Should this exercise count?

KayleMeyrick

I do a 20 minute minute walk to and from work everyday (I did this before MFP) - should I be counting this as exercise or not?

I'm not counting it at the moment, as it seems so small.

Any advice?

Thank you

CARNAT22

I too always walk to and from the station (40 minutes a day) and I did this before MFP.

However I do count this as exercise as I do it a bit more vigorously now and always try to do ti within a certian time / beat my time etc..

Lyadeia

I would count that as part of your everyday life stuff...i.e. sedentary/lightly active/etc...and not exercise since you would do that anyway whether or not you were on an exercise regimen.

Perhaps this just means you should list yourself as "lightly active" if you are only listed as "sedentary."

hush7hush

I think it depends on what you have your activity level set to.

If you dont' plan to eat back the calories, then it doesn't matter, whatever makes you happier. [:

MichelleF81

I would count that as part of your everyday life stuff...i.e. sedentary/lightly active/etc...and not exercise since you would do that anyway whether or not you were on an exercise regimen.

Perhaps this just means you should list yourself as "lightly active" if you are only listed as "sedentary."

I agree.

KayleMeyrick

I have myself set as sedentary, so maybe I should be lightly active?

Lyadeia

I have myself set as sedentary, so maybe I should be lightly active?

I would give that a try, and then just list those activities as exercise that you purposely do solely for the benefits of exercise.

tkb1985

I do the same, about 20 minute on the way to work, then the same home, and I log it as exercise. I'm set at sedentary because I sit behind a desk all day hardly moving! If you move more than that, you might want to change it, but if not then I say log it! If nothing else, it's nice to see you're burning those calories, even if you have no intention of eating them back!

fredd500

Before jumping in and changing your profile, see what calories MFP calculates the walk as if you add it as exercise. Then, see how your daily allowance changes if you up your activity level to lightly active. If there is little difference, then it doesn't matter how you account for it, but you definately don't want to up your activity level if the extra calories you are given is greater than the exercise calories you actually burn - the scales will reflect the difference with either a lower loss or worse, a gain. If the calorie value is small, don't bother adding it at all and you will be rewarded with a faster loss.

HTH

EmsyLou77

Before jumping in and changing your profile, see what calories MFP calculates the walk as if you add it as exercise. Then, see how your daily allowance changes if you up your activity level to lightly active. If there is little difference, then it doesn't matter how you account for it, but you definately don't want to up your activity level if the extra calories you are given is greater than the exercise calories you actually burn - the scales will reflect the difference with either a lower loss or worse, a gain. If the calorie value is small, don't bother adding it at all and you will be rewarded with a faster loss.

HTH

This makes sense. Personally I would rather have my lifestyle activity level set at sedentary but log the walking when I do it (not every day, I work part time), as it's less likely to overestimate my level of exercise that way I think.

KayleMeyrick

This is interesting - I don't feel that I can justify putting up my activity level as I sit on my butt at work all day. I'd feel like I were cheating if I counted the walking and then ate the calories..