Logging 'food preparation?' /rant

NEAT is actually a HUGE contributor to TDEE--sometimes more than actual exercise so logging those things can lead to increase accuracy.

Does what they log affect your fitness goals?

No?

Then ok.

agreed, i barley like to add any exercise so i hit my macros better. People do this so they can eat more, I assume.

Does shaving legs count?? :smokin:

Only if you're shaving other peoples legs in some kind of mad dash record breaking do or die attempt

Heck yeah it does you know how much work it takes me to get my 300lb bulk into a tub to shave those hairy beasts. I might have climbed Kilamangaro as much work as it takes me.

I have a baking/pastry class once a week. It's 5 hours, and I'm usually running around the kitchen for about 4 hours of that time. Some of the equipment is really heavy. I might log a few hundred extra calories for that because it's out of the ordinary (100-200), but that's it.

I would too! Especially if I was decorating cakes. I'm not sure if it's from the bending, twisting and leaning over, but if I spend hours decorating, I'm exhausted and sore. It bothers me more than running 6 miles. lol

I don't count stuff that I do on a daily basis, becuase my body is already used to burning those calories - but, for example, raking leaves and shoveling snow are things I don't ordinarily do that do provide a nice burn. Last fall when I raked leaves, I realized that I hadn't been working out all of my arm muscles, because I was sore in the upper arms and back the next day. A couple of years ago my town got almost two feet of snow over about 18 hours. I spent four hours SHOVELING (not snow blowing) layers of snow off the walk at not only my house, but seven of my neighbors' houses, and THEN we shoveled out close to 15 cars so they could be moved for the plow (which was difficult because the guy kept coming by and plowing us back in), and then walked a block through more snow to shovel out an elderly neighbor. I'm pretty sure that counts as a workout.

As for logging "food preparation," I don't log it when I'm making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or something normal; I log it when I'm spending 30-45 minutes cooking, ESPECIALLY when I make cakes. The logic is as follows: I am a sitter; I like to do everything sitting down. When I make food, I'm standing up - which is already burning more calories than I normally do - but then I'm also moving around. I'm back and forth between drawers and bowls and the fridge and the cabinet. I also don't have a mixer (hand or stand mixer) so I mix all of my batters by hand. This may have been normal for my great grandmothers (and seeing how chunky my dad's side of the family is, I'm guessing his grandmothers had excellent arm muscles), but for me, stiring batter until it's all mixed in and clump-free is a decent arm workout - and I get both arms involved because it can be tiring.

When I joined MFP, I thought the idea of considering a day-to-day activity (like walking from the car to the house) an "exercise" was silly - but you have to realize that there are people who eat out three meals a day or don't leave the house very often and these small things actually do have an impact on them. You should also realize that there are people who log it as part of work; I was the cashier at a slow, yet seriously understaffed pizza place -- meaning that if we got an order for anything more than 2-3 pizzas at a time, I was also the cook, and sometimes the back-up delivery person. I could be running back and forth between phone calls and three different kitchens (one for pizza, one for salads and sandwiches, and the third for pastas and fried foods - and I mean run, because you can't miss a call or burn the food). While the average person shouldn't fool him/herself by including "food preparation" as a daily activity, it's hardly going to make a difference, because I'm guessing most people only spend as much time "prepping food" as it takes to make one meal. In other words, they probably don't get much out of logging it, because it's a small burn. All the same, if it bothers you that much, delete the people who do that.

You burned approximately 5 calories typing this message. Assuming it took you around 5 minutes to type this, that is.

you should probably log that.

:laugh:

You burned approximately 5 calories typing this message. Assuming it took you around 5 minutes to type this, that is.

you should probably log that.

:laugh:

Madam, you just burned 1.3 calories per a minute of laughter right there.

Add that to your writing and that response and we are looking at a whole 2.3 calories!!! Way to go!!!

Am I 'allowed' to log shoveling 8" of snow off two driveways?*














*Just kidding. I'm not really asking. I'll log whatever the hell I please.

OK, I understand, but say someone weighs 300+ pounds, and really normally does NOTHING, all day. ANYTHING that they start doing, ie food prep, house work, is a plus to them. You can't judge someone else because you don't live their lives. And like someone else said...IF they are cheating anyone, its themselves....not you.
Its ok to rant...lol...I do it all the time :bigsmile:

Exactly...Maybe it's a big deal for someone very heavy and inactive. Every movement counts for them! More power to them!!

^^This

Up until last November, I was in an office job, sitting on my *kitten* for 8-10 hours a day. ANY activity would be more than I did then. Now, I am a homemaker, doing things I didn't do normally. (Sorry folks, but housecleaning was done by my hubby until he went back to work - not me...)

If I'm hurting myself, so be it... But, down 27 pounds in the short period of time is no small feat... AND that's with logging the "silly" things like housecleaning and food prep (where it is a lot of chopping, mixing, blah blah blah...) Oh, and I don't log to eat the calories back... That, to me, would be counterproductive.