and even the days we do, we may not burn 1000 calories. So sometimes it may take an entire week to lose one pound of fat.

    I just try to remind myself, 'It didn't take me over nite to gain the weight, so don't keep obsessing w/the scale and trying to lose 3-4/wk." Plus, if you are also weight lifting you will gain muscle and it will show on the scale. But its important to also measure and know your inches and also do a skin-fold/body fat test. You may see yourself losing inches and feeling your clothes fall off before you notice alot on the scale.

    I'm no Doc, but from experience and working w/ trainers and fitness professionals. Hope that helps too :) Happy journey!! Bless u
  • Fitness4Paul
    Fitness4Paul Posts: 166 Member

    I finally have come to the point that it will just be another electronic gizmo that I might live without. So for my upcoming birthday instead of paying for a fidget gadget I think I will purchase a new bicycle and hand my old one down to "little" boy(He's taller than me at 13 years old). My thought was a bike will directly benefit my fitness.

    This may not be exactly what you, or others want to hear, but I figured I would throw in my thoughts.

    I think a bike is a great idea. It's a great way to get outside and burn some calories.
  • Nicolefortin
    Nicolefortin Posts: 20 Member
    Reallyfeel the same as you. It might be my age factor. I will dothe exercise today and wear it all day to check the calorie burned.

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