No housework in exercises?
Options
Replies
-
Sorry I posted that. Seems many are here to shame and degrade, not help. I’ll not be back on the community boards.
Whereas I'm glad you did post it, as it was a valid question. As with anything there are differences of opinion, but all of the above answers give food for thought.
Re the point above about some people thinking that a 3 mile walk gives you free rein to eat a pack of biscuits or an entire tub of ice-cream or whatever, part of the reason why I log my exercise is that it highlights how little I burn. During lockdown, I've done a regular brisk half hour walk to get the newspaper. I get less than 100 cals for that. However, several hours of gardening gave me a lot of cals - a lot more than I thought was reasonable, but it makes sense that that is actually based on heavy digging, not mowing the grass, raking up leaves or cutting branches off shrubbery. The suggestion to use 'light cleaning' would enable me to log something, whilst not being excessive.11 -
I never log it. I look at it as a bonus calorie burn. It is easier that way for me and I count cleaning as part of my regular daily activity even though I have it set to sedentary.5
-
My daily activity varies. Somedays I do almost nothing and other days are quite active (for me). What I found works best for me is to set my activity level sedentary and then log everything that feels like it required a bit of an effort. After a few weeks I adjusted my calories up 100 calories per day because I was loosing weight faster than my goal. It works for me.9
-
springlering62 wrote: »Are you going to count walking in Target or in the grocery store, too? There’s so much stuff in life that you can pretend is exercise. It’s not. It’s just life.
..And behold the birth of Fitbit.6 -
I think there are two sides to this, maybe more.
I think some people don't realize that the "sedentary" setting includes the assumption of some routine activity. I think it's maybe in the range of 3500-5000 steps, or equivalent movement. So, on the one hand, there's the possibility that by logging housework, one can be claiming double credit for some activity calories, and that would tend to slow one's weight loss.
I also think there is some tendency to criticize logging housework, either because the critics are more active people for whom it's truly trivial/easy (or a vanishingly tiny percent of daily calories), or because it's not clear that the person logging it does/doesn't have a track record of monitoring loss for a while so may not have a decent handle on what is extra stuff to log and what's not (i.e., critic assumes the person has misunderstood something, without asking about context/details).
I had at least one MFP friend early on who was seriously disabled, and for whom housework was not only an unusual physical victory, but also more actual effort (more effortful movement with mobility problems/mobility aid equipment, probably burned more than average calories, by a little). In a case like that, logging bits of housework - none of which is done routinely - may make sense, once the basic experientially-based routine calorie goal is dialed in.
If someone is just starting out (doesn't have the 4-6 weeks of experiential feedback yet), I think it's a good idea to stay middle of the road in one's practices, but especially important to pick one practice and be consistent with it.
By "middle of the road", I mean not logging routine activity in amounts that one does in a typical week, selecting an activity level at the start that's realistic, etc. One reason I'd advise against logging every little activity is that, frankly, logging gets pretty old pretty fast for a lot of people.
[snip]
I agree with everything you say here, including the part I cut for space, but I can't resist noting that in nearly seven years on the MFP forum, I don't remember a single time when someone complained that logging exercise calories was tedious. As far as I recall, it's always the "calories in" that they find to be a grind to log.
9 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »
I agree with everything you say here, including the part I cut for space, but I can't resist noting that in nearly seven years on the MFP forum, I don't remember a single time when someone complained that logging exercise calories was tedious. As far as I recall, it's always the "calories in" that they find to be a grind to log.
I chose to not complain and get a Fitbit instead
I don’t have a car, so my everyday activity varies a lot even without intentional exercise due to things like weather and errands. If the weather is nice, I bike from home to subway station and back - that’s 15 minutes of biking I randomly get or don’t get depending on weather, and 100+ cals right there. If I have errands to run, I have to walk for them. This week I had to go to the post office twice the same day. That was an extra 40 minutes of non-exercise walking I normally wouldn’t have. And so on. Last week my lowest step count was 3000, highest step count was 13000. Neither day included any intentional exercise, so estimating a ”regular day” for activity level would be pretty hard.5 -
If you had correctly logged the mile or two as exercise, you would then have been easily able to see that it didn’t burn enough calories to cover a giant bowl of ice cream.springlering62 wrote: »I’m not activity-shaming. I’m being practical and a bit brutally honest.
