anyone familiar with pedometers and/or Calorie measurements?

[vip0802]

i recently purchased a nice Omron (HJ-303) pocket pedometer and wore it for the first time today at work, but i''m confused about its readings. it says that i took 7526 steps, 1653 "moderate" steps (brisk steps measuring 3.0 METs or more) and walked a total distance of 2.8 miles. the part that confuses me is that it says i burned 81 kcal (kilocalories).

now from what i understand, 1 kcal = 1 Calorie = 1000 calories. for example, a can of soda has 200 Calories which is equal to 200 kilocalories or 200,000 calories. so if that''s true, how did i only burn 81 Calories today?! i read somewhere that an average person can burn that amount while sitting and reading for an hour! i understand that it''s all in relation to your weight, but that just seems way off. this is my first pedometer, so could it be that it''s malfunctioning? even after going through the manual, it doesn''t really explain how it calculates burned Calories.

if anyone has any insight on this, it would be greatly appreciated!

 

[HopeDream]

Did you calibrate the pedometer with your weigh, height and step lenght (or other biometrics) if so, it may be giving you total energy burned over and above your base metabolism. It could meant that you burned 81calories over and above the normal amount of energy you use to live.

Interesting fact: Did you know that if you lay in a patch of sunlight all day the same size as your body, the total energy of the sunlight in that spot is equivalent to the amount of energy a human needs to consume ? (Human sized patch of sunlight alll day takes about 2000 Calories to power). I learned this in my watershed management glass when we were doing the environmental energy balance. (sorry O/T)

 

[perry]

Those distances and calories are general everages for the population unless you have a special pedometer that can be calibrated to you - and you calibrate it in a test track. I would not put too much faith in them being accurate.

The key is how many steps did you take. Generally, if you do 5000 steps a day you are doing enough for routine moderate health. 10,000 steps a day should produce weight loss.

My own experience with pedometers went like this. The first one broke in about 1 week. The second one in 3 days, and the third one in a week.

I stopped buying them after that. I was averaging over 5000 steps a day. I tend to be somewhat agressive on my walking - and normal pedometers seem not to be able to handle that.

Perry

 

[perry]

Date: 9/8/2009 11:40:56 AM
Author: HopeDream
Interesting fact: Did you know that if you lay in a patch of sunlight all day the same size as your body, the total energy of the sunlight in that spot is equivalent to the amount of energy a human needs to consume ? (Human sized patch of sunlight alll day takes about 2000 Calories to power). I learned this in my watershed management glass when we were doing the environmental energy balance. (sorry O/T)

That is only true if you live in a sunny climate somewhat close to the equator. If you are above 45 latitude it is not true. If you have cloud cover it is not true, and for those of us who are active during the night have real problems with the method.

Perry