Logging 'food preparation?' /rant

Haven't seen that - pretty funny...

Maybe it was something super intense, like butchering a camel.

Or grinding sausage meat by hand.

Or squeezing a tonne of oranges by hand.

Or pulping grapes for wine by stamping on them.

Or kneading a massive amount of dough for one hour.

Or...ok, I'm just getting carried away now. I don't actually think it was any of those things, but it was fun to think about what would be worth logging.

you eat camel?

I would eat camel

camel is tasty!

i bet! i've eaten a lot of random stuff living in asia, but not camel. and i want to!

One way of using MFP is to set activity to 'sedentary', then log anything that increases your heart rate, because if your heart rate is increased then you're burning more calories than 'sedentary'. What raises someone's heart rate depends on their weight and their level of fitness, and also what they're used to doing normally. Someone who is heavy and unfit, and/or someone recovering from a long illness or chronic condition, will burn more calories doing 'everyday' stuff than someone who is fit and healthy.

That fact aside, Fitbit pedometers, when worn all day with no other logging, WILL start to accumulate 'exercise calories' for housework, walking to the shop, pacing around the kitchen, climbing the stairs to use the bathroom etc. Fitbit does the counting and MFP adds the calories based on Fitbit's stats. This surely means that MFP EXPECT people to log anything more active than 'sedentary'. (Of course, if your activity is set to anything more than 'sedentary' then this ceases to be the case.)

Disclaimer: I have ME/CFS, and before I got a fitbit I manually logged EVERYTHING because EVERYTHING raised my heart rate; I have since improved my fitness levels and this is no longer the case. I do not log 'day to day' housework, I do not log 'walking', I do not log 'cooking'. However I still get 'bad' days during which I'm inactive due to pain/fatigue so my activity level is still set to 'sedentary', and I have a Fitbit which logs my activity for me so that MFP can add those calories to my daily goal. If that's the way that MFP is supposed to work, who am I to argue?

I used to log everything (ironing, cooking, walking etc) to determine my level of activity as I have a desk based job but too small kids. Over a period of time I established that effectively I was lightly active before I added any "real" exersize so I ended up with too much of a deficit if I did not log these when set on sedentary. I am close to goal and so have very little wriggle room but it can be helpful to do this if you do not have access to a fit bit type gadget. I also lost the best part of 14lbs doing this - though now I am using In Place of a Roadmap and an average daily calorie value rather than eating back.

Honestly...why does it bother you what they do? Its not hurting you. It doesn't effect you at all. Just ignore it and do what works for you. I imagine, if I was someone who normally just sat all day and did nothing but watch telly all day, and suddenly started to move more, yeah I may log those things. I've logged my housework before....but I was doing a deep clean, scrubbing floors on hands and knees cleaning cabinets and walls...and I didn't get a chance to "workout" that day, so that was my exercise.

You're right, I should do the same for misuse of affect and effect but you know what? Something about it just pushes my hypersensitive getalife buttons

Signed,
Grumpy Pom In Oz

If they have their activity levels set at sedentary then everything they do above and beyond sitting IS exercise. Also if they are extremely over weight walking up the stairs for 2 mins could well be a great achievement for them. Cooking a huge meal/kneading dough etc is hard work!

Also does it matter what they log? If they're doing it for more calories, to "cheat" themselves, what impact does that have on you? Nothing. If it annoys you SO much delete them as a friend.

^^Truth

Meh..if it motivates them to see stairs are worthwhile or prepare their own food or vacuum the floor more regularly, I don't care. Whatever keeps them keeping on I'm for it. I find people gradually lose that from their diaries and just focus on exercise eventually anyway. But either/or is their perogative.

Have you consider removing these people from your friends list, it'll save you from being annoyed

Agreed - when I joined MFP I said yes to every friend request. Now I've whittled it down to a group that, on the whole, I have similar goals to/things in common with. I'm using the TDEE-20% tactic (and eating back my exercise calories). I have my calories set at completely sedentary due to sitting at a computer all day and then log all exercise (using an HRM)... as long as the exercise gets me slightly out of breath and lasts for more than 15 minutes (so a run, fast walk, hike, fitness DVD etc). I seriously doubt my cleaning/cooking/shopping efforts are great enough to log them as calories!

Have to defend myself and say that I dont normally log food prep, but on saying
that if I am baking for a few hours then I do

Most of the baking I do I cant do with mixers and blenders so its a work out
to a degree

So its not all people that log food prep just for the sake of it, sometimes there is
a genuine reason that maybe we are cooking/baking for a long time

Hey, so as I warned this is a rant... I want your opinions on this.

I have seen people logging food preparation, washing dishes, even 2mins walking up stairs. Is this getting a bit ridiculous? I see those everyday actions as being part of my net personally.

Should I log it every time I use the bathroom? And add extra calories if it's a little more difficult than usual? Like seriously people, be realistic... unless you are doing a strenuous amount of housework I don't see why this should be logged. But do prove me wrong, please, I'd like to giggle at the reasoning.

Cheers,

A grumpy Aussie

You see it as part of your "net personality" but that is the case for everybody. When I first started this journey I barely moved at all. I didn't really prepare food, it was something easy or a takeaway so it makes a huge difference for me to be in the kitchen for 50 mins preparing. That's a lot more that I used to do.

As for the stairs, I use a fitbit and that logs the stair climbs. I'm sure there is some infinite wisdom behind that!

Try not to be so judgemental because some people have a lot further to go on their journey than you do and for them, even the slightest bit more exercise is an improvement. It is an incentive to go on and do more. It is awful when you first start and you are so out of condition that you find even the basics hard work...but you can move on and improve that. I certainly have!