Does everyone count cooking/food prep

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  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    If it's part of my normal day, it's included in my activity level.
  • kjw1031
    kjw1031 Posts: 300 Member
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    For me any calories burned during food prep and cooking would be negated by the calories I consume tasting what I'm making!
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    No. Cooking isn't exercise.
  • takehimaway
    takehimaway Posts: 499 Member
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    For me any calories burned during food prep and cooking would be negated by the calories I consume tasting what I'm making!

    I quit tasting, and licking spoons. Sometimes, I really want to though.

    If I am going to chop eighty-seven thousand stupid vegatables, and then fifty-thousand pieces of fruit into little tupperware to eat for the next year, yes, as a matter of fact, I am going to count that!
    But, nowadays, I have a FitBit, so that gives me calories for everything I do, like the walk I just took for a half hour on the phone with my mom.
  • heidimaggott78
    heidimaggott78 Posts: 203
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    Nope. I don't. I try to only count real exercise. I counted gardening this weekend but that was because I was carrying bags of soil and compost around. If I had just been planting things then I wouldn't have.
  • zaph0d
    zaph0d Posts: 1,172 Member
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    just switch your activity level to lightly active or active.
  • BamsieEkhaya
    BamsieEkhaya Posts: 657 Member
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    No, those are bonus calories you burn with life, that is not expercise or something you do to exert energy and purposefully burn calories...

    Ditto..... in my opinion, anything above and beyond is exercise, normal routine activities is just part of your life style.

    I've always prepared my own foods - still put on weight so clearly those few calories burned there never made a real difference compared to the spoon licking and eating !
  • lamilli09
    lamilli09 Posts: 354 Member
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    Well, I respectfully disagree with what others have posted so far...

    For myself, I usually spend 10-60 minutes on meal prep for each meal.

    So if I spend 3+ hours in the kitchen at a time or if I'm breaking a sweat running around doing things in the kitchen, then you can bet that I'm going to log it. Typically, I may eat back 1/4-1/3 of the calories burned from cooking.

    Similarly, with cleaning, I don't log my day-to-day cleaning. But if I take an entire day to clean the whole apartment or moving into/out of an apartment, I'm likely breaking a sweat. And then, yes - I'm going to log it.

    Different folks, different strokes, I guess.
  • claire7090
    claire7090 Posts: 67
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    I count it only if I am doing a large amount, eg preparing for a party, or having a big cooking session to fill the freezer with quick meals for later. When I do count it I only log half the actual time I spent as I think MFP are rather generous in how many calories they give you in return for an hours cooking.
  • paintlisapurple
    paintlisapurple Posts: 982 Member
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    I don't count food prep because its something I've always done. Its not an exercise...I mean unless you're making strudel or pulling taffy or something! LOL
  • kjw1031
    kjw1031 Posts: 300 Member
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    For me any calories burned during food prep and cooking would be negated by the calories I consume tasting what I'm making!

    I quit tasting, and licking spoons.

    I admire people who are able to cook well without tasting. I'm not able to, so I take a small taste to see if I need more/different seasoning.

    I give the spoon to my hubby for licking though.
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,041 Member
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    I might consider counting them for making Thanksgiving dinner or making a ton of food for a party, but for 3 meals a day, no.
  • cbirdso
    cbirdso Posts: 465 Member
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    I agree with what others have said, but I noticed no-one commented on your statement that you didn't think you were getting enough to eat.

    If you think that because you feel hungry, my suggestion is to examine WHAT you are eating. I know with me, certain foods make me hungry and other food satisfies and makes me feel energized. Change up what you are eating and see if you notice a difference.

    If you don't think you are getting enough to eat because you are losing more than what MFP has you set for, then enjoy it while it lasts. If you start to level off and hit a plateau, you can raise your activity level to 'lightly active' to give you a few extra calories a day and that has helped many people (including myself).
  • Life_Is_Good2_Me
    Life_Is_Good2_Me Posts: 36 Member
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    I think people use any excuse to log calories burned, then eat more and don't lose weight. Then they complain about not losing weight and ask why. I don't think it's helpful to count everyday activities but things that actually use muscle and get your heart rate up for longer periods of time. Maybe more people will read this post and learn from it. Good question :). Hope it has helped.
  • Kanlassak
    Kanlassak Posts: 101 Member
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    If it's more than usual, I will count it, especially if I end up having to clean most of the kitchen after. If it's just 15 min, or mostly waiting on things to cook instead of chopping or mixing, I won't.

    I've actually mostly stopped counting it since we finally got a table and chair in the kitchen so I'm not trying to do everything while standing/walking with only a few feet of counter space. It's a lot less movement now.
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,143 Member
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    Does everyone count cooking/food prep as part of their daily exercise.....?

    No. For me, that would be a REAL stretch.
  • Diane_58
    Diane_58 Posts: 23 Member
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    If you count yourself as sedentary, that means you're up very little doing things on your feet. If you're up quite a bit doing things but they're not strenuous, you might count your baseline as the next level up from sedentary. Then a few more calories are factored in automatically. Personally, I have a desk job and I enjoy being on the computer for recreation. So I call myself sedentary, and if I do extra I add calories on top of it. BUT ... I don't eat the extra exercise calories unless I get really hungry. That way I lose faster.
  • JLD81
    JLD81 Posts: 133 Member
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    I don't count mine. When you set up MFP it asks your activity level to determine your daily cals. I set mine at lightly active because I want to lose fat and gain muscle. However, I could easily, most days, set that to active because of my job. However, there are some days where I am not ALWAYS on my feet and don't want to sabotage myself. As a result of the way I have set it up, on days where I walk ALL DAY at work- like this past friday, I will add a small portion of my walking just to make sure I eat enough calories to counteract at least 6 hours of fast paced walking. However, I may walk 6 hours, and only add 45 minutes, because I don't want to hurt myself in the long run. Don't screw yourself over either direction. Cheating your diary will only hurt yourself, and not eating enough calories will also only hurt you. If you are fast paced cooking where you are running outside to check the grill every 5 minutes, and trying to peel and hand mash 10 lbs of potatoes, and changing out the laundry in the midst of it, you might consider it, otherwise, I wouldn't because you will only over consume calories that day.
  • harrietlg
    harrietlg Posts: 239
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    i'm so glad that most of these responses are the same, i'm a chef and spend 9-12 hours at work cooking but i don't count any of it because I do it 5 days a week.
  • yarninaround
    yarninaround Posts: 10
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    If walking a slow pace mile, only earns me 100 extra calories, I doubt food prep adds up to much. Perhaps you do feel the need for a reward though, it just may have to a differnent choice. I used to buy myself a bottle of nail polish or something small and inexpensive along those lines that makes me happy...no calorie treats :)

    OTOH you might just try wearing a pedometer all day and see what that tells you about how many steps you're taking in a day.

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