Calorie Estimates....

.... and another thought.

I'd say that burning calories doesn't matter unless there is a medical
reason. our society is too body conscious. If you have a smile on your face
then you always look good (and I'm always smiling when I ride).

If you seek bio-feedback then your heart rate during exercise is the best
indicator of effort becuase it responds directly to the body's requirements.
You won't find any more accurate feedback out of controlled laboratory
conditions.



=======
"LaoFuZhi" the.real.address
thing.not.too.hard.to.work.out wrote in message
...
My Cat-Eye cycle computer/ HRM has the option of displaying calorie
expenditure.....

This is of interest to me since I cycle to loose weight and I use the
information to help calculate my daily calorie balance... Now, obviously
as
I've cycled regularly for some time I've got fitter. I've noticed a drop
in
average heart rate over the course I regularly follow.... And a drop in
calorie expenditure.... As I've lost weight I've taken to loading the bike
with lifiting weights to keep the overall all-up weight the same, or at
least within 2-3lb....

But over the same run the calorie expenditure as reported by the HRM is
dropping......

May I assume that this is because the HRM is actually calculating the
calorie expenditure using time and HR data and NOT taking into account
distance speed\time??? As my average heart rate is dropping it's coming up
with a lower figure? I suppose it MUST work on some sort of average and
make
some assumptions since it does not require things like weight or age to be
input...

If so, how could I more accurately calculate my calorie expenditure... Is
there a better HRM on the market that takes these things into aco****???

TIA
Matt

Will H opined the following...
(and I'm always smiling when I ride).

Then you're riding too slowly. You should be grimacing with pain, or in
a trance-like state considering the 100 miles home. ;-)

Jon

I'd say that burning calories doesn't matter unless there is a medical
reason. our society is too body conscious. If you have a smile on your
face
then you always look good (and I'm always smiling when I ride).

Possibly so. To be frank I do have 'issues' with my own body image and part
of my way of dealing with them is to lose weight. At one point I'd hit
almost 15stone; which is a lot when I should only be about 10'10... There's
a health issue too. Both parents had heart attacks young and I have a 'duff'
valve... It's not too serious though and should never really become so if I
keep reasonably fit...

I do appreciate that the drop in average heart rate is a good step forwards
and am pleased to see it; but it's important for me personally to keep
shifting that flab.... And to that end I have this strategy of creating the
necessary calorie defecit through exercise rather than a particularly harsh
diet... Thus the reason why I really feel I need to be able to stick some
sort of estimate on my efforts...

....Anyway, I look even more sinister when I smile....... ;-)

very informative site:

http://www.caloriesperhour.com/

try this site, rather than working out your BMR and how many calories you
need to taken on board, plus the extra's for reserves for when they are
required.remember that these reserves are stored so if you can take onboard
enough calories for your daily activites and store some extra over a
period of days weeks even, you'll probably find that you don't feel quite as
exhausted at the end, loading over periods of days works for me, when i have
big rides in mind. plpus i don't have to try and continuously fill up during
my rides as often.

gives good information on calories required for daily activities plus how
much you can do without without feeling that earge to binge and the diet
going out the window.

rather than having to work out your own BMR the java script does it all for
you so even more calories saved for that long ride,



"LaoFuZhi" the.real.address
thing.not.too.hard.to.work.out wrote in message
...

I'd say that burning calories doesn't matter unless there is a medical
reason. our society is too body conscious. If you have a smile on your
face
then you always look good (and I'm always smiling when I ride).

Possibly so. To be frank I do have 'issues' with my own body image and
part
of my way of dealing with them is to lose weight. At one point I'd hit
almost 15stone; which is a lot when I should only be about 10'10...
There's
a health issue too. Both parents had heart attacks young and I have a
'duff'
valve... It's not too serious though and should never really become so if
I
keep reasonably fit...

I do appreciate that the drop in average heart rate is a good step
forwards
and am pleased to see it; but it's important for me personally to keep
shifting that flab.... And to that end I have this strategy of creating
the
necessary calorie defecit through exercise rather than a particularly
harsh
diet... Thus the reason why I really feel I need to be able to stick some
sort of estimate on my efforts...

...Anyway, I look even more sinister when I smile....... ;-)

I confess that I wasn't smiling whilst on the Hangar Lane Gyratory at 7am
this morning.



"Jon Senior" jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk wrote in message
...
Will H opined the following...
(and I'm always smiling when I ride).

Then you're riding too slowly. You should be grimacing with pain, or in
a trance-like state considering the 100 miles home. ;-)

Jon

On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 13:36:58 +0000 (UTC), "LaoFuZhi" the.real.address
thing.not.too.hard.to.work.out
wrote:

My Cat-Eye cycle computer/ HRM has the option of displaying calorie
expenditure.....

This is of interest to me since I cycle to loose weight and I use the
information to help calculate my daily calorie balance... Now, obviously as
I've cycled regularly for some time I've got fitter. I've noticed a drop in
average heart rate over the course I regularly follow.... And a drop in
calorie expenditure.... As I've lost weight I've taken to loading the bike
with lifiting weights to keep the overall all-up weight the same, or at
least within 2-3lb....

But over the same run the calorie expenditure as reported by the HRM is
dropping......

May I assume that this is because the HRM is actually calculating the
calorie expenditure using time and HR data and NOT taking into account
distance speed\time??? As my average heart rate is dropping it's coming up
with a lower figure? I suppose it MUST work on some sort of average and make
some assumptions since it does not require things like weight or age to be
input...

