Can I count housework as a workout?

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  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    housework is not exercise.....
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    Some people get all up in arms about it, but I say calories burnt are calories burnt!
  • Timorous_Beastie
    Timorous_Beastie Posts: 595 Member
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    I wouldn't count regular housework, but maybe above and beyond the normal household maintenance. Like a deep cleaning, where you move the furniture and are climbing ladders to clean the ceiling fan blades, but not regular tidying up.

    Going by a TDEE approach might work better for you than MFP's NEAT + exercise calories.
  • pita7317
    pita7317 Posts: 1,437 Member
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    I count anything that is going to take 30 min+, and is out of the ordinary as cleaning, light/moderate effort.
    To eat back those calories or not is up to each individual.
  • GrandmaCarole
    GrandmaCarole Posts: 35 Member
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    gardening is considered one of the best exercises.
  • GrandmaCarole
    GrandmaCarole Posts: 35 Member
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    Do you move the furniture around when you vacuum? Changing sheets should count, carrying boxes of groceries, and all the bending and moving of laundry care.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    GrandmaCarole wrote: »
    gardening is considered one of the best exercises.

    By whom?
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
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    Okay, silly confession time...

    I don't generally eat back more than 1/4 of my gym calorie burns because I don't really trust them even though I've verified them every way I could think of possible and my losses confirm them. I still log them, though. Why? I get a kick out of the 5-week prediction with them factored in. So, so, silly.

    Saying that? I never log cleaning. Not even for my silly game with seeing the stupid "in 5 weeks..." the burn would add.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    MrM27 wrote: »
    Honestly how dirty are people's houses that this is even an issue.

    I always wonder this too...cleaning my house tends to be an ongoing and everyday process. Like, we vacuum Tuesday and now it's Thursday...we will vacuum tonight...if we see that some dusting needs done, we'll do that too. I'm pretty sure I'm doing the dishes tonight too. I usually only mop once per week, but it's also on an as need basis along with any other house hold chore.
  • Phoenix_Down
    Phoenix_Down Posts: 530 Member
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    GrandmaCarole wrote: »
    Do you move the furniture around when you vacuum? Changing sheets should count, carrying boxes of groceries, and all the bending and moving of laundry care.

    I bend over when I get pots and pans for dinner. Easy 100 calories right? Moving the milk jug from the fridge to the counter and pouring it? Sometimes I spontaneously dance when I cook too. And sing. Singing has to burn something. I feel it in my core. When I shower I scrub twice as hard for twice the burns. What if I breathe really fast? 5 calories right? Maybe? Bueller?
  • a_nasima
    a_nasima Posts: 7 Member
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    I don't log in any form of exercise because I really can't tell how much I burn and don't want to eat those calories back anyway! I would suggest not logging it in
  • FluffySandwich
    FluffySandwich Posts: 1,293 Member
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    For some reason I keep reading this thread as ''Can I count backwards as a workout?'' Well, some people swear that thinking burns calories!

    I don't typically count my housework as exercise, though I have once or twice when I didn't log any other exercise in for the day and thought I worked particularly hard or for a long period of time. I wanted my diary to state I had done something.

    But usually I don't. Doing housework, especially if you are scrubbing down heavily soiled pans (ugh), can be a good workout though!!
  • barbecuesauce
    barbecuesauce Posts: 1,771 Member
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    GrandmaCarole wrote: »
    Do you move the furniture around when you vacuum? Changing sheets should count, carrying boxes of groceries, and all the bending and moving of laundry care.

    But how long does it take a person to move the furniture or the sheets? And unless you have some crazy-old heavy vacuum, pushing that is no trouble.

    I get that these things take effort for many people and I don't want to sound insensitive or ableist. But to count these activities and eat the calories back is setting yourself up for maintenance or worse.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    jennifer_417 wrote: »
    Some people get all up in arms about it, but I say calories burnt are calories burnt!

    so that means I can count the sex I have...Yah.

    No I don't count house work @MrM27 which I do every week btw...including down on my hands and knees scrubbing the bathroom floor.

    I don't count my gardening either or the wood in the fall or painting a room or crack filling or moving my Sister in law and her 3 friends...purposeful exercise only.

    I think if someone's house is dirty enough that they burn tonnes of calories their punishment should be not being able to count them.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    ceoverturf wrote: »
    GrandmaCarole wrote: »
    gardening is considered one of the best exercises.

    By whom?

    good question...I was my fattest when I was gardening the most...hmmm
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
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    Phoenix_Down wrote: »
    GrandmaCarole wrote: »
    Do you move the furniture around when you vacuum? Changing sheets should count, carrying boxes of groceries, and all the bending and moving of laundry care.

    I bend over when I get pots and pans for dinner. Easy 100 calories right? Moving the milk jug from the fridge to the counter and pouring it? Sometimes I spontaneously dance when I cook too. And sing. Singing has to burn something. I feel it in my core. When I shower I scrub twice as hard for twice the burns. What if I breathe really fast? 5 calories right? Maybe? Bueller?

    Bahahaha +1
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
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    MrM27 wrote: »
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    jennifer_417 wrote: »
    Some people get all up in arms about it, but I say calories burnt are calories burnt!

    so that means I can count the sex I have...Yah.

    No I don't count house work @MrM27 which I do every week btw...including down on my hands and knees scrubbing the bathroom floor.

    I don't count my gardening either or the wood in the fall or painting a room or crack filling or moving my Sister in law and her 3 friends...purposeful exercise only.

    I think if someone's house is dirty enough that they burn tonnes of calories their punishment should be not being able to count them.

    That, I like that

    My dog cleans my house for me, so I don't have to count it.
  • Kimberly_Harper
    Kimberly_Harper Posts: 409 Member
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    loseitall150 wrote: »
    vigorus housework such as: sweeping, mopping, dancing, washing dishes while having my 27lb 12 month old daughter on my back.
    I'll be sweating the whole time because I live in a old home and central air doesn't work good in the kitchen.

    Doesn't carrying 27lbs around while working around the house count as LIFTING?? lol I think that makes the housekeeping "exercise" - like Extreme Housekeeping hahaha

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