walking to work-not real exercise

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vickster82
vickster82 Posts: 108
in Fitness and Exercise
i live a mile from work and walk everyday, which takes me about 18 min at 3.0 or so, and its very hilly. i usually carry lots of stuff-gym bag, purse, lunch food, etc. my exercise routine is usually running at least 3 miles, elliptical for at lesaet 30 min, or yoga. so i don't consider this walking as actual exercise because my HR doesn't go up very much. i am curious what other walkers do? i gave up driving in oct, got rid of my car, and do walking/bussing and occasional zip car. my base line calorie intake is 1300, but seems like im always hungry if thats all i get. when determining those calories, i selected moderately active. what do you guys think? should i bother incorporating the walking into my exercise count or not?:huh:

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  • vickster82
    vickster82 Posts: 108
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    i live a mile from work and walk everyday, which takes me about 18 min at 3.0 or so, and its very hilly. i usually carry lots of stuff-gym bag, purse, lunch food, etc. my exercise routine is usually running at least 3 miles, elliptical for at lesaet 30 min, or yoga. so i don't consider this walking as actual exercise because my HR doesn't go up very much. i am curious what other walkers do? i gave up driving in oct, got rid of my car, and do walking/bussing and occasional zip car. my base line calorie intake is 1300, but seems like im always hungry if thats all i get. when determining those calories, i selected moderately active. what do you guys think? should i bother incorporating the walking into my exercise count or not?:huh:
  • sugarpie
    sugarpie Posts: 21
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    Well,I can tell you that two different doctors told me to lose weight I would have to walk an 1/2 hour daily. Two different doctors! Nothing said about speed or distance. One even said that the body doesn't know if it is done all at once or 15 minutes at a time. So,I would count it in. Hell,I count in walking out to my mail box.:laugh:
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  • berggrog
    berggrog Posts: 8
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    Ok I am manager of a bunch of Computer techs I sit around all day. I put low activity, but I do count walking the Dog and walking I do over lunch. Hey I figure it is calories whether it gets your heart rate up of not. That is the ultimate measure as I see it.

    I am a noob so flame away if I am way off base here...
  • MFS27
    MFS27 Posts: 549 Member
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    Hell,I count in walking out to my mail box.:laugh:
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    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Online Calorie Counter

    :laugh:

    I like how you think! :wink:
  • sugarpie
    sugarpie Posts: 21
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    no,I agree with you. Calories off are calories off. Check out database here under exercise. You'll be amazed at what is there! I mean,come on,cleaning the house and cooking? I wonder if microwaving counts?
  • sugarpie
    sugarpie Posts: 21
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    thank you. Now,I have to go get the mail. mmmm,maybe 50 calories there.:tongue:
  • ChubbyBunny
    ChubbyBunny Posts: 3,523 Member
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    I lost my 20lbs of baby weight simply by walking 20-30 minutes a day and eating sensibly.
    :flowerforyou:
  • jljohnson
    jljohnson Posts: 719 Member
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    Ok I am manager of a bunch of Computer techs I sit around all day. I put low activity, but I do count walking the Dog and walking I do over lunch. Hey I figure it is calories whether it gets your heart rate up of not. That is the ultimate measure as I see it.

    I am a noob so flame away if I am way off base here...

    Finally, another SD person... and a computer guy too! (I'm a computer gal in Watertown) Anyways, I would say it depends on how "active" you classified yourself. If you put yourself as sedentary because of your job, then I'd count the walking. If you said lightly active or more, then maybe/maybe not. It's probably only 100-150 calories, but either way it's up to you. It sounds like you get a lot of exercise besides as well, so it maybe isn't worth tracking for you, but would be for someone else.
  • plantlady99
    plantlady99 Posts: 1,338 Member
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    Well,I can tell you that two different doctors told me to lose weight I would have to walk an 1/2 hour daily. Two different doctors! Nothing said about speed or distance. One even said that the body doesn't know if it is done all at once or 15 minutes at a time. So,I would count it in. Hell,I count in walking out to my mail box.:laugh:
    124532.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Online Calorie Counter

    Love counting walking to your mail box comment. Very funny:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    I read an article in a Personal Trainer magazine last month (OnFitness, it's awesome, pick it up if you see it!) about certain mistaken ideas about exercise.

    One was almost this exact thing. Basically the journalist was talking about how our bodies, through evolution, have developed a system of muscles designed to handle walking with a minimum of stress and a maximum of efficiency. Basically because we have walked so much throughout our history, it's a lot harder to raise the heart rate, and really stress muscles by doing so.

    Not saying that it doesn't help. It does, just a lot less then many other low impact activities. I'm not talking about jogging here, or speed walking...etc. I"m talking about normal, heel toe, slightly higher then resting, walking.
  • indianagranny
    indianagranny Posts: 863
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    My usual job where I work requires me to walk probably at least six to seven hours a night. I have to pull a certain rate so I walk fast when I am not selecting parts. I count this on my exercise but round it down to about five hours of walking at their slowest speed. To me I feel I am walking faster than 2 mile but figure I would use that speed. But I also try to get a good 30 minute workout a day other than that.
  • MisoSoup79
    MisoSoup79 Posts: 517
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    look up the precise distance from your home to your work and multiply it by two. Time yourself both ways. Then using the distance and time you can calculate how fast you're walking. That will help you determine the speed and give you a better guess at how many calories it burns.

    I walk dogs as part of my job. If I walk any dog 1 mile or more, I count it as activity. I have a HRM, so I know the actual calories burned. With my regulars, I sometimes turn the walk into real exercise for both me and the dog, either by increasing the pace, increasing the distance or adding bursts of jogging or sprinting. If you could pick up the pace a little, it will be slightly more taxing on your body and you'll burn a bit more walking. But that might be impractical, depending on how your dressed and what you're carrying.

    I personally would count it, even if it's not worth a whole lot.

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