Logging 'cleaning' and 'shopping' cals burned etc

amoffatt

Cleaning, shopping, walking the dog (maybe this one), taking a bath, having sex, watching tv, taking out the trash, having a catch with your kid, washing the car, hanging Christmas lights ......none of this stuff is going to help you lose weight - don't log it. You did all this crap while putting on the weight, it didn't turn into exercise when you joined MFP. Why is this the great debate? Exercise is good for you, everything else is life. Exercise more and it makes all this other stuff easier. The end....

So....If I take a walk for a few miles I should log it as exercise, but if I take my dog on this same walk, then it classifys as a no log exercise... I dont get why????:huh:

I definitely think walking the dog should be logged as exercise. Maybe not if you just take the dog out on a leash long enough to take care of their needs then go back inside, but if you take the dog for an actual walk around the park, neighborhood etc, that would be considered the same exercise as if you're walking without the dog. Depending on what kind of dog you're walking, It might actually be more of a workout

Why's everyone yelling at me, lol. I said maybe for the dog. If it's walk, it's a walk, dog or not. I've seen 7 min walking dog - really? If you're just starting out and 7 minutes is your start point, yes, log it and that is awesome. If it's part of your normal routine, eh, that's on you. If you clean your house top to bottom, scrubbing and sweating, yes that is work and if you want to log it. If you run the vacuum for 10 minutes are you going to eat back the 37 calories that burns. Obviously moving is better than not moving and whatever works for you, go for it. I guess I just hate to see people cheat themselves. I'm really not trying to judge or tell anyone what they should be doing. Whatever works for you - do it! I've yet to be crowned King of the Calories Burned Court.

Keep it moving people! That's all...

Yup, exactly!! Keep moving.

P.S. I wasnt yelling at anyone.:bigsmile:

swatts7622

Well that answers that question lol! Great read

MacMadame

Exactly. The 'activity level' is an assumption and most people have no way of knowing how accurate it really is beyond experiementing with the calorie goals and seeing if the results they get are what they expected. That's exactly why mine is set to 'sedentary' and I log my exercise. I feel it's more accurate than me taking a stab at bumping up my activity level and hoping I got it right.

Both methods can work though. When I was losing, I picked sedentary and logged any activity that was over 100 calories NET. (MFP and HRMs report total calories so you have to subtract out your BMR/RMR calories if you want to be truly accurate.) But in maintenance, I picked an activity level that covers my calorie burn most days when I don't exercise and only put in real workouts as extra.

Because I have a BodyMedia FIT, I know I burn 1450-1650 most days on days I don't exercise so I have 1550 as my base calories. I pick whatever activity level gets me those calories as a base. Which happens to be lightly active. But at one point I had it on the highest activity level because that's what it took to get my base calorie goal to the right place (I was working out a lot and more fit and also moved more in my job).

CMmrsfloyd

Exactly. The 'activity level' is an assumption and most people have no way of knowing how accurate it really is beyond experiementing with the calorie goals and seeing if the results they get are what they expected. That's exactly why mine is set to 'sedentary' and I log my exercise. I feel it's more accurate than me taking a stab at bumping up my activity level and hoping I got it right.

Both methods can work though. When I was losing, I picked sedentary and logged any activity that was over 100 calories NET. (MFP and HRMs report total calories so you have to subtract out your BMR/RMR calories if you want to be truly accurate.) But in maintenance, I picked an activity level that covers my calorie burn most days when I don't exercise and only put in real workouts as extra.

Because I have a BodyMedia FIT, I know I burn 1450-1650 most days on days I don't exercise so I have 1550 as my base calories. I pick whatever activity level gets me those calories as a base. Which happens to be lightly active. But at one point I had it on the highest activity level because that's what it took to get my base calorie goal to the right place (I was working out a lot and more fit and also moved more in my job).

I agree both methods can work but you are also at an advantage since you have the BMF and can more accurately measure your total daily calorie burn. I am really comtemplating getting one of those, seems like it takes a lot of the guesswork out especially when you have some days that are drastically different than others and hard to guesstimate w/o a tool like that.

MelKut

I spend all day on my feet cleaning and cooking but don't log those as "exercise" calories.

I do, however, on occasion help my aunt with her work (cleaning offices). This is the first time since joining MFP that I have done this, so I was unsure of whether to count those

I spent about 2 1/2 hours wiping down desks, taking out trash, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming (with a heaving vacuum strapped on my back) and washing the floors with a mop.

I logged this as "light cleaning moderate effort" although I did put forward a lot of effort, and it gave me 465 calories! :O that seems like too much and I don't know if I should eat back those calories

What do you guys think?

deeharley

I spend all day on my feet cleaning and cooking but don't log those as "exercise" calories.

I do, however, on occasion help my aunt with her work (cleaning offices). This is the first time since joining MFP that I have done this, so I was unsure of whether to count those

I spent about 2 1/2 hours wiping down desks, taking out trash, cleaning bathrooms, vacuuming (with a heaving vacuum strapped on my back) and washing the floors with a mop.

I logged this as "light cleaning moderate effort" although I did put forward a lot of effort, and it gave me 465 calories! :O that seems like too much and I don't know if I should eat back those calories

What do you guys think?

Soon after joining MFP - and listing myself as sedentary - I got a job that would be classified as cleaning. Doing large loads of laundry, cleaning showers, vacuuming, etc, adds up to a sedentary girl. For every eight hour day I worked, I logged 2-3 hours of "light cleaning moderate effort." The main reason I did this was because I was hungrier on those days and I needed a guide to go by that added calories to my daily intake but gave me a clear number to not go over.

daffodilsoup

I don't log cleaning.

But, that's mostly because I don't clean. :bigsmile:

ruby_red_rose

I also only log workouts.

Mama_CAEI

I don't log cleaning.

But, that's mostly because I don't clean. :bigsmile:

And I do log it precisely because it's an out of the ordinary event! :laugh: