Should I count walking as exercise ?

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Replies

  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    When I'm posting on MFP typically I'm walking. Yay smartphone. Does have the downside that I post too much and have to constantly edit away autocorrect mistakes.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,393 Member
    edited September 2016
    The high-level answer is extremely simple.

    If the activity in question results in you burning more calories than the number of calories that are included in your MFP activity level the answer is that you should log the excess as exercise and eat it back in order to achieve your MFP goals as selected

    The details of determining all that with some precision is where things get more complicated. The ever popular idea that it is always better to overshoot your goals also does not help.

    Mfp defines sedentary as BMR x 1.25. lightly active as BMR 1.4 , active 1.6 very active 1.8

    If you move around more than 45 minutes or so in a day (call it 5000 steps) you have exceeded sedentary. 75 minutes/7500 steps takes you above lightly active.

    The accuracy of your food logging is a factor. So does whether you've artificially bottomed out at MFP's minimum eating target.

    Maintain a reasonable deficit which for most people is NOT 2lbs a week. Use a trending weight app or web site. Compare your expected and actual results. Adjust. The End.
  • foen_i
    foen_i Posts: 27 Member
    I didn't follow it all but the answer is actually pretty simple. Everything you did consider in determining your activity level is not counted.
    Everything else is counted.

    If you are cheating yourself or for some reason burn less/more then you think you will find out in a week or two
  • GYATagain
    GYATagain Posts: 141 Member
    If walking is what your planned exercise is, yes, count your walks. Do not count shop walking as exercise - unless, that is you are being one of the "mall-walkers" that take advantage of open space to walk in the winter freeze or summer heat with a continuous walk. The way I look at it - I got to be way overweight shopping, cleaning, cooking (even for extremely large groups of 50+ people), gardening, mowing, raising 3 kids, chasing dogs, taking care of elder in-laws, throwing hay - yep, I ate too much. Now, I only even start to look at calories burned if it is a planned burn - weights and extended cardio. My walks around the office building do not count in that. I'm always interested in what my FitBit says at the end of the day - but, be cautious of eating back those calories. It counts "steps" as I sit at my desk typing....so, how accurate can it really be?
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    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.


    I have the fitbit Alta and i get zero active minutes when i go shopping.It starts tracking walking as exercise/activity after 10 solid minutes of walking, no shuffling or stop start.

    Hmm. My FB One counts all my steps. Before that I used an Omron that started counting steps after @ 10 of them, and separately tracked cardiovascular activity, which it defined as walking for 10 minutes in a row, like your Alta.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
    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 ?

    No, because you were not walking that whole three hours, you were walking from store to store, stopping, maybe sitting. This is not intentional exercise, this is....shopping.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
    PAV8888 wrote: »
    The high-level answer is extremely simple.

    If the activity in question results in you burning more calories than the number of calories that are included in your MFP activity level the answer is that you should log the excess as exercise and eat it back in order to achieve your MFP goals as selected

    The details of determining all that with some precision is where things get more complicated. The ever popular idea that it is always better to overshoot your goals also does not help.

    Mfp defines sedentary as BMR x 1.25. lightly active as BMR 1.4 , active 1.6 very active 1.8

    If you move around more than 45 minutes or so in a day (call it 5000 steps) you have exceeded sedentary. 75 minutes/7500 steps takes you above lightly active.

    The accuracy of your food logging is a factor. So does whether you've artificially bottomed out at MFP's minimum eating target.

    Maintain a reasonable deficit which for most people is NOT 2lbs a week. Use a trending weight app or web site. Compare your expected and actual results. Adjust. The End.

    And, how would one figure out those calories?

    You can't use a heart rate monitor because that is for steady state cardio only.

    You use MFP and any other app, or the numbers from cardio machines, and every activity is ridiculously inflated.

  • Trish1c
    Trish1c Posts: 549 Member
    I count 1/2 of my shopping walking, not all of it because there is so much shopping, stopping, trying on etc. but it is movement so it does count for something.
  • ifrydr
    ifrydr Posts: 11 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    daniip_la wrote: »
    Walking is the only exercise I do, so yeah I say count it.

    Ditto lately. I lose by just making sure to get some good long walks in. Sometimes excessively long because I'm a bit crazy but yeah, I count walking.

    OK, so clarify "excessively long" please...

    I am struggling with justifying the nights/days I actually just walk 3-4 miles with my wife as opposed to my run days. I am a bit of a HR/Data nut and am feeling like my average HR on the walks is not really doing much for me with regard to weight loss and/or fitness. I am thinking it is actually just more of a recovery event. If that is the case I will need to up the run days and cut back on the daily walks or do both, run at lunch walk at night... that with gym workouts may be too much for an old guy ;-)
  • SuzySunshine99
    SuzySunshine99 Posts: 2,983 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    When I'm posting on MFP typically I'm walking. Yay smartphone. Does have the downside that I post too much and have to constantly edit away autocorrect mistakes.

    Be careful! I've seen people walk into traffic while doing that :)
  • bwhitty67
    bwhitty67 Posts: 162 Member
    I use a FitBit, I sit at work usually but have to walk to another building for mail or out to storage so between the time I get up and work I have any where between 4000-7000 steps. Sure it pops up here on MFP but I just do a little cheer in my head "yay me" but never intend to eat the calories it lovingly gives me. Then I walk on my TM at home about 45 minutes and get about 360calories (so the TM says), but rarely eat any of that back. Why? Because I'm not hungry and it's usually about 10pm when I finish :smile: now sometimes I have a yogurt or hard boiled egg but it's only if I feel hungry. So yes I see all the happy numbers but I don't eat them.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
    Walking yes. Shopping at the mall - no.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    I never logged stuff like that (shopping, yard work, etc), even if it was out of the ordinary...I just chalked it up to bonus activity. I only ever logged deliberate exercise...I've always viewed exercise as something that is purposefully done to enhance fitness...shopping never fit that bill...it's general activity.
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
    Walking yes. Shopping at the mall - no.

    Calorically speaking (if that's even a word), what's the difference? So long as you count it as slow...you ARE walking.

    The only question should be whether your activity level already counts it automatically...if you are set on sedentary, it does not and therefore it should be added.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,879 Member
    Walking yes. Shopping at the mall - no.

    Calorically speaking (if that's even a word), what's the difference? So long as you count it as slow...you ARE walking.

    The only question should be whether your activity level already counts it automatically...if you are set on sedentary, it does not and therefore it should be added.

    sedentary accounts for up to 5000 steps per day.
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Walking yes. Shopping at the mall - no.

    Calorically speaking (if that's even a word), what's the difference? So long as you count it as slow...you ARE walking.

    The only question should be whether your activity level already counts it automatically...if you are set on sedentary, it does not and therefore it should be added.

    sedentary accounts for up to 5000 steps per day.

    I thought we decided that mfp was 2500...and that wouldn't cover a shopping trip for me anyway ;)
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    When I'm posting on MFP typically I'm walking. Yay smartphone. Does have the downside that I post too much and have to constantly edit away autocorrect mistakes.

    Be careful! I've seen people walk into traffic while doing that :)

    I walk type and read too, hence why so many of my posts are edited :lol: I don't go out in traffic though, i get my 20,000 steps without leaving home.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,843 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Walking yes. Shopping at the mall - no.

    Calorically speaking (if that's even a word), what's the difference? So long as you count it as slow...you ARE walking.

    The only question should be whether your activity level already counts it automatically...if you are set on sedentary, it does not and therefore it should be added.

    sedentary accounts for up to 5000 steps per day.

    My fitbit starts giving me calories after @ 2100 steps.