Logging exercise: Technical questions - Help me log my activity!

Prairie_Chik
Prairie_Chik Posts: 11 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So I am starving myself and I realized that I am logging everything I eat but not any of my physical activity. I lead a very active lifestyle but I don't know how to log that into my exercise. Here are some examples of my physical activity;
chopping wood / stacking wood
heavy construction work (lifting lumber, nailing, climbing on roof, digging, shoveling)
running after the dog in the neighbor's yard
walking - lots of walking (by time rather than distance - I don't know my distances)

Can anyone help with some answers?

The only thing I found is gardening 18 calories an hour. Nope, I'm sure that I'm more active than that!

One thing that might help me is an activity tracker. I used to have a fitbit but it ended up in the bathtub! it is not in my budget to replace at the moment. I have an older iPhone (4s) so it doesn't have the same movement tracking as the newer ones. I plan to get a new iPhone before September so I can download activity tracking apps, but for now, this is what I have to work with. Suggestions?

Replies

  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    Honestly, I would just set your activity setting to something higher, then not worry about logging each specific thing. If you do them most days and they are part of your regular day/life, then include them in your activity setting. If you are doing them specifically for exercise/workout, then log them as exercise.

    IMO.

    There are sooo many variables in the activities you listed that it's going to be a crapshoot as to how close/accurate you are, regardless of how you choose to log. And FWIW, I've found very little correlation between increased steps/walking and increased calories burned. Seems it's just not strenuous enough to matter in the bigger picture.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,409 Member
    edited August 2017
    How much weight do you need to lose? If you have 50 pounds or less to lose, you can set it to, "Lose 1 pound per week." If you have 25 pounds or less to lose, set it to, "Lose 1/2 pound per week."

    I agree with jjpptt2, you can set your daily activity level higher.

    Things you do outside of your normal routine can be added as exercise, just use a couple hundred per hour if you can't find any entries anywhere. Check calorielab.com for more variety of exercises.

    Your best bet will be how you feel (starving, eat more,) and how your weight loss progresses over time. Give it a month of consistency and adjust if needed.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,740 Member
    Walking is easy to log. They have different speeds, so just pick the one that corresponds most closely to yours. i.e. when I walk the dog, I go 2.5 mph. When I walk alone I go 3-3.5 mph. Running after the dog was probably short term, so I wouldn't worry about that. Is construction your job, or just a Saturday project? If it's your job, I'd change my activity level. If not, there is a setting for carpentry, but it's pretty low. There is probably one for shoveling or digging. There is also one for Wood that becomes chopping wood.
  • cheepbeer
    cheepbeer Posts: 5 Member
    I used to Google some activities like stacking wood and such. I've got the same types of activities as you. I used to wear heart rate monitor when I did something and make my own guidelines. Ya don't find to many calorie counts on the web for stuff like loading a semi with hay. Sometimes you've gotta be creative too.
  • cheepbeer
    cheepbeer Posts: 5 Member
    For stacking wood I've got 565 cals an hr
  • Prairie_Chik
    Prairie_Chik Posts: 11 Member
    Wow! 565 caloreis an hour for stacking wood! I've been selling myself short on the whole exercise end. Maybe I am earning that after work beer after all!

    Thanks cheepbeer
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    I doubt you'll get an answer. You resurrected an old thread and the OP last logged in Sept 2017. She's not around.

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