Shopping as exercise???

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  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    judyvalentine512 wrote: »
    Okay, that settles it. I won't log grocery shopping as exercise anymore. But I do have another 'walking' question.
    Today, instead of walking on the street, I went to one of the hiking trails in town. Now, on my fitnesspal, they have three hiking categories. I chose the cross-country, thinking that was not climbing, some minor changes in elevation, (tripping over rocks and tree roots). I don't eat the calories I earn, it's just fun to see the totals add up.
    What do you consider hiking? I changed it to walking just to be sure,

    Pick hiking but if you are not losing or losing too fast adjust your calorie burn number. All the numbers are just estimates so keeping accurate calories in and calories out tracking is a must.
  • judyvalentine512
    judyvalentine512 Posts: 927 Member
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    the calories burned are calculated by fitnesspal. How do you adjust them?
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    judyvalentine512 wrote: »
    the calories burned are calculated by fitnesspal. How do you adjust them?

    They maybe overstated by as much as 50 to 75%. Reduce the calorie burns on MFP by 75% and track for a few weeks. If you are losing then you got the right number, if not, reduce by another 25%.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    judyvalentine512 wrote: »
    the calories burned are calculated by fitnesspal. How do you adjust them?

    MFP makes the number pop up in the box, but you can edit that number. Just delete it and type in your own (50-75% of the number given).
  • 13bbird13
    13bbird13 Posts: 425 Member
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    I only count shopping when I go to Ikea and walk an ungodly number of steps over the course of half a day. Then I take only half the time I was actually there and log it as "slow pace". I think it's worth something since I'm on my feet for hours when chances are I would otherwise be on the couch watching YouTube, but should be "discounted" somehow for fear of over estimating exercise calories.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited November 2015
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    judyvalentine512 wrote: »
    When I have a busy day, I can't get out for my walk outside. For instance, today I visited my Mom. She has Alzheimer's, so it's not much exercise involved. Afterward, I had to do groceries. I spent 45 minutes in the store. I absolutely LOVE grocery shopping, so I wander the aisles looking for new and different things.
    Anyway, in my exercise journal I marked 30 minutes at a slow pace.
    Does that seem reasonable?
    What are your thoughts?

    Sure, if your activity level is set at Sedentary, I see nothing wrong with logging "Walking, 2.0 mph, slow pace."

    Sedentary includes everything up to 5,000 steps. Unless she was at Mall of America for the day....I don't think so.

    http://www.fitnessforweightloss.com/rate-your-activity-level-based-on-steps-per-day/

    This is what makes a FitBit or other tracker great. You set your activity level (enable negative adjustments) and sync the tracker to MFP. The FitBit and MFP will track actual differences (+ and -).
  • judyvalentine512
    judyvalentine512 Posts: 927 Member
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    Ikea is a whole other ball of wax. I get lost there every time I go. I try to take the shortcuts, but I end up walking in circles. I am there for a minimum of 3 hours every time I go. It's all part of their evil plot to take over the world. :D:p

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,180 Member
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    judyvalentine512 wrote: »
    Okay, that settles it. I won't log grocery shopping as exercise anymore. But I do have another 'walking' question.
    Today, instead of walking on the street, I went to one of the hiking trails in town. Now, on my fitnesspal, they have three hiking categories. I chose the cross-country, thinking that was not climbing, some minor changes in elevation, (tripping over rocks and tree roots). I don't eat the calories I earn, it's just fun to see the totals add up.
    What do you consider hiking? I changed it to walking just to be sure,

    If the hiking trail is relatively flat, I just log it as walking. The only time I log something as hiking is if there's climbing or other challenges to deal with along the way (i.e. climbing over logs, climbing over boulders, a bit of a jog down a little slope, carrying a relatively heavy backpack etc.), and then only the lowest calorie choice available.

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    judyvalentine512 wrote: »
    Ikea is a whole other ball of wax. I get lost there every time I go. I try to take the shortcuts, but I end up walking in circles. I am there for a minimum of 3 hours every time I go. It's all part of their evil plot to take over the world. :D:p

    I've been to IKEA one time and loathed it. We let our daughter go to the in-house childcare there and the fact that there was no direct way to get back to her pretty much gave me a panic attack.
  • elyosyn
    elyosyn Posts: 20 Member
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    Yeah I would consider it an exercise fer sure especially x mas shopping when u gotta also run and hide from ur brain/spouse or kids
  • annette_15
    annette_15 Posts: 1,657 Member
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    Being in maintenance now, I will eat a little extra on days where I go to the mall or am more active cause I know my NEAT is higher that day. When I was losing tho, I just saw it as a bonus and wouldnt eat back any calories for activities that wasnt done in workout wear
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,262 Member
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    Not for me. Most of my shopping is done online and when it is not I don't consider it exercise
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    judyvalentine512 wrote: »
    When I have a busy day, I can't get out for my walk outside. For instance, today I visited my Mom. She has Alzheimer's, so it's not much exercise involved. Afterward, I had to do groceries. I spent 45 minutes in the store. I absolutely LOVE grocery shopping, so I wander the aisles looking for new and different things.
    Anyway, in my exercise journal I marked 30 minutes at a slow pace.
    Does that seem reasonable?
    What are your thoughts?

    Sure, if your activity level is set at Sedentary, I see nothing wrong with logging "Walking, 2.0 mph, slow pace."


    "Sedentary" doesn't mean "inert". Even a "sedentary" classification still includes an activity allowance.

    Locomotion is not exercise.
  • yusaku02
    yusaku02 Posts: 3,472 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    i do all kinds of things to improve my NEAT...i take the stairs...i park as far away from my office building as possible...i walk around the office when i need to talk to people rather than shooting emails or paging them on the phone...i do more activities with my kids like going to the zoo, etc that require me to be on my feet and moving...i park further away from the grocery store rather than driving my car around for 10 minutes looking for that rock star parking...i do all kinds of things to improve my NEAT, but I don't consider them to be "exercise"
    THIS.
    I kind of want to copy and paste this response every time there's a thread asking how to log calories from:
    • changing out the laundry
    • chewing on my nails
    • giving the dog a bath
    • drinking with a straw
    • watching my kid's soccer game
    • getting a pedicure
    • reaching up to the top shelf
  • queenofpuppies
    queenofpuppies Posts: 189 Member
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    I count it if I spend all day walking around the mall...thats still walking isn't it? Why is that different then walking around my neighborhood? I also consider myself sedentary.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    judyvalentine512 wrote: »
    Okay, that settles it. I won't log grocery shopping as exercise anymore. But I do have another 'walking' question.
    Today, instead of walking on the street, I went to one of the hiking trails in town. Now, on my fitnesspal, they have three hiking categories. I chose the cross-country, thinking that was not climbing, some minor changes in elevation, (tripping over rocks and tree roots). I don't eat the calories I earn, it's just fun to see the totals add up.
    What do you consider hiking? I changed it to walking just to be sure,

    I walk on a trail that has major ups and downs for about 10 minutes, so I log those 10 minutes as hiking and the rest as walking. I've not looked into the cross country category.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,996 Member
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    TeaBea wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    judyvalentine512 wrote: »
    When I have a busy day, I can't get out for my walk outside. For instance, today I visited my Mom. She has Alzheimer's, so it's not much exercise involved. Afterward, I had to do groceries. I spent 45 minutes in the store. I absolutely LOVE grocery shopping, so I wander the aisles looking for new and different things.
    Anyway, in my exercise journal I marked 30 minutes at a slow pace.
    Does that seem reasonable?
    What are your thoughts?

    Sure, if your activity level is set at Sedentary, I see nothing wrong with logging "Walking, 2.0 mph, slow pace."

    Sedentary includes everything up to 5,000 steps. Unless she was at Mall of America for the day....I don't think so.

    http://www.fitnessforweightloss.com/rate-your-activity-level-based-on-steps-per-day/

    This is what makes a FitBit or other tracker great. You set your activity level (enable negative adjustments) and sync the tracker to MFP. The FitBit and MFP will track actual differences (+ and -).

    I wish we had more clarity on what MFP is basing Sedentary on.

    I think @rabbitjb said her FitBit comes out of the negative at around 2,500 steps.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    I just got back from a big day at the casino, does pushing the slot machine button count as exercise? Also if you won some money does counting it attribute to exercise?
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    TeaBea wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    judyvalentine512 wrote: »
    When I have a busy day, I can't get out for my walk outside. For instance, today I visited my Mom. She has Alzheimer's, so it's not much exercise involved. Afterward, I had to do groceries. I spent 45 minutes in the store. I absolutely LOVE grocery shopping, so I wander the aisles looking for new and different things.
    Anyway, in my exercise journal I marked 30 minutes at a slow pace.
    Does that seem reasonable?
    What are your thoughts?

    Sure, if your activity level is set at Sedentary, I see nothing wrong with logging "Walking, 2.0 mph, slow pace."

    Sedentary includes everything up to 5,000 steps. Unless she was at Mall of America for the day....I don't think so.

    http://www.fitnessforweightloss.com/rate-your-activity-level-based-on-steps-per-day/

    This is what makes a FitBit or other tracker great. You set your activity level (enable negative adjustments) and sync the tracker to MFP. The FitBit and MFP will track actual differences (+ and -).

    I wish we had more clarity on what MFP is basing Sedentary on.

    I think @rabbitjb said her FitBit comes out of the negative at around 2,500 steps.

    Yes around 2500-3000 steps for me to hit MFP sedentary ...unless it's just meandering leisurely in which case it could be 4000.

    I
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,741 Member
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    I am set to sedentary, so I log that stuff.

    I do under log it though. 45 min in a grocery store I would probably log as 15 min walking @ leisurely pace. I often do 8 hours of thrift shopping & flea market-going, with maybe 40 minutes spent in the car going from place to place...I log it as 120 min walking @ leisurely pace. If I have a crazy busy day at work where I'm up and down ten times per hour I might log 20 minutes of light cleaning.

    If I were set to "lightly active" (or other settings that are more active) I would ONLY log exercise.

    When I do "actual exercise" I log it precisely...30 minute BRISK walk for fitness purposes, a grueling 60 minute hike, 40 minutes of bicycling, etc.

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