Exercise . . . what is it? What to count?

ADM1979

I am everybit of a country girl. I hunt, fish, ride horses, etc. We have a small 200 acre farm. I don't count walking the farm as exercise as many times I am either half walking half riding the four wheeler or tractor.

But on Saturday I have to work cattle. We have a small herd of about 50 cattle. We have to seperate the babies from their moms. This means I am running, jumping, walking, up and down a field to get these cow into a smaller pin. Then, we start the process of seperation. Then I have to seperate the bulls from the heifers. (You may eat one of my bulls at McDonalds! LOL) Then I seperate the ones I am selling and load them into a small pin to load into a trailer.

If all goes well, this will take from about 10:00 am till 12:00pm, 2 hours. How would I count this as exercise? Or should I even count it?

Also, what about cleaning or raking the leaves? Should I count those too or just when I am actually on the treadmill or outside walking?

Shayyy01

I'm sorry if this is going to come off rude, and it wasnt the point of your post.. But can i ask.. Why do you seperate them? Do you sell your cattle for meat?

Sorry this girl is straight from cleveland, so i am clueless about what you are talking about. sorry.

Hellbent_Heidi

Do you have a HRM? I'd suggest wearing that to see how much you burn...that cattle stuff certainly sounds like a major heart-rate raising workout to me!

jenfactor

yeah I would count that stuff.. may be hard how to figure out how to log that. But I would count anything that feels like physical exertion that's outside of your normal "activity" level. You don't want to eat too little when you're doing hard work like that. And for me personally, sometimes I have sore back muscles after raking leaves... so it's like a trip to the gym!

lizziebeth1028

Get a HRM (heart rate monitor) and use it for your more strenuous physical chores around the farm to get an accurate reading of calories burned. For normal routine things such as house cleaning...I never count those as it is just part of a normal day for me.

1a1a

What is your activity level set too?

The activity you describe sounds like cardio to me, I would count it as walking 2.5mph for a duration of 90 minutes (erring on the side of caution). I would also review your progress after a few weeks, weight loss, all is well, weight stall, weight gain, guess again. Personally would count the leave raking as cardio too though my profile is set to sedentary, if yours is set to active, I'd leave it out :-)

ashnm88

If this is part of your every day then you should consider it part of your activity level.

ADM1979

I'm sorry if this is going to come off rude, and it wasnt the point of your post.. But can i ask.. Why do you seperate them? Do you sell your cattle for meat?

Sorry this girl is straight from cleveland, so i am clueless about what you are talking about. sorry.

The cows are already pregnant again. So, you have to seperate the babies from the mommas. This is so that the mothers can continue to make milk for the new baby. Yes, we sell the bulls for various reasons. Some go to be hamburgers while others are purchased by other farms to bread their cattle. Can't have inbread cattle Some we sell to local butchers and they slaughter them for fresh meat. Much healthier thant he processed stuff.

It was not part of the post, but I wanted you to see how much goes into this so that I can get good advise on how to count this. Working the cattle is so exhausting.

Pangea250

You may eat one of my bulls at McDonalds! LOL

No. Not me. :noway: Not at McDonald's, anyway.

What do you have your activity level set to? If it is set to sedentary or lightly active, I would definitely count this ranch work in some form. But if your activity level is set to active or very active, then it is already incorporated in your profile.

If you need to count the exercise, the best bet is to wear a heart rate monitor (HRM) to get a more accurate feel for your calorie expenditure. If you can't get one, then I might list the work as high-impact aerobics. It sound like some hard work to me. I would LOVE to do that!

I do not count every-day cleaning. That I consider to be activities of daily living and included in my activity level. Heavy cleaning, the type I may only do 3 or 4 times a year, I do count.

I would include raking as exercise, because it is something you don't normally do. There is a listing in exercise for "Raking lawn."

Good luck!

ADM1979

If this is part of your every day then you should consider it part of your activity level.

Working on the farm is everyday, but not like this. That is why I typically don't count working unless I am really breaking a sweat. We work cattle about 2 - 3 times a year.