Curious - what do you count as exercise?

adiostrasero

So my cousin and I were talking about MFP users who count "everyday" stuff like cleaning, taking the stairs, walking to destinations, etc. as exercise. My cousin and I agreed that if we burn calories doing those things, great, but they shouldn't take the place of an actual workout - they are just calories that will help us lose the weight that much faster.

BUT - I do have an exception. I clean my mom's entire house once a week and I do count that as exercise. I feel justified doing this because: 1. It takes me 3-4 hours (although to account for down time, I usually count it as 2 or 2.5) and it's very physical - constant movement and lots of "elbow grease"! 2. I may eat a little extra on that day if I'm really hungry, but in general I don't eat extra calories just because I earned them cleaning. 3. I just want the time to count toward my weekly workout goal (minutes), because I don't have time to work out on those days. I want to be able to look back and see how many minutes I was active in the past week.

I'm just curious to hear what other people's thoughts are on this - do you count every day type activities? If so, where do you draw the line?

LazyGuy91

I only count actual sports activities and workouts. I try to avoid "over-logging."

keninf

I let my fitbit account for my overall activity, however I log any actual sport-type workouts separately to account for pace, and effort, which I can't record on my fitbit. That way, if I clean, shop, and workout, I can take advantage of even more calories

D_Ryback

I've been wondering the same thing , what to count and what not to. I work at a vet hospital and sometimes end up walking dogs for about 3 hours. I only count about half to account for the slow older ones . But most of the time it is young hyper dogs that need. Faster pace

Booksandbeaches

I have my setting as sedentary. I don't count normal every day activities like stairs, walking, cleaning.
I will count walking the dogs as exercise if I do it long enough.
I count stair climbing as exercise if it's sustained and done for exercise. Just climbing to the second floor at work doesn't count as exercise in my book.
Generally what I count as exercise is what I do specifically for exercise (i.e. gym or exercise at home to DVDs or weight lifting)..oh and sex. I count sex as exercise.

gastlysmom

i would say yes, you are definitely exercising. i know i sweat my *kitten* off when i really get to cleaning ! i would be careful about the time and level of your log though. be cautious about "over estimating" what you actually did. sometimes when i had a crappy run, i'll put slow run ( like 12 min mile vs 10 minute mile) just to be sure i dont go over on my food

lovelyx091

I have my setting as sedentary. I don't count normal every day activities like stairs, walking, cleaning.
I will count walking the dogs as exercise if I do it long enough.
I count stair climbing as exercise if it's sustained and done for exercise. Just climbing to the second floor at work doesn't count as exercise in my book.
Generally what I count as exercise is what I do specifically for exercise (i.e. gym or exercise at home to DVDs or weight lifting)..oh and sex. I count sex as exercise.

How would you add in sex as an exercise, anyway? Lol. I've searched it and nothing :blushing:

Oh and I count actual work outs. Like "I'm going to work out now" or "I'm going to take this walk and walk faster than normal" kind of thing. Not cleaning though. Either way I don't look at the calories burned. I pay attention to what I consumed for my food and if I earned 300 calories from a work out I ignore that. I feel it helps me not end up over eating.

willdob3

I count only actual workouts, like cardio and weight training.

I do some other things that can be active & burn more calories than usual but I don't count those things. Housework or hard work outside, helping paint a house... Never.

babytis

I agree with Booksandbeach. I never count everyday activities as exercise. For me I set time aside for exercise and that is what I count. I work in housekeeping in a large nursing home. I'm bending, lifting, pushing, squatting, walking, twisting and turning all day from 7-3, but I never count it

jillianfaith13

I do not count every day chores and although I use a pedometer with my bodybugg to track steps and calories burned, I do not count simply walking...

If you step it up and put it in gear it counts, Walking briskly, running, cardio machinces at the gym, hiking, kayaking, swimming (if you are doing laps, wading doesn't count)...

Basically if it is moderate to vigorous aerobic or anaerobic activity it counts.

jennpaulson

I was always curious about this and now I have a bodymediafit that is linked with MFP and I let it tell MFP how many exercise calories I've burned. I LOVE having the guess work taken out of it!!

But I don't just walk up and down the steps, I run up and down them so if you look at my activity tracker it shows a spike at that time. And when I go to a store I park on the far side of the parking lot and return my cart all the way to the store.

peeaanuut

This should be figured in your original settings. If you choose sedentary but walk to do all your errands and are on your feet all day then that isn't sedentary. If people chose the correct activity level from the beginning they wouldn't need to log odd stuff. But really, log what you want but understand that most of that crap won't go towards your overall weight loss.

