Exercise you dont "count"

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  • jmv7117
    jmv7117 Posts: 891 Member
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    I do plenty of activity that I don't count, but I see others doing so.
    Mine include . . .
    Housework
    Parking far away from destinations
    Climbing stairs at work
    All the walking I do at work
    Yardwork

    What are yours?

    Actually, you do probably count it...in your overall activity level which is where you should account for it.

    I was assuming the OP meant like how some people count housework as workouts.

    Two points - First, it is no one's business what someone else counts as a workout. Second, how do you know that particular activity is not a workout for that person? This is one reason why folks keep their diaries closed.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    When I first joined two years ago I entered some of that stuff mostly because it was fun, lol.

    That's how I interpret it, actually, not that it's some sad desire to log something (and maybe I'm misreading some of the posts upthread). I eat back some percentage of my exercise calories or fitbit adjustment, because otherwise the calories would be too low, but mostly I log my workouts because I want to keep track of them independent of their effect on my calories (MFP is typically high, of course, I have no idea what the real count is for my weight training, and I'm skeptical about the counts from biking, which varies a ton based on wind, the bike, the path, etc., that is not taken into account in the count). I don't log daily stuff, but when I've thought about doing so--gardening, for example--it would have been a way to communicate with my MFP friends in a lighthearted way about what I was doing or to complain a bit about the activity (at least re gardening), not because I plan to use it as an excuse to eat 500 more calories or whatever. (Which is not to say that some daily activities don't genuinely burn lots of calories beyond your norm and justify the same kind of adjustment the fitbit gives, of course.)
  • teeya1984
    teeya1984 Posts: 33 Member
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    Fitbit logs for me...i only offset calories if my HRM says I burned more because Fitbit doesn't capture intensity very well :)

    Never have i logged something like cleaning...but then again that's part of my life. for some people, it's an activity :)
  • jpolinisse
    jpolinisse Posts: 149 Member
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    I only count exercise I do in the gym, because that is the only time I do intentional exercise.
  • RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle
    RaspberryKeytoneBoondoggle Posts: 1,349 Member
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    I do the same. I think I should count housework sometimes though.
  • Galatea_Stone
    Galatea_Stone Posts: 2,037 Member
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    I don't count most of it. Usually I just count strength training, about half the time I count cycling, I don't count walking unless I do it for more than 90 consecutive minutes, sometimes yard work but only the hard stuff that takes hours, etc.

    I almost never count yoga or boxing, even though both burn calories and I do them often enough. I have no idea why that is.
  • Karabobarra
    Karabobarra Posts: 782 Member
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    I only count strength training and cardio ... everything else is just considered life. If I want to eat some extra calories I'll go on a brisk walk
  • missomgitsica
    missomgitsica Posts: 496 Member
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    I walk 2 miles a day at work, so I feel like it's worth counting. But cleaning and food prep I don't count.
  • PJPrimrose
    PJPrimrose Posts: 916 Member
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    I'll change my activity level up a notch if I'm landscaping big time, such as installing trees, "hardscape", cement work etc...

    I only add exercise that require me to put on my MA uniform or workout clothes.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I'm not really "counting" anything at the moment, but I do log yard work as best I can. For example, yesterday I spent an hour digging an irrigation ditch for my garden. This was exercise (aka activity) beyond what I normally do, so I logged it. There was no option in the database for ditch digging though, so I just logged it as gardening.

    If I do a massive cleaning, like Spring cleaning or cleaning out the garage, I usually log that too, because again, it's not something I do often and it's certainly not "sedentary".
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
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    Who cares how someone logs it? If they aren't meeting their goals then they should change how they did it. When I first started, I listed my activity level as sedentary and it was a game for me each day to see how many calories I could earn. Now, meh, too much work, activity level is set to my actual level, so I don't include 'daily life' in my activities any more. I really don't care how anyone else chooses to manage theirs either.
  • JustSomeEm
    JustSomeEm Posts: 20,212 MFP Moderator
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    I have a Jawbone, which captures a lot of my activity for me, but I didn't always. Before I got the Jawbone, I often logged housework on the weekends, since I work a desk job and did a heavy cleaning of my house each weekend. :) I think I logged meal prep on Thanksgiving because I was literally on my feet and cooking most of the day (and then, darnit, I did cleanup too!)

