Cleaning house

Theham2016
Theham2016 Posts: 27 Member
edited November 24 in Fitness and Exercise
Does cleaning house count as exercise? If so how do you gauge it?
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Replies

  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    I don't count it. Only log purposeful exercise.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
    It depends on what you mean by cleaning. If you are referring to everyday stuff that you have consistently done at whatever weight you are, it's probably not a good idea to count it as exercise because it already falls into your regular daily activity burn.

    If you were doing an out of the ordinary strenuous cleaning, then yes, you could count some of those calories as exercise and eat a little more that day without throwing yourself off track.
  • Theham2016
    Theham2016 Posts: 27 Member
    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    I don't count it. Only log purposeful exercise.

    I hate to exercise... I was looking for all I could get LOL!
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    tlarue2016 wrote: »
    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    I don't count it. Only log purposeful exercise.

    I hate to exercise... I was looking for all I could get LOL!

    Lol I get it :smiley: but for every day cleaning it's not that you'd earn many calories really, maybe an extra 100 for an hour if even that. Depends on how vigorous.
  • Theham2016
    Theham2016 Posts: 27 Member
    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    tlarue2016 wrote: »
    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    I don't count it. Only log purposeful exercise.

    I hate to exercise... I was looking for all I could get LOL!

    Lol I get it :smiley: but for every day cleaning it's not that you'd earn many calories really, maybe an extra 100 for an hour if even that. Depends on how vigorous.

    You're right! Maybe I'll run from room to room!
  • Josh_lol
    Josh_lol Posts: 317 Member
    I wouldn't count it as exercise
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    Nope, unless it's a full on spring clean.
  • Theham2016
    Theham2016 Posts: 27 Member
    :(:(:D:D
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    While it is not “exercise” per se, All activity counts as part of TDEE. How much much it adds is quite variable. How you decide to account for it is up to you.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    The only housework I've counted in the sense of logging it here has been shoveling snow. That said, housework can absolutely count as exercise in the sense of getting your body moving and your heart rate up! I would be reluctant to adjust my calories based on it, however. Just consider it a bonus, watch your rate of loss over time, and if you're losing faster than expected and want some more calories, adjust at that point.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    Exercise offers 2 listings of "cleaning", one vigorous, one light.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    No, cleaning is a normal lifestyle activity and is included under your NEAT, or your base daily calorie allocation. It is in the database, but MFP draws from a standard database and not every action in the database should be added to your MFP exercise log.
  • 30kgin2017
    30kgin2017 Posts: 228 Member
    I work full time and have 3 kids so I can easily do 5 hours of cleaning on a Saturday above what I would do during the week. In particular as we have stairs and our laundry under the house I can rackup a lot of steps doing washing alone. I wear a fitbit so I dont have to gauge it but when I have looked at my data for me it is similar to a slow walk in terms of the calorie burn. Mowing the lawn burns a lot of calories apparently.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    edited January 2018
    I wouldnt eat many extra calories for even a deep clean really, BUT your up moving and being productive and a clean house is great for mental health. So its a win either way :p I either exercise or clean its my options so im productive in some way

    Pro tip: Throw on some music bust a few moves. Movement is movement and all movement helps, Trackable or not. Make it fun :D
  • Purplebunnysarah
    Purplebunnysarah Posts: 3,252 Member
    Wear an activity tracker linked to MFP. If doing housework makes you more active than normal you may get a small boost. Probably don't eat back all of it. If it doesn't cause you to go from e.g. sedentary to lightly active, then it will be neutral or even subtract if you are then less active than normal afterwards.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,615 Member
    tlarue2016 wrote: »
    Does cleaning house count as exercise? If so how do you gauge it?

    I don't count it ... unless I'm doing a particularly long and strenuous clean.

    In other words, I counted it once when I spent about 5 hours straight cleaning the house and unpacking boxes when we were moving in. I was hauling heavy moving boxes, walking from room to room, vacuuming, scrubbing, moving more heavy boxes ...

    Other than that one occasion, I haven't bothered counting and have just assumed that it is part of my normal sedentary lifestyle. :)
  • sytchequeen
    sytchequeen Posts: 526 Member
    If you really put your back into it housework can be a workout. How you measure it? dunno lol
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    sure, every movement counts to me.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    its under cleaning
  • Falklang
    Falklang Posts: 220 Member
    You do burn a bit of calories by cleaning but I don't really log things like that as I count it as general daily activity, even walking to the shop I don't count.
  • dutchandkiwi
    dutchandkiwi Posts: 1,389 Member
    Normal standard household chores Nope not counting those. I do count it is I have one of those massive once every year clean outs of the garage for instance, or when I clear out my sewing space That is hard work and more like moving in and out of (part of) the house
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    tlarue2016 wrote: »
    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    I don't count it. Only log purposeful exercise.

    I hate to exercise... I was looking for all I could get LOL!

    Food for thought:
    • Maybe then your selected rate of loss is too aggressive?
    • Maybe your activity level is set too low?
    • Maybe sometimes you should do things (exercise) you don't actually enjoy but tolerate for the health benefits (and extra food!) they give you?

    Building more general activity into your lifestyle is a painless, time efficient and sustainable way to boost your calorie expenditure though. Those so called "naturally slim" people do tend to move about under their own power an awful lot more than average......
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    if you didnt lose weight before cleaning house, dont count it as exercise :/

    always makes me wonder just how dirty someones house IS when they ask this question lol
  • WilmaValley
    WilmaValley Posts: 1,092 Member
    Great discussion, always wondered the same thing!
  • Theham2016
    Theham2016 Posts: 27 Member
    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    if you didnt lose weight before cleaning house, dont count it as exercise :/

    always makes me wonder just how dirty someones house IS when they ask this question lol

    Actually I clean a lot! My house is very clean and that's why I wondered about it.
  • mabearof6
    mabearof6 Posts: 684 Member
    I don't count cleaning as exercise. I'm a bit OCD about my house, but always have been. I cleaned a lot before my weight loss and clean a lot after.....I see it as part of my normal daily activity, and don't count it as exercise.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,615 Member
    tlarue2016 wrote: »
    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    if you didnt lose weight before cleaning house, dont count it as exercise :/

    always makes me wonder just how dirty someones house IS when they ask this question lol

    Actually I clean a lot! My house is very clean and that's why I wondered about it.

    For example ... what might you do for cleaning in an evening after work?

    Personally, after a day of work, I might put in maybe 30 minutes of housework, and if there's an easy way to do something ... I'm there! The minute that shower stuff (you spray onto your shower walls, leave for 15 minutes, then rinse off) came onto the market, I bought it. No more scrubbing showers for me! My floor washer is one of those things that has a water bottle attached to the mop handle. No more hauling buckets of water around the place and wringing out mops. And I won't be without a dishwasher now!

    These thing have reduced my housework time immensely so that I can focus on other things ... like walking or cycling. :)
  • Theham2016
    Theham2016 Posts: 27 Member
    Ok, ok... I won't count house cleaning!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    tlarue2016 wrote: »
    Does cleaning house count as exercise? If so how do you gauge it?

    I'd only log something like that as additional activity/exercise if it was really out of the ordinary. Regular old cleaning is going to fall in line with your activity level even if you select sedentary...sedentary is still going to account for the equivalent of about 5,000 steps in a day.

    As an example, there are certain weekly things I do in my yard...I don't really count those as any kind of additional activity...but I also have an acre of property and there are certainly times when I will spend the better part of a day working on the property...that would be activity outside of my normal activity.
  • 69HealthyMe
    69HealthyMe Posts: 24 Member
    I don’t log it as exercise.
This discussion has been closed.

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