_meesh_

I count my bike ride to and from work, even though I'm not biking really fast or for very long (about 10 minutes each way) I'll also count walks that are over 5 minutes even if I'm not going really fast. Sure it only adds up to 75 or 100 calories, but it's better than nothing.

corgicake

Any physical activity beyond that of a normal day, regardless of whether it happened in a gym or not. Things like cycling as a form of transportation and rolling a loveseat up stairs should be logged. There have been points where I lost weight faster than what made sense and wondered if the calculators here were simply that off... nope, just miles and miles of cycling and lifting things that didn't get logged.

psicocat

i log walking the dog, walking to the shops, any planned exercise like when i go on wii fit or just dance. household cleaning and stuff i dont, i have my tdee set to sedentary and any cleaning etc i just see as a bonus.

MarlinWil

I count all workouts, running, walking the dogs, swimming, etc as exercise. Daily chores, no. But. If I have:

1. a big gardening job on

2. a huge cleanup after my now-one-year-old pup (she digs and chews and destroys regularly)

3. an unusual spring clean, window cleaning, scrubbing tiles in the bathroom (they don't get done as often as I would like them to)

4. to clean the gutters on the house

5. to wash the car (I do this as athletically as possible - yes, your mental picture is probably right)

6. to catch my Asperger's daughter who loves to run away when she manages to get in a sneaky 1.3km (in under 10 minutes, mind you, people - so proud!! My HR is double on that kind of a day; thank God it has only happened 3 times)

I count my calories. B and B - I have yet to measure my HR during sex, but I am planning to start including that, too. Especially now that my husband is now behaving himself and being supportive 80% of the time and it is happening more frequently. I want those burns to count; mainly because I am so stoked and I want to shout about them somewhere.

As far as sex burns go - I would definitely create a pseudonym for them. I have seen many different ones (lol), but think that for myself I will be using "Happy Moment" or something like that. I want to build on the positive, and smile when I look back and see that particular entry. Nice to keep track for myself, but another benefit is that if my husband should forget the frequency that these moments occur (and believe me, he forgets SO MUCH), I am looking forward to being able to correct him in a tangible way. Tee hee. TMI? Nah - we can all relate, I am sure. It is great to be able to laugh and share; we are all human, and I would rather be defined by humour than by taking myself too seriously.

Good luck, all. I am off to enjoy the rest of my glass of red. Yes, for those who weren't sure, I am posting while imbibing. The funniest thing about that is that I have yet to finish my first glass - cheap? No. Just able to maximise with minimum.

Wil

Booksandbeaches

How would you add in sex as an exercise, anyway? Lol. I've searched it and nothing :blushing:

People are creative about how they put it, but once you know them well as friends, you can guess what they're using. Some use "personal aerobics", "high impact aerobics" "belly dancing"..and my personal favorite..."horseback riding." You know when they're horseback riding a few times a week and they don't own a horse or live near a stable...well..it's pretty obvious. :laugh:

As far as sex burns go - I would definitely create a pseudonym for them. I have seen many different ones (lol), but think that for myself I will be using "Happy Moment" or something like that. I want to build on the positive, and smile when I look back and see that particular entry. Nice to keep track for myself, but another benefit is that if my husband should forget the frequency that these moments occur (and believe me, he forgets SO MUCH), I am looking forward to being able to correct him in a tangible way. Tee hee. TMI? Nah - we can all relate, I am sure. It is great to be able to laugh and share; we are all human, and I would rather be defined by humour than by taking myself too seriously.

:drinker:

jwdieter

I just count workouts. Used to track walks and such, but bleh.

micheleb15

I only keep track of exercises when I take the time to put on my HRM; but don't eat them back. I just consider the rest to be extra cushion. I live in the city and walk everywhere since I don't have a car, but I don't include that in my totals because it's daily. I just add it into my TDEE and let it be. It's much easier than figuring out what my calorie count should be daily.

lolalament

I count what I class as "extra" stuff, which is probably hard for anyone apart from me to understand.

So my daily walk to the bus stop etc doesn't count. But if I'm doing a lot of walking over that, it does.

General cleaning doesn't count, but if I had an extended session and moved furniture and spent hours doing stuff then yeah, it would.

I don't normally do gardening, so when I did recently I decided to count it.

adiostrasero

I have my setting as sedentary. I don't count normal every day activities like stairs, walking, cleaning.
I will count walking the dogs as exercise if I do it long enough.
I count stair climbing as exercise if it's sustained and done for exercise. Just climbing to the second floor at work doesn't count as exercise in my book.
Generally what I count as exercise is what I do specifically for exercise (i.e. gym or exercise at home to DVDs or weight lifting)..oh and sex. I count sex as exercise.

