Logging 'food preparation?' /rant
Replies
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It is an interesting conundrum... I use a FitBit to track all that stuff that the OP allows for as day to day stuff, and from an MFP perspective (as with serenalesley) - I just use the MFP addition to my exercise calories for that day.
I have an issue on the flipside - I belong to FitBit forums, and because my activity is focussed around pre-op low impact work, and stretches - I consider myself to be lightly active and in no need to worsen my condition by madly stepping and running up and down stairs etc.
I have made some great friends on both sites, who accept that I am doing my journey my way - and I just ignore the FitBit achievement chatter now.
It's great for those that use it as their sole motivator to move more - but that's not for me.
I just have to remember that different things motivate different people - and that's fine.
Rise above, do your own thing and don't fret about other people's journeys.0 -
If they have their activity levels set at sedentary then everything they do above and beyond sitting IS exercise. Also if they are extremely over weight walking up the stairs for 2 mins could well be a great achievement for them. Cooking a huge meal/kneading dough etc is hard work!
Also does it matter what they log? If they're doing it for more calories, to "cheat" themselves, what impact does that have on you? Nothing. If it annoys you SO much delete them as a friend.
^^Truth0 -
I like to log "trolling MFP" as exercise. By my calculations I'm burning up to 2000 calories each day! More cookies for me! yay :laugh:0
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Meh..if it motivates them to see stairs are worthwhile or prepare their own food or vacuum the floor more regularly, I don't care. Whatever keeps them keeping on I'm for it. I find people gradually lose that from their diaries and just focus on exercise eventually anyway. But either/or is their perogative.0
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Honestly...why does it bother you what they do? Its not hurting you. It doesn't effect you at all. Just ignore it and do what works for you. I imagine, if I was someone who normally just sat all day and did nothing but watch telly all day, and suddenly started to move more, yeah I may log those things. I've logged my housework before....but I was doing a deep clean, scrubbing floors on hands and knees cleaning cabinets and walls...and I didn't get a chance to "workout" that day, so that was my exercise.
You're right, I should do the same for misuse of affect and effect but you know what? Something about it just pushes my hypersensitive getalife buttons
Signed,
Grumpy Pom In Oz
LOL...I never get that one right! My 14 year old daughter normally corrects me...but thank you for taking the time to point it out for me 0 -
Have you consider removing these people from your friends list, it'll save you from being annoyed
Agreed - when I joined MFP I said yes to every friend request. Now I've whittled it down to a group that, on the whole, I have similar goals to/things in common with. I'm using the TDEE-20% tactic (and eating back my exercise calories). I have my calories set at completely sedentary due to sitting at a computer all day and then log all exercise (using an HRM)... as long as the exercise gets me slightly out of breath and lasts for more than 15 minutes (so a run, fast walk, hike, fitness DVD etc). I seriously doubt my cleaning/cooking/shopping efforts are great enough to log them as calories!0 -
I typically agree with all the nonsensical logging that a lot of people do. But on the topic of the Fitbit, I have noticed lately that it logs way more calories than I would like. I use endomondo synced up to my Fitbit for my workouts, but instead of just logging the 300-400 calories or so for the workouts it will log around 1000 calories burned for the day which includes all the walking that I've done all day long. I have never counted that as a workout because walking across the house, to my car, etc. is NOT a workout. But for some reason Fitbit does, lol. So I don't even bother looking at most other people's logs anymore because my own personal log is hijacked by Fitbit. It will say something weird like I've burned 1243 calories doing 254 minutes of...including walking...when my actual workout may have just been 40 minutes of weight training.0
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Have to defend myself and say that I dont normally log food prep, but on saying
that if I am baking for a few hours then I do
Most of the baking I do I cant do with mixers and blenders so its a work out
to a degree
So its not all people that log food prep just for the sake of it, sometimes there is
a genuine reason that maybe we are cooking/baking for a long time0 -
i am with you on this, but some are much more serious and gung ho..
i am the fun one.0 -
Hey, so as I warned this is a rant... I want your opinions on this.
I have seen people logging food preparation, washing dishes, even 2mins walking up stairs. Is this getting a bit ridiculous? I see those everyday actions as being part of my net personally.
Should I log it every time I use the bathroom? And add extra calories if it's a little more difficult than usual? Like seriously people, be realistic... unless you are doing a strenuous amount of housework I don't see why this should be logged. But do prove me wrong, please, I'd like to giggle at the reasoning.
