What is counted at exercise?

2

Replies

  • brittanyabanks
    brittanyabanks Posts: 66 Member

    Stuff where you're stood around not moving that much eg food prep I personally don't count, but if it gets people up and moving then go for it - if you're not eating them back.

    I would count food prep because 1) at work your not suppose to be eating (or for my self we get a 20 min break were I'll eat an apple or small salad and juice) 2) You walk back and forth and gathering items, carrying weighted boxes (20-50 pounds). 3) if you work around a grill, large oven, or fryer you sweat and that's what a lot of people have been counting as necessary requirements.

    food preparation as a job, for hours at a time, can absolutely be excercise. Making your own dinner is not.....

    still, the type of job you work is calculated in your daily activity level, which gives you credit for that activity. can we all agree that most of us were cooking, sitting at a desk, and working daily, when we were actively fat and getting fat? I mean, exercise is exercise, life is life, and working, cooking, cleaning, is all part of life...
    Actually it wasn't calculated in mines cause I didn't have a job at the time...And when I had a constant weight of 180 I was working 8-12 hour shifts or on the track/field team, or soccer, or marching band but at that moment I wasn't trying to lose weight so eating unhealthy is what I did. Now that I'm eating healthy and have a job I am losing weight. Basically it's literally (well not really) falling off. In my first week in a half I lost 6 pounds. 5 days later 2 more pounds were gone.

    And don't look at my counter it is wrong because when I first started MFP I was 5 pounds lighter then I was this time on my diet. so it's off by 5 pounds (Also if anyone knows how to fix that problem it would be greatly appreciated!)
  • glades250
    glades250 Posts: 10
    pfft!!!... Tell my wife or my mother (RIP) house cleaning is not exercise. As a matter of fact I cleaned the house today for my wife while she worked. I was sweatin' my *kitten* off with the A/C cranked down to 71 degrees!!! I did it for two hrs strait and I count it!!
  • Nephy07
    Nephy07 Posts: 76 Member
    Stupid question (and sorry if someone mentioned it, I might have missed it), do you count calories burned during Yoga? (let's say for example morning yoga that lasts max 10 minutes)
  • PetulantOne
    PetulantOne Posts: 2,131 Member
    Stupid question (and sorry if someone mentioned it, I might have missed it), do you count calories burned during Yoga? (let's say for example morning yoga that lasts max 10 minutes)

    If it's just light, stretching type yoga, I wouldn't. It doesn't burn many calories at all.
  • PetulantOne
    PetulantOne Posts: 2,131 Member
    I assume you're fairly new at all this? Start simple. Set your activity level to lightly active and only log actual workouts as exercise. Things like walking the dog, playing with kids, raking leaves, etc will be covered by the lightly active setting. It makes things a little less tedious and takes away a bit of the margin for error when it comes to exercise calories.

    .

    ^This.

    Then adjust calories from there, based on actual results.
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
    pfft!!!... Tell my wife or my mother (RIP) house cleaning is not exercise. As a matter of fact I cleaned the house today for my wife while she worked. I was sweatin' my *kitten* off with the A/C cranked down to 71 degrees!!! I did it for two hrs strait and I count it!!

    ok, well ive seen my husband exit the bathroom after an hour looking like he just fought a battle... ive cleaned for 4-5 hours straight when helping my mom with her 5000 square foot nightmare home, and ive also spent more than 8 hours doing yard work... in my opinion... regardless of sweat or whatever, I don't count these as exercise, I consider these normal parts of life. I was doing yard work when I got fat. I was cleaning my house when I got fat... and my husband... well... hes another story... just my opinion, but I consider exercise, actual intentional exercise!
  • toutmonpossible
    toutmonpossible Posts: 1,580 Member
    It's what you commonly think of exercise: Vigorous, sustained activity that raises the heart rate, burns a significant amount of calories and probably causes you to break a sweat.
  • Le_Joy
    Le_Joy Posts: 549 Member
    According to my fitbit (and some other sources) I burn 16 calories every 15 minutes by simply being alive. Which is 64 an hour so in 8 hours that would be 512, so I'm guessing that 480 is just your being alive calories burned. That is why MFP asks if you are sedentary or active. It already includes those in your base calories.
  • janer4jc
    janer4jc Posts: 238 Member
    I didn't want to feel like a loser on days I didn't work out except now I feel like a cheater for counting working at my desk. lol

