Standing - how would you log it for mild exercise?

MidModJenn

Have any of you ever logged "standing" in some way as exercise? I'm not talking about standing in line at the grocery store for a few minutes... I mean like many hours of standing such as at a concert or a party. Last night I was at a cocktail party where I stood / walked around for 5 hours non-stop in heels... Of course it wasn't a major workout, but I want to capture it (and offset my nibbles at the party)... my only real options seem to be choosing "fishing while standing", or choosing "walking 2.0 pace" and lessening the amount of time I did it. Any suggestions?

Machka9

Have never logged it.
Would never log it.

I consider stuff like that bonus burns where I might, perhaps have burnt an extra 100 cal in my day which might, perhaps offset an earlier food miscalculation.

jemhh

No, I would not log that. Standing does burn more calories than sitting and I know that there are some days when I stand for hours on end and then look at my step counter, thinking that surely I have a lot of steps, but have relatively few (e.g., days when I spend a lot of time in the kitchen) but I'd still not log that.

estherdragonbat

I don't log it. If I'm taking a long walk to a store and have to spend some time standing in line or at intersections, I try to move around a bit (e.g. 8 reps march in place, 8 reps heel dig, 8 reps toe dig, 8 reps leg lift, reverse order), but that's more so when I say I walked 90 minutes, I kept moving for 90 minutes instead of having to check my watch and deduct the time. I know I'm probably moving a bit slower, but I also clocked my walking pace at about 3.25 mph and I log it as 3.0, so it kind of balances.

Generally, if I'm not moving around, I don't think of it as burning extra calories.

I also sit on a stability ball for a few minutes every day, just reading a book. It's a mild core-strengthener and I think my posture is a little better. (Note: That isn't the only core exercise I do.) But I don't log it.

cmriverside

I think the heels should count for something.

Other than that...I wouldn't log it as exercise.

lorrpb

No point. I would just count it as bonus burn to offset maybe one beer at the concert.

Ready2Rock206

Not something I would ever log.

MidModJenn

Thanks everyone, this is helpful.

fjmartini

Would you be standing still or slightly swaying from side to side?

Unknown

This content has been removed.

rainbowbow

Not worth it to log it. I have a standing desk and will stand for 4-5 hours a day and then i'm in the gym, walking around the city, etc. According to this calculator:
http://www.juststand.org/OnlineToolbox/tabid/637/Default.aspx

• If standing while working: 625 calories burned
• If sitting while working: 469 calories burned
• Calorie-burn increase: 156

This is like nothing and completely negligible when accounted for the rest of my daily movement and exercise.

zannatagged

rainbowbow wrote: »

Not worth it to log it. I have a standing desk and will stand for 4-5 hours a day and then i'm in the gym, walking around the city, etc. According to this calculator:
http://www.juststand.org/OnlineToolbox/tabid/637/Default.aspx

• If standing while working: 625 calories burned
• If sitting while working: 469 calories burned
• Calorie-burn increase: 156

This is like nothing and completely negligible when accounted for the rest of my daily movement and exercise.

zannatagged

Log it anyway, if you're disabled or have any kind of physical issues these things count. Don't let anyone on here tell you something doesn't matter. All the best on your journey xox

rainbowbow

zannatagged wrote: »

Log it anyway, if you're disabled or have any kind of physical issues these things count. Don't let anyone on here tell you something doesn't matter. All the best on your journey xox

Logging it vs. not logging it can be the difference between succeeding on your dieting and failing. The more overweight you are the more wiggle room you have to make mistakes and still lose, but it's making these judgement calls that can lead to frustration, disappointment, and falling of the horse altogether for some people.

You seem to be relatively new and this is your second post commenting about logging non-exercise things as exercise; I would advise to consider that the majority of individuals on here who've seen and maintained successful weight loss may have figured these things out. No one is saying that extra work, effort, or activity "doesn't matter".

What we're saying is that it's not worth it to give yourself extra calories to eat-back because of the high-chance of over-estimation.

TavistockToad

zannatagged wrote: »

Log it anyway, if you're disabled or have any kind of physical issues these things count. Don't let anyone on here tell you something doesn't matter. All the best on your journey xox

:huh:

zannatagged

Please read what I wrote with regard to physical limitations instead of picking out one section of a paragraph to jump on. I don't know people's back stories, nor do you, so I don't JUDGE.

Please don't turn this thread into what you did to my thread and ruin the valuable information ppl provided me which I now cannot access because of your behaviour. Thanks. I won't be back so you can go ahead and have yr whatever last words as we all know you must.

cmriverside

zannatagged wrote: »

Please read what I wrote with regard to physical limitations instead of picking out one section of a paragraph to jump on. I don't know people's back stories, nor do you, so I don't JUDGE.

Please don't turn this thread into what you did to my thread and ruin the valuable information ppl provided me which I now cannot access because of your behaviour. Thanks. I won't be back so you can go ahead and have yr whatever last words as we all know you must.

ironic.


That thread was along the same lines, though.

I think if OP wants to count it, she will. I know I went through a period where I counted all that stuff...making beds, vacuuming, shopping, all that stuff. It gets to be cumbersome for one thing. I had to get past that accounting mindset because it can become obsessive and anxiety-producing, and really standing for a few hours at a party AT MOST will burn an additional 50-100 calories. If that. That falls into the margin of error category, and it's also part of most weekends, right?

