Posts by mgoyder

I am 6'1, 279, 36.8 BMI (down from 356/47). I bought a GoWear Fit armband on April 22nd and have been using it pretty religiously since. GoWear do state that the readings can be off by 10% during low physical periods and 5% off during high physical periods. 

I found the readings to be surprising at first. I just generated a 7-day report and it claims that I burn on average 4145 calories a day, I consume 3269 leaving an average deficit of 876 a day. This is sharp contrast to what CC suggested. They claim I burn 3070 a day under the moderate activity setting. I usually burn 500 cals extra 3x a week at the gym. Incorporating this into CC's estimation would leave an average burn of 3285 / day. Although, CC of course can't monitor exactly what I'm doing all the time; I teach which does require extra movement, I also walk around campus a lot etc etc. As a result, I've upped my calories a little to try to get a ~750 daily deficit. I'm yet to weigh myself this week and when I do I will post the values.

The only 'calibration' I've been able to do is compare the readouts on the cardio machines I use with the armband. When I'm on the elliptical burning my 500 in 30 mins, it claims an average cals/min at around 17/18. The armband said I was doing between 16-19 during that time. Also when I run / jog the armband gives very similar numbers to CC, maybe off by 5-10%. The difficulty there is correctly computing your average speed (I hate the treadmill).  

As for BMR. The BMR for my weight is 2555 (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/) and the BMR for my ideal weight is 1938. According to that I should currently be burning 1.7 cals/min resting. The armband says I burn 1.8-2 cals/min while resting. This isn't off by any stretch. 

I have confidence in the GoWear fit. I wasn't loosing before I got it and it might be because I was eating too little. I was consuming ~2500 a day. If I really am burning ~4145 a ~1645 calorie deficit seems a little steep. I will give this a month or 6 weeks using their numbers strictly and see what happens before modifying anything.

Having the data the GoWear gives you is fantastic IMO. The pedometer is really accurate (I took 24 steps going to the bathroom at 3:30am last night haha), the sleep meter is cool, the calorie burn graph is great and how it tracks your physical expenditure is really useful.

Frankly, I think the food database is better than CC's. The interface is a bit more fiddly to use, but overall easier to enter your data than CC's once you get used to it. The food database is really comprehensive and quick to access.. For example I can just type "kas cho" to get the kashi chocolate cherry tlc bar immediately. The food breakdown could be better, CC does win in that respect and there is no diet "grade". 

I only wish the following: 

1. It was waterproof (could swim with it)

2. It monitored your heart rate / pulse ox.

3. It could tell you your body fat % 

4. It sync'd over bluetooth / wifi.

5. There was a LCD readout on the band, not a $100 watch extra.

(I know 2/3 would skyrocket the price and might be technologically infeasible).

To sum up, I don't think its overestimating by much. I think its safe to cut the number by 5% and be right on the money. I love having it constantly track my expenditure. I don't know if its successful yet, but I am tracking EVERY bite of food honestly; I will weigh some time and post the results.

Great benefit of still being at University means you can use the uber-facilities they erect to entice students to attend!

The OSU RPAC isn't a gym as much as a Walmart-sized myriad of exercise.

http://www.recsports.osu.edu/tour_rpac.asp

Click on the stars / floors to take a look through.

Yeah its like money doesn't bring happiness?

....well at least let me try?

Have to add my 2 cents here! Apple just came out with new iPod nanos. They come in 9 colors and boast a proper sized screen for watching videos if you would do such a thing in the future. I can't work out without my iPod as I get SO bored on the machines...These new iPods are pretty much the best nanos they've come out with to date...

If you are rambuncious when you work out you might want to get an iPod Shuffle. The pro's are its price and that it has a clip right on it. The cons are that it doesn't have the fancy screen...

You said you were techno challenged? Do you have mp3s on your computer? If you install iTunes on your Apple or PC it lets you easily rip CDs to mp3 files (AAC files by default) which can be played on your iPod. You can also buy songs from the iTunes store for a buck each. Or, if you have a teenager in your house, you can have access to all the music in the world ;)

The small zune is also a nice device. Its butt horrible to use (I bought an iPhone just to rid myself of the disgust of using it) but their (Microsoft's) music store is much better value. You can pay a monthly fee to have unlimited music from their store, which for some is a real bonus.

Bottom line, if you get a nano, you will want an arm band. If you want to listen to tunes while working out, get a shuffle.

guys, he's a politician not a celebrity

I've never done it, but I know you can order ingredients off the web. You essentially get shipped to you the spices, herbs, broth bases etc and all you do it put it together with some sort of meat / veg etc... Maybe if you can find a website you can trust somewhat, this might be for you...

I say branch out. Try Indian, Thai, Burmese, Japanese food... Get a few good cook books off eBay / library / borders etc and see what they have to say. Personally, doing this opened my palette to a whole whole whole new world of flavor and interesting yet crazily delicious and healthy foods. Indian food is the best IMO. Beware, the stuff you get out of a restaurant is lathered in oil / butter. You need to really stick to a cook book or even modify the recipes a little, but at the end of the day you can create hundreds of new meals you'd never tried before... Eventually baked chicken + broccoli will be an exotic change!

I don't know how much more I can really contribute to this, but being married to a doctor gives me a daily lecture on NUTRITION over calories practically every day. Here's what I've picked up... Sure a calorie is a calorie is a unit of energy, therefore, your body will get the same amount 'energy' from 10 teaspoons of olive oil vs. 25 heads of lettuce, but its not getting everything else it needs. I think the same is true with the burgers and fries, the body isn't getting what I needs from ground beef, treated flour bread and fried mashed potatoes. 

The body needs more chemicals than you could imagine... Sodium & potassium directly control how your body regulates heart rate for example... The body needs zinc / calcium / [insert more here] as well as really whacky crap like arachidonic acid (found in peanuts and SPIDER BLOOD!). What does it all do with this stuff? Well I think 8 years of intensive biology education will give you some answers, but not all of them. Cells need to eat; hormones need to flow, bones need to rebuild etc. 

So what's the point of this mini lecture? Mostly to remind you to keep nutrition your number one objective over calories. I really believe its a cents-to-dollars analogy. (treat your cents like your dollars and your money will take care of itself?) If you really endeavor to maintain quality nutrition, you will probably be eating low calorie food. Of course this isn't an axiom. Its confusing, so, I would just let Calorie Count do the counting for you. Keep your salt under the amount it suggests, keep your fats where it suggests and try to always get an A!

I am pretty un-enchanted by companies' nutrition info posted on their websites, or the labels for that matter. This is a pretty good example. I bet you somewhere somebody is exploiting some technicality... Do they have to show pre-cooked calories? served calories? can they include/omit other toppings? Can starbucks omit the space occupied by ice in a frap? Seeing as calories are McD's biggest enemy I would hazard to say yes.

I agree it is a little disconcerting when an authority on calories provide conflicting information.. Do you know how these get posted? By users or admins? Maybe somebody is upping the calories to de-influence users to grab something else.

Personally I would average the two. The process of computing calories is an inexact science and your body will pick and choose exactly which components of the food to eat; it'll probably just pick up all the drugs they put in that food to trick you into liking it (don't eat it, save your intestines!). 

Have you ever worked fast food?