How much of your exercise activity do you put in?

Kellikat80
Kellikat80 Posts: 591 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi, I'm curious what you all record for your exercise diary. I have seen so many things on the list like cooking. I prepare meals for my family pretty much everyday, but I don't really record it as exercise. I have been only recording my workouts and when I am vigorously cleaning or doing yard work. But do you record everytime you go upstairs, cook, etc.? How do you record your daily exercise?

Replies

  • WDEvy
    WDEvy Posts: 814 Member
    Anything that I'm actually doing to exercise! Not cooking or knitting or anything like that ...
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    I put all of my exercise activity in. Those other things you mentioned aren't exercise and as such don't make it in
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I only counted planned exercise as exercise, with some exceptions made for very strenuous activities that I don't often do, like shoveling sidewalks, top-to-bottom cleaning before the in-laws visit, rearranging furniture and painting a room.

    Otherwise, I'm of the opinion that everyone would be better off switching from sedentary to lightly active and getting about 130 extra calories, and ignoring everything that isn't exercise.

    If I counted all the little things, like walking the dog, scooping the catbox, doing dishes, laundry, vacuuming, etc... it would probably add up to more than 130 calories, but I doubt it would be accurate.
  • BlackKat75
    BlackKat75 Posts: 210 Member
    I generally only log that which I consider a day's workout and any sustained walking for longer than 15 minutes. If I am doing heavy yard work - e.g., raking - I will log it, but I don't log generally gardening. Similarly, I don't log light cleaning, but if I'm down on my hands and knees scrubbing bathtubs and floors, then I might log that if I feel like I was actually getting a workout.
  • christinet8504
    christinet8504 Posts: 108
    I have fitbit, so it adusts for any normal activity and cardio. The only thing I make sure I log is any hard core exercise. And I really have to go ALL OUT for me to count that.
  • marikevr
    marikevr Posts: 389 Member
    I generally only log true exercise. When I moved furniture for half a day I entered it just to see what the estimated burn would be because I am curious like that!
  • poedunk65
    poedunk65 Posts: 1,336 Member
    I only record anything over and above my daily routine. Like chopping and stacking wood, walking the dog, my workouts,etc. I don;t consider things like mowing the grass, cooking and cleaning etc.
  • Brunner26_2
    Brunner26_2 Posts: 1,152
    None of it. I used calculators to find my TDEE and eat a set amount each day.
  • joconnor09
    joconnor09 Posts: 124
    I don't count the everyday things I do like walking around my college campus, or going up and down stairs. I only add stuff that my body's not used to, or that is specifically exercise. I log the walking I do when I work because I only work one or two days a week and so my body doesn't get used to it. I'll log if I go to the gym, too, because that's extra. But I try not to log every move I make, because then I'm giving myself more calories than I need- the calories we're alloted each day take our everyday movements into account. MFP expects us to walk around, or cook, or do some light cleaning, or whatever we do to reach our BMR. If we add that our daily lives in as exercise calories, then we're doubling the amount of calories we should be eating.
  • SarahSwimmer
    SarahSwimmer Posts: 125 Member
    I only counted planned exercise as exercise, with some exceptions made for very strenuous activities that I don't often do, like shoveling sidewalks, top-to-bottom cleaning before the in-laws visit, rearranging furniture and painting a room.

    Otherwise, I'm of the opinion that everyone would be better off switching from sedentary to lightly active and getting about 130 extra calories, and ignoring everything that isn't exercise.

    If I counted all the little things, like walking the dog, scooping the catbox, doing dishes, laundry, vacuuming, etc... it would probably add up to more than 130 calories, but I doubt it would be accurate.

    I agree. If I "suit up" for it and it's intentional I count it. I'm a high school teacher so I'm pretty much guaranteed to be at LEAST lightly active throughout the day, so that's what I imputed into MFP at the get go.

    It might be a good idea to Google your job and what activity level it's considered. Or, better yet, use the search function in the forums to- thats how I made sure most teachers considered themselves lightly active.

    For reference, someone like a waiter or nurse would be very active, where a construction worker might be considered extremely active.
  • dym123
    dym123 Posts: 1,670 Member
    Other than actual exercise, I will add things like yard work; mowing the grass, raking leaves, but cooking or even house cleaning, I do not add.
  • FitandFab33
    FitandFab33 Posts: 718 Member
    I don't log any exercise.. I track my workouts in a diary (including weight, reps, sets , etc) and have my intake set to my TDEE, considering activity level, minus a % to create a deficit. I only log additional calories if I know I've had an excessively high burn (think more than 90 minutes in the gym or more than an hour of cardio in a day).
  • PRprincess
    PRprincess Posts: 200 Member
    Unless I'm cooking for more then an hour I don't log in food preparation. I do however log cleaning and laundry because I usually do it on my rest day. If I go on walks with my mother in law, yes I will track that as well. Anything that I'm doing that is increasing my heart rate I will log.
  • katevarner
    katevarner Posts: 884 Member
    I used to log more than I do now. When I started logging, I had my calories set pretty high, so I logged workouts and long walks with my dog. I have recently changed my goals to maintain (played with the numbers for a while and ended up with my goal on MFP really high to take into account calories I know I burn according to BodyMedia that MFP doesn't give me) and have my calories set so high that I only add actual workouts. It's still not exact, so occasionally I will log a dog walk or something to get my numbers closer together, but for the most part just leave a small deficit or eat over what MFP tells me I should simply because I know whether I'm really overeating, regardless of the numbers on MFP (I log food on BodyMedia as well).

