I'm FAT... and confused!!

I'm 38 y/o, 6'1", 225 lbs and tired of being fat, so I just got a pair of running shoes and a heart rate monitor. The problem is that I've been told that in order to burn fat your heart rate should be between 60% to 70% of your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). This confuses me a lot, because I walked for 20 minutes at 65% of my MHR (between the Fat-Burning Zone) and burned 258 Kcal and 31 g of fat. But then I ran for 20 minutes at 95% of my MHR and burned 335 Kcal and 40 g of fat. ¿Why on earth I'm burning more fat if I'm way out of the "Fat burning" zone?
Thanks,
Luis Felipe.
 
You're overthinking this way too much imo. Just do it and stop worrying about your target heart rate. As long as you're heart rate is in a healthy range you should do just fine. :)

If i was in your position i would start a strength training routine 2 or 3 times per week and go for a walk/run 3 or 4 times per week.

What kind of shape are you in??? Are you able to do squats, push ups, chin ups etc???

¿Why on earth I'm burning
But more importantly than all that. How the hell did you make an upside down question mark???
 
But more importantly than all that. How the hell did you make an upside down question mark???
x2! :yelrotflmao:

This is exercise OCD for sure. I've been there, don't worry. You just need to focus on lifting and exercising in general. Don't worry about exactly how many calories you burn per exercise and what not. The number you do need to know, however, is your maintenance caloric intake. Go to freedieting.com to get a good idea of that.

Then, get a good training routine (weight training stickies) and start up with that. Continuing running if you like, as it will help you in your goals.

Eat clean, lift hard, rest easy.

All that said, I will explain your confusion to you. The "fat burning zone" means that per calorie burned, a higher percentage of them is from fat. The higher you climb the intensity scale, the more fuel you burn from other sources, such as liver and muscle glycogen. Thus, although you burn more total calories doing such activities, the percentage of them from fat is lower. This is simply due to the fact that your body cannot efficiently burn fat in an anaerobic (without oxygen) environment. The harder your exercise gets, the less oxygen you can deliver to your cells, the more anaerobic it becomes, the less fat oxidation that can occur. Hopefully that makes sense to you :).

Now, the reason why you may have burned more calories from fat in the second scenario (assuming that was calculated correctly, since I don't know how it was), is that even though you burn a lower percentage of calories from fat with a higher HR, the total calories burned were high enough to compensate for that.

I will add, though, that there is NO WAY IN HELL you ran for 20 minutes at 95% of your max :D
 
But more importantly than all that. How the hell did you make an upside down question mark???

If you're on a desktop, hold down ALT + 168. Here's a table of all the characters you can make (ALT + Oct column):



Doesn't always work on laptops.
 
Like Ride On said start lifting 3 times per week along with the walking/running and start eating good and you'll be well on your way. :)

P.S. 3 chins is a start. Do sets of 2 or 3 and you will progress faster than you think.
 
Then, get a good training routine (weight training stickies) and start up with that.
Is there a training routine that better fits a weight loss goal?

I will add, though, that there is NO WAY IN HELL you ran for 20 minutes at 95% of your max :D
I'm 38 so my max is 220-38= 182, and the heart rate monitor showed an average of 174, but trust me, I'm in the crappiest shape I could be...

I'm attaching 2 pics for my embarrasment and your advice.
 

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Hola Luis! If you join this forum, listen to the experts on this forum, start a journal, lose weight and become stronger with better aerobic stamina, you will be one of many who has done this.

Weight training, cardio and a controlled diet is the "secret" to weight loss. You can get by with 2 of these or even 1, but the process is much, much more difficult.

First myth: As for your heart rate, 220-age is a guess. Nothing more. And, hitting a high heart rate when in poor condition is common and is a hard workout. As your condition improves, the same amount of work (power, wattage) will require less effort with a lower heart rate effort.

Second myth: the reported calories burned on the elliptical machine, treadmill, stationary bike, your heart rate monitor, etc. If I ride at 15mph on a stationary bike for an hour, I am not even sweating and burning about 300 kcal/hour. If you do the same, you will probably burn 2x or 3x that many.

Third myth: fat burning heart rate zones. Every effort that raises your heart rate to at least 65% of your max is gonna burn fat. The harder the effort, the more fat burned. Period. But, generally, to burn fat it is better to go at a moderate pace for 30 minutes than a hard pace for 5 minutes. So, continue to do your runs and walks.
 
the second myth you propose is not true.. he won't burn that much more.. If he is doing exactly the same as you, with the same resistance, etc, he will use largely the same amount of energy as you do (the variation will be due to exercise economy)
It's a lot easier for you to do it since you're trained, but you will be burning the same amount of cals.
 
The third myth is not true either. You burn more calories from fat at a lower HR. That's just a fact. Depending on the total times, you might offset the balance, but the proportion is still there. You even mentioned it would be better to do lower intensity at the end, which completed contradicted your first statement.
 
