Pet Peeve - logging non 'exercise' exercise

airind, this is one of those subjects that comes up here fairly frequently. The thing is, when people log cleaning, you don't know how vigorously they were cleaning, or even if that is actually what they were doing. Some people will just take an exercise in the database that has roughly the same burn as what they did, and use that to log their exercise. I used to walk with a heavy backpack and would log it as "Walking - carrying infant or 15lb load". I'm sure that people on my friends list who don't know much about me just kind of assumed that I was logging carrying my child, which was not the case.

There have also been people complaining about other posters logging gardening as exercise, because they made the assumption that gardening meant deadheading or standing there with the hose, watering the flowerbeds. Gardening can also mean digging up sod for new flowerbeds, shoveling mulch, etc. which I think we can agree is very hard work.

I think the reason people get worked up about this topic is that it comes across as being judgmental.

Unless it's causing you to not lose weight (or gain it), why in the world would it drive you crazy?

I don't log those things, but it's none of my business if someone else does.

I second this. Why is it worth the energy to get peeved? I've got so much stuff going on in my life, and my family's, why on earth bother with what may or may not work for people I don't even know?

I agree here too. Why would you post something that can be taken so negatively to those that do it, on a site/message board where people are coming for support/encouragement and motivation to keep going on their weight loss/get healthy journey.

personal trainer or not,this IS rude,and unnessesary.If these light duties didnt burn calories than they wouldnt be on the site,period.everyone lives their lives differently.i live on the 3rd floor with a complete *kitten* living under my so i cant do any exercise videos or even use my wii fit because he comes up screaming at me for shaking the house..I also live in not the best town where i cannot take a walk in my neighborhood,and am a stay at home mom with my 2 year old so going to the gym is not really something i can get into my day.I clean up after her constantly,wash dishes 3 times a day,do laundry everyday and by the end of the day im pretty pooped..I will be DAMNED if i am going to let some judgemental high and mighty personal trainer tell me or anyone else that cleaning all day long and running around after a 2 year old doesnt count as any excercise..I dont add in the exercise calories to my diet i dont eat them back,but i log them in to feel i accomplished something during the day..i have one thing to say to you and anyone else on this site who downs people who add cleaning as exercise..F*** you..get off your high horse,mind your own f***ing business or get the f*** off this site..it is for supporting people and giving other people respect and helping them along their daily lives,not to sift through and see what annoys you about other peoples lives..get a life and personally train yourself to shut the f*** up.

girl you are right !!!!! like bambi's mom used to say if you aint got nothin good to say dont say anythin at all !!!!!!!!!

I don't log playing with my son as an activity because i do it every day but unfortunately not for very long, but I set my lifestyle very conservatively at sedentary because I spend most of my day sitting at a desk anyway. If I were to go on vacation and have the opportunity to chase him up and down a beach for hours on end it would be my perrogative (well really, I could log picking my nose if I wanted to, after all it's MY exercise log), but logging it would be a more honest count for me. If I were a sahm and put in my lifestyle as sedentary I would log playing with my kids because "sedentary" does not really describe the lifestyle of any sahm I know. I logged my gardening yesterday, i put on my hrm and went out and weeded and pruned and plucked and cut and snipped and whatnoted for 90 minutes with my hrm on. No, my hr didn't average even 120, but it certainly was much higher than my resting of 46.
If one of my friends was having problems attaining their reasonable goals and was looking for assistance I would look first at the quality of their food and second at the quality of their activities. If they're not looking for advice, it's not appropriate for me to impose myself and my way of approaching my lifestyle on them. I try to define support by giving the best advice I possibly can addressing the question that is being asked or to use simple words of encouragement to get them back on track. That being said, I'm opinionated and slip from time to time . . . but hey . . .

"Well sorry. I'm fairly new to MFP, so I didn't realize this is a subject that has been hashed out too many times."

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Thats what the search button is for. See my signature.

Perhaps. However in just expressing an opinion for 30 seconds in a quick post I really didn't expect the amount of backlash . It wasn't intended as how it apparently came across. All I have learned from this is that expressing an opinion is not acceptable here, and that is indeed a very sad thing.

