Normal life

LittleMissVintage

do you log the calories you burn doing something even if you don't intend it to be a work out? For example walking a dog because you live in a apartment, or taking the stairs to your office? Or do you Account for that in what you Set your lifestyle as?

kbanzhaf

Nope.....I only log what I see as intended exercise. Otherwise, I could add from 3-4 miles of walking daily.
Kaye

Agglaki

Nope, log only your exercise routines. Walking the dog really shouldn't count as you would be doing that whether or not you were trying to change your lifestyle.

Running a few km with the dog on the other hand and working up a sweat, I would probably log that.

jennmoore3

If you walk the dog for more than you normally do, yes. We have a yard so we sometimes take the dogs to the walking trail near by, so for me yes I would log that because we don't do that everyday. I log certain parts of cleaning the house. I don't do mopping, windows, the bathroom everyday so when I do those I log it. But the normal sweeping the floor, (I do it a few times a day), dishes or picking up junk, then no. I also log cleaning if I get in "those moods" where I gut an entire room or gut the cabinets in the kitchen. See where I'm going with this?

In my opinion, if you never take the stairs, and then you do it, I would log it at first, but if you are making it a everyday thing, then no.

skinnyjeanzbound

I do log walking my dog b/c I don't count it in my daily activity level. Also, I DO work up a sweat walking the dog, so to me that is exercise. I don't log any other life activity (cleaning, walking around a grocery store, etc.). The only other activity I think I will log is mowing my lawn b/c I know from past experience that it IS a workout.

penny39

I only log intentional exercise, what you set as your activity level should cover your normal daily activities.

mikeyml

I don't log things that I would do normally. Whether I was losing weight or not I would walk my dogs once a day for 30 minutes. I do that every day and I never log it. I did in the beginning for motivational reasons but over time I found it wasn't necessary. However I have worn my HRM while walking them and I was pleasantly surprised to see a 150 calorie burn from a simple walk. To me it's just an added bonus. Now if I take them on an extra walk in the mornings I might log that. But overall I'd much rather underestimate my calories burned for a day than overestimate.

And for the second question - I set my daily activity level as sedentary. But I always take the stairs, park far away from store, walk the dog everyday, etc. I just don't log that stuff.

EDesq

I only log My Exercise Routine. If someone sets their set-up activity level to Sedentary, then I think they may add those things, but any activity level other than Sedentary should account for other activity (grocery shopping, cleaning the house, work related activity, walking the dog...) Frankly, I set My activity at Sedentary and do not count anything other than My exercise routine. Again, it is depending on what You want to accomplish caloric and exercise wise.

whiskey9890

if you did it before joing the site i'd say no, if you have taken it up since starting out on here then yes if it gets your heart rate up. i sometimes add stair climbing to my diary, this isn't everyday it when i have utilsed the stairs at work during a quiet period and done them as additional exercise when i know i won't have time to do much when i get home ( i also jog up them not walk)

MyNameIsNotBob

When I first started MFP, I logged all the walking that I did to and from the train / work / walking the dog / etc. But when I hit a little stalled, point, I stopped logging those. I figure it was part of my everyday life for the past 5 years and hadn't helped me lose weight, so why log it? I just changed my activity level to reflect that. Seems to have worked for me.