Fake Activity Calories?

newdaydawning79 · January 2013

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!

Any cleaning I've added is stuff outside of the norm - scrubbing the bathroom with a scrubbrush, hardcore reorganizing and moving of items, etc. I used it the other day for when I was at work reorganizing our "cage" where we keep all of our giveaways - it was 40 minutes of lifting boxes, moving things around, etc and I really worked up a sweat!

Basic stuff like putting groceries away or a quick sweep of the floor I wouldn't count, though.

AnuMe901 · January 2013

I think you're only cheating yourself when u do that. JMO

Manleymomof2 · January 2013

I consider any calories I burn "cleaning the house" or doing household/daily chores a bonus. I have never logged them as calories burned so I could eat more. If you go over your calories you need to "exercise" more, not wash the dishes and call it even. :flowerforyou:

drgmac · January 2013

I don't count these as activities designed to burn calories, build muscle tone and or do any thing other than carry out day to day life activities. It would be like logging breathing...

mommycline · January 2013

I only add cleaning when I am not stop moving doing it and it takes up an hour or more of my day. I recognize in daily activities when I am doing things that are not the norm and burn calories.

LassoOfTruth · January 2013

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!

Honestly, and sorry if I'm being *****y, but I don't think these things are diary worthy. These are items that you do, as your daily life. I count exercise as anything that you intentionally do to lose weight... sewing, preparing food, and cleaning... no. Those are activities that you need to do to live, not lose weight. I see those as well, and I never say anything to the people directly, because that's just disrespectful, but I don't count them as calorie deficits. And, I've heard of the monthly deep cleaning argument, but that's still cleaning. Sure, you burned up a sweat and got your heart rate going, but it's cleaning, not exercise.

lesita75 · January 2013

Well yesterday I created an entry that said I burned 1 calorie doing 720 minutes of sitting on my butt, vigorous effort. :smokin:

3foldchord · January 2013

I posted '..burnt 3 calories knitting for 40 minutes' ... It may have been more like 5 though. I dropped and picked up a few stitches.

kimcalica · January 2013

I don't care if people want to log 1500 calories burned doing 6 hours of dusting or whatever as long as they don't go eating all those calories "back" and then wonder why they aren't losing weight.

^^^^
THIS! I've unfriended people because I get tired of seeing them logging crap then whining because no matter how hard they try they just can't lose. It has to be a slow metabolism or some disease or just that they are that special snowflake not that they logged all kinds of stupid things and then ate those calories back. If you have to log every move you make all day to get more food then you still haven't gotten your head into a place where you're going to lose and maintain. Thin people don't go around all day thinking "Wow, I went up and down stairs today a couple times so I can have 2 extra cookies". It's a fat person's mindset that makes you seek to justify your food intake.

Yes!! And I love the special snowflake analogy! Our bodies all work the same! We may not want to do things that work, but you can't argue yourself into losing weight! Spending all day justifying how you're different and how proper diet and exercise doesn't work for you and then complain to everyone how you aren't losing weight. I used to be just like that!!! I'm no longer dilusional. And it's working!!!

minihearts · January 2013

...really? lmao

av0cad0 · January 2013

I personally only log intentional, as in get on my sports bra and sneakers and heart rate monitor, exercise.

lisamariebennett · January 2013

Can anyone tell me how many calories I burn from knitting?

I knit a lot.

hee, hee. At least one an hour! More if you still lived in TX!

FlannelMothman · January 2013

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.

