Should I Count Walking Between Classes as Exercise?

sarakelseym

I think the point above is good. Do what is best for you. If you feel its working then count em and eat em. If you are not losing or gaining, then you know the walking is not really worth counting. We are all different. It is trail and error.

Thanks, I was thinking the same thing!

erickirb

See, okay, this is why I've been so confused about it. My level is at "sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)." Which is true. But then if I don't count my walking that's like, 200 calories I'm burning that I don't count that don't factor in to this sedentary activity level. I guess I could count it as just extra calories I'm burning and not log it and know in my head that that's great...but it's not really as rewarding as actually seeing the difference. And I can tell you personally, walking up three flights of stairs twice a day really does get my heart rate up! And I do exercise 4 times a week on top of my walking...

some calories for walking are already taken into account with sedentary, so instead of the 200, you may only be burning 100 or so more than MFP already allows for in the sedentary setting.

sarakelseym

I would either do settings as sedentary and then count them, or do what I do as lightly active and don't count them.

This is what I do: I just put my setting as sedentary and count anything I do during the day - such as walking to class, cleaning the house, etc. and wear a HRM to show the accurate calories burned. My school schedule is not consistent throughout the week, and I'm not on campus Saturday and Sunday, so I don't want it reflecting a higher activity level on those days if I put my settings on light activity.

I go to the gym 4 times a week and use my HRM there as well. My main goal with this is to make sure I am eating the right amount of calories each day. I hit a plateau last year around this time, and it could be that I wasn't counting those 200+ calories I was burning at school, which my schedule then involved even more walking. So far, what I'm doing is working right now, so I'll continue to count calories from walking and various other activities.

Thanks, this is kind of what I was thinking as well. If I'm not as active on the weekends, I shouldn't bump my activity level up when it's not true for the whole week.

zsaoosh

Are you loosing the weight you "should", then no. If you are loosing more then you "should" then maybe so. The calories they allow you factor in daily activity. I am supposed to eat 1790 calories a day if I don’t want to lose any weight. My body only needs around 1400 to survive each day with no activity (laying in bed all day), so almost 400 of my calories are factored in for daily activity.

kak2m4

I would! If you're walking at a brisk pace, your heart is definitely pumping and you're getting a workout. I would log it into MFP!

sarakelseym

Are you loosing the weight you "should", then no. If you are loosing more then you "should" then maybe so. The calories they allow you factor in daily activity. I am supposed to eat 1790 calories a day if I don’t want to lose any weight. My body only needs around 1400 to survive each day with no activity (laying in bed all day), so almost 400 of my calories are factored in for daily activity.

Right. I think I'll just experiment around with it and see what works. There's no need to log exercise if I just end up eating more and not losing the weight I "should" be!

mandylooo

No - count it as activity.
The reason is that real exercise needs a certain intensity for a certain length of time for maximum benefit.

You are cheating yourself.

This. I don't count my walk to and from the T and office (about 30 mins walking daily) because it's part of my normal routine.

When I was trying to lose weight, I did count the calories from my walks to and from work (about 3 miles a day) as part of my calories burnt and set my activity level to sedentary. I didn't count it as exercise as such, just part of daily calorie balance. I didn't count walking to and from meetings or to the gym at lunchtime etc - those are what I would consider part of my sedentary BMR x 1.2. I lost weight pretty quickly for someone with not a lot to lose. It would have been too fast if I hadn't been eating back those walking calories. I absolutely think it's justified - otherwise I'd have been basing my calorie deficit on the same things as someone who drove to work.

This is anecdotal though and everyone is different - the calorie calculations are made on a number of assumptions which vary in accuracy from person to person, so it is all about what works for you. So as other have said, watch what happens to your weight, consider the role of walking in all of this and adjust accordingly.

I agree