The burn meter STILL confuses me!

I have been doing CC for a few months & still don't "get" the Burn Meter.  I know how to read the Eat Meter- the top number tells you the calories you should eat in a day and the bottom number shows you the calories you logged from eating. Right?

What does the top number on the Burn Meter mean and how does it correlate to the bottom number?  Why does the top number change form day-to-day?         &nb sp;

That confuses me to, I thought maybe it alters as you 'lose' weight? Less to carry so burning less? I really don't know? Or maybe eating more the day before reduces the burn for the next day????

The top number increases for any activity you enter.

The lower number is an estimate of how much you have burned so far today.

So why does the top number get LOWER than the average activity level it began with ?

yeah...that's the part that confuses me too.

Original Post by repunzel_black:

So why does the top number get LOWER than the average activity level it began with ?

Because you lost weight. A sedentary person who weighs less, burns less calories per day than a sedentary person who weighs more.

Okay, I get that the top number represents activity (is that supposedly all "living life" activity including any purposeful exercise I enter?)...but why would it be different from the estimated number of calories burned (the bottom #)? 

Still not sure how to use the Burn Meter as a tool.  Is it safe to say that it's a good thing when the bottom number of the Burn Meter is bigger than the number of calories consumed?

Ack! 

The total estimate, or rather the number at the top of the burn meter STARTS  at the total number of calories that you need to burn to maintain your current weight (your basal metabolic rate). Anything above that represents weight loss. This is why when you enter an activity the burn meter goes up and the total estimate rises. 

As you lose weight your basal metabolic rate will fall proportionately (this is because your body requires less calories to maintain your muscles, organs, fat and other stuff in your body)

If you eat more calories than your basal metabolic rate and don't exercise then you will gain weight.

Make sense..? 

ok, now I get it :)

Original Post by cheeky1000:

Okay, I get that the top number represents activity (is that supposedly all "living life" activity including any purposeful exercise I enter?)...but why would it be different from the estimated number of calories burned (the bottom #)? 

 

It resets every day. So in the morning, the bottom number will be smaller, because you have just started burning your calories for the day. By the end of the day (23 hours and 59 minutes in the day in question) your calories burned will match your burn meter. The next minute it will be burn meter with 1680 or whatever above with 0 calories below it. If it doesn't follow this pattern, check your time settings.

I have noticed that my burn meter has dropped by 30 calories, and I am the same weight as when I started (after picking up 1-2 kilograms and then losing them). Its irritating because my burn meter was pathetically low to begin with and its harder and harder to make the deficit. Every calorie counts.

Thanks!  Good luck to you =)