Should I count walking as exercise ?

mylaizai
mylaizai Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So, today I went shopping for 3 hours , and according to runtastic , I walked 2.4 kilometers. Should I count it as exercise ?
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Replies

  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,162 Member
    I do. If you walk a lot at your job that is part of your activity level. But if you go for a 3 hour walk intentionally to get exercise then it is exercise.
  • nickisa28
    nickisa28 Posts: 116 Member
    Is it out of the ordinary for you walk this much? Not exactly scientific but if have a day when I walk a considerable amount more than normal, I'll possibly eat back half of those calories which isn't much so I normally don't bother. How many calories is it?
  • MonkeyMel21
    MonkeyMel21 Posts: 2,396 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    I count that in every day activity. Walking for exercise would be walking non stop, no stopping/browsing etc.

    This.
  • Tweaking_Time
    Tweaking_Time Posts: 733 Member
    edited September 2016
    If you did this activity before you started trying to lose weight and get in shape, it is something that you did that was part of your activities that allowed you to get into you current condition in the first place - and if this is the case, I would not count it.

    If you deliberately went walking and broke it up with a little shopping and this is a new activity for you - yes - count it.

    Also - walking sure does help burn a few calories but, I like to think of cardio as something that gets my heart rate up to a point where I find it difficult to talk. When I get to this level of exertion - there is no doubt that it is something to be tracked.
  • mdonsbach
    mdonsbach Posts: 102 Member
    I've lost 28 pounds in 5 months. I counted all my dedicated walking time...included those burned calories into my diet as well.
  • alienws1998
    alienws1998 Posts: 88 Member
    edited September 2016
    Personally I don't track everyday events (shopping, cleaning, etc). I know these activities do burn calories but when you track them it ads to your total calories needed for the day. I'd rather ignore them, stick to the basic caloric intake requirements and know that I'm doing better than I think, this is just how I do it though.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    edited September 2016
    NEAT treats dancing and lawn mowing as normal life activities for sedentary people.

    NEAT treats clearly sports activities as exercise.

    Since I learned that, I've concluded that walking around the grocery store for shopping is not actually a sports activity and I won't log it as exercise any longer.

    I started tracking my "net calories" in a spreadsheet August 15. I compare my cumulative calorie deficit, which should predict my weight loss, to my actual weight loss from August 15. I find that there is a discrepancy between the actual and the predicted weight. Partly, that discrepancy is explained by variations in cortisol, sodium, and meal timing. However, that discrepancy is consistently indicating that my claimed calorie burn in exercise (which decreases my net calories) is too high. In an effort to reduce the statistical discrepancy between my expected and actual weight loss, I'm hoping that this decision (to stop logging shopping trips as exercise) will help.
  • hlltwin
    hlltwin Posts: 55 Member
    When you say sports activities, do you mean actual sports - as in baseball? I'm sure you include exercise - like riding your bike someplace or an intentional walk (like my mother and aunt do when they head out for their 5-mi walk around the neighborhood). I'm not understanding. What is NEAT? I'm sure it stands for something, but what?

    Sedentary isn't the same for everyone, I think. I know plenty of sedentary people who don't dance or mow their lawns (they live in condos or apartments, they have people who come and mow their lawns), just saying. I have a co-worker who can't fathom getting 5,000 steps a day. It's a lot for her.

    Shopping trips - normal ones - are to the local grocery store and last an hour at the most. When i went to Woodstock and walked all over the village for 3 hours - that's not part of my normal routine, but I still shouldn't count it as exercise? It should be as if I didn't just walk for three hours and so I would burn the same amount of calories as if I sat and watched TV for those 3 hours? I'm sure I burn calories walking around a whole village for 3 hours.
  • LUHAN27
    LUHAN27 Posts: 211 Member
    Yes! I always count walking as exercise. It's awesome when I reach my step goal+ MFP adds my steps/calories automatically lol
  • MonkeyMel21
    MonkeyMel21 Posts: 2,396 Member
    edited September 2016
    hlltwin wrote: »
    When you say sports activities, do you mean actual sports - as in baseball? I'm sure you include exercise - like riding your bike someplace or an intentional walk (like my mother and aunt do when they head out for their 5-mi walk around the neighborhood). I'm not understanding. What is NEAT? I'm sure it stands for something, but what?

    Sedentary isn't the same for everyone, I think. I know plenty of sedentary people who don't dance or mow their lawns (they live in condos or apartments, they have people who come and mow their lawns), just saying. I have a co-worker who can't fathom getting 5,000 steps a day. It's a lot for her.

    Shopping trips - normal ones - are to the local grocery store and last an hour at the most. When i went to Woodstock and walked all over the village for 3 hours - that's not part of my normal routine, but I still shouldn't count it as exercise? It should be as if I didn't just walk for three hours and so I would burn the same amount of calories as if I sat and watched TV for those 3 hours? I'm sure I burn calories walking around a whole village for 3 hours.

    How about this. If you feel yourself extremely famished this evening or tomorrow, perhaps eat at maintenance (or add an extra 200 calorie snack). And if not, just be happy in the knowledge that you got out and got your steps in and your body moving!

    eta: I just assumed this was OP, lol. This is for this poster and for OP!
  • MonkeyMel21
    MonkeyMel21 Posts: 2,396 Member
    mysticwryter wrote: »
    mylaizai wrote: »
    So, today I went shopping for 3 hours , and according to runtastic , I walked 2.4 kilometers. Should I count it as exercise ?