    We all need rest days and it doesn't make us losers. Count the time that you are intentionally exercising and not just going about your day.
  • Nephy07
    Nephy07 Posts: 76 Member

    If it's just light, stretching type yoga, I wouldn't. It doesn't burn many calories at all.

    allright, thanks :D
  • BUZZIEST
    BUZZIEST Posts: 18 Member
    Working at your desk is not exercise. The calories you burn to sit and work are part of your basal metabolic rate. It should not be counted as exercise.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    exercise by definition is a physiological stressor whether it be a stress to your cardiopulmonary system or musculoskeletal system. It puts stress on the body to cause improvements in resting and active state physiology.

    If it doesnt cause a sustained stress in the body from a restating state there will be no improvements.
  • cookiealbright
    cookiealbright Posts: 605 Member
    I sit at a desk all day. On Saturday when I clean my house I wear a t-shirt & short because I am sweating. Running up and down the steps, carrying heavy stuff. In and out of the house carrying stuff, taking the dogs in & out. I don't normally do this in a day, normally I sit at a desk. Sitting at a desk is not excercise. Carrying heavy things up & down steps, bending, streatching, scrubbing are and I count them. I also count walking my dog. My dog (& my husband) is not too happy about the new "Let's run up the hill" part of the walk.
  • jotness
    jotness Posts: 2 Member
    I walk between 5 & 10 miles a day at work & when I did Weight Watchers, they said it didn't count since I did it every day. I had to do additional exercise.
  • sarahertzberger
    sarahertzberger Posts: 534 Member
    No, I spend my entire day running after my 3 young kids, cleaning constantly, cooking every meal for us, and that has never been counted as exercise, it's just what I do, the only thing that gets counted as exercise is stuff intentionally done for purposes of working out, like going to the gym, running, hiking, etc.
  • Beckaroo94
    Beckaroo94 Posts: 66
    I include walking to and from uni, but call it slow even though i know it's a fast pace. Sitting at your desk shouldn't be included
  • necee99
    necee99 Posts: 52
    I think it depends. It's all well and good to say 'excercise must be intentional' but incidental excercise is still excercise. If I've gotten off the couch and gone shopping, for example, I class that as a walk. Why? I walk fast when I'm shopping and burn around the mall. Cleaning? Yup, count it. Why not? I dont' do it every day.

    Stuff where you're stood around not moving that much eg food prep I personally don't count, but if it gets people up and moving then go for it - if you're not eating them back.

    That's the catch. If you're counting all your movement as calories burned (and why not, if it works for you) you can't fall into the trap of then consuming that many extra calories.

    I do TDEE - 20% and don't eat the excercise cals back, so I count the random stuff as well as the hardcore burns. I only eat even a portion back if I've had a huge burn that day from something I consider 'hardcore' excercise and if I'm really hungry.

    If you're doing the MFP standard and convincing yourself that cooking nachos for dinner means that you can eat them without the calories mattering, you're not serious about this.

    ETA that sitting at your desk doesn't burn 480 calories, unless you are sitting on an excercise bike.

    i agree... i have a particular workout from sparkpeople.com that is done only in a chair. i have chronic pain issues so i have to find very low impact workouts. I count shopping too b/c I am sore and tired when i return as if i have been running a marathon. I agree that if you are doing something intentional in your chair like knee lifts, moving around, and if you feel a little winded or out of breath, your heart rate is moving and you are burning extra calories. just make sure you are not counting just sitting there.
  • obsidianwings
    obsidianwings Posts: 1,237 Member

    Stuff where you're stood around not moving that much eg food prep I personally don't count, but if it gets people up and moving then go for it - if you're not eating them back.

    I would count food prep because 1) at work your not suppose to be eating (or for my self we get a 20 min break were I'll eat an apple or small salad and juice) 2) You walk back and forth and gathering items, carrying weighted boxes (20-50 pounds). 3) if you work around a grill, large oven, or fryer you sweat and that's what a lot of people have been counting as necessary requirements.
    Most people would've figured this into their daily activity level, so to log it again would be double dipping. But if you didn't count it in your activity level then have at it
  • toutmonpossible
    toutmonpossible Posts: 1,580 Member
    If I don't sweat, I don't count it.

