Fake Activity Calories?
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It really depends on what kinda cleaning and/or food preparation we are talking about. I have worn my HRM while doing some of this kind of stuff just to see how many calories one really does burn. Sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming burn about 60-70 calories for 20 minutes. Cutting vegetable and shredding meat burned a lot when I did it for 2 hours straight and my back was killing me.
You realize that a HRM doesn't deduct your BMR (calories you would have burnt doing nothing) and that unless your HR is significantly elevated for an extended period of time that a HRM is not accurate? Wearing one to do housework would give false numbers unless you were doing your work at a steady jog.0 -
i logged in sex once as a joke.0
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I"added" cooking today; and thought that is rediculous.. like I really burned ANY calories by making two bowls of soup and cutting up a pineapple???? really?? I try really hard not to eat my calories back anyway...
Now, grocery shopping at WalMart for my big family is defiately exercise! And I'll count cleaning - what the heck. Like I said I don't eat them back.
fake calories that are eaten... yeah that's a disservice to you.0 -
I used to log it as walking the dog, until someone said, "wait, you don't have a dog". Lol
They used to have "sexual activity", but they took it out for some reason.
Since Im single and no prospects at the moment, it's a little embarrassing to log "walking the dog". Lol. I'll just keep it to myself. Poor little rover will just have to stay inside. Lol0 -
Are we there yet?
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if your profile is set to sedentary activity level then anything you do extra that takes even the slightest effort i would count. I've never counted sitting but if I'm doing a lot of it I'll count standing or housework, and I've lost a good amount of weight with that system. But really it's whatever you find works best for you! Good luck in your journey!0
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I used to log it as walking the dog, until someone said, "wait, you don't have a dog". Lol
They used to have "sexual activity", but they took it out for some reason.
Since Im single and no prospects at the moment, it's a little embarrassing to log "walking the dog". Lol. I'll just keep it to myself. Poor little rover will just have to stay inside. Lol
I think the fact your user name has the word stray in it makes this a bit more amusing for me..0 -
Squats... man I didnt even think of that one. YES!!!! j/k0
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I would log food preparation if I was doing things super fast, and cooking 4 things at one time. lol.0
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Not enough to log. Might as well log breathing and rack up squats every time you go to the bathroom.
OMG this made me laugh so hard! :drinker:0 -
Oh goodness...I ACTUALLY walk my dog daily...people are going to think my BF and I are maniacs in bed!
Some people log it as "moving furniture"I don't understand why 'sex' isn't an option in the exercise log.
Some call it 'walking the dog'.
Bet you look at your friend list in a whole new light now!
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I have the best of both worlds...I log it all because it's fun. I don't eat back the calories though. I just log it to say ....HEY, Look what you did today, you moved around you were productive and you didn't DIE FROM IT..hahaha.....you can prolly do it again tomorrow and maybe even add to it.0
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If you are not normally active, those other activities can certainly help burn calories. In fact, logging it will help motivate to do more of it. I always log "other" activities in addition to regular workouts.0
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My husband and I completely gutted the bathroom today and it was one hell of a work out. I logged an hour of light cleaning under it. It's not something I normally do but it wore me out and I think it deserved some recognition. It took all day to redo it. I'm one to log sex too... because at first it was to irritate someone on my friends list ( family ) but now it's because it honestly is one hell of a great work out...lol0
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I wonder how many calories are burned by worrying about what other people are doing?
omgosh this!0 -
I log things like "cooking and food preparation" because sometimes I'm in the kitchen for an hour, running round like a mad thing. I have so much weight to lose and I'm a lot more active with that kind of thing so yeah, I log it.
