Calories burned cleaning (light effort) for five or six hours?
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Fitbit was found to over estimate burn by up to 75%, which is why I bought a garmin0
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I wouldn't log that - it's part of normal activity, not purposeful exercise.2
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I wouldn't log it, and would count it as a bonus. Definitely wouldn't eat anything back.0
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Verity1111 wrote: »Can I get an estimate? I was seated most of the time, but sorting clothes, sweeping the floor around beds, sorting toys, moving laundry bags around and doing laundry (so a tiny bit of walking but not much) for 5-6hrs. Myfitnesspal says 600-700 calories for 4hrs but it seems a bit over the top to me so I was wondering if anyone has a better calorie estimator. I'm 5'4" 180lbs and 27 years old.
If I were seated most of the time while cleaning ... I wouldn't bother logging it.
That's just my normal sedentary life. No different, really, than sitting at a desk most of the day, but getting up now and then to walk to the photocopier or to the kitchen for another cup of coffee ... none of which I track.
I have only logged "house cleaning" once. On that particular evening, I spend about 4 hours unpacking boxes, moving furniture into place, carrying boxes here and there as needed, and vacuuming and cleaning as I set up our home. I was on my feet for the full 4 hours ... some standing but a lot of walking and carrying etc. No sitting.
I logged it as 1 hour of housework.3 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »https://epi.grants.cancer.gov/atus-met/met.php
There are a number of variations on housecleaning listed at the above link, with metabolic equivalent. Once you've decided which one applies (or maybe decided on some weighted average number based on the various activities you were doing), subtract 1.2 (assuming your activity level on MFP is set at sedentary), then multiply the resulting by your BMR, divide by 24 (number of hours in a day), and multiply by the number of hours engaged in activity. That will give you the incremental calorie burn, theoretically.
My back of the envelope calculation, assuming a possibly conservative 2.0 MET, a baseline sedentary activity setting, and a 2000 kcal NEAT, is 222 kcal for four hours (that's in addition your baseline NEAT).
Thank you! That's what I was trying to find. Housework mets works. I estimated like 300-350 for 6 hrs so very similar. Thanks for the second opinion. It ended up not mattering as I ate low gross calories but I didn't eat everything I'd planned lol1 -
I know this is not what you want to hear, but when you include everything--BMR, what you did before, what you did after, the fact that activity tables drastically overestimate calorie burns---it works out to be a wash. If the activity you described is "way more than normal", then it actually sounds as if your "normal" needs more movement.
Six hours of cleaning I wouldn't say is normal.4 -
JessicaMcB wrote: »I stay home with my 4, 3 and nearly 2 year old girls so my life on a day-to-day basis is cook, clean, cook, clean, cook, foil youngest childs' ploys to dominate the world, clean more- I log none of this. Personally I can't see it burning many more calories than sitting still as effort is more of a construct of perception iykwim.
Sounds like a productive day though, way to get it done!
I have three kids two with disabilities this was still way more work than my day to day.1 -
I logged housework until I started using a step counter, but I set my activity to "sedentary". 4-5 hours of housework at a steady pace alone will grab 4000-6000 steps , and if you don't do it regularly that's actually quite a bit of activity.
Now that I use a step counter I don't specifically track, well, anything, including hiking, although if I put extra effort in I do give myself a little extra wiggle room because my step counter only tracks steps, and is really stupid about things like elevation gains and speed.
A person doing 4-5 hours of housework is NOT sedentary. That activity either needs to be tracked specifically , or included in a higher activity level.
Yes and my calorie net goal is normally 1200 hence me asking. Thank you. I normally am quite sedentary IMO. I can't get in that much steady work with three kids sometimes I need to sit still for long periods feed them play watch TV to calm them or read books etc even cooking is less work as I'm still most of the time and they have special needs so two of them only eat very basic meals.1 -
gentlygently wrote: »Well done on getting your home in order!
In terms of now treating yourself - I wouldn't go much further than a biscuit/cookie or two - 200 cals max, but probably just 100. Most of the calorie burn in excercise is moving your body weight around....so the fact you were seated means the calorie use will be fairly limited even if the movement was unfamiliar and so tiring.
I would suggest you take MFP (and calorie burn monitors) with a pinch of salt. Mfp figures very much overestimate and also do not encourage you to allow for the fact your body would have used up a whole chunk of those calories anyway by just being... (In my case roughly 100 an hour).
Clearing up is a chore that can make me grumpy and tired, but I would be concermed about my heart fitness and my flexibility and muscle strength if it stretched me physically.
Do you need to move more in your every day life?? Being sedentry is so bad for the heart.
