what exercise to log

Evamutt

I was wondering if I should log my walks i do every morning since it's been a regular part of my life for years. Also I put lightly active on my profile but should I change it to sedentary & log all my walking & gym?

jemhh

If you included the daily walks when choosing lightly active, do not log them separately. If you did not, log them. If the daily activity level is confusing, I suggest erring on the conservative side to start and then adjusting your method based on biofeedback.

seska422

Use MFP in the way that works best for you.

No one is going to grade you on whether you do it the "correct" way or not. All that matters in the end is that you find a workable method that you like to use.

rileysowner

If you consistently do this walk every day, I would just leave your activity where it is and not log it. I say that because the purpose of logging exercise and getting the extra calories is for people who are not as consistent at it. Since it is part of your regular life, I would set it up as such using activity level.

Evamutt

I've chosen lightly active because I don't have a desk job & do move around most of the day & daily walks are included. I log exercise when I go to gym or go for extra walk.Is this right? It made me question it because of what someone said about their own activity. I don't want to cheat myself. I have been loosing wt, not as fast as some others but I try not to compare. I'm happy I'm loosing. I really appreciate all your wisdom

seska422

Let's say that the difference between sedentary and lightly active is 150 calories.

That might give you 1500 for sedentary and 1650 for lightly active.

I don't know how many calories your daily walking burns but let's estimate 150 calories.

If you set to sedentary (1500) and added your daily walk (150), you'd end up with 1650 calories. That would be the same as setting to lightly active (1650) and not adding anything for your daily walk. Either way would get you to the same final number.

Everything is estimates anyway. You need to make adjustments based on your actual results over time. If you don't lose as much as you expect, eat a little less. If you lose faster than you plan, eat a little more.

Evamutt

that makes sense, thank you

NorthCascades

seska422 wrote: »

Everything is estimates anyway. You need to make adjustments based on your actual results over time. If you don't lose as much as you expect, eat a little less. If you lose faster than you plan, eat a little more.

How do you know your results over time? Those are just an estimate.

seska422

NorthCascades wrote: »

seska422 wrote: »

Everything is estimates anyway. You need to make adjustments based on your actual results over time. If you don't lose as much as you expect, eat a little less. If you lose faster than you plan, eat a little more.

How do you know your results over time? Those are just an estimate.

If you have a downward weight trend and average 1 pound of weight loss per week over several months, you are losing weight. You may not know exactly how many pounds you've lost but you are getting the job done.

rileysowner

seska422 wrote: »

Let's say that the difference between sedentary and lightly active is 150 calories.

That might give you 1500 for sedentary and 1650 for lightly active.

I don't know how many calories your daily walking burns but let's estimate 150 calories.

If you set to sedentary (1500) and added your daily walk (150), you'd end up with 1650 calories. That would be the same as setting to lightly active (1650) and not adding anything for your daily walk. Either way would get you to the same final number.

Everything is estimates anyway. You need to make adjustments based on your actual results over time. If you don't lose as much as you expect, eat a little less. If you lose faster than you plan, eat a little more.

While technically true, it is not the whole truth, they are estimates based on lots of collected evidence. So BRM numbers for an individual are an estimate in the sense that they are not exact, but not in the sense of them being so far off as to be of little use. They are generally, for the vast majority of the population, quite close. A more accurate statement would be they are not precise.

NorthCascades

What @rileysowner said.

Also, if we're going to use "everything is estimates anyway" as an excuse not to try, you have to include what hte scale and mirror say and how your close fits as untrustworthy estimates. Who knows, right? Maybe you're losing weight, maybe it's all a dream. Or, maybe a good estimate is good enough to work with.

Evamutt

I only log things like treadmill, eliptical that say on them how many cal you burned or water aerobics, swimming laps according to mfp data base but don't log lifting weights or any other exercise at gym

seska422

rileysowner wrote: »

seska422 wrote: »

Let's say that the difference between sedentary and lightly active is 150 calories.

That might give you 1500 for sedentary and 1650 for lightly active.

I don't know how many calories your daily walking burns but let's estimate 150 calories.

If you set to sedentary (1500) and added your daily walk (150), you'd end up with 1650 calories. That would be the same as setting to lightly active (1650) and not adding anything for your daily walk. Either way would get you to the same final number.

Everything is estimates anyway. You need to make adjustments based on your actual results over time. If you don't lose as much as you expect, eat a little less. If you lose faster than you plan, eat a little more.

While technically true, it is not the whole truth, they are estimates based on lots of collected evidence. So BRM numbers for an individual are an estimate in the sense that they are not exact, but not in the sense of them being so far off as to be of little use. They are generally, for the vast majority of the population, quite close. A more accurate statement would be they are not precise.

Not precise works too. I used estimate in the "rough or approximate calculation" sense.

NorthCascades wrote: »

What @rileysowner said.

Also, if we're going to use "everything is estimates anyway" as an excuse not to try, you have to include what hte scale and mirror say and how your close fits as untrustworthy estimates. Who knows, right? Maybe you're losing weight, maybe it's all a dream. Or, maybe a good estimate is good enough to work with.

I never meant to imply that "estimate" was bad or something that couldn't be used.

My point is that there's no need to get wrapped up in the exact numbers or in which "calories out" column a daily walk should be counted. We can estimate about how many calories we are consuming and about how many calories we are burning and make adjustments based on results. The closer we can get our estimates, the better, but we are never going to have exact numbers and there's nothing wrong with that. We can still get results even if we don't have exact numbers.