"You Know I Feel it in my Heartbeat"
I could quote Madonna songs all day long, but I won’t.
This weekend, I had an absolute blast — from running, standing in line to buy awesome jeans, hanging out at Whole Foods and then Barton Springs, seeing The Hangover, eating a spaghetti dinner with some adorable kiddos, waking up at 11, going to Whole Foods again, hitting golf balls, swimming, and then later today taking family photos — I’m zonked.
But what’s made it the best was a secret little tool to help keep me accurate and accountable: my Polar Heart Rate Monitor. My monitor is set to my weight, height and age and lets me know exactly how many calories I burn during a workout. This is especially helpful because my heart rate typically runs higher than an average person, so the calorie burning estimates typically found on Web sites are not the same for me. For example:
- An hour of running followed by a cool down with ab work: 526 calories
- Hitting golf balls in 93 degree weather: 260 calories
- Swimming for 20 minutes with a 10 minute steam: 235 calories
By wearing my heart rate monitor, I can know exactly how many additional calories I should eat each day. If you don’t have one and are super committed to losing weight, or at least wanting to keep track of your workouts in terms of calories, buy one through Amazon (they’re typically $10-20 less than at the store).