Yes I couldn't walk for five months last year. I was wheelchair bound. My body is still very affected by that as well. But I still walk a lot or go to the gym for two hrs etc but to yesterday was six hrs of cleaning lol apparently I got in an extra four miles of steps. I thought less.2 -
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JeromeBarry1 wrote: »Verity1111 wrote: »Can I get an estimate? I was seated most of the time, but sorting clothes, sweeping the floor around beds, sorting toys, moving laundry bags around and doing laundry (so a tiny bit of walking but not much) for 5-6hrs. Myfitnesspal says 600-700 calories for 4hrs but it seems a bit over the top to me so I was wondering if anyone has a better calorie estimator. I'm 5'4" 180lbs and 27 years old.
The database entries for light cleaning and food preparation simply reflect the MET value of that work. It's a low number, in the range of 3 or so, but it's a real number of some effort expended above the sedentary act of sitting.
I speak as one who logs 8 hours a day of "standing at desk, working", a MET 2 exercise which burns 348 calories. I eat back those calories and continue losing weight steadily.
That one advises you to only log the breathless, sweaty, intense, deliberate MET 6 or higher exercises is just arbitrary.
Thanks very much! Yes since it's six hours worth I don't see why I'd ignore it. Especially considering my calorie goal is usually the minimum. I could see ignoring an hr of housework but not six continuous hours of nonstop movement.1 -
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Thanks all for the input I went with the mets given above logged around 300 calories. There's no way I burned nothing extra that's ridiculous this was more than my usual activity and I already lose 2.2 lbs per week when I average 1500-1600 calories per day and I was aiming for 1200 yesterday. I definitely don't clean for six hours nonstop on a daily basis. I find it strange some of you think that's normal.4
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This is how a lot of us got overweight, hard to hear but true... I'm not just talking about you, I'm talking about most overweight people (myself included). Overestimating burns and underestimating how many calories are in something we're eating. The only workouts I log are things like intense bike rides, long uphill hikes, running, etc. Even when I go from an average 2-3 miles of walking per day up to 11 miles, I don't count it. I just take it as a win that I'll hopefully have a little loss on the scale after.
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This is how a lot of us got overweight, hard to hear but true... I'm not just talking about you, I'm talking about most overweight people (myself included). Overestimating burns and underestimating how many calories are in something we're eating. The only workouts I log are things like intense bike rides, long uphill hikes, running, etc. Even when I go from an average 2-3 miles of walking per day up to 11 miles, I don't count it. I just take it as a win that I'll hopefully have a little loss on the scale after.
Considering I've been losing 2+lb per week consistently I'm pretty sure I know my body. I definitely should log six hours of work.2 -
Verity1111 wrote: »
You are misunderstanding - all the activities you listed are normal routine activities. Sitting down cleaning and tidying isn't exercise.
That you may do them all in one day instead of spread over the week maybe unusual but that doesn't change the activity itself.
If you are that desperate to log an activity you said yourself was mostly sitting down then perhaps you should review your activity setting?
BTW - Seems everyone who has a different view to you is "ridiculous".
You may want to think how that comes across.
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No cleaning for six hrs and saying it's normal is ridiculous. I checked my Fitbit and it has me in fat burning heartrate around 120bpm for six hrs and assumed I was exercising and walked four and a half miles between whatever I was doing. I know exercise I'm not a friggin moron this wasn't relaxation. It was a lot of physical work. I feel like you're all imagining someone folding towels while watching TV -_-Verity1111 wrote: »
You are misunderstanding - all the activities you listed are normal routine activities. Sitting down cleaning and tidying isn't exercise.
That you may do them all in one day instead of spread over the week maybe unusual but that doesn't change the activity itself.
If you are that desperate to log an activity you said yourself was mostly sitting down then perhaps you should review your activity setting?
BTW - Seems everyone who has a different view to you is "ridiculous".
You may want to think how that comes across.3 -
Verity1111 wrote: »
No cleaning for six hrs and saying it's normal is ridiculous. I checked my Fitbit and it has me in fat burning heartrate around 120bpm for six hrs and assumed I was exercising and walked four and a half miles between whatever I was doing. I know exercise I'm not a friggin moron this wasn't relaxation. It was a lot of physical work.Verity1111 wrote: »
You are misunderstanding - all the activities you listed are normal routine activities. Sitting down cleaning and tidying isn't exercise.
That you may do them all in one day instead of spread over the week maybe unusual but that doesn't change the activity itself.
If you are that desperate to log an activity you said yourself was mostly sitting down then perhaps you should review your activity setting?
BTW - Seems everyone who has a different view to you is "ridiculous".
You may want to think how that comes across.
I wouldn't put too much stock into what Fitbit says ...
https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Surge/Clocked-up-5000-steps-whilst-knitting/td-p/987116
https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Fitbit-com-Dashboard/Knitting-counted-as-steps/td-p/1642877
https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Flex/Why-does-my-fitbit-track-my-knitting-activity-as-steps/td-p/5591162
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