859 calories shopping?

ughhh ..I am just going to say it..if you want to exercise, exercise and log it...I just don't think that normal stuff ..yes going to the mall is normal stuff should be counted towards exercise...there is a huge difference between a four hour stroll through the mall and hitting the weights for an hour and half or running a 5k....IMO

Is movement only valid exercise if it is an athletic activity? I get the impression that the only thing that "counts" is stuff done at the gym for the express purpose of fitness. Is it still exercise if someone "hits the weights" at only 30 minutes using less than some acceptable amount of weight?

I just don't get why carrying a 30 pound bag of clothes and walking around a store for an hour isn't exercise, but carrying a 30 pound dumbbell while walking on a treadmill for an hour is an exercise.

There seems to be a bias on this site against people who don't live a gym regimented lifestyle.

I dont count mall walking its pretty pointless unless your in denial and just making an excuse that mall walking is actually exercise! To be considered exercise there needs to be at least a moderate effort and no stops at the food court either!

ughhh ..I am just going to say it..if you want to exercise, exercise and log it...I just don't think that normal stuff ..yes going to the mall is normal stuff should be counted towards exercise...there is a huge difference between a four hour stroll through the mall and hitting the weights for an hour and half or running a 5k....IMO

Is movement only valid exercise if it is an athletic activity? I get the impression that the only thing that "counts" is stuff done at the gym for the express purpose of fitness. Is it still exercise if someone "hits the weights" at only 30 minutes using less than some acceptable amount of weight?

I just don't get why carrying a 30 pound bag of clothes and walking around a store for an hour isn't exercise, but carrying a 30 pound dumbbell while walking on a treadmill for an hour is an exercise.

There seems to be a bias on this site against people who don't live a gym regimented lifestyle.

no...

But things like you mentioned should already be included in your BMR or TDEE....because going to the mall, walmart, shopping,waling hte doggie, etc is what your body burns off on normal day doing regular functions..its not anything 'additional" or "special". IMO if you do all your normal stuff - walking the doggie, mall, shopping, whatever - and THEN go work out or run or whatever your preferred choice of exercise is then this is above and beyond what you would normally do and should be logged...

IDK I don't think that just because you did X daily activity that, that should be seen as doings come additional with respect to your weight loss...

If I go up the stairs 20 times a day is that additional? No, I have to do it to get up and down the stairs...

And this is a fitness/weight loss cite so it seems that most people would prefer some form or exercise....

But the thing is that this activity is NOT her "normal stuff". I particularly spend all day every day sitting on my cushy behind writing papers, grading papers, reading papers.... I have a no kidding sedentary desk job. If I jetted up and down the stairs at work 20 times, that would be rather out of the ordinary. I would log it. When I walked a mile to school and back with a load of potted plants, that was rather out of the ordinary. I logged it. When she walked around the mall (asinine judgements about stopping at the food court aside) carrying an armload of stuff, that was rather out of the ordinary ***for her***. It wasn't near 800 calories of excess burn, but there is no way she didn't burn more calories than she normally would have in a 4 hour period. That also doesn't mean that people don't go the the gym, too, but that it isn't the ONLY way to burn extra calories.

If a person GOT out of her/his way and went outside to WALK briskly then yes I would log that but mall shopping? Your kidding right???

no, just no...

this is not exercise..this is just daily activity..

I walk up and down the stairs at work 20 times a day ..I do not count that as exercise...

No, this is not daily activity. I do not go shopping at the mall and walk for the most part of 4 hours. I do not count weekly shopping trips to walmart etc. I was also toting bags of clothes, shoes

Ummm so a trip to the mall counts, but a trip to walmart does not? I am missing something here...?

You really should not log daily activities - shopping, work, cleaning, walking to car, etc....as "exercise" just my opinion...

No, walmart trips are my normal routine. Are you reading what I am posting? The mall trip for almost 4 hours was more than I normally do in a week.

no, walking around the mall is not exercise sorry .it just is not..

I went to the mall last weekend and walked around for two hours..that is not exercise..that is something I did during the day aka daily activity...

This is not true. Why would the intent of walking matter? So, if I go for a walk at the park wtih the intent to exercise it counts, but if I do the same amount of walking at the mall, it doesn't count because the intent was different?

I wore a FitBit for quite a while, and if I happened to do a lot of shopping one day, it absolutely gave me more calories for the day. If I spent 4 hours shopping, it would have been a fairly significant amount.

That said however, I don't think your HRM is accurately reporting it. My typical thing with shopping is what someone above mentioned - I record about half the time as walking 2 mph. And that was pretty close to what my FitBit would grant me for shopping as well. So if I were you, I would throw out the HRM number and just use the 2 mph method.

And there is a difference between a quick stop at Target for your regular shopping and spending 4 hours at the mall.

no, just no...

this is not exercise..this is just daily activity..

I walk up and down the stairs at work 20 times a day ..I do not count that as exercise...

