Do you log daily activities such as...

Nharley
Nharley Posts: 201
edited October 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
......cleaning the house?
......yard work?
......grocery shopping and putting away groceries?

I have probably missed a few others; I would love to hear from those who do and why and those who don't and why. Thank you for your responses!! :flowerforyou:
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Replies

  • gym1bunny
    gym1bunny Posts: 14
    i only log my heart pumping activities e.g gym (cardio) stepping at home using my zumba fitness 2 for the wii and aso if i tak my son swimming including the walk there and back. the things i dont include are when i go to work (i am a cleaner in a primary school and im active for 3 hours) shopping, cleaning etc.................. you have to move so much to stay healthy thats why i just log the extras as i only do these 4 - 5 times per week as i have about 2 rest days for my body to recover. hope this helps.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    Nope. When I was fat I went grocery shopping and cleaned my house just like I do now. To me, an every day chore isn't going above and beyond. It would be like logging "walking to my car in the parking lot." Just an every day task. However, if I do a strenuous out of the ordinary task, like shoveling snow for an hour, I log it, as that is tough work and not a routine activity.
  • hope25
    hope25 Posts: 188 Member
    i dont, I think of them as part of my daily activity level that MFP already counts in my daily calorie burn.
  • JacksMom12
    JacksMom12 Posts: 1,044 Member
    I think if people have their profile set to sedentary they should, to avoid too big of a deficit. MFP doesn't account for daily activity on sedentary, it just assumes you sit at a desk all day. Also, if the person doesn't eat their exercise calories ... It doesn't really matter what they log for exercise. I'm within 10 lbs of goal, and trying to lose slowly... I like to get an exact idea of calories in and out and every calorie matters for me. I log everything to get a good, exact measure on my deficit for yhe day. It does not mean I'm lazy, I work, have a small child, and am doing p90x and ripped in 30 at the same time. I'm not lazy if I log my cleaning, I just like to see exact numbers. Just my perspective. Plus I don't eat "cleaning" calories, but I do eat p90x calories... So I do treat them differently.
  • H_Factor
    H_Factor Posts: 1,722 Member
    I do not and would not normal activities. The way your calories are calculated, basically, is as follows...

    MFP starts with your BMR...this is the number of calories you would burn if you did NOTHING. You enter whether you are sedentary, lightly active, or real active as a normal function of your life (not including any exercise). Based on what you enter, the BMR is multiplied by 1.3, 1.4 or 1.5....because there's an assumption that even in a mostly sedentary lifestyle, you burn some calories doing normal daily activities other than eating and sleeping. In short, grocery shopping is already factored into the MFP calculation.

    I would log yard work. I would log house cleaning if you do enough to build up a sweat.
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    ......cleaning the house?
    ......yard work?
    ......grocery shopping and putting away groceries?

    I have probably missed a few others; I would love to hear from those who do and why and those who don't and why. Thank you for your responses!! :flowerforyou:

    No, I was doing all those things before I started all this dieting lark. I only log specific activities that are actual workouts or involve cardiac activity (such as cycling to work, which I haven't done since joining MFP, but will be doing so in the near future).
  • KyleB65
    KyleB65 Posts: 1,196 Member
    I do. However, my MFP setting is "Sedentary" as I sit at a desk all day for work.

    If you have set yourself up in MFP at a different activity level, it is probably not necessary to log any standard daily activities that would be included in your activity setting.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    I don't because, as a couple others have already said, this is normal daily activity. As with any exercise program or any body movement, once it becomes routine, it becomes less effective for calorie burn.

    As far as I'm concerned, even if you're set as sedentary (which I am), MFP knows you're going to do more than just sit at a desk all day, that's why your calories for normal daily activity is higher than your BMR. Being sedentary just means you sit most of the day. There are going to be small movements througout the day like walking back and forth to your car/bathroom, fixing dinner, doing the dishes, etc.

