Do you ever comment on unrealistic logging by friends?

kshama2001

100_PROOF_ wrote: »

When I first joined here I noticed a lot of people logging cleaning, breastfeeding, walking the mailbox, pushing a grocery buggy as exercise. I even asked if that was what we were supposed to be doing here because I couldn't understand why that stuff wasn't already included in daily activities. ( It was, I just didn't know yet)
These people said that the activities needed to be logged and that is why they are in the database.
I did some poking around and saw what formula mfp was using and then realized that those things are indeed accounted for in our activity level.
I thought it was ironic that those same people cried about not losing weight all the time.

I used to log ordinary cooking and cleaning, and would always have several hundred calories left over that I didn't eat. Now I don't log those, and am much closer to hitting my calorie goal. Oddly, I was actually losing more consistently back then. (There are surely other factors involved, so let's not bother to problem solve this - if I ever actually want help I'll start a thread )

zyxst

I logged 5 minutes of vacuuming for an outrageous 13 calories.

takemetosingapore2019

CarvedTones wrote: »

Sometimes I see things in my news feed and think about trying to politely say there is no way in he11 you burned that many calories in that much time doing that activity, but I never do. If it was an IRL friend, I would say something as politely as I could. Here, I just shake my head and ignore it. Sometimes I wonder if I should say something; maybe they really have no idea. OTOH, I don't want to come across as a know it all jerk.

If you’re going to say something out of concern please check your numbers first. I have many days where I burn 1000-1500 calories because I run for 2 hours AND swim or go for a hike too. My page only shows one exercise and the total calorie burn.

takemetosingapore2019

zyxst wrote: »

Nope.

I'm sure they have a mother and do not wish for another.

THIS

paperpudding

kshama2001 wrote: »

GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »

I don't even look at my feed, let alone comment on it. I'm a terrible friend.

Ya, I have a note in my profile that I am a terrible feed friend. If people friend request me expecting feed feedback without bothering to read that, that's on them

Now there's a good idea - I will do likewise and then anyone who friend requests me knows what to expect or to reconsider their request.

SouthernMamaUnderConsruction

On cardio I go by an online calculator. If I have been wearing my Fitbit I go by what it says.

rheddmobile

SummerSkier wrote: »

I keep my friend's list pretty small and we tend to engage with each other. I like reading the newsfeed, and I like their updates. Losing and maintaining weight is not easy, and it really helps to have like minded MFP friends. I still have some friends from 2012 when I started who have since become real life friends and facebook friends. As far as unrealistic logging I don't "CALL them out", but I do ask sometimes. Usually there is an very good reason and explanation for it, and we laugh about it some more. I do not accept a lot of requests - esp those without an email along with it, but the comments here about "they asked ME!" are funny. I mean you don't have to accept just because someone asks you? right? I know there are folks on here with literally THOUSANDS of friends and maybe "followers?" However if someone doesn't engage or isn't active that's just a #.

I kind of love having a bunch of weird friends some of whom I have nothing in common with except MFP - it makes me happy seeing how different people can be. I'm not a very good supporter probably but I do try to think kind thoughts and hit the "like" button once in a while. On other forums I've done the forum friends become real life friends thing, and it's also great in its way, but sometimes it's not necessary.

heybales

NorthCascades wrote: »

Well I just created my own exercise and entered 500 calories for 5 minutes. I won't say what it is exactly, but I had just finished cleaning and scrubbing my cats litter boxes, and I don't think I'll eat pasta again for a while.

I know this is a little weird, but I'm also sure I lost a lot of calories. And this was the only way I could think of to make the MFP math work. I like the weekly net report.

It came over from MFP into Garmin Connect as a manual activity with no data. I deleted it in GC and it still seems to be here. Probably just screwed up my Garmin reports.

Did it correct the math yet for that past day?

I noticed when I did manual things, even adding a workout had a delay to correcting the daily burn, but deleting something really took awhile.
Throw in the syncing of the workout to MFP that I removed, really bad.

I think that was at the start of using the Garmin VIVO whatever, and I experimented with tracking a workout on it, while I did on the 310XT also, which got imported later after first workout logged.

At least it made it really clear to me my best order of updating things.

bobsburgersfan

You've probably got way more feedback than you need, but here are my 2 cents.

I don't often track my exercise calories in MFP, but the few times I've tracked them, I go with the calories that my Fitbit says I earned (I know those aren't perfect either, but in general I think it's close). I just log whatever amount of minutes comes to the calorie burn target I wanted, no matter how off it might be. I might not have burned 500 calories walking for 30 minutes, but I did burn 500 calories doing what I was doing. Because people do things their own way, there are plenty of times that your assumptions might be wrong.

But even when you're right, I do think that most people would rather not receive unsolicited advice, even if they are clueless and in denial. My weight and my weight loss process is intensely personal and I don't want anyone commenting on it unless we have a close relationship.

That said, there are times that unwanted advice can help people. I was on Weight Watchers before MFP, and on their message boards quite a few years ago, I received a bit of unsolicited advice that I hated. I disliked the advice-giver for a very long time before realizing that her original advice was dead on and was tremendously good advice, and over time I even grew to appreciate her blunt way of giving advice. (Those message boards are gone and I actually miss that lady a lot.) It kind of depends on your personality. If you are okay with some people disliking you, there are times that we need people who are blunt and honest. (And you can be blunt and honest without being a jerk, although some people will take it that way anyway.)