The third myth is not true either. You burn more calories from fat at a lower HR. That's just a fact.

You burn a higher percentage of calories from fat at lower intensities, but you burn more total calories per unit of time at higher intensities. Even at a lower percentage of calories being burned from fat, the greater total calories burned at higher intensities may result in more fat calories burned than at lower intensities, for a given amount of time spent exercising.
 
You burn a higher percentage of calories from fat at lower intensities, but you burn more total calories per unit of time at higher intensities. Even at a lower percentage of calories being burned from fat, the greater total calories burned at higher intensities may result in more fat calories burned than at lower intensities, for a given amount of time spent exercising.

Right, but that's not what he said. He said you burn more fat at higher intensity, and that's not true (see below)

Third myth: fat burning heart rate zones. Every effort that raises your heart rate to at least 65% of your max is gonna burn fat. The harder the effort, the more fat burned. Period.

At higher intensity, it is completely time dependent. And no one can do the same duration of exercise at a high intensity than they can at moderate. The blanket statement of more intensity = more fat burn is just not true.
 
i think myth means "myth" = not true. G8R is telling him that those things are not true. or not! lol, when i also consider myth #1, it is actually true.

hmmmm RICH!!! did you copy and paste something? splain yerself bruda!


DEF- somtimes you scare me. lol! You read everything! :luxlove:
 
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i think myth means "myth" = not true. G8R is telling him that those things are not true. or not! lol, when i also consider myth #1, it is actually true.

hmmmm RICH!!! did you copy and paste something? splain yerself bruda!


DEF- somtimes you scare me. lol! You read everything! :luxlove:

Todd, I'll explain for you because you're my bud.

Myth 1. No debate to my knowledge.

Myth 2. Look at this table:

An unfit person to hold 15mph has to perform a vigorous effort. Go to "Bicycling, 14-15.9mph, vigorous effort" and it lists 863 kcal/hour burned for a 190# person.

For me, 15mph is a light effort. This is not a vigorous or even moderate effort for me. It is light. The kcal/hour burned for a 190# person at light effort, i.e., "Bicycling, 10-11.9mph, light effort" is 518.

So, the fit person to perform the same power (=same speed if all other factors such as wind speed, bike type, etc. are held constant) burns fewer calories than the unfit person which is what I said.

the second myth you propose is not true.. he won't burn that much more.. If he is doing exactly the same as you, with the same resistance, etc, he will use largely the same amount of energy as you do (the variation will be due to exercise economy)
It's a lot easier for you to do it since you're trained, but you will be burning the same amount of cals.

If it's a lot easier for me because I'm trained, then why am I burning the same amount of calories as the unfit person? How can one person be having an easier time than another yet they are both burning the same number of calories? Calories measure the heat generated. If one person is generating more heat, he is burning more calories. Period.

Myth 3: See

In this example, the 130# woman burned 82 kcal of fat / 30 min at 80 - 85% of MHR and 73 kcal of fat / 30 min at 60 - 65% of MHR (the so-called fat burning zone).

In short, harder effort = more fat burned, which is what I said. I think tjl said the same.

The third myth is not true either. You burn more calories from fat at a lower HR. That's just a fact. Depending on the total times, you might offset the balance, but the proportion is still there. You even mentioned it would be better to do lower intensity at the end, which completed contradicted your first statement.

A person in poor shape does not have enough endurance to exercise at a high intensity long enough to have significant fat-burning benefit. For an unfit person, he is better off going at a moderate pace than a high pace until he can build up his endurance, even though this does not yield the highest rate of fat burning.

Right, but that's not what he said. He said you burn more fat at higher intensity, and that's not true (see below)
See my above.

At higher intensity, it is completely time dependent.
Fat calories burned result from two factors; intensity and time, not just time. And this is true at lower intensity too.
And no one can do the same duration of exercise at a high intensity than they can at moderate.
This is true and is one of the few reasons to go at a lower intensity than high intensity.

And this doesn't take into account the greater EPOC from the higher effort. The difference should be even greater.
 
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A person in poor shape does not have enough endurance to exercise at a high intensity long enough to have significant fat-burning benefit. For an unfit person, he is better off going at a moderate pace than a high pace until he can build up his endurance, even though this does not yield the highest rate of fat burning.
Good example used. Do you know how they calculated those numbers for calories burned? Was it based on HR, and if so, do you know the formula?

Fat calories burned result from two factors; intensity and time, not just time. And this is true at lower intensity too.
Yes, my point was just that at a higher intensity vs. lower one, the amount of calories from fat due to increasing intensity will be completely dependent on how much time the activity is performed because of the decreased ratio of calories from fat being used as energy.

And this doesn't take into account the greater EPOC from the higher effort. The difference should be even greater.
EPOC does nothing. They don't know for sure why the result of greater fat loss occurs sometimes between people doing high intensity vs. lower intensity, but they have proven that it can surely not be attributed to EPOC.
 
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