How to account for non-athletic calories in daily total?

engian

I wonder how any folks here account for non-athletic calorie expenditures in your daily total? For example the last two days I've spent large amounts of time doing some heavy gardening -digging, wheel barrows of stuff being hauled around, digging out plants...6 full hours yesterday and 5.5 hours today. Those time amounts don't include lunch breaks, etc. just full working time. So far the only calories I add to my daily total are my workout efforts.

Thanks,

Elia

jwdieter

I set my activity level to slightly active, and I don't bother with walks, gardening, moving, etc.

Unless you're trying to gain weight precisely, it doesn't really matter imo.

ToStev

I would say if your able get a heart rate monitor (HRM) and wear it so you can get a relative baseline. Then you can do the math out from there....but ideally just wear the HRM when you think you will be expending large amounts of calories.

_EndGame_

Well, I'm no expert, but I believe that if you're physically active, sweating and have a raised heart rate, then it's safe to assume that you're burning calories. I think MFP activity levels can be set to include various different levels of activity into your daily allowance (not entirely how you set it though)

One thing I can suggest is purchasing a HRM. I use a Polar FT4, and based on my height, weight and age, it gives you a very accurate reading of how many calories you have burned based on all of the above, and your heart rate. Could be worth investing on one.

I_Will_End_You

I consider very heavy yard work exercise. It's included in the database, but I'm not sure how accurate the calorie burn is. I'd take whatever MFP gives you and cut it in half, as they generally over estimate A LOT.

scrapjen

I have a Fitbit, which I wear 24/7 ... I feel like this does a pretty good job and catching both my dedicated exercise and all those other things I do during the day. I always love when I can get some additional active minutes when I'm not "exercising". It gives me a total burn for the day, taking into account ALL activity, and it syncs with MFP so I rarely ever enter anything manually (it doesn't pick up biking, swimming, and some weight workouts).

I did a post about the Fitbit on my blog, with some of the graphs and such you see if you have one, if you wanted to take a peek.
http://jenbsjourney.blogspot.com/2013/08/wondering-about-fitbit.html

laylaness

Is it something you do regularly? If so, I'd figure it into your activity level.

If not, there's only one answer: ice cream.

akjmart2002

+1 for the Fitbit. I use a Fitbit and a HRM to get an updated activity level every day. Having both synced with MFP makes knowing how much to eat a no brainer.

DianneP6772

Part of my exercise on here is also gardening. I am in Florida, so its very hot mid day - so that must count too! But i am pulling weeds, cutting hedges and doing more yard work than i ever have. All because of MFP. I decided that it would be part of my exercise routine. Hey - our yard looks a lot better too! There is Gardening in the exercise search - so you can use that. I count that - whatever it says. Looks good anyway - but i never eat back all my exercise calories anyway - so its ok. I also cycle and play some tennis. Keep moving, keep logging, eat back 1/3 to 1/2 of your exercise calories - it should work.

vaporhockey83

Agreed on the Fitbit. I have the Fitbit One and have my settings set to sedentary. As I walk around the office, outside, around the house, etc., it collects and sends that information to Fitbit's servers who then send it to MFP. As I have it connected to my phone, MFP is constantly hovering my calories allowed depending on what I've done with every sync. It works great and it must be accurate because the weight continues to drop even on the days I don't work out or expend too much effort. $99, but I feel it was worth it.

engian

Thanks all. I'll have to look in to a FitBit. I have timex watch/HRM which I use only during workouts. The chest strap would be clumsy and uncomfortable to wear all day. I'm much more active on weekends and vacations and holidays than on weekdays (desk job) and I haven't rolled those higher activity levels into my daily average, since they really can vary greatly day to day or week to week. I hadn't looked into using the MSF database before - i'll do that but take you advice and cut the time in half to reduce the calories.

_EndGame_

I too have the Fitbit One, I just found it to be somewhat inaccurate when it came to steps. For example, I would walk from my living room to the bedroom, and I would count 27 steps, the Fitbit would record 91! The last thing I need is something overestimating the amount of steps I am taking, so I decided to ditch it and stick to my HRM. I do agree though about the chest strap, having to wear it outside of exercise sessions would be a bit of a pain.

Good luck with whatever you decide on!