Lol... that's a good point about the activity settings though. Keeping them set as sedentary would help account for overinflation of exercise calories ... unless of course you're actually sedentary.

TheCaren

I have my setting as sedentary. I don't count normal every day activities like stairs, walking, cleaning.
I will count walking the dogs as exercise if I do it long enough.
I count stair climbing as exercise if it's sustained and done for exercise. Just climbing to the second floor at work doesn't count as exercise in my book.
Generally what I count as exercise is what I do specifically for exercise (i.e. gym or exercise at home to DVDs or weight lifting)..oh and sex. I count sex as exercise.

How would you add in sex as an exercise, anyway? Lol. I've searched it and nothing :blushing:

Oh and I count actual work outs. Like "I'm going to work out now" or "I'm going to take this walk and walk faster than normal" kind of thing. Not cleaning though. Either way I don't look at the calories burned. I pay attention to what I consumed for my food and if I earned 300 calories from a work out I ignore that. I feel it helps me not end up over eating.

I'd just add it as "circuit training" if you're moving around a bit! LOL

adiostrasero

Any physical activity beyond that of a normal day, regardless of whether it happened in a gym or not. Things like cycling as a form of transportation and rolling a loveseat up stairs should be logged. There have been points where I lost weight faster than what made sense and wondered if the calculators here were simply that off... nope, just miles and miles of cycling and lifting things that didn't get logged.

That's kind of why I count the house cleaning ... I won't eat the calories, but I like to know that I was more physically active than usual that day as it is not a normal, daily activity like walking or taking the stairs.

JingleMuffin

Just actual workouts, and sex ..

highervibes

I don't count anything really because I use the TDEE method and it's factored in. That being said, if I do a day of yardwork and I'm famished afterwards, I will eat an extra few hundred calories and not think twice about it. Usually if you're starving after a day of hard work, it's because you did more than usual. I try and eat more on days I lift and less on days I don't even though I don't "have to" to make up for the days that you just need a bit more. It has been balancing out well so far.

lovelyx091

How would you add in sex as an exercise, anyway? Lol. I've searched it and nothing :blushing:

People are creative about how they put it, but once you know them well as friends, you can guess what they're using. Some use "personal aerobics", "high impact aerobics" "belly dancing"..and my personal favorite..."horseback riding." You know when they're horseback riding a few times a week and they don't own a horse or live near a stable...well..it's pretty obvious. :laugh:

:laugh: Guess I'm going to be horseback riding for a while. I asked my boyfriend how he would log it in and he said "heavy lifting" :sad: :laugh: ha!

amandzor

My activity leve is set on "sedentry" but I only count intentional exercise as exercise. So even though I have a desk job, my commute includes a lengthy walk, and my day usually involves flights of stairs multiple times a day.

So I won't count cleaning (Hours, or otherwise.) not counting shopping trips, sex, etc. I only count my long lunch walks (45mins-1hour) and my trips to the gym (before or after work).

Because I figure the MRP calories aren't always 100% right, so Any discrepencies can be covered by those 'extra' calories I'm not logging due to random errors.

That being said, i stick to my goal, and tend not to eat back my calories. Doing this has meant a 26 pound weightloss in a little over two months. It's working, so I don't plan to tweek anything just yet. If I plateau, then I might consider changing things up. But for now, this works

TattedInStilettos

I work over night and for 7 of my 8hrs there I'm walking at a brisk pace... so yes I count those as exercise cause it is...

busy91

I'm a fitbiter too. And when you do some activity, it counts it. Cleaning house can be strenuous. Sometimes I can sweat more doing that then being on a treadmill. I wouldn't count something like light dusting, but cleaning a bathroom or a child's room...that's tough.

As far as taking stairs, the fitbit counts that as activity. I chose to walk up stairs. I can take escolators or elevators, but every step taken is more calories burned. I wouldln't log it into myfitness pal as excersise though. But it does burn calories. The other day I chose to walk up 13 flights of stairs. That wasn't something I planned to do, but the opportunity presented itself and I did it. Fitbit counted it, but you better believe if I was inputting it for myself, I would have! LOL!

When I was logging here, I used to count my walk to and from the subway. I did this 4 times a day and it took about 15 min each way. Yes, to me that is excersise.

smantha32

I only count cardio. Logging every weight lifting exercise I do is a pain, and I don't believe I'm burning many calories cleaning or walking up stairs a couple times.

StacyReneO

I count workouts, walking and house cleaning. I try to walk as much as possible at work every day. I walk to go get an iced tea almost every day and that's a 2+ mile walk round trip. My office is on the 6th floor but the producers are on the first floor so I make several trips between offices every day. I am burning calories dammit! I workout 3x a week as well.