You logged what as exercise?

x_ItNeverEnds_x
x_ItNeverEnds_x Posts: 134
in Fitness and Exercise
I see some strange things being logged as exercise. What are your opinions on these things and what have you seen that you wouldn't conciser exercise.
Example: Reading, Cooking, Cleaning, working at McDonald's, Sex, Masturbating, Sleeping, School work, Studying.

I always wonder why people log things like this. I mean if you really want to know what your burning all day figure out your TDEE right? Then set up your goal with a deficit off that number? Doesn't MFP already do that when you sign up and you enter in your activity level?
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Replies

  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    yeah but i most people put in their activity as sedentary even if that isnt really the case.

    i have no opinion either way since i generally try to stay out of other grown folks' business and generally have about 1/2 a fark to give per day to what other people decide to do, but i'm curious if people that log things like food prep, dish washing, cleaning etc eat those calories back and if they still lose weight on a consistent basis
  • jmkmomm
    jmkmomm Posts: 3,247 Member
    Some people change their settings and their goal is no longer what MFP set for them. I keep my pedometer on all day and keep track of ALL the steps I take. Compared to the total couch potato I was before I joined here any step is a gain right now
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
    Working at McDonald's would actually burn some serious calories. Fast paced job, on your feet, constantly running from one end of the place to the other, possibly lifting heavy boxes, etc.

    As for the rest....it'd have to be a damn good orgasm before I could count it as having burned anything.
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
    I don't put those things as exercise because they are part of my normal daily living and I am set to 'light active' so I only count things done, out of the norm, that are intentional exercise.
    And I don't count my Bodyweight workouts that are 3 times a day. Between that and whatever housework I do, I figure it's part of my 'exercises 3-5 days a week' status.

    Maybe some of those people are set to 'sedentary' or didn't really do cooking or housework for years while getting the weight on & dn do them now and track it. Maybe it helps motivate new people and soon on their own they will figure out to count intentional exercise will be to their best, bit for now the extra motivation helps.

    Maybe some people just want to eat more cheesecake and fell justified.
  • viciouscakes
    viciouscakes Posts: 11 Member
    anything you do at a constint pace would be considered exercise so whatever people track is there business i track cleaning and etc because i have kids and am constantly running after them! and ive only been on here since what saturday and already am seeing results so to each is own, plus i do a daily routine of zumba!!
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Working at McDonald's would actually burn some serious calories. Fast paced job, on your feet, constantly running from one end of the place to the other, possibly lifting heavy boxes, etc.

    As for the rest....it'd have to be a damn good orgasm before I could count it as having burned anything.


    :laugh:

    ETA: you're really on a roll today
  • libbymcbain
    libbymcbain Posts: 206 Member
    yeah but i most people put in their activity as sedentary even if that isnt really the case.

    i have no opinion either way since i generally try to stay out of other grown folks' business and generally have about 1/2 a fark to give per day to what other people decide to do, but i'm curious if people that log things like food prep, dish washing, cleaning etc eat those calories back and if they still lose weight on a consistent basis

    I hurt my leg and my physio told me no exercise for a while, so I changed my setting to sedentary and logged things like cleaning and food prep, along with the remedial exercises my physio gave me.

    It helped me keep track, meant I didn't feel totally useless and also gave me an idea of whether I could eat a little extra of some days rather than being petrified and sticking to minimum calories. And I still lost- slower than with exercise, but still the right direction, which kept my spirits up and meant I didn't jump the gun, go back to exercising too soon and injure myself again.
  • allie491
    allie491 Posts: 91 Member
    I just updated my activity level to sedentary. The main reason being, I am a stay at home mom. I am very active with my kids when it's nice out, but not so much in the winter weather. I do log house cleaning, or light exercise, why not? My calories are based on a sedentary level for the day.
  • T1mH
    T1mH Posts: 568 Member
    Just moving to extremely overweight people is difficult and is a step up from doing nothing. Why shouldn't they log it? By logging it they'll figure out soon enough if they are gaining or losing and if they have to adjust.

    Edit: many people log walking for an hour, why not log house cleaning for an hour?
  • Topher1978
    Topher1978 Posts: 975 Member
    I debate on whether to delete them from my friends... but some of them are really nice...
  • mindbodystrength
    mindbodystrength Posts: 44
    What difference does it make to you? This site is set up to be personalized, and if someone wants to log "staring at the wall" as exercise, that's their business. If you don't like it, simply hit the delete button...it's really easy. Then you can log "4 minutes of deleting friends because I don't like their exercises" under your Cardio for the day :)
  • desiv2
    desiv2 Posts: 651 Member
    I wonder if they wear a HRM while masturbating?
  • My0WNinspiration
    My0WNinspiration Posts: 1,146 Member
    I log picking my nose
  • IslandRider
    IslandRider Posts: 244
    I will log cooking when I do marathon canning sessions or pie making sessions, etc. It's a lot of extra steps for several hours plus carrying, lifting peeling 20lbs of sweet potatoes, kneading and rolling out dough, etc. Same thing for cleaning when I clean all the carpets in the house, it's several hours of scrubbing plus pulling around a heavy steam cleaner. All of that stuff is outside of my normal day, so I figure it counts.
  • IslandRider
    IslandRider Posts: 244
    What difference does it make to you? This site is set up to be personalized, and if someone wants to log "staring at the wall" as exercise, that's their business. If you don't like it, simply hit the delete button...it's really easy. Then you can log "4 minutes of deleting friends because I don't like their exercises" under your Cardio for the day :)

    Lol! This is great!
  • x_ItNeverEnds_x
    x_ItNeverEnds_x Posts: 134
    Wow, Guess i didn't expect to get so much hate. Should have figured, can't ask a question with out being made to feel like an idiot. Back to the hole I crawled out of. Should have known i'm not allowed to have an opinion.
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
    I wonder if they wear a HRM while masturbating?