These are regular things regular people do every day, and should be considered part of your activity setting, ie sedentary, very active, etc.
If you’re running around and crediting calories to yourself for housecleaning, walking at the mall, mowing the grass, all the things you were doing last week before you signed up for MFP, you’re not fooling anyone but yourself.
Choose the right activity setting to begin with and you don’t have to muck about with trying to track little things. Make it easier-and more honest- on yourself.
That’s not saying doing it hasn’t worked for @kshama2001 and others, but you’ve got to give yourself a fighting chance to get after it.
I spent decades not understanding calories and weight, and i cringe when I see others making the same mistakes. I’m the person who thought I could walk a mile or two and it would offset a giant bowl of ice cream and a family sized pack of Oreo Doublestuff. Do you really want to be the person who thinks that because they vacuumed, now they can have a few hundred extra calories to play with?
There’s a wide spectrum of regular. And not everyone beginning a weight loss journey falls into “regular.” When I set out to get healthy, it was a rare day when I walked to the mailbox, my house was definitely not cleaned regularly by me, and I barely moved. I had lupus flares which caused debilitating vasculitis, and an ovarian tumor, and many days I was bedridden except for walking to the bathroom. Mine is an extreme case, but there are plenty of people for whom a day walking around Target shopping is an exhausting, unusual day. When I started moving more you can bet I counted everything, and I was right to do so, since for the first four months of using MFP I lost at more than twice the projected rate.
Overcounting is a definite risk for many people. If you log a bunch of exercise calories without ever breaking a sweat, and your weight loss is not what MFP says it should be, take stock and reconsider. But not all exercise happens in a gym.9 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »I think there are two sides to this, maybe more.
I think some people don't realize that the "sedentary" setting includes the assumption of some routine activity. I think it's maybe in the range of 3500-5000 steps, or equivalent movement. So, on the one hand, there's the possibility that by logging housework, one can be claiming double credit for some activity calories, and that would tend to slow one's weight loss.
I also think there is some tendency to criticize logging housework, either because the critics are more active people for whom it's truly trivial/easy (or a vanishingly tiny percent of daily calories), or because it's not clear that the person logging it does/doesn't have a track record of monitoring loss for a while so may not have a decent handle on what is extra stuff to log and what's not (i.e., critic assumes the person has misunderstood something, without asking about context/details).
I had at least one MFP friend early on who was seriously disabled, and for whom housework was not only an unusual physical victory, but also more actual effort (more effortful movement with mobility problems/mobility aid equipment, probably burned more than average calories, by a little). In a case like that, logging bits of housework - none of which is done routinely - may make sense, once the basic experientially-based routine calorie goal is dialed in.
If someone is just starting out (doesn't have the 4-6 weeks of experiential feedback yet), I think it's a good idea to stay middle of the road in one's practices, but especially important to pick one practice and be consistent with it.
By "middle of the road", I mean not logging routine activity in amounts that one does in a typical week, selecting an activity level at the start that's realistic, etc. One reason I'd advise against logging every little activity is that, frankly, logging gets pretty old pretty fast for a lot of people.
[snip]
I agree with everything you say here, including the part I cut for space, but I can't resist noting that in nearly seven years on the MFP forum, I don't remember a single time when someone complained that logging exercise calories was tedious. As far as I recall, it's always the "calories in" that they find to be a grind to log.
Oh, absolutely. I don't think I've ever seen anyone mention it explicitly either. I'm more thinking it could become just another brick in the wall of weariness about tracking, for some people, when it seems simpler to me to include consistently-done things in activity level. (Talking more or less weekly consistency, not daily, since pretty much all the so-called calorie calculators, MFP or various TDEE ones, look at activity on a per-week basis).
While understanding this next is not the way MFP is designed to work, I'd extend that idea "include everything consistent in activity level" to saying that it's rational for someone with a clockwork exercise schedule to use a TDEE calculator rather than the MFP approach, even if tracking with MFP. (Someone might choose a TDEE method for other preference reasons, too, of course.)
