Don't People Walk Anymore?

nikmaack
nikmaack Posts: 28 Member
edited October 2 in Fitness and Exercise
I walk to work. I sometimes take a walk at lunch. I walk home from work. I walk my dogs up to three times a day. I live downtown and I don't own a car. On top of that, I ride an elliptical trainer most days for an hour. I often go for long cycling trips on weekends.

I log all of this exercise, counting the walking calories using a pedometer.

Much to my own amazement, this gives me 1700 to 2000 EXTRA calories a day. At first I was hesitant to eat these calories. Now I know better -- I've been on MFP for well over a year and I've lost close to 100 lbs.

(My diary is wide open for anyone who cares to look.)

When I look at the diaries of other MFPers, I'm surprised. Most people have one bout of working out a day, or every other day. And that's it.

Are people not walking? Do you all take cars everywhere? Or are you simply not logging these walking calories?

No offense meant. I thought I was pretty normal. I'm beginning to realize I am extremely active compared to most people. I had no idea.

Nik
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Replies

  • cnsmith2
    cnsmith2 Posts: 539 Member
    well you are a lot more active than I am lol
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    I am quite fit so walking does not raise my HR and I may only burn slightly more than I would at rest, and if you are set up as anything above sedentary, walking would be included in your daily intake. Some walking would be included in a sedentary lifestyle.

    For you cycling do you back out the cals you would have burned at rest (essentially back out maintenance cals for that time period, as HRM's and MFP give total cals burned for exercise, not extra cals above and beyond normal, if you don't back them out you would be double counting those maintenance cals.)
  • tashacan
    tashacan Posts: 121
    That is really funny but no, I do not walk much. It is way different where I live. We take cars EVERYWHERE! Things are farther apart than in big cities. You really don't even see people riding bikes...still too far...miles... :)
  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
    If it's a matter of being more active every day, typically you don't log it as exercise, but you bump up your activity level higher to account for it.
  • champ358
    champ358 Posts: 5 Member
    I try to ride my bike to work on nice days, about 2 miles each way. I also try to do a 40 to 60 minute walk each day. I do fall behind in the winter and need to make a better effort.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    I love walking! I commute downtown to work (Chicago). It's a mile to my office from the train station. I walk this twice a day in addition to my regular work outs. It's awesome that I have a 2 mile walk incorporated into my day! And yes!..it's surprising how many calories you can burn by doing a lot of walking! Love it!
  • MandaJean83
    MandaJean83 Posts: 675 Member
    I hate to say it, but I'm not nearly that active. Don't get me wrong...I walk a lot at work...and I walk around doing housework, etc. Or when I go to the mall. But I don't actually take long walks as a form of transportation. If I lived in the city, I probably would...but out here in the 'burbs, the grocery store/mall/restaurants are many, many miles oftentimes...it would take me half a day of walking to get there, and on busy main roads. So I use a car! It's safer for me! :happy:
  • Legs_McGee
    Legs_McGee Posts: 845 Member
    I walk my dog two or three times a day and I sometimes walk around downtown to run errands for work, but I don't log those as exercise calories.....I just consider it part of my regular daily activities.
  • krystonite
    krystonite Posts: 553 Member
    If I take my car somewhere (and I have to because I am 30 miles from all civilization), I make sure to park as far away from the venue as possible.
  • Nerdy_Rose
    Nerdy_Rose Posts: 1,277 Member
    If I walk for more than 10 minutes I log it. I don't own a car. I often walk 30-40 minutes or more to get places.
  • NaomiLyn15
    NaomiLyn15 Posts: 388 Member
    I think that it depends on your life. I don't walk much. I live in a suburb (so I can't walk to get anything) and I work from home (can't walk to work). I do take the dogs for a walk, but don't add it usually because it doesn't get my heart rate up. But, I do go to the gym everyday and burn 500-800 calories doing that.
  • ryanfeltz
    ryanfeltz Posts: 126
    where i live we couldt walk to work... in a big city too ( Houston) things are just too spread out. For instance it is 12 miles round trip to the store and/or dry cleaner. I work at home now but the last job i had was 56 miles round trip. I think people would be healthier if we walked every where.
  • bdurls
    bdurls Posts: 128 Member
    I walk everywhere too as I don't have a license, I just don't log it all. If it doesn't riase my heart rate then I figure it is just a part of my daily routine. Sometimes I go for long brisk walks specifically for exercise and I log those cuz it gets my heart rate up.
  • Texas501
    Texas501 Posts: 274
    Kudos to you, you eat pretty damn clean! I am very impressed. And no, people do not walk much, they drive everywhere, especially in cities where mass transit is a joke, like where I live. We should all strive to walk more, including me. Good for us, good for the environment.
  • YukonJoy
    YukonJoy Posts: 1,279 Member
    I only log my gym time. I do not log when I walk to work, walk my dogs, walk to the store, clean my house, mow my lawn.

    That is just ridiculous.
  • DiamondRubyMom
    DiamondRubyMom Posts: 147 Member
    Some of that is because you live in a big city. Where i live, my closest neighbor is .5 mile away. The closest gas station is 5 miles away. The closest store is 30 miles a way. When I worked, i had to drive 45 minutes one way to get there. So I'm actually happy for you that you have this opportunity but not all of us do.
  • gertieblueboots
    gertieblueboots Posts: 46
    I think it depends where you live. If you're in the city and you work a mile from your home and the grocery store is a mile from there and there's a park two blocks away, then sure, walking is quite viable. I live in a smaller town though. My apartment is ten miles from my office. The grocery store/commercial district is also about ten miles away. I sometimes walk downtown for lunch, as its only about 10 minutes from the office, but even then, I have an hour for lunch...1/3 of it would be devoted to travel, and if I have to sit down and be waited on for lunch, I'm going to be late.