What I know is that we choose our own feelings. You can choose to read my post, get angry, write a hateful message back and stew about it. Or you can read it, decide that my opinion is not for you, ignore me and move on. I have to say, that all these responses only add fuel to the fire and keep this post at the top, where as if everyone was to just ignore it because they were either a) tired of posts with similar subjects or b) not in agreement with me this post would already be buried underneath the pile. A nicely constructed rebuttle has way more power than swearing at me or telling me to get a life... food for thought I suppose.

I'm going to try to gently explain while people are upset:

Your "opinion" was very harsh, elitist and judgmental. Perhaps it came out very differently than intended and maybe because of that, you should have taken a little more time and thought about how you worded it rather than just puking it onto the screen and hitting send.

Unless those people on your feed are complaining and whining and asking your opinion, I still fail to see how that fact justifies what you said.

If someone came here and "expressed an opinion" that a specific race of people was lazy and stupid, do you think people might get upset about that? But in your logic, it's OK because it's just an opinion and we're all entitled to one.

Everyone - deep breath..in....out....again, breath in...out.

The awesome thing about living in Canada, or the US, or England, or wherever else you are from, is the freedom of expression and free speech. The original OP expressed something that she thought was important enough to get off her chest. You can agree, You can disagree. Last time I checked, both were allowed.

What you shouldn't do is make it personal. Express your opinion, devoid of attacks, and move along.

For the record, I log stuff like cutting the grass, or clean out my garage because I want to track that activity.

Live and let live.

Perhaps. However in just expressing an opinion for 30 seconds in a quick post I really didn't expect the amount of backlash . It wasn't intended as how it apparently came across. All I have learned from this is that expressing an opinion is not acceptable here, and that is indeed a very sad thing.

You didn't expect backlash for something you said you knew sounded rude? It isn't expressing an opinion that is unacceptable. It's making very unsupportive blanket statements about the healthy methods people are successfully using to lose weight, without knowing these peoples' medical histories, that is unacceptable. Your bashing of people was a very sad thing.

Keep in mind that if your issue is with a certain person, you've got three options. You can unfriend them. You can private message them. You can come onto the forums and bash people "like" them and get backlash from the entire board.

Surely you can see which options are the better ones.

I log cleaning if I have put in a lot more effort, but I always log it as light effort and never for the full duration that I'm cleaning. I won't log "normal" everyday cleaning as exercise.

In fact, when I moved house, I logged that as light effort cleaning!

I don't see an issue with it. There are some who are very heavy or who cannot physically go work out or get exercise in like others can so food preperation and cleaning or any other "light" activity to you all is very beneficial for them. It's sad that someone out there who can only do those things or that may have a handicapt and not be able to do other things will read this post and may become discouraged like myself, b/c of the lack of support for the activity they are trying to do. if it's that bad of a pet peeve you know you don't have to look at it or be friends with anyone who logs that kind of activity. Enjoy your day

agreed!

If someone came here and "expressed an opinion" that a specific race of people was lazy and stupid, do you think people might get upset about that? But in your logic, it's OK because it's just an opinion and we're all entitled to one.

Well , we have freedom of speech and so yes, someone could express any opinion that they'd like.
Would I agree? No. Would I be upset? Probably. But that doesn't negate that person's right to express it.

That being said the quickest way to diffuse someone that you don't agree with is to simply not acknowledge them. If my post was akin to a post of the above nature for you, then it would likely be prudent to not give me that attention. In my experience, multiple responses generally only fuel that person more.

I didn't 'puke' out a response either, I just didn't realize the amount of anger I'd stir up or I would've spent more time explaining!

You said several times that you wrote it in "30 seconds" and moved on and that it didn't give the whole picture.

That's "puking it out."

Think about it next time.

And consider that you are certainly entitled to express an opinion, but when that opinion is judgmental and nasty, people are going to respond and express their own opinions.

I'm starting to catch the drift that only SHE is allowed to express an opinion. If you don't agree with her, you're supposed to just suck it up and move on.