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CNN Live At Daybreak
Putting Treadmill to Truth Test
Aired October 15, 2003 - 06:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: If you're watching us from the gym this morning, we want you to put your treadmill to the truth test.
Nutritionist Lisa Drayer of Dietwatch.com joins us live from New York with the low down, because, you know, we've always wondered, are those calorie counters on those treadmill machines really accurate?
LISA DRAYER, NUTRITIONIST: Hi, Carol.
Well, here's a red flag. If you're not punching in your weight, the numbers can be off. So a calorie estimate is accurate only if there's an accurate equation used. So an accurate equation would take into account three variables. First is the weight of the exerciser, and the more you weigh, the more you burn. Also, the intensity of the exercise and the duration of the exercise.
Now, the intensity is measured in a unit known as a met, or metabolic equivalent. Now you might be thinking well, what is a met? One met is what we burn at rest or sitting quietly. And other activities are multiples of one met.
So, for example, in running or jogging, the met is dependent on the speed. So if we're running at five miles per hour, that has a met of eight. But if we're running at six miles per hour, that would have a met of 10.
So as you can see, as the intensity goes up, the total calorie burn goes up.
But here's the flip side. Since weight is an important variable, the more you weigh, the more you burn, but also the less you weigh the less you burn. That's why when you start to lose weight, you do have to cut back calories and increase exercise in order to continue losing weight, because you burn less at a lower weight.
COSTELLO: Whoa. So you're telling me -- I never put my real weight in those machines. I always program lower. But, anyway, I just wanted to ask you this...
DRAYER: But that won't give you the accurate number.
COSTELLO: But not everyone burns calories at the same rate. What if my metabolism is better than the person next to me? So would the treadmill calorie counter still be accurate?
DRAYER: That's one thing that it does not take into account. That's an excellent point. That is, it doesn't take into account actual body composition and obviously the more muscle mass we have, the higher our metabolism. We actually burn more calories.
But here's the thing, if you think about our total calories burned over a period of 24 hours, well, when we're exercising it's probably not all that much in terms of 24 hours. So, other formulas that do estimate our total calorie burn would include formulas that would incorporate variables that relate to our body composition and our metabolism.
So if we're running, you know, even for 45 minutes out of a total of 24 hours, the variability isn't going to be that significant because it's just for that specific time period.
COSTELLO: And I guarantee if you run for 45 minutes, you're going to lose some calories.
DRAYER: That's true.
COSTELLO: Lisa Drayer, many thanks.
We appreciate it.
DRAYER: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 15, 2003 - 06:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: If you're watching us from the gym this morning, we want you to put your treadmill to the truth test.
Nutritionist Lisa Drayer of Dietwatch.com joins us live from New York with the low down, because, you know, we've always wondered, are those calorie counters on those treadmill machines really accurate?
LISA DRAYER, NUTRITIONIST: Hi, Carol.
Well, here's a red flag. If you're not punching in your weight, the numbers can be off. So a calorie estimate is accurate only if there's an accurate equation used. So an accurate equation would take into account three variables. First is the weight of the exerciser, and the more you weigh, the more you burn. Also, the intensity of the exercise and the duration of the exercise.
Now, the intensity is measured in a unit known as a met, or metabolic equivalent. Now you might be thinking well, what is a met? One met is what we burn at rest or sitting quietly. And other activities are multiples of one met.
So, for example, in running or jogging, the met is dependent on the speed. So if we're running at five miles per hour, that has a met of eight. But if we're running at six miles per hour, that would have a met of 10.
So as you can see, as the intensity goes up, the total calorie burn goes up.
But here's the flip side. Since weight is an important variable, the more you weigh, the more you burn, but also the less you weigh the less you burn. That's why when you start to lose weight, you do have to cut back calories and increase exercise in order to continue losing weight, because you burn less at a lower weight.
COSTELLO: Whoa. So you're telling me -- I never put my real weight in those machines. I always program lower. But, anyway, I just wanted to ask you this...
DRAYER: But that won't give you the accurate number.
COSTELLO: But not everyone burns calories at the same rate. What if my metabolism is better than the person next to me? So would the treadmill calorie counter still be accurate?
DRAYER: That's one thing that it does not take into account. That's an excellent point. That is, it doesn't take into account actual body composition and obviously the more muscle mass we have, the higher our metabolism. We actually burn more calories.
But here's the thing, if you think about our total calories burned over a period of 24 hours, well, when we're exercising it's probably not all that much in terms of 24 hours. So, other formulas that do estimate our total calorie burn would include formulas that would incorporate variables that relate to our body composition and our metabolism.
So if we're running, you know, even for 45 minutes out of a total of 24 hours, the variability isn't going to be that significant because it's just for that specific time period.
COSTELLO: And I guarantee if you run for 45 minutes, you're going to lose some calories.
DRAYER: That's true.
COSTELLO: Lisa Drayer, many thanks.
We appreciate it.
DRAYER: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