Not sure I'd log sitting down and sewing though..0 -
I log deep cleaning. I have all wood floors and when I deep clean, we're talking moving all the furniture out of the room, sweeping, mopping and moving everything back. Trust me, that's a workout and I do it twice a week! I don't eat my calories I get from logging excercise. But I still log it because it does get my heart rate going, I do break out into a sweat and couches aren't a light piece of furniture! lol Besides, it's a nice reward to see that when you do something it says you're doing what you've set out to do and motivates you to add more things to the list!! Hmmmmm..i wonder what ziplining would be?0
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Same here. Since it logs lightly, moderately, and very active, as well as stair steps, I've got all of my bases covered. Since it all uploads automatically when it syncs to my laptop, I don't even have to log it. It's awesome.I dont count anything except steps from my fitbit. That's it!0 -
Knitting lol0
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I personally do not count anything that is not related to an exercise activity - but it's all personal preference really I guess!0
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If I eat a low calorie vegetable, how many calories do I burn washing said vegetable and lifting the fork to my mouth?0
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I'm a waitress at a cafe and while I'm on my feet all day and constantly moving up and down stairs, cleaning tables and making drinks, I don't log it because I feel that there is no real point. I know I'm moving more than I would be at home but it's just part of my day, it's not strenuous and as such I feel it wouldn't make a significant difference to log it...0
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I was curious about this as well. So yesterday, after about the 50th time from our second floor to the basement and back to put stuff from the holidays away, I put 2 hours of "Housecleaning" in as activity. It came in at 491 calories burned. I think that may be a bit overstated. It's still certainly more calories burned than my normal, sedentary desk job, and I did it for about 5 hours and not just the 2. In any event, it's the last time I'll log calories like that. It just feels wrong to me.0
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I know where this thread is heading
Well, that made me laugh
It helps that I'm drunk, I guess ...
I have never logged any exercise, I also ignore alcohol calories, I have my profile set to sedentary when, in fact, I'm quite active.
This would, on the face of it, make me just as bonkers as someone who logs 'Picking nose, large booger' so I guess I'll just hope everyone finds a way that works for them, however nuts 0 -
I think it's sort of ridiculous to add cooking as a workout. I'm a cook/baker for a living, so does that mean I should be logging 8+ hours worth of a workout each day? lolz0
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I have used cleaning and food preparation, but both in unusual circumstances. I would never log it for the normal day to day stuff, but the day I logged cleaning, I had been helping a friend move house and had spent 14 hours on my feet scrubbing her walls and similar things - I logged it as 4 hours, and I felt absolutely, completely knackered afterwards.
I logged food preparation over Christmas when I spent 3 days straight cooking 8-10 hours a day, preparing for a Christmas party I was having for my friends. Again on my feet the whole time, absolutely shattered exhausted afterwards. I logged 1-3 hours for those days. I just felt that there was no way I was going to do a workout but that I'd clearly, clearly burnt a lot more calories than I would have in a normal day (at my 12 hr shift, absolutely tied to the desk job.)0 -
I wonder how many calories one burned typing this thread?0
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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.
My experience is similar. My Fitbit gives me a positive adjustment on days when I am baking or cooking a big meal...The layout of my kitchen is not very efficient so the steps add up. My setting is for sedentary....I think if I'd chosen even moderately active, I would not get a positive adjustment.
I am maintaining and use a fitbit but I used it to lose the last 9lb. I set my fitbit and mfp to lightly active knowing that fitbit would add any extra calories burnt. I have never once NOT had the fitbit give me extra calories, even like yesterday when I had a cold and did not workout, leave the house or cook or clean it still gave me an extra 196 calories for the day! I eat those back so that is 196 calories OVER being lightly active, never mind sedentary! And yesterday I only did 2991 steps so the person saying sedentary is up to 6000 steps per day is not strictly accurate.
And my fitbit calories clawed me out of my plateau of several months to lose the last few lbs and I've realised that I'm far more active than I thought I was. I have also been successfully maintaining my weight for about 4-5 months now with no problems eating them all back.
When I started on mfp I was marked as sedentary. As far as I can see if you are marked as sedentary, log everything else you do to get more.
ETA my fitbit seems to often add numerous calories when I cook/clean etc0 -
Technically, any activity where you are moving burns calories. But some of them are so minimal that it doesn't really matter. The only things that I count in my "exercise" aside from things I do at the gym are showering and when I go for walks at work. But for me, I try to stay under my calorie count without the exercise counted. Good luck!!0
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If I am moving so much that I work up a sweat, I count it. I have fibro, CFS and diabetes. If I move and sweat then it counts.0
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