Cheers,
A grumpy Aussie
You see it as part of your "net personality" but that is the case for everybody. When I first started this journey I barely moved at all. I didn't really prepare food, it was something easy or a takeaway so it makes a huge difference for me to be in the kitchen for 50 mins preparing. That's a lot more that I used to do.
As for the stairs, I use a fitbit and that logs the stair climbs. I'm sure there is some infinite wisdom behind that!
Try not to be so judgemental because some people have a lot further to go on their journey than you do and for them, even the slightest bit more exercise is an improvement. It is an incentive to go on and do more. It is awful when you first start and you are so out of condition that you find even the basics hard work...but you can move on and improve that. I certainly have!0 -
i log food prep sometimes but only if i am catering a party, on a normal average day i spend probably 60-90 mins on food prep but on days when i am catering it's anywhere between 5-9 hours of running round like a blue arsed fly and is exhausting
same with cleaning my everyday cleaning gets ignored but if im doing top to bottom deep cleaning it takes hours and involves moving lots of furniture so i log it
typically i dont believe the calorie burn that mfp sets for these activities and usually eat about a quarter of the calories back and only then if i'm hungry, i log it more for the activity minutes than the calories burned0 -
I don't log stuff like that, and when I see it, it does strike me as odd. But I wouldn't say it bothers me....it's none of my business, first and foremost. I also don't really know their circumstances. For instance, logging "housework" could mean all sorts of things. For me, housework isn't usually a strenuous activity, but perhaps it is for them, for whatever reason. Who knows? Too many variables for me to question it, even if I wanted to.0
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I see your point. For instance....I walk four to five miles a day while at work. I have done this for almost 12 years now. No way can I include that as it is just a normal part of my day.0
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No matter what they log in terms of "every day activity" if they are "cheating themselves" it will show on the scales!0
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When I first came out of major surgery last year I would use my HRM and log cleaning. It was a huge effort for me. I didn't eat those calories though. I no longer log cleaning. I did a major spring clean recently, cleared out rooms, everything. Didn't count it. Was curious after though as bagging up and tipping 30 bin bags worth of stuff must have been a good amount of calories. I wouldn't blame someone for using a HRM for that x0
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LOL
One of my husband's MFP friends logged reading as exercise! Imagine they will be taking a long time to reach their goal....0 -
@XXXminnieXXX...I can see where if cleaning was fairly new to you (and that would be true in your case due to having surgery), so I would have included those calories burned. But, and I am repeating myself, if it is something that you do everyday then your body is accustom to it and you are really not burning any extra calories.0
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Oh the old 'why do people log X as exercise' rant. Usually it's cleaning, so props to the OP for using food prep!
If I'm doing a full house cleanse, damn straight I'm going to log it as cleaning, but usually light even though I'm scrubbing floors and showers, carrying out 20+ pound bags of garbage, etc. Just daily things like dishes, straightening, etc.? No, I don't log that. I'm lightly active thanks to my job anyway, so I have a caloric buffer already built in.
Anyone who's trying to scam the system so to speak will see it on the scale. I'm doing great so how I log works for me.0 -
Fair enough, I have no major traumatic/illness/injury based reason to log things like housework - so I don't.
BUT
I walk up 150 steps to get to my office in the morning, then I do it again after my coffee break, then at the end of my lunch.
My reasons for logging it are thus
1. It's new. I took the lift/elevator until Jan so it's still an exception to my normal day.
2. It get's me out of breath. I'm 236 lb and 5ft8. I used to die a little by the 3rd floor. Then the 4th, now it's as I reach the 5th floor. I'm seeing progress and as it's something I've specifically chosen to do, rather than something I have to do I think I'm OK to class it.
3. Logging it keeps me doing it. If I wasn't logging it and seeing it written down, I'd be more tempted to skip it and take the lift.
Is there really anything wrong with that?0 -
There seems to be a lot of people who spring clean their houses A LOT. Am I just a slob?
Oh, and yes, the people who log every tiny detail of their lives annoy me too. How long does it have to annoy me for for me to log it? Surely all the extra adrenaline I'm producing must be worth something. Or a biscuit.0 -
I have logged cleaning once or twice in the past as it was a proper cleaning where I was sweating and all. I don't make a habit out of logging it though. I don't quite understanding the logging of food preparation, ironing etc but to each their own. My way of dealing with it is to ignore those updates in my news feed. For sure I wont be saying "well done", "wtg" etc0
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Personally I don't log anything that I would have done when I was getting fatter - it did not stop me from getting fat - so why on earth would it now help me get thin!!