    Sweat has nothing to do with burning calories more or less.

    ETA: change wording

    It usually indicates the amount of intensity involved, which is related to the amount of calories burned. It's not perfect, but you are burning more calories when you are sweating or panting. I think that not counting as exercise activities that don't involve sweating is a good rule of thumb.
  • toutmonpossible
    toutmonpossible Posts: 1,580 Member
    If you want to make excuses for yourself, count everything as exercise. But most people know what real exercise is. If you have a physically demanding job, that figures into your general activity level. I imagine most people here are sedentary, or at most, lightly active.

    This is not that complicated. Either your calorie deficit, supported by exercise, is resulting in weight loss or it isn't.
  • EvelynBfly78
    EvelynBfly78 Posts: 240 Member
    Get a fitbit, that will figure it out for you!

    That's what I did. I have my daily activity set to sedentary. Then I let the fitbit figure it out.
    Everyone is different. Do what works for you but be consistent. That's the key.
  • leadiax3
    leadiax3 Posts: 534 Member
    I believe u have to elevate ur heart rate to be exercising. Sitting at a desk is just part of ur bmr.
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    Stupid question (and sorry if someone mentioned it, I might have missed it), do you count calories burned during Yoga? (let's say for example morning yoga that lasts max 10 minutes)

    10 min of yoga would be very minimal calorie burn
  • bumblebreezy91
    bumblebreezy91 Posts: 520 Member
    Anything you have to go out of your way to do, to intentionally burn calories and reach fitness goals, that you wouldn't need do in the course of a normal day (I don't need to go swimming or hop on the treadmill for my day to go normally since I am a CNA and not a professional athlete) is counted as exercise. I don't exactly understand why people with serious goals want to count little daily things when those things will not aid in weight loss (you already do it and you're overweight/obese/other, it's not working to help you lose weight). You have to know that sitting at your desk, playing with your children, driving to work, standing all day, etc. is not exercise and that we're not saying you don't work hard to do whatever it is you do during the day, but your body is used to these activities and you're only hurting yourself/your goals if you count your daily activities as serious exercise.

    ETA: Also, if you reach a plateau, is the activity something you can stop doing or change in ways your body will respond to in order to end the plateau? I don't think you're going to quit your job or start running up and down the hallways when you hit a weight loss plateau.
  • bumblebreezy91
    bumblebreezy91 Posts: 520 Member
    If you want to make excuses for yourself, count everything as exercise. But most people know what real exercise is. If you have a physically demanding job, that figures into your general activity level. I imagine most people here are sedentary, or at most, lightly active.

    This is not that complicated. Either your calorie deficit, supported by exercise, is resulting in weight loss or it isn't.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    if your going to count sitting at your desk as exercise, expect to maintain or gain... that's like logging pooping... im sure that burns calories too!
    Well, here are a few different sources on calorie burns for pooping. I'm not sure which is correct, and which calorie burn I should log in....

    http://www.poopreport.com/Doctor/Knowledgebase/caloriespercrap.html

    http://www.kgbanswers.com/how-many-calories-do-u-burn-when-you-are-pooping/4209098

    http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080607231906AAEr8Bw

    :laugh: :laugh:
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    supposedly I burn 480 calories by working at my desk for 8 hours a day. Should I count that as exercise?

    No you shouldn't
  • JenniTheVeggie
    JenniTheVeggie Posts: 2,474 Member
    No. I don't eat back my exercise calories anyways BUT I only log exercise that isn't something I do daily (does that make sense?).
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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  • toutmonpossible
    toutmonpossible Posts: 1,580 Member
    I don't exactly understand why people with serious goals want to count little daily things when those things will not aid in weight loss (you already do it and you're overweight/obese/other, it's not working to help you lose weight). You have to know that sitting at your desk, playing with your children, driving to work, standing all day, etc. is not exercise and that we're not saying you don't work hard to do whatever it is you do during the day, but your body is used to these activities and you're only hurting yourself/your goals if you count your daily activities as serious exercise.


    :flowerforyou:

    At times I think some folks want to get caught up with truly meaningless minutiae instead of making time to do the exercise they need to do.

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