When I started using Fitday I entered my workouts. I soon stopped, though, because I think their calculations on calories burned is WAY WAY off. For example, it always said that my 1 hour of yoga (which they call yoga/stretching) burned MORE calories than if I walked for an hour at a fairly brisk pace, and that's obviously not true.
I enter my workouts only, because the program asks you to enter your average activity level and I assumed that basic activity level included the every-day activities like cleaning house. If I have a day where I spend an unsual amount of time doing something that I don't do every day (for example, if I take my kids to the zoo and spend 3-4 hours pushing the double stroller) then I'll enter that also even if it's not a real workout. I do adjust what I put into fitday to match the calories that I burn during a workout according to the machine I use. They are usually pretty close, but I have to adjust fitday by about 10 minutes most of the time (down - it says I've burned more than I think I actually have).
I use it to log my food and workouts but not day to day tasks like shopping, cleaning, etc. Like funniegirl, though, I find the calories burned calculators are way off. So, I log my workouts just for the sake of tracking what exercise I did and for how long I did them.
LB, If you can afford it I would get a heart rate monitor that also calculates calories burned. I have a Mio Petite Strapless . It calculates based on your weight and your heart rate. That is the most accurate way I know to measure the actual calories you have burned. You may be able to find one cheap on ebay.
I started out trying to enter everything in Fitday. It was too hard. Now I just enter my workouts and adjust the times until they match what my heart rate monitor shows I burned.
I enter all of my food and all of my workouts. I also enter any activity that breaks a sweat, i.e. mowing the lawn, mopping, gardening, washing the car but that is about it.
I agree with the inaccuracies and inconsistencies of fitday. For exercise, some activities are way off and others seem spot on. Tae bo, for example, is right on the money if you enter it as kickboxing. When I was going to the gym, though, the actual treadmill said I burned way more calories than fitday. I'll side with the treadmill in that case.
Also, I've never tried putting all my activities in before. I'm always tempted to put in sex as an activity, if for no other reason than it cracks me up. Because I'm totally immature like that.
LOL I have SO entered sex in as an activity. After all, I only see my boyfriend for less than 3 days a week, so it's not an every-day activity. I was disappointed that it said I only burned like 9 calories in 20 minutes of "moderate" sex, though. I'm pretty sure it's more than that!
I enter both food and workouts. I would also enter in anything I did outside the norm of my daily lifestyle...such as if I mowed the grass and didn't normally. I haven't been entering anything while pregnant because I used it mainly to keep myself honest with my weightloss, and right now...I'm not trying to lose. LOL
I didn't use it for the calculations of calories burned, but to watch my food/caloric intake and to be sure that I was doing my exercise and keeping it pretty even throughout each day...just to track what/how much I did basically.
FitDay Question
