Calories burned while grocery shopping

(You may ask: "well if you exercised so much, how did you get fat?" My answer is "this *kitten* loves to eat!")

No... I wouldn't count it at all.

It is part of daily activity. As is cleaning, dishes, showering, etc etc.

Ok, I have a funny question. Do you think calories burned during grocery shopping should be counted? Let me explain......I'm beginning to discover if I don't eat back all or most of my exercise calories my weight loss stalls, but it sure is hard to estimate calories burned for certain activities. I just came home from shopping. I was in the store 1 hour and 15 minutes, pushing around a very heavy cart, loaded all the groceries in the cart, took them all out of the cart ( to be checked out), then loaded them into the car, then upstairs once at my house, then put them all away. Probably at least 20 bags, some very heavy. Just seems that calorie burn should be included....what do you think? And any idea how to even figure out how many cals I burned......there is nothing similar on MFP.

Thanks much!
Kim : )

There are a couple of problems with this scenario:

1. In your basic setup, even if you set your activity level to "sedentary", you are still given an allowance each day for activity calories. People seem to assume that because that allowance is included, that means you automatically burn that number of calories every day. That is not necessarily true. Some days you might do more, some less. Also, exerting yourself sporadically for a brief period of time doesn't necessarily mean you burn an excess of calories for that day. Maybe the rest of the day you were more sedentary, so it balanced out.

2. Most people grossly overestimate the number of calories they burn performing casual activities. I doubt that your little shopping trip burned more that 40 or 50 calories more than you would have burned sitting in a chair, even less if you compare it to what you might have otherwise done at home had you not gone shopping.

My personal feeling is that trying to chase activity calories is a fool's errand the vast majority of the time.

None of this is meant in a judgemental way.

I wouldn't log it, this is wishful thinking. If it feels like a workout, then really that's a sign that you need to actually workout. And yes I've been to Costco and filled up the SUV with groceries and all that.

"Feeling" like you worked out, is not the same as doing something significant to burn calories and/or get stronger. Counting calories isn't about "feel", it's about accuracy so you don't short change yourself and so you can achieve your goals.

You guys realize this is an old thread resurrected for no good reason from last spring?

I enter stuff like that.
However, I under log everything like that.

True "workouts" like a solid hour of hiking, biking, or a long very brisk walk meant for exercise with me, mp3 player, sneakers, the whole bit. Those things I log precise amount of time.

But let's say I go to the supermarket, walk around the store for an hour, bag my stuff, carry it inside, etc. Total of 1.5 hrs but I'll log 30 min walking leisurely pace.

If I walk for 4 hours at a zoo or shopping mall, stopping quite a bit to look at exhibits/shop...I will log 60 min leisurely pace walking.

For people looking to lose weight or get healthy, "exercise" should be something done for the purpose of raising your heart rate significantly for a prescribed period of time (15 minutes or more) for the purpose of promoting either your health or calorie loss. If you walk around the store in a low martial arts posture to feel the burn in your legs, load your cart with many 2.5 gallon bottles of water before you start and accelerate/decelerate the cart quickly, or something similar, maybe its exercise, otherwise, if you are wondering about logging daily activities that are not out of the ordinary as "exercise", there is something wrong in your mental thought process about exercise. Its not that you aren't getting "credit" for it, you are, its your chosen daily activity level.

Most daily activities should be accounted for in your daily activity level. If they really are out of the ordinary, things like shopping/cleaning/walking short distances etc. I would much rather them burn that slight excess to account for all the errors in calorie logging and true exercise estimates, than "eat back" some small amount that probably isn't above your daily activity rate and end up sabotaging your weight loss. People get mad about this topic, probably because they seem to view it as "invalidating" cleaning or childcare or some such, but its not: its part of your daily life so its not "exercise" above your basal metabolic rate plus daily activity level burn...it just isn't. And if you start doing logging like this, where does it stop?

I'd just try to take these activities as equaling out the times you sit on the couch and watch a movie and burn below your chosen activity level, when you lie in bed for an extra half hour or drive for 1hr in traffic -- just as you don't log these low rate burn activities as "below rate" time, I wouldn't log the high ranging burn daily activities as exercise.

(I know it's necromanced, but I'll chime in anyhow...)

Get a fitbit. Sure, it won't be entirely accurate, but it will give you some credit for the additional activity.

Was coming here to say precisely this. I set MFP to sedentary, and let fitbit give me extra calories based on my actual activity levels during the day.

Otherwise, just estimate your actual activity level, and set the MFP activity level accordingly. Then log only actual exercise. The grocery shopping should be factored in as part of your overall base non-exercise activity level.

Third option is to use a calculator to figure your TDEE including exercise, and use the TDEE - 20% method. Then don't log any exercise at all.

I don't suggest crossing the three.

If shopping was an exercise to be logged I would be considered a world class marathoner!!!!!!!! But personally I would not log it. Our bodies are burning calories 24/7, you can't count everything! I only log an 'scheduled workout'.

If your calorie allotment is sedentary or lightly active, yes. If the calories are already given to you in a moderate or highly active setting, then no.