Fake Activity Calories?

DiaryOfaThickFitWoman

lol.

brittaney0625

I've noticed that quite a few people add "sitting, sewing" and other activities like "food preparation" into their activity log ad some people rack up a few hundred extra calories from "cleaning, light effort."

Honestly, do these activities, especially the sitting ones, actually rack up an extra burnt calories because to me it's sedentary.... If its worked for you and you're losing weight- please let me know!

Basically, any extra calories to add to my total would be welcomed!

breathing I believe MFP already takes in all the stuff you do on a normal day when it gives you your calorie goal.
Also, yeah you do burn calories just sitting... you do just breathing.. IF someone wants to log it.. then go for it but I would'nt be eating that back.

6Petite

Okay I'm new to this and thought I had to put in 1200 exercises calories a day to meet my intake of 1200 calories. This post made me realize that's not the case. Thanks.

Webbygail

To all the people talking about logging sex... I log mine as "2BackedBeast" ;]

SistahX

Every activity counts and the value of those activities should be at the discretion of those that do it. If sewing burns calories I say "Bring it fabric! I got something for ya!"

Burn those calories however you can!

Burning while typing,
Sistah X

GrannySparkle

Can anyone tell me how many calories I burn from knitting?

I knit a lot.

I commended to a friend the other day..how many calories do I burn when crocheting...cause I crochet for hours and hours. LOL But I really don't call it exercise.

likearadiowave

I haven't seen "sleeping" in the list of things you can add ... I know because I tried. lol

I have seen "cleaning" though, and I think if you do it for a long enough time, it burns calories. Probably not a lot, though.

beattie1

Okay I'm new to this and thought I had to put in 1200 exercises calories a day to meet my intake of 1200 calories. This post made me realize that's not the case. Thanks.

Well that is really good news! Why not read this -
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

as it's a great intro to how to set your calorie goals.

spud_chick

I add cleaning and cooking when I am doing either for longer than, say, 30 minutes. My house has two flights of stairs so any substantial cleaning activity involves climbing and gets my blood moving pretty fast (especially laundry days with baskets being lugged between the basement and top floor). I also created a category for errands/shopping based on figures I found for driving, slow-ish walking and carrying light weights (like hauling around heaps of groceries or cases of cans etc. from Coscto). I did that because, like cooking or cleaning house for long periods, running intensive errands does burn calories (and can make you tired and hungry) even if they don't increase your fitness or get you to optimal heart rates. Those are separate concerns. They burn calories, and if I am doing any of them for a long enough period I log it in my expenditures.

It might be worth mentioning that I am very impatient with shopping, so I tend to zoom around in the stores to get back out as quickly as I can. Not a browser, me.

This holiday season I spent what seemed like a whole fricken week running around town on successful and unsuccessful shopping junkets, baking and cooking as if for multitudes, and catching up on housework. It interfered a lot with getting real exercise in, but it wore me the heck out, I can tell you. I logged the activity in my exercise diary. Over the holidays I burned a little less and ate a little more, and had the expected results; I stopped losing for a week or so, but I didn't gain any weight back. This is commensurate with my experience of logging a similar amount of calories burned/eaten doing my usual exercises.

I won't tell you that I didn't lose *fitness* over the holiday by displacing energy spent on exercise with energy spent on activities I tend to think of as drudgery. I'm working to get my momentum back, certainly, But there is no question that I was burning calories.

That said, I definitely don't log calories for a quick tidy-up or making a typical dinner, which I consider part of my chosen "light activity" category.

TheBoyEnigma

I don't add things which are just normal daily activity. it'd be deluding myself. I only add actual exercise and stuff that gets me tired out.

tbellamy1

This is a funny thread.

zazuofcloud10

Well if you look at your daily goals, you will find that it takes into account regular daily activity. I personally don't log all the small things that I do every day, because they are alerady accounted for with that basic amount of calories burned. It's best to only log actual activity that you normally don't do. Otherwise it screws up the weight lose program that MFP has provided for us.

ozigal

I dont count anything except steps from my fitbit. That's it!

Velum_cado

I just add "actual" exercise... Usually, just the ones I've worn my HRM for, but I have started logging my lunch break walks because I have a vague idea of how much I'm burning. I figure any other activity just gives me a bit of wiggle room if I've under estimated my calories, or something.

trixiemou

Yep, that was me today, I actually logged 90 minutes worth of food prep. was in the kitchen longer and did not sit down for close to 2 hours. But oh dear me, what on earth am I going to eat with the 4 calories I logged as having burned.......

Chibea

Can I favorite you somehow??

GrannySparkle

I see a lot of people are NOT logging housework and cooking. I do. Why? Until recently, I didn't do those things...AT ALL. Now that I have some weight off...I do them often. And since cleaning hasn't been done in so long when I do clean...I attack a room. My downstairs is now done and I am tackling the upstairs. But now that I have the downstairs done..unless I am vaccuming or sweeping and mopping, I don't count it. It all depends on what I am cooking as wether or not I count it. If I am mixing muffin batter by hand..yea I log it.

