What is the best tool to track calories burned?

grnice
grnice Posts: 96
in Health and Weight Loss
I know a heart rate monitor can be used to track a workout but what if I want to know how many calories I burn all day? I do have a Fitbit but I really question how accurate it is. I think my BMR is way off because I have had my RMR tested and it's about 600 calories less than what my BMR is. The number I am really curious about is the daily activity. I always select sedentary but I would like to know for me how many calories that actually is. I know the formulary is around 1.2% of BMR but I know that's not right for me.

I work at home several days a week and find it extremely difficult to burn calories since I sit in front of a computer all day. The only time I can get up is during lunch or a quick break. Even if I exercise before work and take a walk during lunch, I still don't get a lot of activity in because I literally just walk from my office to the bathroom which is about 3 feet!

Just wondering if anyone has found any tool (Bodybugg? Bodyfit?) to be accurate and useful to find out how many calories you are burning. Thanks.

Replies

  • lidybug1984
    lidybug1984 Posts: 71 Member
    I would love to know the answer to this questions too :)
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
    the BMR equation is just a starting point. if you've had your metabolism tested and it gave you a different number, i'd go by that since it's for YOUR body and not based on a formula.

    also for your activity level, you should go with sedentary. you can try multiplying the 1.2 by the resulting RMR you had and seeing how you do weight wise from there. for instance if you get a number subtract 500, are actually not underestimating the amount you eat, and arent averaging about a pound a week over a month or so then you know to tweak the calories.
  • addies_mom
    addies_mom Posts: 40
    I like this one!

    http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc
  • gregavila
    gregavila Posts: 725 Member
    I use a HR monitor for exercise, and also wear a BodyMedia FIT. I can say from comparing the two during my exercise time that the FIT is right in line with the HRM so I am confident in it's numbers. I've lost 26 pounds since I got my FIT and started using it to track my total daily calorie expenditure so I am a believer that it is pretty accurate.
  • Dootzy1
    Dootzy1 Posts: 2,132 Member
    Sweat. Heavy breathing. Regular workouts that push you........not to be snarky, but reliance on the gadgets can get obsessive for some, in my opinion. If someone would give me a HRM as a gift, I would probably get hooked on it, but I'm doing fine without one. Enjoy tuning into my body when I push myself and try to mix it up, so I don't lose the benefits. Believe I'm in the minority here.
  • bagaumer
    bagaumer Posts: 2 Member
    I like the fitbit
  • grnice
    grnice Posts: 96
    The more I use the Fitbit the more frustrated I get. I find it very inaccurate. I think it's a good motivational tool to get you moving to acquire more steps and movement but as far as calories burned, for me anyway, it's way off.
  • Sageyoku
    Sageyoku Posts: 77 Member
    Bump.

    I'm also looking for a HRM or possibly a HRM-pedometer combo that is designed to track calories burned even when you're NOT working out.

    This is because I'm a musician who plays up to 6 hours per day. MFP's calorie estimator says on a 6-hour playing day, I burn around 950 calories. I can't imagine that this is accurate. I'd like to know how many calories I actually burn, but this isn't a workout session and I'm standing still to do it.

    Would the BodyBugg or BodyMedia FIT work for this kind of activity? Or is there another tool that someone could suggest?
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    I think my BMR is way off because I have had my RMR tested and it's about 600 calories less than what my BMR is
    What was your RMR as tested ?

    A heart rate monitor will track your calorie burn if set up for your body and fitness level. If you're looking to accurately measure things just so you can eat to an accurate level I would suggest you're wasting your time. Eat what your RMR was measured at (to keep the cult at bay) and exercise as much as you can - you're guaranteed a deficit that way.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
    Why don't you tweak your Fitbit inputs until its BMR for you matches what you were tested at? You can put in that you are smaller and/or older than you are to adjust it downward. You will probably have to change it a LOT to get it to adjust 600 calories per day. That's almost half my BMR.

    Then it will be applying multipliers based on your activity levels to the new, lower BMR and your output/estimates should be much better.

    Probably the best way to really know your total daily burn on average is to track your intake, activity and weight meticulously for a month or so. If you lost nothing, then your intake level is what you burn. If you lost a pound a week average, then your burn level is about 500 calories/day over your intake level.

    Fitbit basically does this, so even though it's not accurate for you, you should be able to tell after a time exactly how INaccurate it is and in what direction. Knowing that is all you need. Say it overestimates your burn by 20% consistently. You will be able to tell your actual burn from out its output anyway, because you know just how inaccurate it is for you. But it'd be much nicer to just tweak it so its more accurate for you.
  • Sageyoku
    Sageyoku Posts: 77 Member
    A heart rate monitor will track your calorie burn if set up for your body and fitness level. If you're looking to accurately measure things just so you can eat to an accurate level I would suggest you're wasting your time. Eat what your RMR was measured at (to keep the cult at bay) and exercise as much as you can - you're guaranteed a deficit that way.

    Maybe I will just borrow someone's HRM for a day. I just want to know the calories I'm burning doing my job so I can accurately log my activity level, exercises, calories burned, etc. I don't feel that that's a waste of time...

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