    Like most of you with a Fitbit, I keep my activity level set to sedentary and let my Jawbone tell me when I've earned more calories. I only actually log an exercise if it is fairly intense (I run a few times a week - well HAD been, before I came down with the plague... will be getting back to it soon), and almost NEVER log housework anymore unless I'm doing heavy lifting and work up more of a sweat than normal. So, really, the only things I log nowadays are my runs. Yay for technology.
  • whitebalance
    whitebalance Posts: 1,654 Member
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    My Fitbit tracks most of my daily activity; it varies a lot from day to day, so I set my level to Sedentary and let MFP and Fitbit sort out my calories. I only log burns for things the Fitbit doesn't track accurately -- weight lifting, rowing, Pilates, martial arts, messing around with a hula hoop, whatever. HRM estimate where it's convenient and applicable to wear one, database estimate where it's not.

    ETA: I guess there is one form of "exercise I don't count" -- I often carry a 15-20 pound backpack to and from work (2-3 miles total) or carry a 10-12 pound waist pack during events. That walking is just logged as Fitbit steps. It's a difference, but I don't think it amounts to much.
  • freemystery
    freemystery Posts: 184 Member
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    I count walking to work and back... but it is a round trip of 4.5 miles! I have a fitbit though so it automatically gives me a little extra to eat once I sync it when I get home from work. That will usually mop up any wandering around I do at lunch time. I don't drop below 3mph as a general rule and if I get home and there's like 7 miles... well to not count that would be silly. I'll have earned myself lots of nutritious, health giving good food.
    (CAKE)
  • Bounce4
    Bounce4 Posts: 288 Member
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    I do the same. I think I should count housework sometimes though.

    Maybe!

    There are factors to consider. Two years ago (when I entered a lot of those daily activities mostly for fun) I had my settings at couch potato and my calories at 1200/day. Any activity of not sitting on the couch is extra and burns calories. I did eat the calories back and I should have. I still lost weight. I was not being a couch potato and now that I know more 1200 calories is WAY below my BMR. I can't really remember but I probably logged them as a reason to eat more because I was hungry, lol.

    When I first started using MFP I did not know anything about nutrition or fitness. I had never counted a calorie in my life and the word macro had never crossed my mind I had no idea what it even was. I had never really done any kind of focused weight loss. I simply plugged in the numbers and used the app. I did not read these forums at all. I had no additional info. I don't really think I'm all that unusual.
  • Eoghann
    Eoghann Posts: 130 Member
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    Well as a FitBit user, a lot of my activity gets logged to some extent. Anything that involves movement. I don't usually bother to manually log extra though.

    The only exception that springs to mind is this winter I did log snow shoveling, because that's some seriously hard work.
  • eddiesmith1
    eddiesmith1 Posts: 1,550 Member
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    I count walks that are specific to getting extra exercise (so the dog walks where i walk the whole time at a good pace not the ones where we go to the park and throw the ball) the walk home from work cycling to and from work - because those weren't the norm in the past and I base my activity on sedentary 7km walks or rides are not sedentary ;)
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    Because I use a FitBit, it counts everything as exercise - every movement. So I have my settings in MFP to sedentary, and it adds calories through out the day that I eat back in order to maintain my weight.
  • lemon629
    lemon629 Posts: 501 Member
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    I don't log routine walking around work unless I deliberately walked more than usual.
    I log housecleaning if it's vigorous and more than the usual, but not if it's just 10-15 minutes of light cleaning. (Speaking of which, it is past time for me to do a thorough house cleaning!)
    I also log yardwork. I'm surprised at the people who say they don't count yardwork.
    I do not log cooking/food preparation. When I see that on people's diaries, it makes me laugh.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
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    I have a Jawbone, which captures a lot of my activity for me, but I didn't always. Before I got the Jawbone, I often logged housework on the weekends, since I work a desk job and did a heavy cleaning of my house each weekend. :) I think I logged meal prep on Thanksgiving because I was literally on my feet and cooking most of the day (and then, darnit, I did cleanup too!)

    Like most of you with a Fitbit, I keep my activity level set to sedentary and let my Jawbone tell me when I've earned more calories. I only actually log an exercise if it is fairly intense (I run a few times a week - well HAD been, before I came down with the plague... will be getting back to it soon), and almost NEVER log housework anymore unless I'm doing heavy lifting and work up more of a sweat than normal. So, really, the only things I log nowadays are my runs. Yay for technology.

    If the Jawbone is anything like the FitBit, it should be able to track your runs just fine.?

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