I had a really quiet weekend which was nice. I had housework to do, some reading I wanted to catch up on, grocery shopping and food prep for the week and a visit with Leigh and her adorable little guy.
I decided to not join this challenge after thinking about it for a few days. I'm already following WW, counting points and now trying to find the right carb level where I can lose weight but still sustain for the rest of my life. I felt it was just too much to then add counting calories to that. I have no doubt the plan itself works and I am looking forward to being the Challengers' biggest cheerleader and having some new successful blogs to follow.
I am looking forward to March! Leigh and I will have Running Room Clinic - Learn to Run three times a week and Gentle Yoga once a week and I'm trying to see if I can still fit swimming lessons in there somewhere. I am determined that 2012 is the year I learn to swim!
Tonight's dinner was a sirloin beef roast done in the crockpot with steamed cabbage and gravy. There was also steamed carrots and mashed potatoes for the boys; a very traditional Sunday dinner.
I have everything prepped to take to work tomorrow so I can stay on target and the weather is supposed to be really nice - 7 C in the GTA - so my lunchtime walk will be quite enjoyable. I work in an area where there are a lot of buildings. That means my walk is mostly in a wind tunnel and it gets quite blustery and cold in the Winter, so hopefully that will be non existent tomorrow.
Question: If I wear my Garmin heart monitor while walking or running, is that an accurate calorie burn for that exercise? I know nothing is exact, but what do you think? I'm toying with the idea of getting a Fitbit because I just love data :) I know some of my readers have one, KatieJ, Melissa....do you love it...or what?
I hope you all have an awesome - SUCCESSFUL - week :)
I guess I'm not one for tracking calories burned. It has never been my cup of tea and I can't imagine how accurate things are. It might be a good baseline and good to make a 'target' goal from, but I don't think it's an exact science. Some of my favorite bloggers record their 'calories burned' daily, I don't think I've ever paid attention to it. I go for minutes exercised - my goal is 90 a day, minimum. :)
ReplyDeleteI too am sticking to WW and just finding what works for me. After Spring Chick is over I think I'll give challenges a break and just focus on me and cheering on others. The Garmin is fairly accurate as it uses the heart rate monitor so as long as you enter your correct user data it's pretty good. A Fitbit, BodyMedia, Nike Fuel device you can wear all the time so it shows your total calories burned for the entire day including rest. I think they're different. I use the Garmin for running/walking as I also like to know pace and distance. I do like the BodyMedia for sleep quality, total steps and calories burned for the entire day. I'll wear them at the same time just the Garmin comes off when the activity is completed. It also links to my Garmin so will sync that data and show me a graph of my heart rate. I'm intrigued by Nike Fuel as it looks like neat but not available in Canada yet. Being a data junkie gets expensive :)
ReplyDeleteI use a Garmin when I run, and since there's a heart rate monitor, it's pretty accurate. If you'd like to compare, try running with and without the HRM - it will still calculate calories, but without the HRM, it's just an average based on your weight (same as a treadmill or any exercise machine would do).
ReplyDeleteGarmin is a great monitor!! Its based on heartrate so it is very accurate and calculated just for you, because it uses your weight
ReplyDeleteIf a point is 55 calories or so, and you want to weigh 150 pounds, figure 28 points is a good guess. From there, its all about the group...Still open for you...
ReplyDeleteI have a body media device, and I love it. It keeps me honest and moving. Great blog...I'll be following.
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