    For the record, I have my activity set at very active and a goal to gain half a pound a week, but I've been maintaining at that for 2 months. Typically with very active, you should not log exercise, I think, but it's either that or up my calories to gain a pound a week, and I like the feedback from my friends on my workouts, so I do it this way.
  • love4fitnesslove4food_wechange
    love4fitnesslove4food_wechange Posts: 6,897 Member
    @katevarner--all of MFPs activity settings are assuming you'll log exercise..even very active. It's just used when your daily life is VERY ACTIVE ...like a carpenter or something.
  • FitandFab33
    FitandFab33 Posts: 718 Member
    I should have been more clear- I manually entered my calorie and macros goals into MFP (after calculating my TDEE the old fashioned way and taking an appropriate deficit). I use MFP for tracking intake and macros and support- so this post probably doesn't apply to me. Sorry for the ambiguity in my previous post.
  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
    Like most here, I only log something done intentionally to exercise like running, cycling, kickboxing, strength training, long hikes, etc. But for me to count hiking, it has to be sustained hiking or walking. I don't count the type of walking you do when shopping, running errands, etc. I also don't count walking the dog because she's old and very slow so it's not much different than standing in place, LOL. And I don't count cycling if I'm just hopping on my bike for a quick trip to the store, like 5 minutes away. Just more sustained rides.

    I think about the only time I made an exception to this was when I helped a friend move and lugged boxes for about 4 hours from her house to the moving van. But I think I only figured it at 60 or 90 minutes because I knew that during that 4 hours there was some standing around and waiting for a box to be ready to carry, or waiting for the guy packing the truck to figure out where the box fit best, etc. Even when I spent a week cooking for my daughter's wedding reception, I didn't count it. I guess I could have but it didn't feel like exercising to me in the same way carting all those heavy boxes did.
  • rsm535
    rsm535 Posts: 12 Member
    I only log planned cardio (ie gym) and strength training in MFP. The cardio to keep track of caloric deficit, and strength training to keep track of what I'm currently lifting with specific exercises. Other than that, I really don't keep track of much else. I suppose I just count it as bonus.
  • isitsororo
    isitsororo Posts: 116
    With my activity level set at sedentary, I log the obvious gym exercise and I log walking around for more than a couple minutes. It takes me 30 mins round trip at a brisk walk to get to one of my classes 5x a week, why on earth wouldn't I count it?
  • mfpcopine
    mfpcopine Posts: 3,093 Member
    None. I find it difficult to record exercise in myfitnesspal (and other sites) because what I do seldom matches up with the choices and the calorie estimates are unreliable.

    As most of weight loss or weight maintenance is calorie reduction, that's what I focus on.

    BTW, I never understand it when people log routine activity such as house cleaning. Exercise is rigorous activity that gets you heart rate up for an extended period.
  • johnlevelsup
    johnlevelsup Posts: 2 Member
    I put in planned exercise. So running and bodyweight strength training I put in. My job which is in retail requires me to walk around all day and lift boxes and such, but I don't put that in because that's a part of my job.
  • katevarner
    katevarner Posts: 884 Member
    @katevarner--all of MFPs activity settings are assuming you'll log exercise..even very active. It's just used when your daily life is VERY ACTIVE ...like a carpenter or something.
    Yeah, but my point is that it's still too low. Very active for me is 1710 calories burned per MFP. I was sick one day in October and stayed in bed all day except to take the dog out to pee and poop. According to my BodyMedia, I burned 1786 calories that day. On a normal work day, I burn over 2000, even if I don't go to the gym. That's why I have it set to gain half a pound, so I get an extra 250 calories per day.
  • Kellikat80
    Kellikat80 Posts: 591 Member
    Thanks so much for all the input. I was hoping people didn't record all the little things. I'll just stick to recording my workouts and vigorous activities.
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    I don't log any exercise.. I track my workouts in a diary (including weight, reps, sets , etc) and have my intake set to my TDEE, considering activity level, minus a % to create a deficit. I only log additional calories if I know I've had an excessively high burn (think more than 90 minutes in the gym or more than an hour of cardio in a day).

    This is what I do.
  • sgv0918
    sgv0918 Posts: 851 Member
    i put in food prep for thanksgiving and when i was on my feet helping with a wedding cake, etc. But mostly just the gym, sometimes cleaning, and yardwork always
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    I don't... I just eat a certain amount of calories whether I work out that day or not.

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