I do think the TDEE-based approach can have pitfalls for a type of person we see here (and for me IRL) pretty frequently: People who start an aggressive exercise program at the same time as an aggressive change in eating patterns, to achieve weight loss, and do the TDEE calc assuming that aggressive level of exercise. I wonder what fraction of "calorie counting doesn't work" may arise from people who let their "7 days vigorous exercise" wither away as the honeymoon fades, but never reset their calorie goal. Easy way to wipe out a deficit. Add in the ever-popular "cheat day", and I'm pretty sure the deficit is kaput.
As a complete aside (not aimed at you, Lynn - I know you get this stuff): I suspect it can be unhelpful for an individual to mix NEAT and TDEE approaches in some cases. Depending on the calculator(s) used, the activity multipliers can differ. For example, I don't think TDEE calculators' "sedentary" will necessarily be equal to MFP's (or other NEAT calculators') "sedentary" in terms of BMR/RMR multiplier.5 -
How many calories does running around the house and yard looking for the cat for over an hour burn? Asking for a friend...
No idea where his secret hiding spot was, but it was not here:
17 -
My house is over 1200 square feet and is all hard floors. Because I have 5 cats, 4 of which are long-haired, I vacuum my entire house, but only about once a week. I've timed myself and it takes 20 minutes. If I then come back behind myself and swiffer mop or steam mop, it takes right at another 20 minutes. I'm set to sedentary and definitely log back a portion of those calories pushing that big vacuum and that mop. And especially so if I traditionally mop with a bucket of water, since I essentially double mop that way - first pass with wet mop, second pass with one that has been wrung out to pick up excess water.
I don't typically count cleaning my bathroom since its a quick job to clean. I might count dusting if I took time to dust the entire house because it will usually take me an hour to do it as I rarely dust and when I do, I make sure to be thorough.
I'm with the ones who say count it if its' not been accounted for in your normal routine in your settings, then watch your weight loss rate and adjust as necessary to get where you want to be. This has been working fine for me!6 -
what about spring cleaning? cleaning out attics? that is so NOT an everyday activity..........2
-
I'm in the be realistic camp. I log extra things like mowing the grass and if I do extra hard cleaning then I would log it but I also take it with a grain of salt. There is no way cooking for 2 hours burned 700 calories. I Think as long as you take a look at it and it seem realistic and you like exercise don' teat it all back then it's good.
However what works for me and my situation may be completely different than everyone else. We may all be in the same race but we are all driving different boats.0 -
I log the grocery store as walking, but I have significant limitations on my weightbearing time, and usually handle housework in five minute bursts of standing, with twenty minutes off my feet in between. When I started with MFP, the weekly trip to three grocery stores meant that I had spent so much off my standing budget that my partner had to cook dinner, because I didn't have the ability to stand that long after I'd done the groceries. Things are somewhat better now, but I don't spend two hours on my feet moving around every day yet, and so when I do, I log it because it's out of the ordinary. I look forward to a time when it is not, but we're not there yet.4
-
You can make adjustments if you're consistent with your logging.
You can be more consistent by being more accurate.
Being accurate means that you should not log things twice.
Being accurate ALSO means that you should NOT ignore things because they fail to measure up.
MFP sedentary includes basic activities of daily living to the tune of up to about 30-50 minutes of not sitting activity in a day / up to about 3500 steps per day (for most people).
Assuming food intake is accurately accounted for, weight change goals are appropriate, and weight trend changes are within expected parameters, I have zero problems recording the scratching of my kitten as an activity that burned calories!
If the above do not hold true over time periods of 4-6 weeks, then it is time to troubleshoot and re-evaluate.1 -
SFFirebird wrote: »what about spring cleaning? cleaning out attics? that is so NOT an everyday activity..........
Sure, I log all cleaning that is not the quick stuff I do regularly.1 -
kshama2001 wrote: »How many calories does running around the house and yard looking for the cat for over an hour burn? Asking for a friend...
No idea where his secret hiding spot was, but it was not here:
Since the OP has (unfortunately) left, I will share that this was my cat's new secret daytime hiding spot:
9 -
-
L1zardQueen wrote: »Hiding from all that dang vacuuming going on.
Hey! You're hiding from yourself!!!!!
1 -
i count cleaning - not standing still washing dishes, but vigorously mopping or scrubbing the tub and sinks? sure. i use one of these in exercise
Cleaning, heavy, vigorous effort
Cleaning, light, moderate effort1
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.6K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 387 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.2K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.2K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 911 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions