Daily activities and exercise - this is how I do it - though

appleofmyeye

Just wanted to share my thoughts on this and get a second opinion. As I started using the site, I saw that I could log things like cooking, cleaning, etc., as exercise. I was thinking about how to set my activity level and log my exercise, and I came up with two options:

1. If on my profile I set my activity level to lightly active (which it is), I don't think it makes sense for me to log cooking and cleaning, because they would be included in the calorie burn for that activity level. I would just go about my day and eat my calories accordingly.

2. If I set my activity level to sedentary (which it really is not), then I think it does make sense for me to log cooking and cleaning because I'm up on my feet and, often, breaking a sweat in the process--rather than being sedentary like my activity setting indicates.

I've chosen option #2. The reason I've done this is because the difference between my calorie goals at sedentary or lightly active is bigger than the amount of calories I generally burn cooking or cleaning. This forces me pick the lower of the two calorie goals rather than overestimate my activity/exercise. The way I think about it is that on the days I am more active, I can (and do) eat more, but on my lazy days I know for sure I won't eat more than my burn.

Thoughts?

NoAdditives

I'm a stay at home mom. I have my activity level set to lightly active so that I don't have to log my cooking, cleaning, diaper changes, etc. I probably burn more calories than the difference between activities, but since I log my exercise based on what the treadmill/arc trainer tells me and eat all my exercise calories it probably evens out. And if I burn a little more than is estimated, I consider it a bonus.

cmbneeley

i do the same thing!

SerenitySecret

This actually makes a lot of sense. I just started using this site and set my activity level as sedentary, but then trying to log in everything little thing I do in a day's' time. And frankly, I can tell already that this is going to be exhausting. My job is mostly a "sit-down" job, which is why I choose sedentary in the first place, but once I get home I am more active. I think I'm going to change mine the way yours is set and see how it goes from there. So thanks for your thoughts! :-)

Di

sarah44254

I wore my heart rate monitor for 2 days in a personal study. Supposedly, I burn 1800 (about) just laying in bed. I figured that walking around at work or walking to and from school would only increase that a little, as I don't do any crazy high action cardio work during 'normal' day activities.

Day 1: work 6a-2p then home sitting on my bum playing video games. HRM calls it 4,500 calories burned :noway:
Day 2: school 7a -3p then home again with more video games and some reading/homework. HRM claims 3,300 calories burned.

I have no qualms about my HRM, I love it very much and trust it truly. This personal study, however, led me to drop my activity level down from lightly active (as I expected I was since I work on my feet all day, like a nurse so they say) to sedentary.

I would much rather eat less calories per day and add in a workout, than eat more calories than I should by accident. I can't seem to type this in the way I'm thinking, but I hope you know what I'm trying to say.

Bottom line: I agree with your choice and did the same thing myself!

EDBENAGLIO

FORGET IT ALL AND USE A HRM

ShellyMacchi

option 2 makes sense *S*

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ladyhawk00/view/mfp-basics-78491

edited to add: but it really is whatever works best for you *S*

appleofmyeye

FORGET IT ALL AND USE A HRM

I could, but it's not important to me to be quite that scientific about it. Plus, I'm not really a gadget kind of person. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

appleofmyeye

I'm glad I'm not the only one who does it this way! I saw some other threads where people suggested that logging cooking and cleaning would be redundant and lead to overestimating calories burned (which would be true in some cases), and I wanted to weigh in with my thoughts. I was a little afraid people might think I was crazy. So, thanks for all your responses!

bentobee

I was driving myself bananas trying to figure out my normal daily activities. And then second guessing my estimates. Just bananas I tell ya! So I bit the bullet and bought myself the BodyMedia Fit armband gizmo. I've only had it a few days but the information so far is really eye-opening.

I'm a stay at home mom with a bunch of kiddos and I consider myself lightly to moderately active, With the BMF I've discovered my resting calorie burn is 1.5 a minute and just doing simple things like walking around the house picking up toys, putting away dishes, etc. bumps my calorie burn up to the 3.5-4 calories per minute range - that's a significant difference! Compared to a moderate workout (say Sports Active on the Wii or riding my bike) is about 10 calories per minute.

I have MFP set to give me a 1000 calorie deficit per day, but I see so far (thanks to the BodyMedia Fit) that I was actually not eating nearly enough when I was just guessing my daily normal activities. It looks like I was giving myself a deficit closer to 1200+ a day on a normal day and even higher on heavey workout (gym) days. My weightloss stalled right around the time I started exercising more and I'm starting to think it was because I wasn't eating enough.... since it appears I was underestimating my calorie burn all along.

EDBENAGLIO

FORGET IT ALL AND USE A HRM

I could, but it's not important to me to be quite that scientific about it. Plus, I'm not really a gadget kind of person. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

I say this so you know what you durn a day and can abjust your cal. to follow your cal loss.