To count or not to count exercise calories.

LittlemouthLoudmouth

I have decided to park about a mile from my office and walk instead of taking the bus like I used to. Today I used MapMyFitness to see how far it was and about how long it would take me. Would any of you recommend continuing to count this as exercise or not log it at all? Any and all suggestions or thoughts are welcome. My diary is public so feel free to look if it will help.

jazzy550

I say don't count it but many others may not agree.

Marxytron

Imo u shouldnt be logging workouts... Not a single one.. Especially f u know u have alot of weight to lose.. Just eat ur needed calories and go beastmode on ur workouts.. Some people just stop exercising when they hit like ex 300-500 cals.. Which i think counter productive.. Not knowing how much ur burning makes u wanna go the extra mile.. Its just my opinion..

jeagle3805

I say don't count. I tend to get carried away otherwise.

shadow2soul

Depends on how your calorie goal is determined.

If your using MFP's method, then the calorie goal is set up so you lose weight without exercise. Since your daily burn is higher when you exercise, you need to eat more to lose the same weight you would without. I, personally, wouldn't be able to make it through my workouts if I just stuck to the 1320 that MFP gives me. MFP thinks before exercise I burn roughly 1820. However, based on loss vs intake data for a 3 month period (this is a bit outdated...I'll be doing the math again next month), I burn on average with exercise close to 2600 calories per day. I'm sure you can see where not eating some of my calories back could be a problem.

If you are using the TDEE method, then you wouldn't. This method looks at what you burn in a day on average based on how often you say you workout. You subtract a % from the TDEE and get a calorie goal to eat at every day no matter what you do.


edit: Just thought I might want to add, that I do tend to exercise around 4 to 7+ hours a week.

wizzybeth

I add about 1/2 of the calories I'm supposedly burning. So if the machine or app tells me 200 I log 100. MFP is designed for you to count your exercise calories. I would guess it really doesn't matter if you do or don't. ...

LittlemouthLoudmouth

Wow thank you everyone! I don't think I will log it into my exercise since I will still be doing my zumba and kettlebell workouts. The extra burn can't hurt. You are all awesome!

Cookylela

I track my exercise to remind myself to keep it up as im doing it for my mental and physical health. My dietician advised me not to count the exercise to allow me more calories so that's what i have done and i still only lost @a lb./wk but in all 50lbs thus far. It's really up to you, just passing on the advice i got.........good luck to you!!!

heavennn3

I usually only count exercise that really gets me sweating or gets my heart rate elevated. Doing daily things (for example: walking, climbing stairs at school) are not things I log for exercise!

*I do log walking if I am doing more than usual like 1 hour +