[TW: weight loss]
I've been thinking about this all week and I can't find the answer, so I'm hoping some dieticians/doctors/personal trainers/generally knowledgeable people are around...
I've had a heart rate of 102 for about 3 weeks now, which my Fitbit informs me is in the 'fat burn' range.
This is because of some medication I'm on, which raises my heart rate. It lists both 'weight loss' AND 'loss of appetite' as side effects - and I have lost some weight, largely (I assumed) due to the loss of appetite.
But my question is: is having a raised heart rate in itself burning fat (i.e. your body is doing 'more'), or does Fitbit call this the fat burn range because it assumes if your heart range is raised X% over your standard resting heart rate that you're doing the kind of activity that burns fat?
And if so, if I were able to eat my exact 'maintenance' calories but continued to take the medication, would I theoretically still be losing weight as a result of this increased heart rate?
This is purely academic, by the way - I'm not obsessive about weight, have room to lose some, and am tackling the appetite loss with (yuck) Huel, so I'm not trying to maximise my calorie burn haha!
Just interested as my Fitbit thinks I'm an absolute machine now and I don't have the heart to tell it I'm not actually exercising 