    I could walk to work. 10 miles is easily walkable. I'm in much better shape than I used to be. But come on...I walk what, 2-3 miles per hour? I don't have time in my day to devote 3 hours to walking to work and 3 to walking home. I think most people are in similar situations.
  • Gigi_licious
    Gigi_licious Posts: 1,185 Member
    I take my car everywhere.......I probably COULD walk to work since it's only about a 20 min drive, but there's no gaurantee I wouldn't be riddled with bullet holes by the time I get to work.
  • Trishintraining
    Trishintraining Posts: 5
    I don't walk very much, but any standing or walking I do, I figured was included in my "lifestyle" choice. If I go off routine, and walk extra, such as a few hours hoofing it around the outlet mall, I'll add that in. But if it's just normal things that I do everyday, well that's just part of my base activity, and I wouldn't add it in :)
  • aliciarenee79
    aliciarenee79 Posts: 35 Member
    I wish I lived in an area I could walk places to more. Everything is spread out, without many sidewalks.
  • Angie80281
    Angie80281 Posts: 444 Member
    I try to walk around the neighborhood when the weather is nice. however, walking as a mode of transportation is unrealistic for me. I live in the Hampton Roads area of VA, which is a group of 7 cities spanning a great deal of distance. It's not unusual to live in one city and work in another that's a good 40-60 minutes away by car. No matter which route I take to work, I have to cross a bridge or tunnel to get there, none of which are biker-friendly. I envy you, I'd love to be able to bike or walk to work.
  • byHISstrength
    byHISstrength Posts: 984 Member
    I guess it really depends on your circumstances. You said yourself that you don't own a car and you live in the city. Most things are pretty accessible in the city. Also, there are loads of public transportation.

    I don't live in the city. My daily commute to work round trip, by car, is 50 minutes...I certainly would not walk that.

    I don't have any dogs to walk.

    I do exercise 6-7 days a week.

    So, aside from my daily activity, I don't walk much.
  • scircle
    scircle Posts: 16 Member
    I walk everywhere! We are a one car family so I'm home all day with a baby and no transportation but my own two feet.
  • JNettie73
    JNettie73 Posts: 1,211 Member
    It is a valid question, no offense taken.. You are much more active than I am. Personally for me, walking to work is not an option. I live on Long Island and we drive everywhere. On top of it, I am a Special Education teacher who provides home based services to my students, after school, in their homes. My students live at least 30-40 minutes away from me by car. Unfortunately I have no choice but to drive because I have to go from house to house and bring all my materials with me. Walking would take entirely too long for me to get there at my scheduled appointment time. :ohwell: I supposed if I lived in a city rather than the burbs this would be different.

    I do have to say though, I enjoy going to the parks and going on a nice hike from time to time. There is nothing like being outdoors in the fresh air!

    Happy walking! :happy:
  • MuffinMan25
    MuffinMan25 Posts: 110
    I love walking on my breaks at work!! :love:
  • inspiration345
    inspiration345 Posts: 218 Member
    I walk and cycle a lot. Don't have a car and where I live it's easy to get around with public transport.
  • ACEgirl1
    ACEgirl1 Posts: 133 Member
    I also walked everywhere when I lived in a city. Now, I live in the country, and I need to use a car to get anywhere. It is 3 hours to get to Target, Lowe's, etc. I have to make an effort to get out and walk; (which I do).
  • jlikennedy3
    jlikennedy3 Posts: 15 Member
    I live about 25 miles from work so walking to work is not an option, especially when it is interstate most of the way. I sit at a computer desk most of the day at work so I entered my lifestyle as sedentary. It allows me to log my activities above the norm. I go walking/running about 4 times a week and then I usually log other activities (cleaning, etc for the other days). I only log my cleaning because I ususally do heavy duty cleaning like mopping, stripping my floors,rewaxing, vacuuming, and steam cleaning. I usually spend about 3-4 hours at a time deep cleaning areas of my house... (my husband thinks I am extreme on keeping my floors a certain way!) This past weekend my husband and I went shopping for about 8 hrs. I made him keep up with he pedometer and by the end of the day we had walked 5+ miles... you can bet I counted it. I also used it as an example to show him that shopping is good for you! (Just not quite so much for your pocket book) :)
  • nikmaack
    nikmaack Posts: 28 Member
    I guess I should explain: I have my activity level set to sedentary and track all my exercise. I found this more efficient than simply assuming I would maintain a certain level of activity in general. In my crazy desire to be as accurate as possible, I've briefly toyed with the idea of getting a heart monitor runners use to track calories more accurately. But that seems a little crazy. ;-)
  • NorthernCally
    NorthernCally Posts: 50
    Before I moved out to the sticks, I did a lot of walking. I lived in a fair-sized city, and my office was about 1.7 miles away. For about the last 5 years, I walked home from work 5 or 6 days a week, year-round. When it was light out early enough, I would walk in, too. I would go for 2 hr walks, just because. Or walk a few hours to get to the grocery store. But, since I moved out to the country 2 years ago, where I am now 5 miles away from even a "convenience store" (and just off a major highway), I hadn't been walking much at all. But, I've started back into it. I started walking from my house to the highway and back (it's about a mile, round-trip), once or twice a day, at least 5 times a week. I'm at a slower pace than when I used to walk in the city, but I want to build that up again, so I can get back to walking like I used to-without shin splints!
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