How far do you go to log exercise calories?

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  • anabelle2mince
    anabelle2mince Posts: 13
    Question, should I enter in all of my exercise, for example I am a cashier at a grocery store, if I stood for 4 hours pushing product across the till and packing peoples gorcery bags, should I count that as exercise? I put it down as fishing from river bank because that was the closest thing that came up. I put only 2 hours down, instead of 4 because I felt like it seemed rather high calorie burnage. What should I be doing? Please PLEASE PLEASE GIVE YOUR INPUT! :)
  • msbanana
    msbanana Posts: 793 Member
    Question, should I enter in all of my exercise, for example I am a cashier at a grocery store, if I stood for 4 hours pushing product across the till and packing peoples gorcery bags, should I count that as exercise? I put it down as fishing from river bank because that was the closest thing that came up. I put only 2 hours down, instead of 4 because I felt like it seemed rather high calorie burnage. What should I be doing? Please PLEASE PLEASE GIVE YOUR INPUT! :)
    It's your job so I wouldn't count it as "exercise." Make sure your "lifestyle" is set to lightly active- I think that is defined as on your feet most of the day and it MFP will account for that in your calorie alotment up front. What you want to log is ADDITIONAL exercise.
  • bizybeemom
    bizybeemom Posts: 84 Member
    I'm right there with you! Your normal activities don't usually help with weight loss. I do count heavy yard work, and snow shoveling, because those definately use a significant amount of calories. I work on my feet all day, and I do NOT count that as exercise. Now funny thing, my husband got ahold of my phone and logged "sex" for me to be funny not realizing that ALL my MFP friend could see it! LOL! But I do not log that activity normally! :wink:
  • fancyladymeek
    fancyladymeek Posts: 46
    Based on what I know about this subject, I think that a lot of people can run into problems with that approach, and that's what I try to point out. First and foremost, all of our methods of tracking both caloric intake expenditure--the food labels, MFP database, HRMs, etc--are imprecise, with an overall error factor of probably at least 20%. In general, people should not be making eating decisions based on an extra 100 or 150 calories supposedly expended on a shopping trip or doing house cleaning.

    The second issue is that "physical activity" is highly variable and it is next to impossible for us to track it on a daily basis. I don't just mean exercise or other large identifiable chunks of activity, but everything we do all day. And it's a pretty large "chunk" of calories--25% or so of our daily "allotment". That shopping trip or housework being logged as "extra" may actually just be maintaining your "average" -- making up for an earlier day when you weren't as active. Human beings tend to be selective in their thinking--we easily remember the house cleaning or the unloading boxes and conveniently forget the day we spent lounging around on the couch.

    A number of studies have shown that A) people tend to overestimate the amount of daily activity they actually perform; B) in response to starting or ramping up an exercise routine, people tend to decrease their casual activity the rest of the day; C) dieters tend to reduce their daily activity; and D) Starting a new job or routine that results in an increase in physical activity often results in a decrease in exercise activity (duration and/or intensity), a compensatory increase in food intake, or both.

    Very informative!!

    I try and over-log food and under-log exercise. I take off at least 5 minutes out of every hour walking to accomodate for the dogs doing their business, me taking gloves/hat/headlamp on/off, waiting for a stop light (although I do walk in place), etc.

    I don't log things like sex, groceries, etc. But I think sometimes folks have physical challenges that makes it so they can't go for a run, or lift weights for 20 mins, etc. Their exercise may be limited to thinks like grocery shopping, etc. If it encourages them, great. If they use it as a way to cheat...well...we're each going to be ready to lose weight and live better on our own time schedule. None of us can force another person to eat/exercise honestly, and since it doesn't affect whether or not we live/exercise honestly, I'm not sure why its a big deal.
  • kmard81
    kmard81 Posts: 212 Member
    I dont log those kinds of things because I feel like those are just part of my daily activities. The "average" american burns 2,000 a day, and those things are things we all do, so I always assumed they were part of the "average", right? But to each his own! if people want to post evrey little thing, thats their perogative!
  • neebelung
    neebelung Posts: 115
    Question, should I enter in all of my exercise, for example I am a cashier at a grocery store, if I stood for 4 hours pushing product across the till and packing peoples gorcery bags, should I count that as exercise? I put it down as fishing from river bank because that was the closest thing that came up. I put only 2 hours down, instead of 4 because I felt like it seemed rather high calorie burnage. What should I be doing? Please PLEASE PLEASE GIVE YOUR INPUT! :)
    It's your job so I wouldn't count it as "exercise." Make sure your "lifestyle" is set to lightly active- I think that is defined as on your feet most of the day and it MFP will account for that in your calorie alotment up front. What you want to log is ADDITIONAL exercise.

    I agree, I think this would be the most accurate way tomaccount for your work activity.

    And generally, when in doubt, I'd say don't log it. Better to underestimate your burned calories than over estimate, in my opinion.
  • anacsitham5
    anacsitham5 Posts: 810 Member
    Personally I don't log daily stuff like vacuuming or doing the dishes, but last weekend I cleaned out two big bedrooms - as two of my five moved out. I rearranged the furniture, picked up all the crap they left laying all over the floor, boxed it all up, heaved it up to the attic, took out garbage, vacuumed, dusted and did 6 loads of laundry (carried down to wash, folded, and carried up to put away). I worked 10 hours and logged it as 2 hours (there were times I stood there looking around, wondering where to start working next). I was physically exhausted. Normally I wouldn't log the 10 minutes it took me to sweep the kitchen floor, but it doesn't mean that people can't. To each his own. If you have a MFP friend that is doing that and it bugs you that much, unfriend them and you won't have to see it anymore.

    I've had people criticize me when they look at my food diary and tell me that my breakfast wasn't "good" enough on a particular day (I was running late and grabbed what I could) or that I shouldn't have had a gin & diet tonic on a Friday night (after working two jobs 8:30-5 and 5:15-11:30, Mon-Fri....I NEEDED IT). Why am I defending myself against people like this? I don't bother anymore.

    The info is there for us to use. Should we criticize someone for logging in a generic apple, when there are specific ones to choose from? As I said, to each his own.
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