    The only exceptions IMHO are:
    1) people who are completely inactive due to lifestyle or medical reasons and therefore will get some calorie burn effect when they begin to become more active by doing things like parking further away from the store, taking the stairs.
    2) larger cleaning projects like spring cleaning where you're spending hours at it, getting winded and working up a sweat
  • MeghanAM
    MeghanAM Posts: 222 Member
    I don't, in general. Like I don't log daily cleaning, grocery shopping, etc. Those calories are supposed to be included already in the allowance that MFP provides.

    I would maybe log yard work, if it were raking, since that kills my arms and I have a huge yard -- it would take at least an hour! And if I had to shovel snow for more than about 15 minutes I would log it.

    I DO log some things that I bet other people don't, though, like when I deep-clean (I scrub my floors by hand with a brush, for example). I have also started logging my night job, in a way -- I do 5 hour cashier shifts about 3-4 nights a week, and I log an hour of slow walking. I want to budget some extra calories for a snack when I am doing these extra things because I feel that they are burning more calories than I usually am, and I've set the activity slider to the lowest one.
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
    I log my naughty fun time,mostly because its a lot of work with all the digging
  • THINandFABULOUS
    THINandFABULOUS Posts: 170
    I do not. I consider cleaning and walking apart of my daily activities that I would be doing regardless of whether I was trying to lose weight or not. I only log cardio and weight lifting exercises.
  • badgerbadger1
    badgerbadger1 Posts: 954 Member
    No. I am listed as sedentary. Sedentary does not mean in a coma, it factors in basic activities of daily living. I don't count housework and all of that because it's not exercise. Nor is it anything different than what I was doing when I lived on potato chips and pepsi.

    I think the point is to keep track of a CHANGE in activity.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    Yes, if I do them for more than an hour at a time. I don't eat my calories back from those activities though since I can't be sure of the actual burn like I can when I run or do a proper workout.
  • Nharley
    Nharley Posts: 201
    Thank you all for your thoughts on this. I generally view myself as active, although in reality with being a full time student I am probably borderline sedentary because I will sit about as long as a 40-50 hour a week desk job would have me sitting. I do the majority of my housework on one day though. I do not log activities that I see as daily; ie. washing the dishes after spending an hour preparing dinner, laundry, making the bed. I have been logging in my weekly to bi-weekly sweeping and mopping the floors though. I have hard surface flooring through out my home and half of that is white tile. By the time I finish this activity I am sweating and am somewhat ready for a nap!!! Maybe I should switch my profile lifestyle to sedentary to reflect better my daily activity. Then without a doubt when I do things that I would normally only do occasionally but takes a bit of effort on my part, I will log that in as a form of physical exercise. :smile:
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
    I'm a stay at home mom and I've set my daily activity level to "lightly active" to include all of those daily chores, so I don't log them separately.
  • jujuwoome
    jujuwoome Posts: 32
    I only log cleaning the house. I do a major clean once a week usually on my rest day of exercise. It's not something I do everyday and it takes about 1.5 hours to do it. If I wasn't doing it, I likely would be chilling on the couch on that day so to me I count it.

    I don't log grocery shopping or walking around the mall in general. I would count walking around Disney World or NYC because it's not a regular occurrence and you are walking MILES.
  • Teksavvy
    Teksavvy Posts: 133 Member
    I don't count an activity unless I sweat. This criteria makes it easier to exclude items like housecleaning.
  • sheepysaccount
    sheepysaccount Posts: 608 Member
    I do. I have my activity level on low (student and desk job). But since it's senseless to have a car in my city, I walk everywhere. And I love that. Or cleaning. And I realise, that I did all of that before, too. But my diet changed. And I am still doing my activities. And I am where I should be in my weight loss :)
  • mgmlap
    mgmlap Posts: 1,377 Member
    Depends. Last summer I logged cleaning..cause we did it for 12 hours..and it was part of a community impact project. I worked my *kitten* of gardening, painting, scrubbing, ect so for me..it totally counted cause I dont do that stuff normally.