Omg, EASILY the best answer I've seen on this topic ANYWHERE!!!0 -
I didn't realise how much "normal" activities added up until I injured my knee. Not only was I not exercising at least an hour a day I wasn't able to hardly do anything around the house anymore (unless you count limping/hopping from one half of the house to the other only to sit down again). I gained 7kg in about 7 weeks now. I knew I had a very active lifestyle before as I rarely liked to sit still but didn't realise how active I was until this injury happened. And I did/do clean my house a lot - I now just sit on a chair as I'm doing my tidying of my pantry, etc
Really at this point of my life with the injury I have walking to the mailbox (we live in townhouses and its downhill and back up to the box) would be exercise. Whereas before I could cycle 45km in a day and then went and did zumba only a few months back.
Exercise is now 5 minutes on the exercise bike because that's all I'm "allowed" - its depressing !! I'll probably be an annoying maniac logging everything I can do once I can do it again - I'm so excited can't wait until I'm better again.
And yes I know I should probably adjust my eating if that's how much weight I gained in such a short amount of time...working on it. Well some days anyway.0 -
I record food prep 6 days a year, and that's because I typically work in an office but the 6 Fridays during Lent each year I run he kitchen at our Knights of Columbus hall doing a fish fry. I approach it as a "fat man's zumba" as it's fast-paced, slinging fry baskets/containers, breading fish, you get the idea. My conscience allows me to log 2 hours of this activity as "food prep" even though I go from noon (prep) until around 8 pm (clean-up). I'm definitely feeling it the next morning. But I get what you're saying - if food prep can be claimed every day, surely the hand/mouth excercise following should count as cardio as well.0
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Overall, I'm a "only log actual exercise as exercise" type of person, BUT I'd rather see someone log food prep and cleaning than eat 1200 when 1200 isn't appropriate for them.0
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It"s justification for eating that cookie they just couldn't walk by. 0
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If one doesn't own a fitbit or nike fuel band, and they have a sedentary lifestyle, logging all those individiual activities is used for more than just "eating back calories".
I would log all my 10 minute walks if I didn't have a nike fuel band. I set my lifestyle to sendentary (because it is, I have desk job) and then I try to stand or walk 10 minutes out of every waking hour. I do some light yoga or barre3, but it's busy season so I am pretty much office bound 10-12 hours a day.
I look to see if I am getting my minimum goal in on my device throughout the day. People without a device have to monitor it by logging.
My company's wellness program has pedometers and fitbits and other monitoring programs as gifts or low costs to help us all get into our own wellness - our own way!0 -
The things others do that have no effect whatsoever on me do not really concern me. *shrug*Hey, so as I warned this is a rant... I want your opinions on this.
I have seen people logging food preparation, washing dishes, even 2mins walking up stairs. Is this getting a bit ridiculous? I see those everyday actions as being part of my net personally.
Should I log it every time I use the bathroom? And add extra calories if it's a little more difficult than usual? Like seriously people, be realistic... unless you are doing a strenuous amount of housework I don't see why this should be logged. But do prove me wrong, please, I'd like to giggle at the reasoning.
Cheers,
A grumpy Aussie0 -
As someone who logs "life", I'll tell you my reason. It motivates me to get my fat *kitten* up off the couch. Before I started MFP, I would park on the couch for 12+ hours. Now that I know all the little things can help, I move more. If you don't like it, then don't "friend" people who log them. It's not exactly any of your business anyway.Hey, so as I warned this is a rant... I want your opinions on this.
I have seen people logging food preparation, washing dishes, even 2mins walking up stairs. Is this getting a bit ridiculous? I see those everyday actions as being part of my net personally.
Should I log it every time I use the bathroom? And add extra calories if it's a little more difficult than usual? Like seriously people, be realistic... unless you are doing a strenuous amount of housework I don't see why this should be logged. But do prove me wrong, please, I'd like to giggle at the reasoning.
Cheers,
A grumpy Aussie0 -
Don't like it? Delete the people who do it. It's really kind of pathetic that you give so much emotional energy to something to meaningless in your life.
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