BUT I never eat those calories!!

Mighty_Rabite

The only non-exercise calories I will add is if I am doing a fun or work activity that is fairly strenuous, like shoveling snow, scraping ice off of cars, and I would probably add it in if I were helping someone move, but even on those I would aim a bit lower on the estimates. Food prep, walking A to B.. nah.

triciab79

I am on the lowest activity setting and back when I was trying to lose I didn't add things like cleaning or cooking to my calorie count. I really wanted to make my goal though. I wanted it more than I wanted to eat a few more calories. I think you should always underestimate your activity and overestimate your calories. Most of us have plenty of fuel for our muscles attached to our muscles.

tskitzoid

Uh oh, after reading this thread I feel like maybe I'm one of those fake activity calorie people! T_T

I put myself as lightly active because when I do have work, I'm on my feet, but sometimes I don't always get many days or many hours, plus, it's not just a "Salesman/teacher" type job, it's fast-food, so I'm constantly bustling around, making things, cleaning, restocking items, baking, pulling down boxes or helping unload boxes from the delivery truck we get once a week, etc. And so, I log my time at work as "cleaning, light, moderate effort" but it's definitely not something I'd consider "active" because on my off days I relax, play video games, or go out with my husband. Occasionally doing the house chores once or twice a week, which I also consider the "cleaning, light, moderate effort" but only put 1-2 hours (max) worth depending one what I'm doing and how long. Should I not be doing that? Ahhh I feel like a cheater now. ;~;

vjohn04

I don't ever do yard work myself. I'd usually pay someone to come do it. But since I wasn't going to work out today, I raked and bagged around 30 bags of leaves in three hours or so.

I logged that shiznat.

However, any task I consider part of my normal life, I typically wouldn't log.


ETA - I wore my HRM too, and deducted my BMR calories to get my figure.

shanmackie

If you're a chef and you told MFP you spend a lot of day on your feet then you won't count food preparation. If you told it you work a desk job all day, then you really should log food preparation. Also if you think that's a joke you obviously never tried whisking or mixing something by hand!!

Shrinking_Stacey

My favorite is when people try to log their sex. Really, I MEAN REALLY PEOPLE?? The visual of you humping with a HRM on is enough for me delete you. True story!

jofjltncb6

If you want to log it, then log it...but do it consistently...and then if a few months from now, you aren't getting the results you expected, then you should reconsider your estimates. However, if you *are* getting the expected results, then carry on. It's really that simple.

(Myself as an example, my actual TDEE is higher than MFP thinks it is right now, which is evidenced by my weight being less than MFP expects it to be. If I wanted to dial this in more accurately, I would either need to increase my BMR, increase my estimates for burn, or decrease my estimates for food...but I'm not really worried about what MFP calculates my gain/loss to be.)

Chibea

I wonder how many calories are burned by worrying about what other people are doing?

Thank-you for this comment!! I had the best laugh of the day...so far. I'll keep reading...

JanaCanada

I don't consider any activity "fake". If you do, then let me tell you that I have lost 25 lbs. doing "fake" exercises. :drinker:

Some of us are handicapped or have other physical limitations or have had surgery, and we can't lift or do strenuous workouts. "Food preparation" means you are standing for a long period of time, which is isometric. Cleaning means you are bending, stretching arms, lifting laundry baskets and furniture to vacuum under, etc. That's a workout! Grocery shopping or going ot the mall counts as walking at a slow pace, and I can spend hours doing both.

As well, I have two very damaged knees, so Ido a "workout in a chair" that I follow on youtube.

Let's not judge one another or compare someone else's exercise to your own. The light activities that work for many of us may not be your cup of tea, but at least it's working.

unmitigatedbadassery

My favorite is when people try to log their sex. Really, I MEAN REALLY PEOPLE?? The visual of you humping with a HRM on is enough for me delete you. True story!

Well, it is certainly more effective than "knitting".

Lois_1989

It's weird this topic has come up, because I cleaned my parents office today and logged it and it came up to over 400 calories! I was so shocked. I did break a sweat which is why I kept it but I don't plan on using all the calories because I really don't feel I burnt that much considering I cycle 12 km in 30 mins and that's just under 300.
I would never log food prep or anything sitting down though! That's clawing at extra calories in my opinion.

almc170

As long as your overall calorie consumption does not impede your goals, how you manage the process is purely a matter of preference.

mcflat29

My favorite is when people try to log their sex. Really, I MEAN REALLY PEOPLE?? The visual of you humping with a HRM on is enough for me delete you. True story!

:laugh: I wouldn't log it since it's no one's business, but it can burn calories. :laugh: And it does get your heart rate up... :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: