Fake Activity Calories?

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  • vjohn04
    vjohn04 Posts: 2,276 Member
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    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
    shanmackie Posts: 194 Member
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    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
    Shrinking_Stacey Posts: 100
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    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! :wink:
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
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    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
    Chibea Posts: 363 Member
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    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
    JanaCanada Posts: 917 Member
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    I don't consider any activity "fake". :angry: 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
    unmitigatedbadassery Posts: 653 Member
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    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! :wink:

    Well, it is certainly more effective than "knitting".
  • Lois_1989
    Lois_1989 Posts: 6,410 Member
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    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
    almc170 Posts: 1,093 Member
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    As long as your overall calorie consumption does not impede your goals, how you manage the process is purely a matter of preference.
  • mcflat29
    mcflat29 Posts: 2,159 Member
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    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! :wink:

    :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:
  • nikkijoshua
    nikkijoshua Posts: 85 Member
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    I never see stuff like that in my newsfeed. My MFP friends are hard workers. All I see is kick-butt workouts. Maybe you need some new MFP friends.
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
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    I do log fairly strenuous things I don't normally do like shoveling snow, raking/cleaning out gutters, moving 5 cubic yards of dirt by hand, and house painting. These are things that burn just as many calories as going for a walk, and I don't normally do them. Just because they are productive does not mean they are not exercise. However, I do think things you do fairly regularly and/or those things that aren't any more strenuous than a walk should be counted. I know gardening is good functional fitness but I probably won't log those calories in the warm months because it's just daily activity to me.
  • lindakuj
    lindakuj Posts: 16
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    There are NO perfect people here, or perfect programs.... it's all progress. I log the cleaning in the house, but I dont owe an explanation as to why I do it to anyone. I know if my body is feeling it or not.

    Now, Who can tell me how many cals i lose having hot flashes in menopause?? Feels like being in a sauna!
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    There are NO perfect people here

    you calling my mother a liar??
  • toaster6
    toaster6 Posts: 703 Member
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    I don't really do the "fake" calories burned thing. I do log the light cleaning if I do hard, old school cleaning-- getting on your hands and knees and scrubbing the floors, scrubbing walls, moving furniture to clean, that sort of cleaning. It's above and beyond what I do and more physical so I'll count that. I will also do food prep if it takes several hours. I feel like MFP sometimes over estimates calories burned-- if you think that's happening then either don't eat those calories back or don't eat all of them back. This has been working for me. You caloric intake matters more than your exercises I think.
  • mcflat29
    mcflat29 Posts: 2,159 Member
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    There are NO perfect people here, or perfect programs.... it's all progress. I log the cleaning in the house, but I dont owe an explanation as to why I do it to anyone. I know if my body is feeling it or not.

    :happy: Very true. Too each their own.

    I'll level with you all. I asked my Doctor because the topic was a hectic one among me and my friends at all fitness levels. He said pretty much the same thing as above. And I can break a sweat attacking my house cleaning and my vacuum weighs a ton! He said to listen to your body. And think of it this way. If you're faking yourself out, who else is it hurting. Some people need to be able to log baby steps in the process of getting started. Motivation is motivation.

    If it works, it works and it's all about the individual. :flowerforyou:
  • Danni3ll3
    Danni3ll3 Posts: 365 Member
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    Not enough to log. Might as well log breathing and rack up squats every time you go to the bathroom.

    ^^^ I love this! LOL
  • CrystalFlury
    CrystalFlury Posts: 400 Member
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    Personally the only things I log are gym visits and actual bouts of exercise. Every day things I do like cleaning I did when I was a chubber and I still do now so they aren't really anything new that gets my heart rate up. IMO your only cheating yourself in the long run if your eating back all those logged calories for things like housework, sewing etc. But if people are putting it down as activity and still eating at a deficit and losing then it's all good I suppose. Each to their own and all that! :smile:

    ^^^ agreed! I don't get why people really try to let those simple every day tasks become "activities" for calories burned, if you ask me they're just LAZY. Get into the gym or go outside for a real calorie burn. You're only cheating yourself!
  • kimosabe1
    kimosabe1 Posts: 2,467 Member
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    I clean and list that but I sweat while doing it so I believe I really burned calories you know?
  • tskitzoid
    tskitzoid Posts: 51
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    Not enough to log. Might as well log breathing and rack up squats every time you go to the bathroom.

    ^^^ I love this! LOL

    You mean squatting down to sit on the toilet doesn't count?! D: This. This is where I've been going all wrong! OTL

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