Should I also track the calories burned walking to and from places?

Volleychick0

I'm a college student so I do a bit of walking every day, probably 40-60 minutes of walking at a moderate pace (I listen to music when I walk and therefor end up walking faster than I would if I were walking with friends). However, I don't know if this should be tracked, because it's not me going out of my way to exercise.

I tracked my calories from my workoutt (kickboxing) and me walking to and from places and my calorie burn was 750 calories, which feels...really high? I'm just confused on if I should leave that out and strictly focus on me going out of my way to exercise.

Thanks

PAV8888

What (exercise) activity you add on top of your base non exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) calories is 100% dependent on what you've included in the activity level you "declared" to MFP.

Did you setup yourself as sedentary when you are not? Then you should be including some.
Did you setup yourself as highly active when you are not? Then you should be excluding some.

To simplify (and these are approximate figures subject to some correction and variance from person to person).

You can assume that the MFP:

Sedentary Level (activity factor of 1.2) INCLUDES your first ~35 to 45 minutes of activity in your day or ~3500 to 5000 steps.

Lightly Active Level (activity factor of 1.4) INCLUDES your first ~45 to 75 minutes of activity in your day or ~5000 to 8000 steps

Active Level (activity factor of 1.6) INCLUDES your first ~75 to 120 minutes of activity in your day or ~8000 to 12500 steps

Very Active Level (activity factor of 1.8) INCLUDES your first ~120 to 150 minutes of activity in your day or ~12500 to 15500 steps

Of course the type and level of activity would play a role. MFP envisions that purposeful exercise will be entered as such; but, there is nothing inherently magical as to what generates a caloric burn... as long as the burn has been generated.

You ADD UP your NON EXERCISE ACTIVITY THERMOGENESIS + YOUR EXERCISE ACTIVITY + the thermic effect of food which we will consider zero and you end up with your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure).

Hopefully, if your haven't been over-aggressive with your goals, once you compare your "desired' deficit to your TDEE you will discover that it is between 10% and 20% of the total (25%, maybe, while you are still obese). (so... 500 Calories deficit on a 2500 calorie TDEE)

If it is: ALL GOOD: eat per your MFP suggested calories... and get as close to 0 as you can.

If it isn't. consider whether you should be pursuing a more aggressive deficit than what most loss guides suggest. Do you have sooo much fat that you can safely do it? For most people the answer is no. Pick a more appropriate deficit and do as above.

Use a weight level tracking program such as libra for android, happy scale for iphone, www.weightgrapher.com or www.trendweight.com.

Those will help you figure out what your weight is really doing, hopefully helping you see past any normal water weight variations.

log as accurately as you can weighing your food and picking verified entries that you double check on your own.

After 4 to 6 weeks review your actual results: look at your MFP expected deficit and compare to the deficit your app says you have achieved.

Adjust.

Good luck

malibu927

No.That's part of your activity level. If you find you're losing quicker than you should be, adjust it higher.

LittleTikiBirdy

I wonder too. Some days I'm walking a lot between places and some days I'm not. Especially at college between classes, you have absolutely no idea how long you're on your feet for and it is different every day. 750 is so high. I feel ridiculously hungry all the time but I'm not losing weight so I try not to count them, but hey, I've made zero progress in the past 3 months so why would you listen to me