    Of course you do!! that's a distance for some and congrats on keeping yourself moving!

    I like your attitude!
  • GYATagain
    GYATagain Posts: 141 Member
    I agree with several - after 4 years into this journey - I have noticed that if I go out and run 5+ miles, I'm burning it up and actually get hungrier and need to feed the beast (after a couple hours). If I'm shopping all day at the mall or up in Amish country, I do not count it. I let my FitBit figure all that out and do Not eat back any of those calories. I never track or eat back FitBit calories if it is housekeeping or even gardening. Now, I may eat some after hand mowing for 2 hours in 90+ degree heat & humidity and have sweated buckets upon buckets. We really need to not only "track" calories burned but let our bodies tell us when there is an actual burn going on. We all know when we are burning through those calories as opposed to strolling through the tulips, so to speak.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    If it were purposeful walking where you don't stop, yes. But that is already part of your activity level
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited September 2016
    mylaizai wrote: »
    So, today I went shopping for 3 hours , and according to runtastic , I walked 2.4 kilometers. Should I count it as exercise ?

    You turned on a running app, for a shopping trip? I hope this was just as a test. So no on the shopping trip calories you calculated.

    MFP used NEAT which is defined below.

    NEAT: Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise. It ranges from the energy expended walking to work, typing, performing yard work, undertaking agricultural tasks and fidgeting.

    EAT Exercise activity thermogenesis.. this is defined as sports-like exercise, purposeful heart rate steady state cardio or other exercise and this is added in addition to NEAT.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    I count that in every day activity. Walking for exercise would be walking non stop, no stopping/browsing etc.

    You normally go shopping for three hours, every day? If the OP had an activity tracker she'd get credit for it; I don't see why she shouldn't without one.

    It averages out. It's still daily activity, not exercise. But in the end it's what... 200 calories? It won't make a difference one way or another... I just wouldn't log it and treat it as a bonus, but whatever.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Basically try to figure out what your average activity level is, set your calorie intake goal accordingly and then anything that is above the norm in terms of activity should be counted as exercise. Walking is exercise, but I'd only count it if you did an abnormal amount for you on a given day.

    Recently all my exercise has been just walking and I certianly count it, but I do a lot of walking.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited September 2016
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    I count that in every day activity. Walking for exercise would be walking non stop, no stopping/browsing etc.

    You normally go shopping for three hours, every day? If the OP had an activity tracker she'd get credit for it; I don't see why she shouldn't without one.

    I sort of see this as encouraging adding in cooking, doing the laundry, vacuuming, getting ready for work, walking around at work, etc. to be counted as exercise. Its not the same thing, it sounds good, but it does not work that way..

    How about for today, we tell OP its ok to log it and eat some of them back, but in the future it is part of the day to day (NEAT) and is included in her calories already.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    eveandqsmom wrote: »
    If your activity level is set to sedentary, I'd count it, but if you're set to lightly active (or more) then I would assume it's covered.

    It's still accounted for under sedentary. That's less than a mile and a half, which for me is about 3000-3200 steps.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,961 Member
    edited September 2016
    Depends on your calorie goal, settings, height and weight, and other habits.
    I don't count walking but it's because I used the Scooby Calculator to determine my TDEE. I set it as 1-3 hours a week of light exercise. Which is my lunch time walks essentially. So I know they're already accounted for. But more strenuous exercise is not. So I only count fast paced exercises.

    MFP's "Sedentary" or "Lightly active" settings are so vague I find them useless. Scooby is much more clear for my lifestyle. MFP could at least provide a user manual that defines what that means more than just what kind of job you have.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited September 2016
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    I count that in every day activity. Walking for exercise would be walking non stop, no stopping/browsing etc.

    You normally go shopping for three hours, every day? If the OP had an activity tracker she'd get credit for it; I don't see why she shouldn't without one.

    I sort of see this as encouraging adding in cooking, doing the laundry, vacuuming, getting ready for work, walking around at work, etc. to be counted as exercise. Its not the same thing, it sounds good, but it does not work that way..

    How about for today, we tell OP its ok to log it and eat some of them back, but in the future it is part of the day to day (NEAT) and is included in her calories already.

    But walking around work IS counted as exercise by activity trackers.

    Now that I have a FitBit, I no longer log my regular cooking and cleaning, but I do log major cooking sprees for infrequent family gatherings. I'm going to be moving this fall, and I will count the cleaning I do for that.

    These steps calories are counted in the adjustment.. and in the OP we are not talking about a fitness tracker...but look.. I am not here to make an opinion on how you handle your step calories. :)

    But providing OP with the right information so that they can make their own informed decision is.
  • ryry_
    ryry_ Posts: 4,966 Member
    Bottom line on this OP is, you can either log these types of ancillary activities or you not log them. If after 3 or 4 weeks you aren't losing weight at the pace you want you should stop logging them.

    My personal opinion is to only log purposeful exercise and if you lose too fast you can start adding this stuff back in
  • daniip_la
    daniip_la Posts: 678 Member
    Walking is the only exercise I do, so yeah I say count it.

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