Adele comes on and you are overcome with relief that the ride is finally over and it’s time to slow it down and stretch it out.
You just finished pedaling your heart out on your spin bike. There is a nice little puddle of sweat on the floor on either side of you from it dripping off each elbow in a rather equal fashion…. Revealing just how hard you worked.
Or does it?
Because just as you look at your calorie burn, you can’t believe your eyes. You immediately think, “This thing must be broken.”
“How could I have only burned 300 calories from that intense workout? How is that even possible? WTF??”
Well, that’s exactly what happened to hundreds of riders a couple weeks ago when Flywheel Sports “corrected” their technology to more accurately reflect the calorie burn of their riders.
What if this happened to you?
Wait, let me rephrase that -
What if you find out that this IS HAPPENING to you?
How would you react? Would you bail on Flywheel, dismiss them as assholes & say “f-that. I’m not going to bother with a workout unless I burn 800 calories an hour”?
What I’m about to say is going to upset a whole lotta people.
Your displayed calorie burn has NEVER been accurate.
I repeat: The calorie burn that shows up on the display of your device has NEVER been accurate.
Treadmills. Bikes. Ellipticals. Heart rate monitors. About 99% of them NEVER told you the whole story about your calorie burn. They’ve been lying to us all along!
Those machines don’t know your muscle to fat ratio. They don’t know how well rested you are. They don’t know your hydration level. It definitely doesn’t know if your hormones are functioning up to par.
And, those are just a few of the things that make calorie burn such a fluctuating and unique equation. The tip of the iceberg, if you will.
Now, before I lose you entirely, this blog post was written & intended to let you know about what’s going on so you can start taking your power back.
It feels good to lift weights. And to stretch. It can also feel really good to spin when your mind feels inundated with thinking all day. And you might notice that you are a much happier individual when you workout (or move your body) vs days that you don’t.
There’s something to be said about that…. And it’s kind of a big deal to think about it from that perspective.
If you look back on my YouTube channel when I first started in 2012 - you NEVER caught me in a workout where I wasn’t wearing a *certain model* Polar watch (they don’t make anymore). That’s the model, at the time, I recommended to all my clients because it measured your resting heart rate and therefore gave you a more accurate calorie display. Other models - ya know, the cheaper ones, didn’t do that.
And now I think I still have the watch & the chest strap somewhere… ??? The battery is surely dead tho. ?
I don’t care where the device is because that’s no longer the driving force behind how I maintain my fit & strong body…. Or my peaceful state of mind.
When I let go of counting calories - of watching the burn and tracking the consumption - that’s when I was able to truly tap into what was best for ME, not what the industry told me I “should” be doing for the best calorie burn or how to cheat my meals with low cal this, or chemical-laden that.
It is much simpler my friends. Much simpler than the industry wants you to believe.
If you are confused, conflicted and maybe even angry at the current situation called “I can’t lose weight” and you feel like you’ve tried everything - including this calorie counting thing - & see? You can’t even trust THAT anymore? Then let’s chat you & me. Maybe it’s time for you to find your own formula. One that doesn’t rely on devices and technology and all the bells & whistles for you to track your weight loss progress.
Even if you have tried everything, I would love to have a conversation with you.
I’ve opened up applications to work with me as I mentor you to success over a 12 week period. That’s February, March & April. That means, by spring, you could be a new woman!
Click here to learn more & apply.
In 2003 when I lost 30 – 40 lbs, I was a calorie counting queen. But I let myself eat whatever I wanted as long as it fit into my weekly calorie goal (burgers & fries, Ben & Jerry’s). Every day was a different amount of calories consumed (calorie confusion) as long as I reached my weekly goal, which I always did. Sometimes a little under because of my 6pm to 6am schedule. I would go to Shaun’s house at 6am on Friday morning, sleep all day, have dinner, then go back to bed around 11 or 12, so I never had a full day of eating on Friday. I always wore my HRM during cardio (the elliptical, which never matched my HRM) and strength training (I could really get my heart rate up there!). Once I moved in with Shaun, I threw my back out and I couldn’t work out and I went from 140 in 2003/4 to almost 100 lbs more in 2018.
I’ve tried counting calories again, but I just couldn’t find my stick-to-it-iveness. It wasn’t until last year when I did your Progress Not Perfection program that I was able to let go of counting calories and start accepting food as food as fuel. Of course, in the back of my mind, I can still count calories based on what I’m consuming, but I don’t listen to that little voice anymore. I listen for satiety and feel the deliciousness of what I am eating.
This round I haven’t been wearing my Polar HRM. It takes into account height, weight, your age, and it gives you a special test to do to test your fitness level that I never figured out how to do. lol So I always figured my readings were pretty close. Guess not!