Do I trust the hr monitor/calorie counter?

[bigtim27]

For christmas my wife bought me a hrmonitor/calorie counter. I wore it all day yesterday just to see how many calories it said I burned the whole day. My bmr is 3600 but the watch said I only burned 2600 calories all day. So what should I believe?

[bigtim27]

anyone?

[glwanabe]

If the HR monitor is off, and there is not a way to calibrate it, then it can still be useful. Once you have a good baseline established, then changes up or down from your known baseline norm can be seen.

[bamazav]

Originally Posted by glwanabe

If the HR monitor is off, and there is not a way to calibrate it, then it can still be useful. Once you have a good baseline established, then changes up or down from your known baseline norm can be seen.

^^^This. I would use it for a week or two to develop the baseline. Don't get all worried about it. Reality's are 1. Many of the TDEE/BMR calculators can be off and will vary depending on the formulas used. 2. Most of us tend to over estimate both what we eat and how much we actually do during the day. I also wonder, if the monitor takes into account sitting, sleeping, vegging. While you are not burning many calories at that time, you are still burning calories. Wear it a while and get used to it.

[bigtim27]

Originally Posted by bamazav

^^^This. I would use it for a week or two to develop the baseline. Don't get all worried about it. Reality's are 1. Many of the TDEE/BMR calculators can be off and will vary depending on the formulas used. 2. Most of us tend to over estimate both what we eat and how much we actually do during the day. I also wonder, if the monitor takes into account sitting, sleeping, vegging. While you are not burning many calories at that time, you are still burning calories. Wear it a while and get used to it.

Thanks for the advice guys. I've been trying to lose a steady 2 lbs a week and it just hasn't been happening at the current calorie rate. I got my bmr from a few different sites and most of them say I should be around 3600 a day so I was eating around 2600-2700 calories a day but I seem to be maintaining my weight and not dropping. 2 years ago I went from 337 down to 250 and was eating 1700 calories a day but I know some muscle was lost. Bottom line is I'm tired of being stuck in limbo.

[bamazav]

Originally Posted by bigtim27

Thanks for the advice guys. I've been trying to lose a steady 2 lbs a week and it just hasn't been happening at the current calorie rate. I got my bmr from a few different sites and most of them say I should be around 3600 a day so I was eating around 2600-2700 calories a day but I seem to be maintaining my weight and not dropping. 2 years ago I went from 337 down to 250 and was eating 1700 calories a day but I know some muscle was lost. Bottom line is I'm tired of being stuck in limbo.

When did you figure the 3600, siince you lost or before you lost last? If you are maintaining at 26 - 2700, you can try cutting down another 200 and see what happens. Back down slowly until you start to lose. If it were me, I would drop to 2500 for two weeks and see what happens.

[bigtim27]

Originally Posted by bamazav

When did you figure the 3600, siince you lost or before you lost last? If you are maintaining at 26 - 2700, you can try cutting down another 200 and see what happens. Back down slowly until you start to lose. If it were me, I would drop to 2500 for two weeks and see what happens.

I'll give that a try. I figured out my bmr after i lost the weight.

[5kgLifter]

Originally Posted by bigtim27

For christmas my wife bought me a hrmonitor/calorie counter. I wore it all day yesterday just to see how many calories it said I burned the whole day. My bmr is 3600 but the watch said I only burned 2600 calories all day. So what should I believe?

Personally, I'd only trust the HR side of the thing. Unless of course it can take into account: the volume of air you use during exercise, the lean mass and so forth.

Calorie counters are also based on Gross (?? as opposed to Net) calories used, so they take into account the calorie value from your BMR as well, so when they say 100 cals burned that may only equate to 60 calories with the other 30 cals coming from the person's BMR calorie total. I did have a link but it's buried somewhere.