Heart Rate monitor calories

BoilerMaker22
BoilerMaker22 Posts: 53 Member
edited September 20 in Fitness and Exercise
Should I trust the amount of calories that my heart rate monitor says i've lost, or trust MFP's calories that I've lost?

I ask because I do 20 minutes of cardio and lose about 500 calories, while MFP' says I only lose about 400. I also do 40 minutes of weight training afterwards, but I don't enter that in. I noticed, once, when I did enter it in that MFP said I would lose a lot less than my heart rate monitor said I did.

My question is should I enter the amount of calories that my heart rate monitor says I've lose and eat those calories? I've just been entering in the cardio calories, about 400, and don't enter in the other 600 that my heart rate monitor says i've lost.

I've kind of remained stationary in my weight loss. could it be because i'm not eating all of the calories I should be?

Replies

  • tayner
    tayner Posts: 372
    in my opinion if you have a heart rate monitor that calculates age, weight, height, and even Vo2 then it is probably more accurate than the MFP.. I aways go with my HRM and I have had good results so far.

    if what you are currently doing is not working and you are in a plateau, now would be the time to change it up a little and see what will work..

    Good luck!
  • gmvanloo
    gmvanloo Posts: 100 Member
    I agree with previous poster. If it calculates those things and you have a chest strap then it should be pretty reliable. Mine also has my max heartrate and my resting heartrate which I think is pretty important. Be careful of HRM's that don't have a chest strap. They tend to over estimate the calorie burn. In my opinion you get what you pay for. You're better off paying a bit more money and getting more accurate results.
  • BoilerMaker22
    BoilerMaker22 Posts: 53 Member
    I bought a good one. It's from sport-line and it has a chest strap. It takes into account my height, weight, age and activity style. i don't think it accounts for my V02 max, though.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    How much do you weigh? Unless you are a really fit individual weighing 300+ lbs, it is unlikely that you are burning 500 calories in 20 min.
  • BoilerMaker22
    BoilerMaker22 Posts: 53 Member
    6'6" and 300 lbs. I'm not fit, but I thought that would make me lose more calories if I worked hard?
  • LittleSpy
    LittleSpy Posts: 6,754 Member
    I can see 500 calories in 20 minutes at 300 pounds. My HRM said I burned 500 running/walking today in 30 minutes and I'm 244. MFP said about 400 so I just left my log at that.

    On that note, I usually use whichever is more conservative to be on the safe side. If my HRM says less, I go with that, if MFP says less, I go with that. :smile: For what it's worth, I've lost 26 pounds in under 2 months with this approach.
  • BoilerMaker22
    BoilerMaker22 Posts: 53 Member
    do you enter in and eat all your exercise calories? I enter in the cardio calories, eat those, but leave the calories i burn from strength training out, which is usually about another 500. i've reached a plateau, I think. do you think this could be why?
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