Legit question. Housework....exercise or no?

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Replies

  • LauraDotts
    LauraDotts Posts: 732 Member
    Now, I have a bit of OCD.

    I clean everyday but 2 days out of the week I go crazy with cleaning. and when I do that. I log it in as exercise. Because for me it is, I sweat more those 2 days than i do for my normal work outs, wake up with arms and legs sore as crap and all that mess.
    I'm not talking taking a mop and doing the floors, folding laundry and all that.

    As an example, when I go crazy cleaning I do all my floors on my hands and knees, packed with a toothbrush to get the nooks and crannies, and scrub every inch.


    Log it or no?


    ***EDIT***
    I am saying to log the 2 days where I deep clean, not everyday housework. I do wear an HRM and it levels out the same as when I'm working out.
    Come clean my house and you can log it all you want... double even.
  • Christie0428
    Christie0428 Posts: 221 Member
    I'd say no as for counting it as exercise.... but any chance of having you come to my house to clean like that? I *used* to be OCD about cleaning our house, but between workign FT and a toddler something just had to give... now we live is a much less clean house! I'm lucky if I get to vacuum and wash the floors once a week..
  • Christie0428
    Christie0428 Posts: 221 Member
    Now, I have a bit of OCD.

    I clean everyday but 2 days out of the week I go crazy with cleaning. and when I do that. I log it in as exercise. Because for me it is, I sweat more those 2 days than i do for my normal work outs, wake up with arms and legs sore as crap and all that mess.
    I'm not talking taking a mop and doing the floors, folding laundry and all that.

    As an example, when I go crazy cleaning I do all my floors on my hands and knees, packed with a toothbrush to get the nooks and crannies, and scrub every inch.


    Log it or no?


    ***EDIT***
    I am saying to log the 2 days where I deep clean, not everyday housework. I do wear an HRM and it levels out the same as when I'm working out.
    Come clean my house and you can log it all you want... double even.

    LOL, funny I posted before I read your comment Laura - we are on the same page!
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member


    Yes people don't understand that they were overweight, because they ate too much, not because of what they did or did not do. Because you can sit on the couch all day long, and as long as they are eating less then they are burning they are going to lose weight. I went to the gym all of the time when I was gaining weight, even ran a bunch of 5k's, but that didn't stop me from eating everything in sight. So now am I suppose to not count my 5 mile runs as exercise, because I was doing it before? Does it not count as exercise, or a workout when someone is bulking?

    You need to understand how the MFP Tool works. It is not "what you did before versus what you do now".

    MFP is a calculator that does not include exercise in its calculation of how many calories to eat. Then when you do exercise, you need to count it and eat extra calories for fuel. AND you need to choose the appropriate activity level when you set it up. If you say "sedentary" when you are really moving cleaning and chasing kids around all day, then yes, log your cleaning and eat those cals. If you chose "moderately active" and that is a good match for the activity you do regularly, then you would not log cleaning, only things you do specifically for exercise. If a person is truly sedentary, doesn't move off the couch all day except once a week cleaning, then sure, log the cleaning.

    It's not a question of "does housework count as exercise", it is a question of how did you set up your profile and is this amount of activity something that you need extra calories for.
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member


    Yes people don't understand that they were overweight, because they ate too much, not because of what they did or did not do. Because you can sit on the couch all day long, and as long as they are eating less then they are burning they are going to lose weight. I went to the gym all of the time when I was gaining weight, even ran a bunch of 5k's, but that didn't stop me from eating everything in sight. So now am I suppose to not count my 5 mile runs as exercise, because I was doing it before? Does it not count as exercise, or a workout when someone is bulking?

    You need to understand how the MFP Tool works. It is not "what you did before versus what you do now".

    MFP is a calculator that does not include exercise in its calculation of how many calories to eat. Then when you do exercise, you need to count it and eat extra calories for fuel. AND you need to choose the appropriate activity level when you set it up. If you say "sedentary" when you are really moving cleaning and chasing kids around all day, then yes, log your cleaning and eat those cals. If you chose "moderately active" and that is a good match for the activity you do regularly, then you would not log cleaning, only things you do specifically for exercise. If a person is truly sedentary, doesn't move off the couch all day except once a week cleaning, then sure, log the cleaning.

    It's not a question of "does housework count as exercise", it is a question of how did you set up your profile and is this amount of activity something that you need extra calories for.

    Yes we are saying the same thing, I'm pretty sure I have it figured out how this site works.
  • MercenaryNoetic26
    MercenaryNoetic26 Posts: 2,747 Member
    It's part of tdee. I let my fitbit pick that up and would never log it.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member


    Yes we are saying the same thing, I'm pretty sure I have it figured out how this site works.

    Yes indeed. That was for people in general. :)
  • conniedj
    conniedj Posts: 470 Member
    You know, I don't normally clean my house. Like deep clean. I have someone who I pay to do it for me. But.....that someone is out of commission for the next 3 months. Rather than find a new person, I decided to take matters back into my own hands, suck it up and clean my own house.

    Today was the first day. I went out and rode my road bike averaging 17 mph. for an hour. Cooled down, came home, cleaned. A/C is on in the house--but I sweat the entire time, and my HRM read a decent level activity. All you naysayers....probably have cleaning people like I did! lol. I also went out and gardened.....hauling dirt, and such. Straight up counting an hour of activity--even though I actually did over 3 hours!

    OP: you run--so you know what your body feels like when you work it. Decide for yourself if you are working it hard enough to count. You don't need anyone's permission! If I work as hard as I did today ( and I did the "ab roll out to plank while scrubbing the floor~overachiever~lol!), I will count it again!

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