Cook for a large family over the holidays, like my mom does. You can't tell me that's not a workout.

mandalyn23 · January 2013

In my case entering these activities would be cheating and the goal of the site is to help encourage you to have a healthier lifestyle. If incorporating these things in their life make a difference then I guess its good for them. However adding these things to mine would be taking a non existent shortcut to actually putting out effort working out and would be counter productive so I won't do it. Good we all get to make decisions that work for us!

realme56 · January 2013

My fitbit adjusts my basic activity level. I always wonder why folks can't get 10k steps in?? I have knees from hell and routinely do 10k and sometimes a few thousand more.
I only count actual activities such as cycling, elliptical and weight/cardio at the gym. Then the fitbit adjusts its numbers based on those entries. I always try to eat less than my actual calorie allowance....try!

glitteredgrave · January 2013

I don't log anything except major things like running, elliptical, etc..

rockangel8907 · January 2013

I will add food prep....for when I am bartending. I bartend a few nights a week in a martini bar so some nights I am shaking martini's for four hours nonstop and through knowing my body I know I need to eat more those days otherwise I get weak....and the day after I am sore from the constant shaking, bending and squatting I do. I do it for my general info so I know why I ate more that day....not so I can binge on several hundred extra calories and feel ok about it. I also take however long I work and cut the time in half so I don't have some huge deficit. I don't add it for when I cook food at home.

jgreeley68 · January 2013

In my humble opinion, most activities that include movement will eventually burn calories but not necessarily burn fat. The good old fashioned notion of 'if you are burning more calories than you are consuming then you are heading in the right direction', for weight loss of course, is a start.
Recording all the activities no matter what they are might be useful to a person to look back and see what they have been doing and notice progression or the opposite. I think you have to find what ever works for you which may or may not be the same as others you encounter? I do see the other side to it of course...

This is the one I'm taking to heart!! Totally agreed!

spm2010 · January 2013

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.

Cook for a large family over the holidays, like my mom does. You can't tell me that's not a workout.

Agree, I cook for 6 people every single day, thats a workout. Especially when it comes time to clean up and do the dishes.

Hearts_2015 · January 2013

oh good lord, how long before this fake thread dies!! :sick: :noway: 209 more posts and it's done!:drinker:
Give everyone the freedom to make choices that work for them.. we don't walk in their shoes.. so why judge if cleaning, or cleaning out the garage or sweeping the porch is a workout. MFP is for individuals to use as it fits them. I have no clue what "fake activities" even are... sounds more like someone is working to create animosity and silly drama. OP says it was a "curiosity" question... yea, I don't buy that at all! :indifferent:

oh good lord, how long before this fake thread dies!! :sick: :noway: 209 more posts and it's done!:drinker:

She calls them 'fake' calories and there useless but wants to know if they will work for her? Weird

yup, a pretty transparent cover story in my opinion..

spm2010 · January 2013

oh good lord, how long before this fake thread dies!! :sick: :noway: 209 more posts and it's done!:drinker:

She calls them 'fake' calories and there useless but wants to know if they will work for her? Weird

silverthreads1 · January 2013

It really does not matter to me what people post for their activity. No matter what they count it must mean that they have increased their activity level from what it was before and therefore at some point it will even increase more, if they are able to do so. A lot of people on this site are unable to do a lot of exercise, so any little bit makes them feel that they have acheived something worthwhile and we should support their efforts in that direction. Let's get behind them and cheer them on. I don't eat back my extra calories so it does not matter what I count.:blushing:

LiftAllThePizzas · January 2013

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.

Maybe they're really hardcore on the paleo/primal thing and are taking down a large herbivore with a spear.

dangerxbadger · January 2013

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!

This! And working in a kitchen is freaking NUTS. It's hot, humid and the pace is super fast and I would TOTALLY log that if I still worked in one! I log cooking sometimes if I'm doing a large catering project and plan to be on my feet multitasking for 3 or more hours.

kashlen · January 2013

Can anyone tell me how many calories I burn from knitting?

I knit a lot.

This made me laugh out loud. The only way I burn calories by knitting is that my hands are too busy to shove food in my face.

EmGetsFit · January 2013

I wonder how many calories are burned by worrying about what other people are doing?

^Agreed. To each his/her own.

erinxo13 · January 2013

I log cleaning and food prep because my activity level is sedentary (I'm a student) but I work part time (varied hours) in a salad bar so I log parts (not all) of my shift which is food prep and cleaning for an extended period of time (not to mention running around as well) I log cleaning at home sometimes, but it really depends how much I do and how long I did it for. Knitting, I'm not so sure of though...