I only log purposeful moderate-exertion exercise. You do what you want.

arizonacut

If I'm moving my arms around a lot I'm logging it lol. Gym rats don't but then they have that whole other vanity type thing going on bout what counts etc.

I mean we all live in our own stupid bubble right? Log it Darlin, if ya find its not workin for ya stop logging it and do some harder excercise.

Keeping in mind always:
Weight is also influenced by, hormones, medications, medical factors and sometimes vitamin deficiencies if ur doing all the correct hard work and it ISNT working.

TavistockToad

zannatagged wrote: »

Please read what I wrote with regard to physical limitations instead of picking out one section of a paragraph to jump on. I don't know people's back stories, nor do you, so I don't JUDGE.

Please don't turn this thread into what you did to my thread and ruin the valuable information ppl provided me which I now cannot access because of your behaviour. Thanks. I won't be back so you can go ahead and have yr whatever last words as we all know you must.

Did I miss OP saying she had physical limitations?

MidModJenn

TavistockToad wrote: »

Did I miss OP saying she had physical limitations?

You didn't, but I do. I have a bad back that sometimes forces me to be carful with strenuous exercise. Until I lose some of this weight, traditional working out has not been recommended. Standing in low heels last night for so many hours made me sore when I woke up this morning, which is why I wondered if I could at least count it for *something* until I can actually exercise again like a regular person. I appreciated @zannatagged 's perspective... I'm not using this to justify eating massively over my calorie limit, I was just curious. I think everyone needs to take a deep breath!

amtyrell

I wouldn't log it. I would assume it was offset any extra gain in some part of the nibbles that I am certain to have accidentally underlogged

jayemes

arizonacut wrote: »

If I'm moving my arms around a lot I'm logging it lol. Gym rats don't but then they have that whole other vanity type thing going on bout what counts etc.

Maybe the reason the "gym rats" are in awesome shape is that they do the work instead of counting "arm swinging" as cardio.
@OP your feet probably hurt because you were in heels. It's not like being sore because you worked out. You can log it if you'd like, but in my opinion you'll just be doing yourself a disservice.

TonyB0588

MidModJenn wrote: »

Have any of you ever logged "standing" in some way as exercise? I'm not talking about standing in line at the grocery store for a few minutes... I mean like many hours of standing such as at a concert or a party. Last night I was at a cocktail party where I stood / walked around for 5 hours non-stop in heels... Of course it wasn't a major workout, but I want to capture it (and offset my nibbles at the party)... my only real options seem to be choosing "fishing while standing", or choosing "walking 2.0 pace" and lessening the amount of time I did it. Any suggestions?

I have one MFP friend who often logs "Standing at desk, working". I would consider logging it as you were both standing and walking around. Without an accurate count of how much you stopped or moved, I would split the 5 hours in half, and log it as "Walking, 2.0mph, slow pace". Just my opinion.

MidModJenn

@TonyB0588 - thanks. I checked out both options this morning - halving the time and doing 2.0 walking gave me ~300 exercise calories... 5 hours of fishing while standing gave me ~150 calories. I chose fishing so the calorie count would be more conservative.

@jayemes - not to split hairs, but it was my legs and butt (and back) that hurt this morning, not my feet. which is why I wondered if it could count as mild exercise.

Machka9

zannatagged wrote: »

Log it anyway, if you're disabled or have any kind of physical issues these things count. Don't let anyone on here tell you something doesn't matter. All the best on your journey xox

The question you have to ask yourself is ... are you losing weight when you count these things as exercise.

If yes ... then great. Keep doing what you are doing.

If no ... then stop logging them.

You can put whatever you want in your diary . .. but your body follows the real math .

Azdak

You can do what you want. Logging is just an academic exercise--you will lose weight if you sustain a deficit, regardless of how you do your accounting. Some people are motivated by seeing a running total of small activities; others figure ignoring it creates a "cushion" to make sure they don't go over. (Others use the TDEE method and don't log at all).

The caution I urge about taking the "nickel and dime" approach is not a moral judgement, but a practical concern.

Even when someone lists their lifestyle as "sedentary", there is still an allowance for everyday activity. That allowance is an average number of calories--it's not an automatic "credit". Some days you might burn a little more, some days a little less. You often can't be really sure if that "standing" or "housework" you are claiming actually represents extra calories over and above your allowance. If you were really sedentary the rest of the day, it might not be any extra at all.

The second thing to consider is BMR, i.e. Resting metabolism. That has to be subtracted from any activity calorie burn. For these low-level calorie burning activities, the amount may be completely trivial after subtracting BMR. The extra 150 or so calories might only be 75 NET calories.

wheelieguy79

I am disabled, I have a degenerative bone disease that is not only painful but limits my mobility as well. I try to move around as much as possible. I had read that every hour you should try to do some type of movement if possible. I set my phone to alert me to get up and just even walk around for a couple of minutes. I also do try to fit in some sort of measurable exercise 3 to 5 days a week, though it depends on how bad the pain is. I think really diet is the more important part of this equation, and I think most of my weight loss has come from use sticking to a calorie deficient.