Burn Meter

Can someone please explain how the burn meter works.  Thanks

Ask and yee shall receive ...

it can be a little daunting at first -- give it time, you can't learn it all in one day.

The EAT meter TOP number shows the number of calories you have selected as your target goal (in your account settings -- you can change it)

The EAT meter BOTTOM number reflects the calories you are logging into your food log.

The BURN meter TOP number is the total estimated calories you burn based on your age, height, current weight, gender, and activity level -- if you set yourself as "sedentary" and then add in your activity calories -- those are added into the TOP number.

The BURN meter BOTTOM number shows how many calories you have burned at the moment you are looking at the meter. This number starts at 0 at midnight, reflects all the calories you burned throughout the night while sleeping, all the calories you burn just by living, and calories normally expended at your listed activity level. When (If) you add in activity minutes -- it will also reflect that added to the total.

If you stay up til midnight you can see both meters switch over to 0

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask

Coach_K

Volunteer Moderator

I'm still confused.  If I put "light activity" because that best describes my activity level then it automatically assumes a certain amount are being used?  And then what activities should I be logging if some are automatically accounted for?  And how do these numbers help me in losing weight? 

If you put light activity it automatically presumes your activities are covered -- you would only add something that was significantly out of the ordinary.

Your eat meter bottom number should end the day smaller than your burn meter bottom number -- that creates a calorie deficit, which is required to lose weight.  The greater the deficit, the faster you will lose weight.

Things to remember --

1.  Your eat meter should never go below 1200 (1500 for males)

2.  The deficit should not be more than 1000 calories (unless you are of the"mega-heavy" weight (BMI greater than 45)

3.  You must cut a total of 3500 calories to lose one pound.  It should not matter whether you lose the one pound in one week or two (or three). 

Thanks!  That helps a lot! 

Do you think it's best to keep it on light activity or sedentary and then add in any activities I do?  And does sedentary assume any automatic calories burning? 

Many of us do put sedentary and then add in exercise calories.  On this site, sedentary covers the basic activities of living.  Again, if doing something out of the ordinary (tiling the kitchen floor, washing the walls, etc) you could probably go ahead and log that stuff.

Thanks!  Will do.

I also am glad you explained that. I've been trying to find out. I'm new of course and still figuring out how the site works. Thanks

Would someone help me understand how you find out what the usual calorie intake should be if you were not trying to lose weight?  I'm trying to see if I am eating too much or not enough.

How many pounds should I have lost for the week?

My numbers are

Eat Meter 1,267 calories

Burn Meter 1,841 calories

In addition I burn through excercise 2,651 calories per week.

 

 

hockeymom, if you are NOT trying to lose weight, you should be eating 1841 calories (your burn meter) per day plus however many calories you burn from working out. in general.

This post has really helped me understand the burn meter much more. I am also new, and I still ahve a couple questions to how this works!

I put my activity level at sedentary because I have an office job and that's what I do most of the day. However when I do exercise/get to the gym, I should add those workouts to the activity, correct?

Also, I think I'm one of those people who just doesn't eat enough calories. If the deficiate should be no more than 1,000 calories, and my calories burnt without doing any exercise out of the norm (based on sedentary) is 1,700, the minimum I should be eating is 700 calories right? And are there better calories then others out there or could I eat (hypothetically speaking of course!) 700 calories of chocolate and still lose weight??  

 Thanks for the help and support!!!

Missreporter, Thanks for the reply.  I assumed that is how it worked but wanted to make sure.  I'm not losing as quickly as I would like.  Was there anything special you did to get all the weight off?  By the way I read your bio.  Congratulations on your weight loss!  I'm trying to get down to where you are.  Hope to do it by the end of summer!  Your picture looks great!  I need to post one but to be honest I hate pictures of myself right now.  I think I will go ahead and post one this week.  If anything it will give me a before and after which would be good to help keep the weight off.  

nevaeh104, I really don't know.  Hopefully, someone will answer your question. I would find it helpful too.

Original Post by nevaeh104:

This post has really helped me understand the burn meter much more. I am also new, and I still ahve a couple questions to how this works!

I put my activity level at sedentary because I have an office job and that's what I do most of the day. However when I do exercise/get to the gym, I should add those workouts to the activity, correct?

Also, I think I'm one of those people who just doesn't eat enough calories. If the deficiate should be no more than 1,000 calories, and my calories burnt without doing any exercise out of the norm (based on sedentary) is 1,700, the minimum I should be eating is 700 calories right? And are there better calories then others out there or could I eat (hypothetically speaking of course!) 700 calories of chocolate and still lose weight??

Thanks for the help and support!!!

You should never eat LESS than 1200 calories (1500 if male), unless you are of an extremely diminutive stature (not a child) or under doctor's supervision.

A deficit of 250 calories per day will still lead to a .5lb loss per week, providing everything else is in sync (sodium, water, etc).  The easiest way to increase your calories load is to exercise and EAT.  The best way to approach this whole lifestyle change is to eat the largest number of calories you can while still losing weight at a sustainable pace.  If you can't eat 1200 calories for the rest of your life, why are you trying to do it now?  Eat 1800 and workout a little harder -- the weight loss will equal out and you'll be happier.

A calorie is a calorie is a calorie -- but 700 calories of chocolate will not satisfy for more than an hour (if that), whereas 700 calories of whole grains or veggies willbe darn near uneatable at one sitting.

Go for the healthy stuff first -- balance out your meals and your days -- leave room for the occasional snack (if you have the will power to stop at one).  Don't cut anything out of your life (unless it is a binge food -- then you have to think about it), unless you truly know that you can go the rest of your life without eating it (me, give up chocolate? -- not gonna happen).

Eat fiber -- 25g minimum for women, but 45-55 is even better, when the fiber is attained through natural sources (not supplements).

Drink lots of water (if you have to flavor it, then do so)

Try to stay away from the highly processed foods (they won't kill you, but the sodium is high and they are often unsatisfying) 

Again -- this should be looked at as a lifestyle, so you want to pattern something that you can do for the rest of your life.  Cutting some extra calories occasionally is easy enough when you are eating right to begin with

Sorry for the long post... 

My probelm isn't that I need to cut calories, it's that I need to add calories. What is the best suggestion to be able to make sure that I eat 1200 calories? I always feel if I eat more, that I wont lose weight, but you are telling me I need to eat at least 1200 calories...right?

Right now I probably eat around 800 calories or so a day. I obviously would like to lose weight as quickly as possible, so why would eating more allow me lose faster? (right now I really don't lose any weight at all...if anything I'm gaining weight)

Also, not that I could ever become anoriexic (I love food too much!), but someone with that disorder obviously doesn't eat 1200 calories. Why doesn't their bodies hold onto the calories like mine does?

Thanks so much for the advice again!! I have been researching this sort of stuff for a long time, and I'm never able to find a good answer. I always end up finding things that contradict eachother, which confuses me even more!!

If you eat under 1000 calories, you body will hord all that it can and you will lose weight more slowly. Your body will think it is starving, especially if you are working out as well. This is bad because it begins to burn muscle instead of fat. If you go for the quick lose, you will possibly hurt yourself and will most likely gain it back. Do it in a healthy way and you will succeed.