In an attempt to understand why I was gaining weight I got a Body Media Fit (like the Body Bugg that the Biggest Loser contestants wear, just marketed differently). I thought that maybe I wasn't burning enough calories. My initial goal was just to wear it for a week or two and see what I noticed about my calorie burn, activity level, steps, and sleep. I have been wearing it for longer than that without doing much with the information, but it has been very eye opening nonetheless.
Here is what I learned....
Calorie Burn:
I burn a lot more calories than I thought I did. I am certainly no expert on calorie burn, but I had envisioned that I burned about 2500 calories a day. In reality I burn, on average, about 3100 calories a day. On the days that I do Baby Boot camp, I burn about 3300 calories. On non-boot camp days, I burn about 2800 calories.
Activity Level:
I knew I was getting a good workout at Baby Boot Camp, but according to the Body Media Fit (BMF), I burn about 400-500 calories in one 1 hour class. More specifically, the BMF considers my level of activity to be moderately active (3-6 METs burned*) for 30-40 minutes of the class, while 20-30 minutes are considered vigorous. This varies day to day because the amount of cardio can vary depending on the day.
While I knew chasing after a toddler all day should count for something, I didn't realize how much it would count. I average over an hour and a half of total activity a day (activity intensity of 3 METs or more). That means whether I am going to boot camp or not, I am getting more than enough activity.
*Not sure what METs are? METs or Metabolic Equivalents are a way to measure intensity in activity. At rest, your MET level is 1. Moderate activity is 3-6 METs - you are active but you aren't breathing too hard to carry a conversation, but you probably can't sing. Vigorous activity is over 6 METs - you are active and carrying on a conversation is more difficult.
Steps:
In case I wasn't convinced that I was getting enough activity, my steps were recorded at an average of 11,832 steps a day. My goal when I lost weight back in 2005 was 10,000 steps a day. Almost anything you read about the ideal number of steps when trying to lose weight will say 10,000 steps is the number to shoot for. In the last month I recorded less than 10,000 steps only 7 times. Of those 7 times, at least 3-4 of them were because I wasn't wearing my band the whole day (I know of 2 days that I didn't hit 10,000 because we watched football all day).
Sleep:
I have a 4 month old. Need I say more? Ideally, for weight loss specifically, you need at least 8 hours of sleep a night. I average 5.53 hours of sleep. The BMF also measures time laying down. My average time laying down was 7.17 hours. I usually spend some time reading before bed, but not much more than 15-20 minutes. What is going on during the rest of the time? I'm not sure. I could be tossing and turning. I could be trying to fall asleep. I could be laying there thinking of all the things I need to do the next day. I could also think that I am asleep, but am really just really relaxed. One of the things I need to work on is figuring out how to get more QUALITY sleep since getting more actual sleep won't happen till Mr. T starts sleeping through the night.
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So now what? Well it is time for me to start tracking my food intake, but for a variety of reasons, I think there is more going on. I will be writing about this in my next post as soon as I get a chance. Basically it involves a bunch of medical tests, a naturopathic doctor, a health coach, and my primary care physician. Stay tuned!
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