WALKING?!

oxFaithxo

ok so i have a question: yesterday i went to Pioneer Water Park... It was WAY too cold to go swimming so we pretty much walked around, played some games... overall non-stop standing and walking for a good 2 hours. While doing this walking and game playing i have a two year old i am picking up, setting down, dragging, carrying, spinning, and overall having fun with.

Same goes with the Zoo, we go to the zoo at least once a week. Last time we went it was a good 5 hours, YES PEOPLE 5 HOURS we were there walking, looking at everything...

HOW DO I TRACK THIS for calories burned.... i dont have a HRM (and dont really plan on picking one up), am i just out of luck?

MyaPapaya75

I would just track it as a slow-leisure walk and I wouldnt eat back the calories unless I was hungry because you have no hrm

JennsLosing

i would just do it as a leisurely walk. I myself, wouldnt even log it really. only thing i really log is if i really get my HR up there and get a good sweat.

Aesop101

I would just track it as a slow-leisure walk and I wouldnt eat back the calories unless I was hungry because you have no hrm

What she said. Well maybe eat half the calories back, leave a buffer. A 5 hour day of playing golf riding in a cart burns a huge amount of calories. I see this as no different.

MelissaL582

I have my activity set to sedentary, so I would maybe log half the time and eat half of those calories.

oxFaithxo

THANKS GUYS! i was thinking the same thing... eat HALF the calories... only if i am hungry.

Quaters

Well done with your walking and child lifting being active still burns calories ,if it was for two hrs leisurely it may have been like an hr and a half full on walking,

HeatherrSue

When I take my kids to the zoo I log it as 2.5 mph leisurely pace. I try not to count cleaning and stuff like that as calories burned because I think MFP takes that stuff into consideration as "normal daily activities" but if its something like walking for 2 or 3 or 5 hours, I log the extra. Even if you're enjoying the activity, doesn't mean your not burning extra calories.

jamaka1

if u have a smart phone u could get the pedometer apps for free & then you could use this, even though it only gives you 3,000 steps. anyway, as the others suggest log it as a leisure walk bc ur still burning cals; keep moving gr8 job:flowerforyou:

jellybaby84

I wouldn't log it because it doesn't get your heart rate up.

Or if I did log it (sometimes I really cheat and log things like coaching netball simply because I haven't had a chance to go to the gym that day and I can't cope with logging nothing!) I definitely wouldn't eat the calories because I'd almost certainly be over eating if I did.

candistyx

This gets back to me the idea of what does "sedentary" really mean on this site? Does it assume a whole day of sitting without activity (in which case all activity above that ...realistically should be logged I think) or does it assume normal daily activities of walking around, cleaning, playing with kids and so on (in which case of course one shouldn't log those things)?

jellybaby84

This gets back to me the idea of what does "sedentary" really mean on this site? Does it assume a whole day of sitting without activity (in which case all activity above that ...realistically should be logged I think) or does it assume normal daily activities of walking around, cleaning, playing with kids and so on (in which case of course one shouldn't log those things)?

Exactly, it's all so subjective.

That's why I think it's so dangerous to tell people to eat back what they burn as exercise - how do people decide what is exercise and what is just life? And having made that decision what if they overestimate the calories or are just plain wrong?

For me - if it's not burned in the gym or a dedicated 'I am going for a run/cycle now' then it would never ever get eaten back even if I logged it for my own OCD type reasons.

FallonWhynd

I would record it as a mild walk because of the interactions with the child. dont eat the calories back just feel satisfied that you burned them! Way to go!