    I think thats the key...something out of your regular routine. I dont put down cooking, or laundry, cause I do it every week..but the stuff above..was a one off..wil do it again this year
  • grannygethealthy1111
    grannygethealthy1111 Posts: 422
    Yes, I do. Why? Because when I do yard work I am working on 86 acres ... digging ditches with a shovel, raking leaves, etc. for up to 4 hours at a time.

    I log house cleaning when I do windows, wax floors, etc. because I am up and down the stairs and ladders to accomplish this task because some of my ceilings are 30-feet high. These are not chores I do on a daily basis, just weekly.

    I don't log in showering, breathing, getting dressed, etc. because I file that under ADLs (activities of daily living). :bigsmile:
  • mamitosami
    mamitosami Posts: 531 Member
    You know, I don't as a general rule. Like others have said, it's part of every day life. But (you knew that was coming!), on Mondays I take the day off the gym. I am home with my daughter so I don't work, so Monday is the day I raze (!) the house, clean laundry, grocery shop and I barely sit down all day! So, I input the information and I eat about 100-200 calories more than my BMR. I can't stand just eating the minimum calorie allowance. I normally burn 400-800 calories a day, 6 days a week. I *should* save calories for today... but I have yet to have the foresight to do so! Anyway, I don't know if that helps....
  • Thena81
    Thena81 Posts: 1,265 Member
    i log when sweat is broken, when im tired at the end of it! lol
  • Riverofbeauty
    Riverofbeauty Posts: 205 Member
    I normally don't. But now I'm on maintenance I decided to wear my HRM when I went grocery shopping and realised I burnt almost 100 cals in 45 mins, so I do count that now. But if I was losing I probably wouldn't since it's not a huuuge amount. It's all up to you though and what works best!
  • hausofnichele
    hausofnichele Posts: 531 Member
    For me, my settings are set on sedentary. I couldn't walk for the majority of 2011 so when I started to cook and clean and walk again I began logging it all. It IS exercise for someone in my shoes. I don't log every little thing.. but I am still logging my long walks in stores. I log my cleaning as "light" even when I am sometimes doing a lot more. I don't want to overestimate, you know?

    I think it differs for everyone depending on what is 'normal' for you personally. If you are being more active than you normally are then go ahead and log it in.
  • runnercheryl
    runnercheryl Posts: 1,314 Member
    I don't log anything small and hard to measure. I measure my walks of over a mile, cycling for over a mile and any set exercise.
  • badgerbadger1
    badgerbadger1 Posts: 954 Member
    For me, my settings are set on sedentary. I couldn't walk for the majority of 2011 so when I started to cook and clean and walk again I began logging it all. It IS exercise for someone in my shoes. I don't log every little thing.. but I am still logging my long walks in stores. I log my cleaning as "light" even when I am sometimes doing a lot more. I don't want to overestimate, you know?

    I think it differs for everyone depending on what is 'normal' for you personally. If you are being more active than you normally are then go ahead and log it in.

    Sounds like you are doing fantastic!
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Nope. When I was fat I went grocery shopping and cleaned my house just like I do now. To me, an every day chore isn't going above and beyond. It would be like logging "walking to my car in the parking lot." Just an every day task. However, if I do a strenuous out of the ordinary task, like shoveling snow for an hour, I log it, as that is tough work and not a routine activity.

    This is about a perfect answer.
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
    I don't log daily activities, but I log shopping trips (because they're exhausting for me) as Walking, 2.0 mph, slow pace. I usually cut the time by as much as half to account for time spent standing still, etc.
  • robinogue
    robinogue Posts: 1,117 Member
    I don't log housework or shopping. I will log in yard work if it consists of weeding, pulling, squating, bending etc and I'm generally out there for hours. Regular yard maintenance I don't log.
  • BetterWithAge
    BetterWithAge Posts: 691 Member
    I only log it if is not something I do all the time. I do not log dishes, laundry, dusting, etc. I will log carpet cleaning, windows (we have a lot of windows and about half of them require the use of a ladder), spring cleaning and stuff like that. I always forget to use my HRM, so I enter it as 'light' housework and only half of the time I actually worked. Using my HRM would be much easier.
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