What Activities Do You Log Into Your Diary?

noura80
noura80 Posts: 47
in Fitness and Exercise
Every time I log one of my activities, I question myself, is it considered an activity?

I log in almost every activity I can think of that involves movement, i.e. shopping, exercising on the treadmill, and cooking. In your opinion is this acceptable? Please bare in mind that I use a HRM to log the calories associated with each activity.

Replies

  • tonynguyen75
    tonynguyen75 Posts: 418 Member
    I don't log any of my exercises on MFP anymore. I eat at a level that's considered maintenance with my routine work out and let my cardio and sport activities ride me into my deficit. Last few weeks have been bad though because I haven't done any of my sports.... Them holidays. :(
  • Isakizza
    Isakizza Posts: 754 Member
    Just intentional & purposeful workouts.
    I don't log activities of daily living.


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  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    i would just log the things that most people would class as exercise. walking, running, gym, sports etc. the everyday living stuff gets taken into account by the base activity level mfp sets.
  • greenmm25
    greenmm25 Posts: 175 Member
    I log workouts and if I do like a get down and scrub the house day were I am sweating and making it sparkle, even then I set a timer and only count the hour or so I am going tough like mopping my entire downstairs area.
  • noura80
    noura80 Posts: 47
    Ok I get the idea thanks for the help. But I do have another question, what about the shopping activity? I usually go about walking for 2+ hours if I'm shopping, should I not log this too?
  • mkphotogirl
    mkphotogirl Posts: 55 Member
    i log my walk to work but i would never log my time walking around the mall shopping. too many stops, not a fast pace, not really intended as exercise.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    An HRM isn't going to be accurate for these activities you've listed. Your heart rate likely isn't that elevated when cooking, etc. I have a FitBit so I don't log anything.
  • brisr001
    brisr001 Posts: 20 Member
    I also have a HRM. I've logged activities like Friday night I went ice-skating, when I normally would have just been sitting on the couch, or spending 30mins scrambling over rocks with preteens when I would be usually be having a coffee at a cafe, but I didn't log the 20min walk over & back to an island because it was at an amble (if we had gone around the island I may have). I log walking when I would otherwise be using a car. (Going to the gym/supermarket) I will also log the walking say if I was catching the bus into the city but instead of walking to the nearest bus stop I walk to the stop that is 4-5stops/10-15+mins away. These are on top of when I purposely set out to go for a walk.

    ETA: I guess it comes down to effort required. walking to the gym or the extra bus stops require effort as it would be easier to drive or just stand at the 1st bus stop. The rocks defiantly required effort, as would have walking around the island, but just walking over the jetty was easy. By logging it I'm giving myself a pat on the back for making the effort, going out of my way to do a little extra
  • __Di__
    __Di__ Posts: 1,659 Member
    Every time I log one of my activities, I question myself, is it considered an activity?

    I log in almost every activity I can think of that involves movement, i.e. shopping, exercising on the treadmill, and cooking. In your opinion is this acceptable? Please bare in mind that I use a HRM to log the calories associated with each activity.

    I only log running, weights (when I do them) and any other activity that I deliberately go out to burn calories.

    Careful with wearing your HRM for stuff that is not steady-state cardio, the reading will not be at all accurate because an HRM is meant to be used for activites whereby the HR reaches above 120.
  • ladymiseryali
    ladymiseryali Posts: 2,555 Member
    I just got a job that involves lifting things and setting things up, so I'm actually logging it as exercise because it is compared to what I used to do. Yesterday, according to my HRM, I burned 305 calories for being on my feet for 5 hours straight.
  • vonstigator
    vonstigator Posts: 21
    I log my dog walks as im sometimes out for 2-4 hrs with them, i log when using gym equipment & some housework for when i do the hoovering & mopping floors.
  • albionjen
    albionjen Posts: 86 Member
    It depends on how you've got your profile set up. I selected "active" even though I work in an office because I don't plan on logging all my daily living activities. I walk about 35mins from the station to work instead of getting the bus, use the stairs not the lift, walk to other peoples office to talk rather than email, do housework like cooking each day but I can't be bothered to log all of that! If you set it at sedentary then perhaps you should be logging that kind of activity or your daily calorie expenditure will be underestimated.

    As others have said your hrm will not be accurate for those activities because your heart rate probably doesn't go high enough for it to work out the calories correctly. Read the manual for your hrm to check this.
  • noura80
    noura80 Posts: 47
    thank you all. I will go and delete all that stuff from my diary to have a better idea of my calorie expenditure. Thank you once again.

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