Is housework worth logging?

clarinetgurl

So I am a student, and I normally spend my work day sitting and studying, for ~7-8 hours so I have my calories set to sedentary. However, today I spent cleaning the house: sweeping, dishes, general tidying, and was walking around/on my feet for at least 4 hours. Out of curiosity, I checked MFP and saw that there was an exercise for housework, but for even 2.5 hours it was nearly 475 calories for me (170 lb F). That seems outrageous, is it? It didn't feel like that much work, but im not sure if it was because it's over such a long period.

JeromeBarry1

Yes. 475/150 is less than 4 calories per minute. If you're moving, picking up stuff, moving stuff, you're burning calories.

Theoldguy1

IMO the number you are getting is overstated. To be honest based on your description of the activity would not log it.

thanos5

there are many people on here that log nothing but housework. take that for what you will.

MikePTY

I think some sort of adjustment is probably warranted, but I'd give yourself maybe half that.

beaglady

Based on tracking similar activities with my Fitbit, a couple hours of cleaning, gardening and such makes the difference between ‘sedentary’ and ‘lightly active’. Maybe 200 calories, but not 450.

Keto_Vampire

Likely best categorized as NEAT, burns sufficient amount of kcals vs. resting position. Exercise =/= NEAT

SezxyStef

if this is the first time in your life that you have ever done this sort of activity and it won't happen again for a long time...sure log it...

Otherwise it's part of living, that living that got you to where you are apparently trying to lose weight....so no.

erickirb

of that 470 you would have burned say 1.5 cals/min at rest anyway... I would back that out if you really want to log it. so 180 minutes * 1.5 =270, so a net cals burned of 200, on top of what you would have burned had you not cleaned.

lms_938

I think it’s worth logging, as you clearly burned extra calories compared to being sedentary for that four hours. How many calories to log is tricky though. Housework is such a general term, encompassing lots of activities at different effort levels. If you were actually moving, lifting, scrubbing etc for the whole four hours then 475 seems reasonable. Otherwise cut it back a bit.

Fuzzipeg

I've noticed comments against those who regularly log "house work", true I can't speak for all but for myself when I did I was at a very low point health wise, we all have our personal reasons. If you let jobs mount while you are at your books then have a good go at doing all the jobs in a continuous endeavour then go for it. I have "gardening general" on my exercise list, these days when I log gardening I generally express it as walking, though moving pots can be rather physical. Please do what you feel best doing which enables you to achieve your personal goals.

ceiswyn

I don't log doing the hoovering and dusting. Cleaning up a filthy three-bedroom house in order to sell it, including shifting furniture and scrubbing the carpets on my hands and knees? You bet I logged that

Sunshine_And_Sand

I guess it depends. If you chose your activity level based on being someone who cleans often, logging it too would be double dipping.
I personally don't log housework because for me I find all the exercise calorie estimates to be too high, so I don't really consider it worth logging.
However, for people who are logging it and eating back the calories for it, if you're still losing as expected, keep doing what's working.

mph323

Sunshine_And_Sand wrote: »

I guess it depends. If you chose your activity level based on being someone who cleans often, logging it too would be double dipping.
I personally don't log housework because for me I find all the exercise calorie estimates to be too high, so I don't really consider it worth logging.
However, for people who are logging it and eating back the calories for it, if you're still losing as expected, keep doing what's working.

This is the key right here. So many factors are involved - how you set up your activity level, whether or not you have a step-counter synced, how often you do the housework and at what intensity, how accurate you are with your food and activity logging, and more. In my opinion, the best approach is to just log it and see if/how it impacts your weight goals. Adjust from there.

smoofinator

I have a FitBit, so I don't log my housecleaning time simply because those steps are already accounted for. I agree with some of the other posters who suggested maybe halving MFP's burn estimate, if you're not using a fitness tracker of some kind.

_faedreamer

I think it's fine to log it as long as you're not eating back those calories. Just count it as a little extra boost to your routine that day. As long as you don't eat the calories, it's not hurting anything to log it if it makes you feel better. Do not, however, trust that number as a reason to eat an extra 450 calories that day.

jennibee70

I only ever log any activity that's extra to what I was doing previously. I've done my housework all my life, and I didn't stop me getting overweight. Maybe if I cleaned your house as well as my own, I'd count that!

elliej

Personally, I look at all my physical activity log as "did I do this while putting on weight and unhealthy?" and if the answer is yes, like it is for me for cleaning, then I do not log it.

smoofinator

jennibee70 wrote: »

I only ever log any activity that's extra to what I was doing previously. I've done my housework all my life, and I didn't stop me getting overweight. Maybe if I cleaned your house as well as my own, I'd count that!

If that's an offer, I'll take it!

Dakase83

Unless you are scrubbing walls like spring cleaning or something I say no... Your normal daily sweeping or laundry should be included in your activity level. Anything out of your "normal" should be considered exercise.

TanyaHooton

I see nothing wrong with logging housework. I log my yoga class, after all. I personally would not log housework because how on earth would I confirm the calorie burn? What I would do is keep my phone on me so it counted my steps, then let that give me exercise calories back. Maybe I actually earned more because of the lifting and hanging and squatting, etc., but I'll just shove those extra into the "eh, earned a few extra calories to compensate for those two bites of cheesecake I had last night that I didn't log."

If this was a one-time activity, I'd just chalk it up to a high-exercise day that hopefully cancels out a high-calorie day and forget about it. If you do that kind of activity regularly, then you can log it, eat back a portion of the calories, and see if you continue to lose weight or if you plateau.