What do you or don't you count as exercise?

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  • BonnieandClyde29
    BonnieandClyde29 Posts: 1,026 Member
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    if it is something that i'm doing for an extended period of time like cleaning, but do it for 3 or 4 hours i will count it because i dont clean everyday and lift heavy things. but i used to add walking my dogs, but because ive been doing it everyday i just use that as something apart of my lifestyle so i dont add it anymore.
  • The_Fragile
    The_Fragile Posts: 10 Member
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    If I break a sweat then I count it. If I don't...then I don't count it.





    what she said (:
  • truddy6647
    truddy6647 Posts: 519 Member
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    Ditto, people who count cleaning and mowing the lawn totally crack me up! I agree the activity needs to be deliberate, not everyday things, you will not get the results you are looking for fast, you will eventually because weight loss is 80% diet if not more.
    If you get some sort of tracker - then you will know, I use fitbit and love it, a true motivator!

    I disagree!

    What if your lawn is 5.5 acres? You don't mow everyday.

    What if your house is 5000sq ft?

    I say if it brings your heart rate up for a prolonged period of time(20 minutes or more) log it!

    Although I agree diet is 90% of the battle!

    I think it depends on the person. Ie myself I work up a sweat walking around the grocery store and am usually hurting by the time I'm done. Of course I have a lot more weight to loss more than most, thus daily things that people take for granted I often count
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
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    If I change into workout clothes and go workout for a dedicated period of time that elevates my heart rate for an extended period of time (and likely produces a heavy/dripping sweat), I log it. Everything else is just daily activity.

    I have the caveats of the heart rate and sweat on there because I have been coaching three different people through the Couch to 5K program and I honestly don't log any of it. I wore my heart rate monitor for a few of the sessions and found that my heart rate was barely increasing and that I wasn't burning much more than when I'm just running errands or cooking dinner. But that's because I've trained my body to that point.

    When I first started running and was doing similar workouts, I would be sweating like mad and my heart rate would be up around 160-170. I'm just a stronger, more efficient runner now, so I don't really burn anything in a 30-40 minute Couch to 5K session at the speeds they're currently running.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    I don't 'count' exercise. lol. I do track my workouts but that is so I can keep track of it. It doesn't give me calories burned or anything.
  • Katbody10
    Katbody10 Posts: 369 Member
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    Based on what the person told you, I think you need a new nutritionist. Using their logic, if you ran an hour every day, that would count as an every day activity.

    They don't need a new nutritionist. Just don't count anything you do normally during the day that isn't performed for the purpose of getting exercise.

    THIS .. I'd like to think that the people that come here to lose weight have always cleaned their house, or done some yard work, washed the dishes, vacuumed, done laundry, etc.. Yes somehow .. they still gained weight (unfortunately) :frown: You burn calories taking a shower/bath .. going to the bathroom .. I just don't count stuff like that.

    I do count new exercises that I'm doing .. such as yoga, cycling, walking. I suggest if you'd like to get a fairly accurate idea of how many calories you're burning a day .. get something like the FitBit .. or BodyMedia , BodyBugg, or any kind of monitor you wear that tracks approximately how many calories you burn .. including in your sleep. That will be your best supplemental gadget besides tracking your food and trying to follow MFP's idea of calorie burns in exercises... MFP seems to practically double the burn you're really getting from some of the exercises they have in their database
  • andreamelo1
    andreamelo1 Posts: 161 Member
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    for me i used my heart rate monitor to acurately figure how many calories i burn just sitting around i found out if i dont do anything all day i burn 940 cal then through out the day i use my monitor to gauge how much a certain action will burn and i find that i can clean for a couple hours and burn around 300 cal so 1200 is my goal to eat then after that when i actually exercise i add my cal such as 500 on elliptical. but if you use a monitor you will be more effective at calculating how much or how little you actually burn and are able to eat
  • Anamaere
    Anamaere Posts: 60 Member
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    haha. lets make a list of what i dont count in a day (and i have mfp set to sedentary)

    i dont count:

    - feeding animals (5 horses, chickens and 1 dog, involves a large amount of walking, yarding horses, carrying buckets/scoops/jumping fences and carrying hay).
    -checking fences and troughs (i walk the 21 acres or whatever portion of it im using daily)
    -the usual stuff with horses (grooming, basic training including trotting up for shows so jogging for me, cleaning stalls)
    -fixing things (fences, coops, horse gear, etc)
    - housework

    on a 'lazy' day, the animals get fed, stalls get cleaned, fences/troughs get checked and housework (kinda) gets done

    i do count:
    -walking horses ( 1 - 5km exercise and manners lessons)
    -riding
    -deliberate exercise
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
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    I mow my lawn with a hand mower - but I don't count it. If it was 4 acres, maybe I would.

    I use a FitBit that counts every step I take, but I set my profile as totally sedentary. If I go on an agressive hike, I use my HRM to overide the FitBit lower calorie estimate. I don't bother counting strength workouts as I think its too easy to overestimate.
  • OspreyVista
    OspreyVista Posts: 464 Member
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    Based on what the person told you, I think you need a new nutritionist. Using their logic, if you ran an hour every day, that would count as an every day activity.

