Track Exercise When Walking In Town?

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salsa81
salsa81 Posts: 68 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

I have a question about exercise.

I've put down that I want to do 2 x 30 mins of exercise a week, which for me is reasonable. However, this week due to the not very nice weather we've had, I've not been able to go for my lunch time walk.

The other day, I went into town and had quite a lot to do. I'm not a slow walker and I tend to try and get from one shop to the next quite quickly.....probably at my walking rate when doing my lunch time walk.

Should I track this as exercise, or would I just say that it is accounted for in my 'allocated' calories?

Thoughts would be very welcome.

Replies

  • k19johnson
    k19johnson Posts: 2
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    I would say that it depends on what you put for your initial activity level. If you put that you don't move much in a normal day, than brisk walking like that would be exercise and could take the place of your work out time. If this is something that is part of your normal activity and was already considered when you set up your initial activity level, than stick with the original calorie allotment.
  • Lozze
    Lozze Posts: 1,917 Member
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    It depends on how long you were walking for. If it was 15 minutes or more I'd say log it. But that's continuous walking at a fast pace without stopping. If it's just to and from the shops I personally wouldn't log it.
  • lisapr123
    lisapr123 Posts: 863 Member
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    Somebody told me.... "If you were doing it before and not losing weight, it shouldn't count as exercise now." I use that as a yardstick when I'm on the fence about logging things. Now I only record intentional exercise. So if you see it as exercise, log it. But if you think about it and it wasn't then don't log it and move on. We won't all meet all our exercise and food goals daily, that's life.
  • dragonladywendy
    dragonladywendy Posts: 71
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    Hi Salsa,
    If any exercise you do is above your 'allocated calories' then, yep, log it.
    I brought myself (from Boots Chemist) a pedometer. By adding in my weight, stride length and other bits and bobs, it calculates the distance walked, steps taken and CALORIES burned! So if your lifestyle is quite sedentory (?), log everything that gets you moving!
    Hope the weather clears up for you soon - it's brassic here!
    Wendy :smile:
  • Teresa3612
    Teresa3612 Posts: 21 Member
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    When I do something like last Saturday I spent 6 hours shopping with my mom I just put in 3 hours at a slow pace. This isn't going to count as aerobic, but it is activity that I don't normally get since I have an office job and spend most of my time during the week sitting on my bum. :wink:
  • rebeccawalker1982
    rebeccawalker1982 Posts: 117 Member
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    I did some research because with a 7 month old it isnt always easy to go for walks when hes not happy. (sometimes the walks calm him but there are times I get to the end of the rd and hes screaming!) Every site I have found says that the average persons stride is 2.5' and it takes about 2,000 steps to make a miles....this is where they get the "walk 10,000 steps a day for good health". So for me, I can use the Wii run and try to count my steps while running. I know its not the same as going for a walk so I may cut what I step in half as to not "over estemate" my work out but I also know it is harder for me to run or jog in place.
  • MelissaL582
    MelissaL582 Posts: 1,422 Member
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    You'll get a variety of answers to this. I'm a stay at home mom, so anything I do outside of the house I count. When I'm out shopping I'll log in half of my time @ 2.5mph. People log cleaning as their exercise but since I do that all the time (mom of 3 little ones) that's an every day thing for me, therefor I don't log. Now if you think logging in every single thing helps you lose weight, then fine do it that way. Log what works for you.

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