Burning calories through regular daily activities

TonyB0588

On another tracking site I used before, regular daily activities at home or work were counted towards calories burned. My Fitness Pal does not seem to accommodate this. Why is it that only a deliberate exercise routine seems to contribute to the calorie count here?

French_Peasant

If it is a daily activity then it is part of whatever lifestyle you selected: sedentary, lightly active, etc. I added several gardening related calorie burns to my own database based on Harvard research because I spend hours and hours doing vigorous work in three different gardens. If you have something special that you do, presumably you could do the same.

malibu927

They're already a part of your activity level, which is why you should set it accordingly

TonyB0588

jmbmilholland wrote: »

If it is a daily activity then it is part of whatever lifestyle you selected: sedentary, lightly active, etc. I added several gardening related calorie burns to my own database based on Harvard research because I spend hours and hours doing vigorous work in three different gardens. If you have something special that you do, presumably you could do the same.

Thanks for your response. Do you mean the routine stuff is already accounted for in the lifestyle choice, and don't need to be listed on the daily record?

Also you seem to be implying that other activities need to be researched to add a newly created item to the list. Maybe I'll go back to the old site and pull the information from there.

TonyB0588

malibu927 wrote: »

They're already a part of your activity level, which is why you should set it accordingly

Thanks Malibu, I've just rechecked my settings and I can see how this is accounted for now.

French_Peasant

TonyB0588 wrote: »

jmbmilholland wrote: »

If it is a daily activity then it is part of whatever lifestyle you selected: sedentary, lightly active, etc. I added several gardening related calorie burns to my own database based on Harvard research because I spend hours and hours doing vigorous work in three different gardens. If you have something special that you do, presumably you could do the same.

Thanks for your response. Do you mean the routine stuff is already accounted for in the lifestyle choice, and don't need to be listed on the daily record?

Also you seem to be implying that other activities need to be researched to add a newly created item to the list. Maybe I'll go back to the old site and pull the information from there.

Some activities should be out there, for example, I looked up splitting wood, and it gives me a calorie count based on my weight. So if you split wood once a month or once a week, you should add that in, but it you split wood as your daily job, or are a lumberjack or something, doing it for 8 hours, then your base TDEE should be "highly active" and it's baked into your daily allowance. Same for walking--if you walk 20 blocks to work every day, that should be baked in, but if you walk 20 blocks a couple times a week, that should be logged individually and you have more calories to eat back if you wish.

For oddball activities, I like to check this Harvard Medical list, but it might not be useful if you are not within spitting distance of the 3 weights listed.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/diet-and-weight-loss/calories-burned-in-30-minutes-of-leisure-and-routine-activities

Before I add a new activity, I also try to research several different sites and then add a moderate or median score, as I will generally eat back every calorie I "earn" while still staying in a deficit (except on my monster gardening days, where it's difficult to eat that many calories!)

TonyB0588

For oddball activities, I like to check this Harvard Medical list, but it might not be useful if you are not within spitting distance of the 3 weights listed.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/diet-and-weight-loss/calories-burned-in-30-minutes-of-leisure-and-routine-activities


Thanks very much for the Harvard link.