I often see posts asking how to track calories burned during exercise, whether in general or for a specific exercise. In order to do this, you would need to do a metabolic test similar to what's shown in this video. Simply put: If you don't have an airtight mask over your mouth and nose connected to a machine that analyzes the chemical composition of your breath, you're not getting an accurate count of how many calories you're burning.
It is true that doing one of these tests to calibrate something like a Polar heart rate monitor or something similar can allow you to get a more personalized estimate that can be somewhat accurate for a few months. But you would have to repeat the test and recalibrate the HR monitor multiple times per year, and it would not necessarily be equally accurate across different exercises. If you calibrate it while running on a treadmill, it may not be as accurate on a stationary bike or while swimming, for example. Furthermore, the amount of calories you burn in the one activity can change from day to day based on multiple factors such as how rested you feel, your mood, your focus, how recently you've eaten, etc.
The numbers you get from your Apple Watch or the elliptical machine at the gym or even your Polar or Garmin heart rate monitors are simply guesses based on population averages. No matter how many variables—hieght, weight, age, etc.—it has you put into it, it's just a guess.
So, what should you do, instead?
Track the calories you eat as consistently and accurately as possible. Consistency in how you track is more important than accuracy—if you underestimate the amount of oil you add to the pan when frying an egg, but you consistently add the same amount everytime you fry an egg, you're fine. Be as accurate as you can, but worry more about being consistent in how you measure.
Along with tracking calories consumed, track your weight and compare averages over time. Weigh yourself everyday for two weeks, average days one through seven and average days eight through fourteen, compare the averages to judge progress. For women, it may be better to compare averages month to month to account for menstrual cycle bloat, etc.
If your average weight is going down, you're in a calorie deficit. If your average weight is going up, you're in a calorie surplus. If it's steady (within a pound or two over the course of a month), you're at maintenance.
Track your calories in, your weight over time, and adjust your diet according to the change you want to see. You don't need to know how many calories you're burning during exercise.
Note: a healthy rate of weight loss is about 1% of bodyweight per week, at most. A healthy rate of gain for muscle building is about a half-pound to a pound per month.
by speedy2686
3 Comments
Damn, this is FAQ material!
>Note: a healthy rate of weight loss is about 1% of bodyweight per week, at most
True. But, obese people can lose faster, assuming they can build the calorie deficit and some common sense nutrition. Basically, the body has a limit of how much energy can be extracted from the fat storage per day, which scales up with the fat amount stored.
>Be as accurate as you can, but worry more about being consistent in how you measure.
100%. This is probably one of the most important but underrated advice I have even seen. Calorie counting is about controlling your calorie intake, not measuring it.
I understand that you mean well with this post, but with all due respect, I don’t think 1200isplenty, a sub for people who eat very few calories, and where many people struggle with disordered eating, is the place to tell people that paying attention to calories burned is meaningless.
You’re not wrong that our watches or ellipticals aren’t giving us perfect estimates, but if seeing a number representing a high amount of exertion gives someone who needs it “permission” to fuel their body that day, let them do it.
We might not know the exact calories burned every time we exercise, but our bodies do in fact need more calories if we are active. This is why I maintain around 1900 these days, at 5’4″. This is why I eat less if I’m injured and have to cut back on activity.
Reading things like this 10 years ago when I was more serious about restricting was why I beat myself up all the time about going over my limit. It’s why I felt faint and saw black spots whenever I was exercising, why I got injured all the time, and why I binged frequently. I *needed* some kind of number representing how hard I was exerting myself to finally let myself eat, in a way *I* was in control of.
Tracking calories is important, but the formula is CICO, not just calories in. If you are someone who is getting into exercise, you should probably tune into cues your body is giving you, and eat more calories.
Even if my Apple Watch has nonsense formulas: I expect those fabrications to be somewhat consistent in how they’re measured.
Assigning it a numeric value and seeing it go up and down relative to your energy output is just another data point. Why ignore it?