If you have young kids

petemeep

Do you track things like playing at the park or running around outside with your kids. Some days I'm at the park chasing my 17 month old up stairs and down slides and everything else. Some days are more active than others do you record those activities as exercise?

MzMandi1025

I log when I go swimming with my 3 year old or if we spend time doing excessive amounts of walking like going to the zoo.

impyimpyaj

Depends. If I'm *actually* moving and working, yes. If I'm mostly just standing there and kicking the ball, I don't. And usually I'm just standing there kicking the ball. :laugh:

robot_potato

Only if it's outside of our regular activity. Walking to the park, i don't log. But hiking, bike riding outside our own neighborhood, stuff like that i do log. My kids aren't so littke anymore, they are 7 and 3, but i never really counted playing at the park as exercise unless it's aboveand eyond what we regularly do.

Spanaval

Usually not. When we go hiking, or if I'm hauling her on walks, then I log about half the time.

maddymama

I don't log playing with my kidlets, bc I figure it's built into my moderately active profile. I also figure pushing the huge stroller is an extra bit of calorie burn than compensates for the chocolate I eat every day but never write down. It all washes out in the end.

For the vast majority of the time, the only exercise I log is when it's intentional exercise...........

jenbusick

Some of that stuff gets rolled into my regular activity level; I figure kid-wrangling all day, as opposed to having a desk job, elevates me from "sedentary" to "lightly active," at least, for purposes of establishing BMR. But if we do something like go out after supper to play kickball or ride bikes, I count that separately.

jennafluff

I don't log any day to day running around. Only intentional exercise - anything that gets my heart rate up!!

SnSweet

If you have a HRM I say wear it to the park, if your calorie burn is significant (100+) count it, if it's too insignificant, let it go.

Catrinaxox

What helped me was getting a fitbit which syncs with MFP so it tracks total activities and adjusts calories based on your activity and you personal goals set up with MFP. I have two small kids and find it impossible to really know otherwise how much you are moving when at the park or pushing them in a stroller.