Trying to find a good equivalent to heavy yard work to list in diary

BioShocked89

So today I did a lot of heavy duty yard work. I was hauling a wheelbarrow multiple times filed with dirt/metal scraps and lots of digging and shoveling was involved. I know I was burning a good amount of calories because I was drenched with sweat and was exhausted afterward. But what do I list it as? I saw a "gardening" option in the diary but I don't know if that's a fair equivalent. What are other ways I could list it? I was working solidly for 45-60 minutes straight. (I was out there 2 hours total, but I'm over accounting for water breaks and pauses).

tomteboda

Try : "gardening, general" or "raking lawn". I use "gardening, general" for what you describe.

They come in between "gardening" and "chopping wood" .

CattOfTheGarage

Or "manual work"?

SLLRunner

I don't count anything but steady state cardio because everything else, outside of intentional exercise, is included in my activity level. In my opinion, it comes out in the wash.

However, since you are chosing a different approach, you might want to cut the calories by half, if not more, because they are way over estimated for everything.

tomteboda

@SLLRunner I actually think the burns are probably pretty accurate on the ones I suggested.

I'm 170 lbs, here's what I get for 60 minutes of each activity:

gardening 232
gardening, general 309
raking lawn 309
chopping wood 479

Compare this to

Walking, 2 mph 193
Walking, 3 mph 255
Walking, 4 mph 386


This puts general yard work a bit lower than other calorie websites, which tend to put me closer to 380 calories/hour for yard work. The kind of gardening that @BioShocked89 describes is fairly intensive work. There's a reason you see very few overweight landscapers.

PinkPixiexox

I'd go with 'Gardening'
If you've burnt more over the coming week, the scale will reflect - but it's best to log something.