"How to make calorie counters work for you"

[Jwolf]

From Alex Hutchinson; he discusses why calorie calculations based on activity, weight, and even heart rate won't always be accurate, and how we can use them better:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/hea ... e14434957/

[La]

Good insights. And he didn't even mention the fact that exercise machines and other devices aren't giving you the NET calories expended (i.e., Activity - BMR) that you would have burned over and above what you would have burned had you been sitting on the couch.

The fitter you get, the easier your workout will feel if you don’t increase the intensity. That’s reflected in calorie burn too: As you get fitter, you body gets more efficient and needs fewer calories to maintain the same pace, even if your weight stays the same.

This is my biggest problem.

[fingerboy]

I don't seem to have this problem...

Over the weekend my meals were XLarge Pepperoni Pizza, Bacon Cheeseburger and Fries, Ice cream, more pizza, more pizza, and I still lost weight.


I decided that I need more cookies, so I ate 4-5 Oreos with lunch.

[eme]

I don't seem to have this problem...

Over the weekend my meals were XLarge Pepperoni Pizza, Bacon Cheeseburger and Fries, Ice cream, more pizza, more pizza, and I still lost weight.


I decided that I need more cookies, so I ate 4-5 Oreos with lunch.

We hate you, just a little bit. Okay, we just hate your metabolism

[gnu]

I don't seem to have this problem...

Over the weekend my meals were XLarge Pepperoni Pizza, Bacon Cheeseburger and Fries, Ice cream, more pizza, more pizza, and I still lost weight.


I decided that I need more cookies, so I ate 4-5 Oreos with lunch.

We hate you, just a little bit. Okay, we just hate your metabolism

+1! Well, I don't hate your metabolism, I just wish I had it

[Jwolf]

More from Alex in a related article:

http://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss ... -questions

[La]

More from Alex in a related article:

http://www.runnersworld.com/weight-loss ... -questions

people with more body fat burn fewer calories (per kilogram of total body weight) than average;

- people with greater aerobic fitness burn fewer calories (per kilogram of total body weight) than average.

So, basically, I'm doomed.

When he talks about aerobic fitness, he doesn't specify whether or not it's sport specific (or even if that's relevant). In other words, if I am a fitter runner than I am a cyclist, will that make a difference?

I know that my LT on the bike is 10 BPM lower than it is while running (based on a test I did in 2009, so it could have changed since then). So, that would account for the fact that I DO burn fewer calories on the bike than I do on the run, even at the same PE.

[Jwolf]

When he talks about aerobic fitness,

"people with greater aerobic fitness burn fewer calories (per kilogram of total body weight) than average"

he doesn't specify whether or not it's sport specific (or even if that's relevant). In other words, if I am a fitter runner than I am a cyclist, will that make a difference?

I think it would -- that is, the fitness has to be in the activity you're doing. If you have high run fitness but low bike fitness the lower calorie burn wouldn't correlate to the bike.

However....

For me personally, I notice I can't work as hard on the bike as I can running-- it feels hard, but my heart rate isn't as high on the bike.

So I think HR can still be used to correlate the two.