Fake Activity Calories?

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elsinora
elsinora Posts: 398 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've noticed that quite a few people add "sitting, sewing" and other activities like "food preparation" into their activity log ad some people rack up a few hundred extra calories from "cleaning, light effort."

Honestly, do these activities, especially the sitting ones, actually rack up an extra burnt calories because to me it's sedentary.... If its worked for you and you're losing weight- please let me know!

Basically, any extra calories to add to my total would be welcomed!
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Replies

  • geekpryncess
    geekpryncess Posts: 118 Member
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    Idk about sitting and sewing as being worthy of logging as fitness calories, but I would log anything where you are up and moving, if it is something you don't do on a regular basis.

    For me, sweeping/mopping/vacuuming the whole house is a workout! I don't do it every day, and being generally sedentary, to me it counts as work. During the summer, mowing the lawn counts. (with a push mower). Other chores can count too, like raking leaves, etc.

    I wouldn't log something like 'cleaning the toilet' into my fitness activity though.

    Honestly, the only person those people are hurting, is themselves. If you worked out, you know if you worked out. I sincerely doubt anyone broke a sweat sewing. If you did...maybe it's time for a new machine!
  • mambagirl
    mambagirl Posts: 137 Member
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    Yea,I see the "food Preparation" as exercise on here and I'm just thinking WTH? But,to each his own...If it works for them,then cool.
  • jesz124
    jesz124 Posts: 1,004 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:
  • kimcalica
    kimcalica Posts: 525 Member
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    I only add cleaning when I'm picking things up and I know I'm being active and not standing still. I don't clean that often because I have a housekeeper, so why the hell not! :) it's not my real workout anyway do weather it counts or not, is not really important.
  • sleepytexan
    sleepytexan Posts: 3,138 Member
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    Can anyone tell me how many calories I burn from knitting?

    I knit a lot.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    Yea,I see the "food Preparation" as exercise on here and I'm just thinking WTH? But,to each his own...If it works for them,then cool.


    Hey - hunting and dragging the deer is hard work! :wink:


    But, yeah - no. Unless it really is hard work, don't log it. You'll only be hurting yourself in the long run.
  • Confuzzled4ever
    Confuzzled4ever Posts: 2,860 Member
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    I think the only way it works out to log cleaning would be if you use that TDEE thing and start out with a high calorie goal. Like.. you burn 2000 calories a day (example numbers only) just by waking up and breathing. So technically anything you do after you get out of bed is burning more calories then you would have, if you just laid in bed all day. The only way of course for this to work is to log all activity and to work out and to not eat over that number.. which I don't think is the case here. Of course the only way I can eat that much is to eat junk anyway.. so I just eat healthy and log gym and actual workouts and I log my walk to work.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
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    Anything less that about 6000 steps a day is sedentary. Cleaning and food prep and the like are classed as 'activities of daily living' not exercise. Most people don't understand that exercise is a subset of physical activity, the two words are not interchangeable.
  • ChinniP
    ChinniP Posts: 166 Member
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    If you don't normally move around ... like in a desk job or something .... and you move around it would burn calories you don't normally burn. I noticed since I started wearing my bodymedia that when i was doing stuff around the house it logged as activity and made an adjustment on my exercise diary here on MFP.
  • Bobby__Clerici
    Bobby__Clerici Posts: 741 Member
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    I laugh when I see this, but some folks have gotten results.
    It's certainly not something I'd ever count as real exercise, but again, to each his or her own.
    The fruit of our philosophy either way is displayed in our results, and results are all that count.
  • Nerdy_Rose
    Nerdy_Rose Posts: 1,277 Member
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    I used to log cleaning and food prep back when I was on 1,200 calories/day. It worked, because 1,200 calories is ridiculously low for most people.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
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    Yea,I see the "food Preparation" as exercise on here and I'm just thinking WTH? But,to each his own...If it works for them,then cool.

    Some food prep is hard work. Baking bread for instance. The kneading process makes me break a sweat every time!
  • mem50
    mem50 Posts: 1,384 Member
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    The only time I use the cooking or cleaning activty calories is when I am doing a "full" house cleaning or really doing the cooking on a large scale. Like when I have friends over for dinner and am running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Thank God it does not happen often. lol.
  • gungho66
    gungho66 Posts: 284 Member
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    i only log actual workouts, like i ran 5 miles or di 60 minutes of strength training, even at my job i probably walk 10 miles a day but i dont log that because its part of my day
  • buffcleb
    buffcleb Posts: 150 Member
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    I only log exercising... but as I do not eat back my calories all that is really only for me anyways...

    I will be putting the christmas tree away for the next half an hour which means going up and down two flights of stairs with about a dozen rubermaid boxes... not going to list it... just got back from the gym... listed everything there... doing laundry after I get the tree done... not listing... going out for a 3.5 walk later... listing that...
  • Crankstr
    Crankstr Posts: 3,958 Member
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    It's none of anyone's business
  • Nikki31104
    Nikki31104 Posts: 816 Member
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    I think if it makes you sweat or makes your heart beat faster you could log it. If you vacuum fast and you work up a sweat then that is an "exercise". I moved a bunch of furniture the other day. I don't consider that an exercise but I logged it. It was hard work.

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