No, this is not daily activity. I do not go shopping at the mall and walk for the most part of 4 hours. I do not count weekly shopping trips to walmart etc. I was also toting bags of clothes, shoes

Ummm so a trip to the mall counts, but a trip to walmart does not? I am missing something here...?

You really should not log daily activities - shopping, work, cleaning, walking to car, etc....as "exercise" just my opinion...

No, walmart trips are my normal routine. Are you reading what I am posting? The mall trip for almost 4 hours was more than I normally do in a week.

You asked a question and don't like the answers. Going to a mall for 4 hours is NOT the same as working out/cardio and should not be counted as a calorie burn.

But the thing is that this activity is NOT her "normal stuff". I particularly spend all day every day sitting on my cushy behind writing papers, grading papers, reading papers.... I have a no kidding sedentary desk job. If I jetted up and down the stairs at work 20 times, that would be rather out of the ordinary. I would log it. When I walked a mile to school and back with a load of potted plants, that was rather out of the ordinary. I logged it. When she walked around the mall (asinine judgements about stopping at the food court aside) carrying an armload of stuff, that was rather out of the ordinary ***for her***. It wasn't near 800 calories of excess burn, but there is no way she didn't burn more calories than she normally would have in a 4 hour period. That also doesn't mean that people don't go the the gym, too, but that it isn't the ONLY way to burn extra calories.

Why does every movement during the day need to be compensated for with extra food regardless of whether it was normal or not? That's fat people thinking. If you only log these things so it looks good for your friends that's rather pointless too. Thin people don't come home from shopping wondering how many calories they burned or how if they can eat that extra cookie because they shopped today.

The whole thing is a mindset that needs to be changed. Every movement doesn't require a reward of food. You don't get a gold star every time you actually do something, it's life. Some days you do more, some days you do less. It all evens out in the end. I bet the days you don't feel like doing much you don't deduct calories because you sat on your butt all day.

Thin people also don't have as much body mass to move around, and I think there is some serious fat hatred going on in this thread. When someone isn't thin, lots of movements that thin and active people take for granted as easy breezy daily activity are nothing of the sort. When I'm overweight, normal things for you (like just one flight of stairs, let alone 20) can leave me out of breath and sweating. Nobody said they were planning to stuff up on hundreds of calories of junk all justified by a walk from the parking lot to the store. Asking if a measurement of calorie burn is accurate isn't the same as seeking justification to eat it all back. It is important to not burn a large uncounted excess of calories in a day without giving yourself some added nutrition. She seems self aware of the situation enough to have asked the question in the first place.

And yes, if I sat on my butt (even more than regularly??) all day, then I would make sure to go a bit under my normal calorie range. Obviously.

ughhh ..I am just going to say it..if you want to exercise, exercise and log it...I just don't think that normal stuff ..yes going to the mall is normal stuff should be counted towards exercise...there is a huge difference between a four hour stroll through the mall and hitting the weights for an hour and half or running a 5k....IMO

Is movement only valid exercise if it is an athletic activity? I get the impression that the only thing that "counts" is stuff done at the gym for the express purpose of fitness. Is it still exercise if someone "hits the weights" at only 30 minutes using less than some acceptable amount of weight?

I just don't get why carrying a 30 pound bag of clothes and walking around a store for an hour isn't exercise, but carrying a 30 pound dumbbell while walking on a treadmill for an hour is an exercise.

There seems to be a bias on this site against people who don't live a gym regimented lifestyle.

I don't see that at all. Yes, a lot of people suggest the gym. But check topics about people who don't like to run or lift weights or can't afford a gym - there are tons of people who suggest other types of activities whether it is DVDs walking, running, body weight exercise etc.
I do think there is a difference between going out for a walk and logging it vs logging shopping trips. Yes, I totally understand this was a much longer one than normal but it was for one day. Like I said I'd consider it a bonus day. I'm am sure OP has days where they do less than normal. It balances.

In the end it doesn't really matter what we think. Everyone is free to log what and how they wish. Just offering my 2 cents as asked.

Rude and confused?

Direclty from Polar, they say that the watch is not as accurate for calories burned if your heart rate isn't above 110 or 120. I can't remember the exact amount, but it's an amount that you would be hitting if you were at the gym, not just shopping. Were you sweating? Ask Polar.

My Polar FT4 said to wear it for three 24-hour periods to see my average daily burn...why would the packaging say that if the compnay says otherwise?

Mine did not say this. I got it fall 2012.

I will sometimes add in extra calories if I am doing something that is not normally a part of my work day.

When I am stocking in used cars at work, that's pretty much normal for me and doesn't require all that much effort due to where we put them. However, I rarely stock in new cars, but doing so requires moving them all the way to the back lot, walking all the way back up front, and repeat. That 3-4 minutes per car to walk back up front (if I walk briskly), I'll write it off if I've only done a car or two, but the other week when I took care of 16.. yeah, you better believe I logged that schtuff.

I don't know - I wear a fitbit and it logs my walking calories for me (I'm a university student and average 5-8 miles per day, so it's not a trivial amount of walking). I log my structured workouts myself, and I have MFP set to 'sedentary'.