If so, how could I more accurately calculate my calorie expenditure... Is
there a better HRM on the market that takes these things into aco****???

TIA
Matt


I would imagine these computers are setup for the average fitness and
average size rider and are a rough guide only. I do know though that
your increased level of fitness results in the body now being capable
of a higher performance of power output. This means larger muscles all
round including improvements in the heart. These improvements mean
your metabolism has gone up and the average intake of calories your
body actually takes before exercise just maintaining itself is now
higher. I'm not sure how exercise will effect calories used in
comparision but I would still guess it would be higher as the heart is
now stronger and thicker internally as are your muscles generally and
although exercise is easier the muscles are now less efficient in that
they consume more energy generally but of course now tasks are easier
for it. Of course as you lose weight and carry less fat the body will
obviously not need as many calories in this regard. A fairly
complicated formula with many other variables.

The same is true of food itself. You may say to yourself I've worked
out and used 600 calories and only allow yourself 600 calories for you
meals that day. However calories in food are calculated in a very
approximate not particularly accurate way too. I might buy a
vegetarian product that says it has 400 calories but my body like a
lot of peoples isn't great at digesting and processing carrots and
sweetcorn and these vegetables represent almost zero calories for me.
Also a large mix of different foods in the stomach make it harder for
the body to digest. Water also has an effect on the efficiency of
getting energy from food.

What I'm basically saying is anything relating to calories is just
very rough information and can be wildly inaccurate.
..

On Fri, 16 Jul 2004 16:28:35 +0100, Michael MacClancy wrote:



Your assumption is correct. The HRM is using your HR as a proxy for your
power output and this, using a suitable conversion function integrated over
the time exercised, gives the energy consumed. Your average HR falls as
you get fitter so you use less energy for the same task.

That last sentence is wrong. It should say something like, "Your heart
stroke volume increases as you get fitter so you need a lower heart rate to
provide the oxygen needed to burn the calories needed to perform the task".

The problem is that your HRM doesn't know that your heart stroke volume has
increased so it counts fewer heart beats and converts these into fewer
calories consumed.

--
Michael MacClancy
Random putdown - "I feel so miserable without you, it's almost like having
you here." -Stephen Bishop
www.macclancy.demon.co.uk
www.macclancy.co.uk

"Jon Senior" jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk wrote in message
...
Then you're riding too slowly. You should be grimacing with pain, or in
a trance-like state considering the 100 miles home. ;-)

Will H wrote:

I confess that I wasn't smiling whilst on the Hangar Lane Gyratory at 7am
this morning.

Were you on the uphill side? The downhill side is much more fun,
especially if you time it right with the lights.

Colin McKenzie

--
The great advantage of not trusting statistics is that
it leaves you free to believe the damned lies instead!

"CloseSupport" wrote in message
k...
very informative site:

http://www.caloriesperhour.com/

try this site, rather than working out your BMR and how many calories you
need to taken on board, plus the extra's for reserves for when they are
required.remember that these reserves are stored so if you can take
onboard
enough calories for your daily activites and store some extra over a
period of days weeks even, you'll probably find that you don't feel quite
as
exhausted at the end, loading over periods of days works for me, when i
have
big rides in mind. plpus i don't have to try and continuously fill up
during
my rides as often.

gives good information on calories required for daily activities plus how
much you can do without without feeling that earge to binge and the diet
going out the window.

rather than having to work out your own BMR the java script does it all
for
you so even more calories saved for that long ride,

Thanks for the link; I'd not come across that one before.......

The figures it give are actually quite close to those I've been using. I
have a friend who is a GP and it was she who worked out what my weight
should be and what my BMR was. At the time I was in quite a bad way; I'd
lost a LOT of muscle mass and was carrying mainly flab...

She came up with a BMR figure of 1600cal/day...... (the calculator comes up
with 1757). that was based on various measurements taken with callipers
etc....

The thinking behind creating the calorie defecit through exercise rather
than diet was that if I dieted I'd lose more muscle mass whether by exercise
I'd gain muscle mass and at the same time raise my BMR allowing me to eat
more normal amounts. If I work with JUST my BMR figures this tends to allow
for my very sloppy calorie counting.... I basically discount my normal
day-to day activities and count only the exercise... To give me my exercise
(defecit) figures I have a rowing machine with a calorie readout, the HRM on
the bike and a pedometer.... If It's too bad weather wise to cycle I walk a
few miles (an old injury prevents me running) ....

The calculator seems to agree with the figures I've been using; I can do
about 10 miles in 40 minutes and it gives me a figure of 411 calories where
the HRM tells me about 395...

It's a fairly sloppy and unscientific way to do it I know but it does seem
to work allowing as it does for human error and weaknesses....i.e the odd
beer or ten washed down with a 14" pizza.... :-)

If you want to loose weight then far more important than
cycling/energy expenditure etc is diet.
I recommend the ELF diet which is the only one which actually works.
ELF stands for 'eat less food' and also 'especially less fat'.
Cycling helps of course in that you feel the benefit and get
motivated, and get generally fitter, but you'd have to cycle a huge
amount to loose weight if you don't also alter your eating habits.
Calory counter on your monitor is just a daft gimmick designed to
appeal to techie geeks..

cheers

Jacob