Logging Exercise

I have rugby practice twice a week every week and that's two hours of exercise. I usually add that because MFP says I'm burning over 1000 calories doing that. But for small things like walking the dog that's just for a few minutes I don't log it because I like my own set aside workout time And I'd rather not see I have extra calories that I can use for snacking (and maybe making bad decisions!)

I would say log it based on how much you plan on exercising outside of that activity you're debating on recording.

I would only log things that you don't do regularly, because your body (metabolism) is already used to the things that you do do regularly. For example, I walk across London Bridge most mornings from the station to my office (just under a mile) and I used to log it n the beginnng. But as I've gotten fitter, the walk is no longer a challenge so I don't log it.

So, if it has always been in your routine to walk the dog.... then I wouldn't log it. But if you have now decided to walk the instead of whoever was doing it before, then you should log it.


I wouldn't log cleaning, unless I was doing a springtime type of clean (washing windows inside & out... etc.) which is (completely!) out of the ordinary for me.

it comes down to what you have chosen for your activity level. If you factored in the dog walking as part of your daily routine when you chose your current daily activity level, then you wouldn't add it, but if you didn't factor that in you could.

that portion of MFP is as much art as it is science, there's a bit of tweaking and adjusting as you go that comes into play there.

I log some things in that others may not feel are worthy of being logged. Someone posted a while back about the difference of intentional exercise logging and daily routine logging and how s/he felt the daily routine stuff doesn't count. I feel they both burn calories, so I count them both most days.

I have 2,000 sq. ft. of hard flooring in my house. Every other day I sweep and twice a week I mop the main living spaces. I spend at least an hour up to three hours of house work weekly. I log that.

I walk my dog 3-5 times a week. I log that.
I walked A LOT when I on campus classes. I logged that.
When I spend 2 hours going grocery shopping loading and unloading groceries and putting them away, I log that.
Yard work - I log that.

To me, these daily exercises have me moving and burning calories that if I were just breathing wouldn't get burned. Sweeping and mopping the floor always gives me a good work out! Mowing the grass, cutting the invasive vines, walking the dog, fast, slow or in between, burns calories. I try to not fluff anything and be true to myself as well as to my diary on here. If I don't think it was a worthy loss, I won't log those daily exercises.

I hope this helps! :flowerforyou:

Before I started an exercise program, I logged everything that increased my heart rate. So the day that I walked to the copy machine 40 steps every 5 minutes for 2 hours straight, I logged it. The day I went from the 3rd floor to the 2nd floor (stairs) 5 times in 4 hours, I logged that too.

I don't really log it in now, except for that day that I mastered the stairs by going from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor 3 separate times.

If your settings are set to sedentary, then I would log stuff like that. I cycle 10.5 miles each way to work and do this 5 days a week and I damn well log it, even though it is part of my daily routine

I look at it this way. Was I doing it before I started here? Then it's not exercise, and I don't log it. If it was part of my regular routine while I was out of shape, then logging it as activity now that I'm working to get in shape is dishonest. I see it in the same way as not logging food I eat.

it comes down to what you have chosen for your activity level. If you factored in the dog walking as part of your daily routine when you chose your current daily activity level, then you wouldn't add it, but if you didn't factor that in you could.

that portion of MFP is as much art as it is science, there's a bit of tweaking and adjusting as you go that comes into play there.

I've got my settings to sedentary as I don't really do much during the day other than sit on my butt; so I guess it's not factored in? I assume not.

If that's what you are set at, then by all means log it....I don't log mine unless i go for a brisk walk over 30 minutes with my dogs, but i'm at light activity level.