WHAT COUNTS AS EXERCISE
blissfuldrake
Posts: 128 Member
Earlier today, I was reading somewhere on MFP about strange 'exercise' seen on the site. One I remember had to do with listening for a length of time to a boring relative...2 calories. LOL That was all well and good, but then people started jumping in and saying how they don't put down housecleaning as exercise because it is just life, etc, etc. I can't find that exact thread now. I would like to provide another viewpoint.
For those of us who are older, disabled, or health-challenged, getting off the couch and doing housework may be all we can manage...that IS exercise, especially when we didn't used to do it at all. Maybe it is not vigorous, sweaty Tai-Bo, Cycling or Power Walking, but it IS movement. And moving COUNTS.
I want to say, don't be discouraged because you can't do a LOT now...or as much as when you were younger, or healthier, or weighed less. DO WHAT YOU CAN! It will make you stronger, help your cognition, chase away the blues. So, we don't do much at a time, but we can do it several times a day. It all adds up.
You go, guys and gals!
For those of us who are older, disabled, or health-challenged, getting off the couch and doing housework may be all we can manage...that IS exercise, especially when we didn't used to do it at all. Maybe it is not vigorous, sweaty Tai-Bo, Cycling or Power Walking, but it IS movement. And moving COUNTS.
I want to say, don't be discouraged because you can't do a LOT now...or as much as when you were younger, or healthier, or weighed less. DO WHAT YOU CAN! It will make you stronger, help your cognition, chase away the blues. So, we don't do much at a time, but we can do it several times a day. It all adds up.
You go, guys and gals!
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One thing that a LOT of people forget or maybe don't understand is that any activity beyond your normal activity burns more calories that day than you did the previous day.
The very act of standing on your feet for 10 minutes burns more calories than sitting down. Some people feel like if they aren't sweating and breathing hard then they aren't burning additional calories and it ain't true!
We went to Disneyland the other day for about 8hours. Did very little because it was crowded - we just walked around looking at things, stood in lines, sat and had a leisurely lunch. All of that burned a THOUSAND calories.
That was 1000 calories EXTRA that I burned that day, doing nothing that looks like "exercise" - other than maybe if you add together the slow start-and-stop walking.
If you put yourself as active that kind of activity IS included - but if you put yourself as sedentary it basically assumes you did nothng but walk to the bathroom and kitchen.0 -
So, what you're saying is that MFP has figured into your base calories your current lifestyle/fitness level? WOW That's cool. It sure is working for me, because it seems I have lost six pounds in two weeks. My weight today was 222.2....true! :laugh:0
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