    Once I had to wear a heart holter monitor thingy (dr wanted to monitor my heart for possible problems)

    Well, I thought it would be fun to wear while my husband and I 'made love'.... Then the doctor mentioned a big spike at 10PM and I suddenly got embarrassed and bet he knew exactly why and I felt dumb for wearing the device during sex.
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    What difference does it make to you? This site is set up to be personalized, and if someone wants to log "staring at the wall" as exercise, that's their business. If you don't like it, simply hit the delete button...it's really easy. Then you can log "4 minutes of deleting friends because I don't like their exercises" under your Cardio for the day :)

    That, always that.
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
    The time I log housework or cleaning is when:

    1. I am dancing with the vaccuum and turning it into a workout.
    2. Taking down or putting up Christmas decorations. Because it involves a lot of bending over, going up and down ladders, etc...
  • jdaley90
    jdaley90 Posts: 259 Member
    hahahah! the best! in response to the heart rate monitor while making love
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    Wow, Guess i didn't expect to get so much hate. Should have figured, can't ask a question with out being made to feel like an idiot. Back to the hole I crawled out of. Should have known i'm not allowed to have an opinion.

    People were not being hateful, and you are the one who decides whether or not you have an opinion on something.
  • seraph0820
    seraph0820 Posts: 37
    I log sex for sure! It is definitely a workout and not a daily activity...usually ;)
  • desiv2
    desiv2 Posts: 651 Member
    I wonder if they wear a HRM while masturbating?

    Once I had to wear a heart holter monitor thingy (dr wanted to monitor my heart for possible problems)

    Well, I thought it would be fun to wear while my husband and I 'made love'.... Then the doctor mentioned a big spike at 10PM and I suddenly got embarrassed and bet he knew exactly why and I felt dumb for wearing the device during sex.

    Haha, that's awesome....:laugh:
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
    I log sex for sure! It is definitely a workout and not a daily activity...usually ;)

    My husband teases me and tries to convince me to log sex. I am embarrassed to know that my parents know I have sex. And I am 41 and been married 21 years .
  • desiv2
    desiv2 Posts: 651 Member
    Wow, Guess i didn't expect to get so much hate. Should have figured, can't ask a question with out being made to feel like an idiot. Back to the hole I crawled out of. Should have known i'm not allowed to have an opinion.

    My advice is to never post something on a public forum without expecting it to be criticized. Just like you have an opinion, so do others. Their opinion just happened to be different from yours. It doesn't make them mean.

    On a random note, I had one friend log sex as 'moving furniture'... lmao!
  • L14nDv
    L14nDv Posts: 33 Member
    Wow, Guess i didn't expect to get so much hate. Should have figured, can't ask a question with out being made to feel like an idiot. Back to the hole I crawled out of. Should have known i'm not allowed to have an opinion.

    I don't think there was any 'hate' in the thread. Just other opinions. You can't expect to pose a opinionated question without getting mixed opinions back. Take everything with as pinch of salt and remember you can't read emotions through text. Most people do not aim to say hurtful things. Take it with good intentions.
  • lamby284
    lamby284 Posts: 167 Member
    hey now, sex/*kitten* can get very intense sometimes. you might feel a burn in the legs or something. personally, i find it amusing. when im bored, i add "brushing teeth" in my exercise log. 5 calories burned in 2 minutes right there!
  • Krissy_b777
    Krissy_b777 Posts: 87
    anything you do at a constint pace would be considered exercise so whatever people track is there business i track cleaning and etc because i have kids and am constantly running after them! and ive only been on here since what saturday and already am seeing results so to each is own, plus i do a daily routine of zumba!!

    This exactly!


    MFP have these things on here for a reason. They are considered exercise. I use them when I do them. Last night I cleaned my closet, and I'll be damned if I didn't burn some calories. The sex and stuff is not already on here, but hey do your thing, whatever makes you happy and burn calories.
  • HypersonicFitNess
    HypersonicFitNess Posts: 1,219 Member
    I've logged none of those...except I did log hanging up Christmas lights b/c I was outside for 5 hours and going up & down a ladder. I used yard work and then cut it in half or something to guess at the calories. I burned something b/c I am sedentary...I mean I usually watch tv or read or am on the computer if I'm off work, so...I was outside climbing ladders...it is not normal activity for me, my legs and back and shoulders were killing me...I did something.

    I also logged baking over Christmas, because I met up with the neighborhood women and we baked cookies for....5 hours or maybe it was 6 hours...whatever, again this is not something I EVER do...so I logged it but I looked up baking and then reduced it so as not to over calculated calories burned. (note: my husband is retired he does all the cooking, etc at our house)

    Other than that; I only log true exercise. That being said on another "pay site" for challenges, etc. If you did it every day it didn't qualify, if it wasn't something you did daily, it would qualify. Say you gardened or did yard work or raked leaves...but this isn't something you do normally, you could log it, but if it is your job and you do it daily...no you couldn't log it as exercise. But, that was the challenge criteria.
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
    I log when I waddle, but only when I do it with purpose. Sometimes, I even waddle in the pool with purpose.

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