Walking the dog

Sweet_Potato

I log walks that are greater than 10 minutes or outside my normal routine. So longer dog walks, walking to the grocery store, walking to work, walking to yoga class, walking to a museum, those all get logged. They add up over the course of a day, and I don't think I should be ignoring 60-90 minutes of physical activity just because it isn't formal exercise.

silvergurl518

actually, every little bit of exercise *does* count.

ames105

Um....sorry, I disagree. At least about the walking. MFP fills in the 'walking to dog' part at a pace of 3.0mph. Its to give an idea of your pace, not that you are actually walking a dog. I don't have a dog but I've walked off 76lbs at that pace.

That being said, it is possible the calories are being overestimated and with your 'friend' eating back the exercise calories, it could explain why there is no weight loss for that person. On the other hand, why are you so upset about it? Is she trying to steal your dog to walk it?

motivateq

I agree with what most people are saying here...why are you concerned about somebody's else's exercise post, stop being Judy McJudgernaut, you are mean to have said anything at all and I also log my dog walks. If I want to count a 5 minute exercise then I will.

Binkie1955

Research shows that people who have a good relationship with their dogs tend to have a better relationship with everyone in their lives and tend to have lower body fat overall than those who have no dogs in their life.

level26

Or if they're morbidly obese and walking to the end of the driveway was a feat, then walking the dog for 10 minutes is amazing. I know when I started, I walked for 15 minutes and didn't think i would make it back home. You just completely ruined someone's self esteem by posting this bullsh!t. Congratulations, you're the "mean girl" in highschool.

This^^^

branson101

Or if they're morbidly obese and walking to the end of the driveway was a feat, then walking the dog for 10 minutes is amazing. I know when I started, I walked for 15 minutes and didn't think i would make it back home. You just completely ruined someone's self esteem by posting this bullsh!t. Congratulations, you're the "mean girl" in highschool.

this. so this~

op-please forgive me for having medical issues that prevent me from running marathons, jumping around, and doing many other officially recognized exercises. I am under doctors orders to keep myself to certain activities...but apparently you know more about my situation than I do. again, forgive me for doing what is physically allowable for my body.

happysherri

I personally don't log "slow" walks, cleaning or things like that. However, people are at different levels. I always say something is better than nothing.

I don't have a dog, can I log walking my pet rock?! Wish I had a cute doggy, but I'm never home.

BeachIron

derptastic

EmilyOfTheSun

Eating 30 "extra" calories wouldn't put you over maintenance anyways....

ETA: And as others have mentioned, if your settings are set to a "sedentary" lifestyle, you can definitely log walking as exercise.

ryry_

Only read OP, but I'm going to go with....

You guys are bullies, she was just trying to vent about other people logging their calories. She even said it was a RANT!!!!

smh, if this wasn't the internet you would be a lot more civil.

MYhealthyjourney70

I easily burn 200 calories walking the dog for 30 minutes. Living in Colorado dog walking in my area involves hills. At least according to my heart monitor watch.

i log all my walks.. my dog can't go with me anymore but i still go and log it all with my runkeeper... nice way to ruin someone's self esteem

MB_Positif

Well...one thing is not everyone who logs, "Walking 3.0 mph, walking dog" is walking a dog. It's the only option for 3.0 mph. I used that one about 100 times before I actually did get a dog in May...and honestly I probably burn 200 calories in 10 minutes of walking him trying to wrangle his wiggly body around the neighborhood.

So...why are you SO mad? Because someone else got to eat more than you today because they walked their dog for 10 minutes?

1princesswarrior

Then you must really dislike me. I wear a bodymedia armband that tracks my activity level & calories burned all day long. Including walking the dog for 10 minutes or less and such mundane tasks as doing laundry & washing dishes. It's ridiculous to think that any kind of activity really does burn more calories than sitting on the couch. I suppose I really need to reconsider this-I'll never lose weight if I keep going like this.

PS-walking my 100 lb demon spawn puppy is actually a pretty decent full body workout. She's just freaking nuts.

Hey, if this is about you, my hat is off to you, 79lbs lost is nothing to laugh at. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

BTW, I'm walking two of my dogs for them this afternoon but I'll be wearing my HRM and logging it too!

KathleenMurry

Most people would be appalled if small calorie snacks weren't logged. I saw someone post about not logging vegetables because they are so low in calories and there were 10 pages of people telling her how dumb she is not to track EVERYTHING. And it's true. So why shouldn't the same go for exercise? 30 calories is 30 calories! It counts! Especially for someone who is set at sedentary.

csuhar

Because I view dog walking as N.E.A.T., I generally find myself in the "let some mechanical device measure your activity for you" camp. Especially if the walk is for the dog's benefit and you're stuck changing pace to suit their activities (as opposed to taking them on an exercise run where you dictate the pace). As with many here, my dog (a Shepherd / Saint Bernard mix) has a lot of pull in both the literal and figurative sense. If she wants to move, she pulls, if she wants to investigate a smell, she turns into an anchor. So it seems to make more sense to use a pedomiter or HRM to measure the activity, rather than having to guess based on total time and distance.

I tend to reserve exercise entries for activities where I'm focused on the exercise aspect. But that's just my personal approach.

.

misti777

Well, it also looks like someone is walking the dog because they log their walk at that pace. Yeah, 10 minutes isn't much of a workout, but that added to maybe aerobics can burn that last little bit off if they went a little bit over their calories after dinner or something.

Shikonneko

My dog has two speeds: Amble and Full Sprint. I don't log the former because it's no extra effort on my part compared to what I normally do.

evdenapoli

Ya that and cleaning. lol!
Although I did do the cleaning one a couple times before I learned about TDEE and that the cleaning, the vacuming and walking the dog is part of my TDEE.