Does everyone count cooking/food prep

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Replies

  • kjw1031
    kjw1031 Posts: 300 Member
    For me any calories burned during food prep and cooking would be negated by the calories I consume tasting what I'm making!

    I quit tasting, and licking spoons.

    I admire people who are able to cook well without tasting. I'm not able to, so I take a small taste to see if I need more/different seasoning.

    I give the spoon to my hubby for licking though.
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
    I might consider counting them for making Thanksgiving dinner or making a ton of food for a party, but for 3 meals a day, no.
  • cbirdso
    cbirdso Posts: 465 Member
    I agree with what others have said, but I noticed no-one commented on your statement that you didn't think you were getting enough to eat.

    If you think that because you feel hungry, my suggestion is to examine WHAT you are eating. I know with me, certain foods make me hungry and other food satisfies and makes me feel energized. Change up what you are eating and see if you notice a difference.

    If you don't think you are getting enough to eat because you are losing more than what MFP has you set for, then enjoy it while it lasts. If you start to level off and hit a plateau, you can raise your activity level to 'lightly active' to give you a few extra calories a day and that has helped many people (including myself).
  • Life_Is_Good2_Me
    Life_Is_Good2_Me Posts: 36 Member
    I think people use any excuse to log calories burned, then eat more and don't lose weight. Then they complain about not losing weight and ask why. I don't think it's helpful to count everyday activities but things that actually use muscle and get your heart rate up for longer periods of time. Maybe more people will read this post and learn from it. Good question :). Hope it has helped.
  • Kanlassak
    Kanlassak Posts: 101 Member
    If it's more than usual, I will count it, especially if I end up having to clean most of the kitchen after. If it's just 15 min, or mostly waiting on things to cook instead of chopping or mixing, I won't.

    I've actually mostly stopped counting it since we finally got a table and chair in the kitchen so I'm not trying to do everything while standing/walking with only a few feet of counter space. It's a lot less movement now.
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,256 Member
    Does everyone count cooking/food prep as part of their daily exercise.....?

    No. For me, that would be a REAL stretch.
  • Diane_58
    Diane_58 Posts: 23 Member
    If you count yourself as sedentary, that means you're up very little doing things on your feet. If you're up quite a bit doing things but they're not strenuous, you might count your baseline as the next level up from sedentary. Then a few more calories are factored in automatically. Personally, I have a desk job and I enjoy being on the computer for recreation. So I call myself sedentary, and if I do extra I add calories on top of it. BUT ... I don't eat the extra exercise calories unless I get really hungry. That way I lose faster.
  • JLD81
    JLD81 Posts: 133 Member
    I don't count mine. When you set up MFP it asks your activity level to determine your daily cals. I set mine at lightly active because I want to lose fat and gain muscle. However, I could easily, most days, set that to active because of my job. However, there are some days where I am not ALWAYS on my feet and don't want to sabotage myself. As a result of the way I have set it up, on days where I walk ALL DAY at work- like this past friday, I will add a small portion of my walking just to make sure I eat enough calories to counteract at least 6 hours of fast paced walking. However, I may walk 6 hours, and only add 45 minutes, because I don't want to hurt myself in the long run. Don't screw yourself over either direction. Cheating your diary will only hurt yourself, and not eating enough calories will also only hurt you. If you are fast paced cooking where you are running outside to check the grill every 5 minutes, and trying to peel and hand mash 10 lbs of potatoes, and changing out the laundry in the midst of it, you might consider it, otherwise, I wouldn't because you will only over consume calories that day.
  • harrietlg
    harrietlg Posts: 239
    i'm so glad that most of these responses are the same, i'm a chef and spend 9-12 hours at work cooking but i don't count any of it because I do it 5 days a week.
  • yarninaround
    yarninaround Posts: 10
    If walking a slow pace mile, only earns me 100 extra calories, I doubt food prep adds up to much. Perhaps you do feel the need for a reward though, it just may have to a differnent choice. I used to buy myself a bottle of nail polish or something small and inexpensive along those lines that makes me happy...no calorie treats :)

    OTOH you might just try wearing a pedometer all day and see what that tells you about how many steps you're taking in a day.
  • MyM0wM0w
    MyM0wM0w Posts: 2,008 Member
    I do not.
  • newmooon56
    newmooon56 Posts: 347 Member
    I think people use any excuse to log calories burned, then eat more and don't lose weight. Then they complain about not losing weight and ask why. I don't think it's helpful to count everyday activities but things that actually use muscle and get your heart rate up for longer periods of time. Maybe more people will read this post and learn from it. Good question :). Hope it has helped.

    Good answer- as you said- ppl should learn from it. Living life and exercising are 2 different thing in my world anyway. If Im not in sneakers and a workout bra its not a workout.
  • cindyhoney2
    cindyhoney2 Posts: 603 Member
    I only count what gets my heart rate up. Invest in a HRM if you can. I recommend the Polar ft4. I do some things around the house like mowing the grass and I count it (push mower only, not the ride on). I figure if my heart rate is not in the zone it shouldn't count as extra calories burned. JMO
  • FeebRyan
    FeebRyan Posts: 738 Member
    I dont include any cooking or cleaning in my exercise. That is my job as a mother and wife right now.

    One absolute bonus is today i cleaned the whole kitchen including all the dishes and did not break a sweat. I am fitter than i have been for a long time :)

    Tomorrow i will run around town like a blue-arsed-fly and then go to a soft play and take it in turns to run around after three toddler and then i will clean my house for hours followed by an hours cooking (at least) and another hours tidying up. Thats just my life though. Its not exercise, exercise is what i do at the end of the day when the boys are asleep and i get me belt out and do some belly dancing!
  • FeebRyan
    FeebRyan Posts: 738 Member
    Do people who count cooking, count sex?
  • Growtinymusclesgrow
    Growtinymusclesgrow Posts: 152 Member
    No, those are bonus calories you burn with life, that is not expercise or something you do to exert energy and purposefully burn calories...

    Ditto..... in my opinion, anything above and beyond is exercise, normal routine activities is just part of your life style.


    Cooking/food prep is already included when you figure out how many calories you burn just being you everyday. I still can't figure this whole "eat back your exercise calorie thing"...but hey, each to their own.

    Also, if you spend let's say 30 mins per meal prepping and somehow you figure that is exercise, then how do you know how to count or even figure out how many calories you might have burned? Do you let MFP tell you? Exercise calories are just that exercise...not sweeping, doing dishes, folding clothes...etc. SMH!!!
  • Growtinymusclesgrow
    Growtinymusclesgrow Posts: 152 Member
    I think people use any excuse to log calories burned, then eat more and don't lose weight. Then they complain about not losing weight and ask why. I don't think it's helpful to count everyday activities but things that actually use muscle and get your heart rate up for longer periods of time. Maybe more people will read this post and learn from it. Good question :). Hope it has helped.

    Yay! Someone who makes sense...FINALLY!!!!
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    I once saw someone add 3 minutes of food preparation. 7 calories burned.
  • penchantforproduce
    penchantforproduce Posts: 3 Member
    Reading through these replies, I think I may just count some of it. For me, I am trying to maintain and not lose weight so It is probably worth adding to "balance the books" at least somewhat. Typically my sundays consist of waking up, three hours of cooking, an hour of yoga, more cooking (maybe another 3 hours) an hour at the gym, and yet more cooking. I am generally really conservative and even though I spend maybe 8-9 hours in the kitchen on a sunday I only add in about 2-300 calories plus whatever I burn doing cardio (measured by HRM) and about 150 for an hour of ashtanga yoga. So far no weight gain from this so I assume its working out OK...
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