Polar watch

Another component to my calorie tracking effort was to track calories expended. Every time I would ride my bike or go to the gym, I would wear my Polar heart rate watch. This would keep track of how many calories I'd burn up in each exercise session. I do know that if you exercise calories, you need to eat calories. I am not sure the exact formula, I suppose there is one though. But I know everybody has a resting metabolism, which is how many calories you burn up every day just breathing and eating. Then you add calories doing simple living, then add more calories for exercise. It doesn't really matter what the exact formula is, though, as I was just trying to re-calibrate myself to reasonableness. Reasonable portion/meal sizes, and reasonable exercise habits. Tracking calories exercised makes it apparent when you go a few days without exercising!

It does help that I live right next to a biking trail, across the street from my gym, and a block away from my yoga studio, too. Being across the street from the gym is great in the winter. It is easier to walk across the street when it is freezing than it is to get into a cold car to drive to the gym!

I did wear my heart rate monitor watch a few times while doing various types of yoga, so now I can "ballpark" how many calories I burn doing certain types of yoga. Anywhere from about 150 calories (basic) to 450 calories (ashtanga).