Walking everyday to work... do I count it in my exercise?

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GreekByMarriage
GreekByMarriage Posts: 320 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi everyone! I work in Manhattan and take a train into the city... once I am in the city, I then walk .9 miles to my office and at the end of the day, I walk another .9 miles back to the train station. Should I be counting that as part of my exercise everyday? Right now I am not accounting for it in my calories and I have my activity level set to sedentary because I have a desk job.

I am 5'2", 180 pounds, 32 years old, and would like to get down to 130 pounds!

Replies

  • kayleystar
    kayleystar Posts: 51 Member
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    If your heart rate is elevated, I would. Walking is great exercise!
  • kel7298
    kel7298 Posts: 1,542 Member
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    IMO, if all it amounts to is a casual stroll then no. If you are really working up a sweat and out of breath then yes. Your stats are set correctly.
  • kyrstensmom
    kyrstensmom Posts: 297 Member
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    Do you get your heartrate up? If so, then I would count it. Just be careful of the calories MFP gives you for any given exercise, I have found them to be quite high for me, and some people find them to be too low.
  • Sweet_Potato
    Sweet_Potato Posts: 1,119 Member
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    I live and work in a city and log all my walks, unless they're really short. By the end of the day I always have at least an hour of walking under my belt. It doesn't amount to a whole lot of calories burned but I think it's worth logging.
  • neat0
    neat0 Posts: 16
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    I don't walk quite as much as you, about a mile every day from the bus station to my place of work, I don't count it.
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
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    I would enter it as walking in exercise. Figure out how fast to enter it correctly.
  • JeSuisPrest
    JeSuisPrest Posts: 2,005 Member
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    Yes!!
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    No, what you should do is adjust your activity level. If you chose sedentary on MFP, change it to light active. If you are already set at light active or active, this walk should already be taken into account
  • dancing_cat
    dancing_cat Posts: 92 Member
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    Personally I don't count the walking I do as part of my commute to work as I don't think its performed at a high-enough intensity or for long enough to really count. I walk about 2 miles a day in total to and from the train stations. Plus I don't want to over estimate my exercise calories, I figure its easy to under-estimate food intake calories like forgeting to log a handful of grapes or an extra coffee.
  • HealthyBride5_3_13
    HealthyBride5_3_13 Posts: 52
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    I would say, if you just started that job then put it in your exercise because it's something new. But, if you've been doing it for awhile, it's already just part of your daily routine. I consider exercise to be extra movement in your day, not what you already do regularly. I work with preschool children during the week and I'm lifting children, up and down off the floor, and going up and down the stairs all day and I do not include that in my exercise but I do have myself set at lightly active. Hope this helps!
  • Happiness29
    Happiness29 Posts: 20
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    I would, walking is exercise. Every step counts! :0)
  • GreekByMarriage
    GreekByMarriage Posts: 320 Member
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    No, what you should do is adjust your activity level. If you chose sedentary on MFP, change it to light active. If you are already set at light active or active, this walk should already be taken into account

    Eric - I thought I should choose my activity level based on what I do all day (which is pretty much sit at a desk)? In total the walk takes about 30 minutes combined... I can't say I work up a huge sweat but my HR would be a little elevated as I am definetly trying to not be late to work or miss my train home, LOL! I guess I will leave things as is until I get a HRM... then adjust accordingly.

    MFP has me set to 1200 calories because I want to lose 50 pounds, so I am trying to eat at least the 1200 plus I will eat back any exercise calories (for the most part).
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
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    I would.

    0.9 miles, twice a day if you walk it briskly (say 3.5mph... you should be doing it in about 15 minutes and getting there a bit out of breath) is a decent bit of daily activity.

    Be careful though - the cals for walking 3.5mph on MFP seem elevated to me. I did half an hour at 3.5 on a treadmill with a heartrate monitor the other day and it came out with about two thirds the cals burned that MFP suggested.
  • GreekByMarriage
    GreekByMarriage Posts: 320 Member
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    I would say, if you just started that job then put it in your exercise because it's something new. But, if you've been doing it for awhile, it's already just part of your daily routine. I consider exercise to be extra movement in your day, not what you already do regularly. I work with preschool children during the week and I'm lifting children, up and down off the floor, and going up and down the stairs all day and I do not include that in my exercise but I do have myself set at lightly active. Hope this helps!

    lgagnon - I would list myself as lightly active or active as well if I was working with pre-schoolers... I have a 3 year old and a 10 month old... if I could stay home and keep up with them I would probably drop an extra 10 pounds very quickly! :smile:
  • BrandyontheRun
    BrandyontheRun Posts: 204 Member
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    I'm sure there's a "walking leisurely" option or if you know how fast your walking (2miles an hr/maybe more??) then log it like that. Walking definitely counts as long as it's more than a few minutes.
  • dancing_cat
    dancing_cat Posts: 92 Member
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    No, what you should do is adjust your activity level. If you chose sedentary on MFP, change it to light active. If you are already set at light active or active, this walk should already be taken into account

    Eric - I thought I should choose my activity level based on what I do all day (which is pretty much sit at a desk)? In total the walk takes about 30 minutes combined... I can't say I work up a huge sweat but my HR would be a little elevated as I am definetly trying to not be late to work or miss my train home, LOL! I guess I will leave things as is until I get a HRM... then adjust accordingly.

    MFP has me set to 1200 calories because I want to lose 50 pounds, so I am trying to eat at least the 1200 plus I will eat back any exercise calories (for the most part).

    GreekByMarria - I think you are right there on staying on sedentary. Light active might be someone like a very busy office adminstrator/receptionist who is running around the office all day delivering paperwork, escorting visitors, collecting deliveries etc etc or maybe someone who stands up most of the day for their job.
  • Sweet_Potato
    Sweet_Potato Posts: 1,119 Member
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    I would say, if you just started that job then put it in your exercise because it's something new. But, if you've been doing it for awhile, it's already just part of your daily routine. I consider exercise to be extra movement in your day, not what you already do regularly. I work with preschool children during the week and I'm lifting children, up and down off the floor, and going up and down the stairs all day and I do not include that in my exercise but I do have myself set at lightly active. Hope this helps!

    By that logic running or working out at the gym should not be counted if you do it 5 times a week, since it's part of your daily routine.
  • HotKanye
    HotKanye Posts: 103 Member
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    Absolutely! But keep your pace up. If you don't have a heart rate monitor, get one! It will tell you exactly how many calories you burn on the walk.
  • Sweet_Potato
    Sweet_Potato Posts: 1,119 Member
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    I actually posted a similar topic this morning. I've been logging my walking as 3.0 mph (my pace is actually a lot quicker, more like 4-4.5 mph, but I get held up at intersections waiting for the light to change). Half an hour of this burns 86 calories according to the MFP tool. So maybe I'll eat a piece of fruit to make up the calories burned. Even if it's an overestimation I don't think I'm ruining my chances of weight loss by counting the walk as exercise.

    By the way, we have similar stats-- I'm 5'2", 29 years old, and I have my thing set to 1250 calories/day.
  • doubglass
    doubglass Posts: 314 Member
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    Of course. Probably the best aerobic ex there is.


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