    ^this. Because, well, it would count as an every day activity. I count walking my dog. I don't normally count cleaning house, unless I do it for more than a full hour, and even then I only count half, because I normally don't have that much housework to do, so when I do more than an hour, it's extra!
  • AMBlass
    AMBlass Posts: 161
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    To me, there is a difference between activity and exercise. Walking your dog or walking in general is good for your health because you are being active (which is better than being sedentary) but I don't consider it exercise. Exercise to me is aerobic or anaerobic exercise, like cardio or weight lifting, which gets your heart rate up above it's normal resting rate for a long period of time, or exercise that taxes the muscles and causes them to grow and get strong.

    Activity = good. Exercise = good. but they aren't the same thing (IMHO).
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    I think it will depend on what you entered in your activity level. If you said your lightly active because you walk your dogs everyday then you shouldn't count that again. If you are set to sedentary, then you would enter it since it's not included alreaady in your calorie allowance.

    This is spot on. You have already nominated how active your regular day is, so you just have to add extra stuff that you do on top of your daily activities.
  • RepsnSets
    RepsnSets Posts: 805 Member
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    I log anything over 20 minutes of straight exercise. I accumulate the minutes I do per day for example I might walk 20 minutes at lunch time and then go to the gym after work and do 40 minutes of cardio or lifting.

    I dont count on the calories being correct here on my fitness pal I dont have a heart rate monitor either but I use it as a general guide.
  • icimani
    icimani Posts: 1,454 Member
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    I only count my intentional exercise - the exercise where I "put the shoes on", or in my case, out the swim suit on. I don't count doing my laundry which involves walking from one end of the house to another, or my walk from the parking lot to my office, Those things definitely keep me active, and I generally take the long way around and more trips these days, but it's not intentional exercise.
  • AZKristi
    AZKristi Posts: 1,801 Member
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    As far as what to track, it will depend on what you selected as your activity level. If you told MFP you were lightly active, I would definitely not include things like slow walking, cleaning, etc. as exercise. If you told MFP you were sedentary, and go on a 2 mile walk, that is probably above and beyond your stated activity level.

    I don't really have "normal" days. At my job I may sit at a desk or spend a ton of time driving around being very sedentary. Or, I might take a nice walk up a mountain, climb a silo, walk several miles, etc. So, I set my activity level at sedentary to account for office days and log the aforementioned things that come up at work as exercise.

    Anything I do at the gym, (Yoga, lifting, spin, running, climbing, etc) or for recreation (hiking, swimming, etc) gets logged as cardio with the number of calories my HRM says I burned.
  • SToast
    SToast Posts: 255 Member
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    I only count the stuff that raises my heart rate. I counted mowing the lawn this week but for 1/4 of the time I was actually mowing. My walk to the park with my son I only counted as 10 min of walking (rather than 45 min) and only did that because we played tag and chase. I count my workouts of course but not things like cleaning the house, walking the dog, work, etc.

    I'd rather see real results on my scale than "fake" results on my computer screen :)
  • Bellefay
    Bellefay Posts: 13 Member
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    I have been wondering about the same things. I have bought a beurer heart monitor to help me understand how many calories i burn in a day as i have plateaued for the last months. I have been wearing it over the weekend and burned 3500 cal on saturday lounging around and walking to the shops. Took it to Uni today and thought i would be burning less sitting in classes. Worn it from 9 am to 9 pm and ticked in over 3800 cal.

    Everyone tells me i have lost weight but i am sure this is more due to my body composition changing from fat to muscle, however the scales still have not budged.

    I have updated my profile to active but that still does not match the hear rate monitor. Do you think that i now have a faster metabolism due to my new muscles and therefore burn more than the 2000 recommended calories? Then how do i enter the data into myfitness?

    Do i enter the 3000+ cal as daily activities minus the 1200 goal?

    I am confused please help?
  • Lady_Bane
    Lady_Bane Posts: 720 Member
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    I don't count my wizarding as working out......
    jk


    I only count half of the times of everything I do....just because I feel MFP tells a bit of a tall tale.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    I am looking for some feedback on what some of you count as exercise. I went through a nutrition program and the nutritionist said not to count anything that you would do in your normal day. She said only to count things above and beyond your normal activities. So, I don't count when I walk my dog every day, I only count my walk for exercise. To me this doesn't make sense because you're still burning calories. I see in the database there are things like cleaning, gardening and etc. I'm just wondering what some of your thoughts are on this.

    Oh, I also don't "eat back" my walking calories because she said not to do that while trying to lose weight only when you are at a point where you want to maintain. Thanks for your input :)

    You have gotten sound advice from a professional. My recommendation is that you follow it.
  • annexbr
    annexbr Posts: 7
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    Personally, the only things I log as exercise are things that I actually change into workout clothes for: running, biking, elliptical, ect. If you do it in regular clothes, then its just part of your regular life hahaha

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