What is exercise?

cugglybear
cugglybear Posts: 36 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have noticed in the list of excercises provided that it includes things like cooking. Do people really include 131 calories for cooking the tea? What about doing the shopping in the supermarket, or doing a couple of hours ironing?

Should I include daily things like this as well as my 3x weekly walks?

Replies

  • lalapurple62
    lalapurple62 Posts: 42
    i dont include what is part of my normal routine, cooking cleaning grocery shopping are all part of what i do normally, i count exercise as 'getting off my but and walking or cycling' etc...but thats only my take on it
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,423 Member
    It depends what activity level you have chosen. If you are set as sedentary then things like a decent amount of cleaning, gardening etc will be on top of the calories allowed for your daily activites, so it should be added if you want a reasonably accurate estimate of calories burnt throughout the day.

    If you have already included those kinds of activities in your daily activity level then adding them in would only be counting them twice.

    It's all relative to each individuals general activity level, how they have set up MFP and their current level of fitness. What might be a pretty strenuous activity to one person may be barely noticable for someone else.

    I have seen so many of these threads deteriorate into a slanging match about what is exercise v activity, and what it is valid to add - which is nuts because its going to be different for everyone!
  • Kara_xxx
    Kara_xxx Posts: 635 Member
    I think it's very subjective and probably very much depends on what your "status quo" looks like.

    The database includes stuff like 'personal grooming / showering' etc... Well I'd love the see the scores of people who lost weight by cleaning their teeth!

    Personally I don't add normal house work, food shopping etc because it's what I've always done and I really don't see it as anything that's 'earning' me any calories. I might be tempted to add if we've completely dug over the garden or something...

    HOWEVER..... Imagine you were very large and you've been virtually immobile with severe mobility problems. Imagine you haven't walked anywhere, not done your own shopping or cleaning for some time. I think under those circumstances you might have legitimate cause to add things like that as they would genuinely get you out of breath.

    That's just how I interpret it.
  • cugglybear
    cugglybear Posts: 36 Member
    Thanks everybody. You have confirmed what I thought. ie. that I won't include 'normal' everyday things.
  • stephaneb74
    stephaneb74 Posts: 151 Member
    I log daily activities only if I see I am going to be over by a lot..... makes me feel better to stay in the green....
  • TinaHumphries
    TinaHumphries Posts: 130 Member
    I log daily activities only if I see I am going to be over by a lot..... makes me feel better to stay in the green....

    :laugh:

    Thank you - this made me laugh because I have done it before :happy:

    I don't normally include daily activities - I would, however, include cleaning if it was a good Spring Clean where I've spent hours doing it.
  • LindsayHowlett
    LindsayHowlett Posts: 44
    I log it if it really gets my heart rate up. So I clean my house every day for probably an hour or so but it's a potter around and it doesn't elevate my heart rate so I don't log it, every so often though (probably once a week or fortnight) I clean like a demon, and I mean 2-3 hours of non stop hard core cleaning where I do get a bit of a sweat going!! I log that, but I only ever log it as light intensity because whilst it's not, the calorie estimate on here is sooooo high for vigorous effort that I would totally be over estimating!
    I log everything I do in the garden because that it outside the norm for me (I don't really do gardening, I hate it!) so when it gets to the point where I have to concede and dig up the weeds etc then I log it!
    I don't log any of my general walking, I've seen people log their time walking around the supermarket but for me that is something I do all the time & is accounted for in my lifestyle!
  • NewChristina
    NewChristina Posts: 250 Member
    I included "gardening" when I laid flower beds and put in retaining walls. I probably underestimated calories burnt, since my hamstrings were sore for a week! I also included "cleaning", when I cleaned out the garage, and moved all of my bedroom furniture out to shampoo the carpet.
    So, for me, they were very useful to log my activities.
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
    I set myself as sedentary, then wear my fitbit 24/7. That way I can *see* if I am truly having a sedentary day. As for the calories from that activity, I count them, but I rarely manage to eat them all! I have lost an average of 1lb a week since getting my fitbit and being more aware of my daily burn....
  • SorchaRavenlock
    SorchaRavenlock Posts: 220 Member
    i dont include what is part of my normal routine, cooking cleaning grocery shopping are all part of what i do normally, i count exercise as 'getting off my but and walking or cycling' etc...but thats only my take on it

    This for me too. Anything I was already part of my daily routine before I started MFP I don't really count. Only if I go above and beyond normal, I log it.
    Long shopping trips (I'm not really a big shopper) that go on for hours I'll log as very slow walking, and I'll log big heavy chores like washing the windows or moving all the furniture. But I'll have to either feel my muscles ache or to be huffing and puffing for it to go in my log.

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