Moms or Dads How to count unconventional exercise

jnissi

I have no idea how to add exercises that are not on the list. How do I know how many calories I have burned? I just just dancing with the kids while holding each of them ( one at a time) They are 30 ish lbs, almost 50 lbs and 70 lbs. Super fast crazy dancing and spinning them in the air.... So, how would you add this to your exercises? It was a blast, but I also want to be able to count it!

Side topic, any more fun kid and parent exercises that work well for you?

EuroDriver12

i was expecting like washing the dishes or taking a shower as "unconvetional exersise" lol but u could either list it under fitness class like zumba or wear a HRM and record ur cals burned taht way.. in a "custom" setting

UponThisRock

On a related note, make sure you're logging the amount of black pepper on your food.

jnissi

i was expecting like washing the dishes or taking a shower as "unconvetional exersise" lol but u could either list it under fitness class like zumba or wear a HRM and record ur cals burned taht way.. in a "custom" setting

Lol no, neither of those count as exercise, at least not for me.

mamitosami

How long did you dance for?! I wouldn't count it. Unless it was for a half hour or something. I do squats with my daughter on my back--she weighs 40 lbs. I do five sets of as many as I can do. I can barely walk afterward! It's part of a 40 minute sweat session at home if I can't make it to the gym. Jump squats, walking lunges, kettle bell swings, military press(ing a kid in the air!)... I do 40 minutes. I count that as a 40 minute weight lifting routine, I get about 60 calories for that.

EuroDriver12

i do push ups, planks, sit ups, with my kid chillin on me 32lbs

TinaDay1114

I do the crazy dancing thing too! LOVE that.

I also do the "airplane" thing w/ the kids -- that thing where you lay on your back, put your feet at their waist, hold their hands and "take off", "fly" and then land. KILLS, but that's probably 'cause my kids are 4 1/2 (40 lbs.) and 8 (53 lbs) now.

My husband likes to have light saber battles all through the house, and they usually end w/a wrestling death-match -- that must burn SOMETHING, right??

jnissi

How long did you dance for?! I wouldn't count it. Unless it was for a half hour or something. I do squats with my daughter on my back--she weighs 40 lbs. I do five sets of as many as I can do. I can barely walk afterward! It's part of a 40 minute sweat session at home if I can't make it to the gym. Jump squats, walking lunges, kettle bell swings, military press(ing a kid in the air!)... I do 40 minutes. I count that as a 40 minute weight lifting routine, I get about 60 calories for that.

It was for about 30 - 35 minutes, and I was dying afterwards. I know I burned some serious calories, I just don't know how many. =
Squats with them on my back is a great idea

jnissi

I do the crazy dancing thing too! LOVE that.

I also do the "airplane" thing w/ the kids -- that thing where you lay on your back, put your feet at their waist, hold their hands and "take off", "fly" and then land. KILLS, but that's probably 'cause my kids are 4 1/2 (40 lbs.) and 8 (53 lbs) now.

My husband likes to have light saber battles all through the house, and they usually end w/a wrestling death-match -- that must burn SOMETHING, right??

Isn't it so much fun! I haven't done the airplane thing in quite some time. I will have to start doing that again.

agthorn

Just set your activity level higher. You're definitely not 'sedentary', probably not even 'lightly active' if you're playing with small kids.

jnissi

I worry about upping my activity level, because then I will see those extra calories and want to eat them all.

agthorn

If you're adding exercise manually, you're supposed to eat those calories because your deficit has already been created for you before you log any physical activity or exercise. So increasing your activity level or logging exercise separately accomplish the exact same thing.