What should I count?

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Kittieshocinski
Kittieshocinski Posts: 11 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So I am a little new at this journaling thing and I had a question.... What do I count as excercise? Is it just when I go to the gym or can I count my day at work were I am constantly moving and don't sit down for 7 hours of my shift? I see there are options to choose like cooking dinner or cleaning, should I be counting those or are those "cop-outs"? I would love to know, thanks guys!

Replies

  • cacrat
    cacrat Posts: 336 Member
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    I generally don't add my work to my work outs. It is true that any movement including standing for 7 hours, I do it at work too, will burn more calories. But I just count those as a bonus on top of what I "need" to burn at the gym.
  • alienblonde1
    alienblonde1 Posts: 749 Member
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    I just count when I exercise only.
  • foxxybrown
    foxxybrown Posts: 838 Member
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    If you move a lot on your job, in your setup you should set your daily activity to lightly active or active.
  • lannberg
    lannberg Posts: 1
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    This is just my personal opinion but I think that's a copout. I only add when I do an actual work-out. Plus if you burn calories at the gym, you get extra calories added to your daily food total -- and if you're overestimating your calories burned, you won't lose weight!
  • karilynn27
    karilynn27 Posts: 190 Member
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    I count everything I do with movement that can be considered excercise that I do throughout my day, walking the dog, and excercising, cleaning,...ect
  • stanvoodoo
    stanvoodoo Posts: 1,023 Member
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    If you set up your profile correctly then you only count exercise as exercise otherwise you will be counting it twice and can end up over eating if you eat your calories back.....
  • CaraRadz
    CaraRadz Posts: 169 Member
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    You shouldn't count your activities at work as exercise.

    In your fitness profile, you should have identified your daily activity as sedentary, lightly active, active, or very active. Based on your response, MFP has calculated your daily calorie goal. If you then also log your work activity as exercise, you are essentially double-counting that calorie burn, and you run a higher risk of over-eating.
  • amaried621
    amaried621 Posts: 260 Member
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    When you set up your profile it asks you about your daily activity, whether or not you sit at a desk all day, or if you have an active job - that will take your daily activity into account. It should help with the amount of calories you need to take in daily and such.
  • tata_rio
    tata_rio Posts: 8
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    Like mentioned before, it depends what option you chose when setting up your fitness profile. Your options are:

    Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)
    Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. nurse, salesman)
    Active: Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. waitress, mailman)
    Very Active: Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter)

    If you already chose an active profile, I think you should only include your actual workouts.
  • imom2kne
    imom2kne Posts: 17
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    :drinker:
    I post the 'extra' stuff, cleaning, long dog walks, but just because it's a reminder to myself to stay active. I do not count the extras as part of my daily workout; for me, that has to be activities that elevate my heart rate for an extended period of time.
  • p1xelate
    p1xelate Posts: 141 Member
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    I have a desk job so my activity level is set to sedentary. If I know I am going to be doing a lot of moving or something (like cleaning my 3 story town home) I put my HRM on and track it. If I am just standing in the kitchen making dinner I don't count it and consider it a bonus.

    You should probably set your activity level higher and not count it if it is a daily activity and that way it is worked into your daily calories.
  • Kittieshocinski
    Kittieshocinski Posts: 11 Member
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    You guys all rock! I had no clue about the whole settings thing... I started on my android app... so I didn't really get into the details. Thanks everyone!
  • rowennahathaway
    rowennahathaway Posts: 15
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    I only count other activities when they are done in place of my workout. For example I spent two days spring cleaning my house last week and was so tired by the ends of the days that I didn't ride the bike and gave myself credit for 90 minutes of housecleaning. I figured I would have done about that much working out and was just as tired. I choose to do fun things sometimes like play baseball with my kids instead of riding the bike alone and I give myself credit for that. but just my regular daily cleaning and work comes under the heading of my lifestyle not exercise.

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