Let's make a pact: Cleaning house IS NOT AN EXERCISE

Azuleelan

So people are reaching 600 calorie "workouts" in part because they "cleaned the house"... wtf??? Should I add "Run to catch the bus" or "jump to reach the mustard"?? We are tryin to lose weight here, let's be honest! Who's in?

Clearly you have never tried to clean MY house. :laugh: My light/moderate involves the same music I use to workout and an increase heart rate. Next time I spend hours recovering my house from my wife and kids destruction I will have to toss on my HRM.

Hey, that's a great idea!! I'll put my HRM too, some music and jump around while I dust, then I would count it as light aerobics! That way nobody would ever know, wwuahahahaha! :bigsmile:

Becky1971

I worked a couple months one summer cleaning retirement apartments.Dusting, vacuming, sweeping, mopping, cleaning kitchen and bathroom. I was forty pounds overweight, and the fat just melted off. You better believe cleaning/housework is exercise. It's up to each individual, what exactly or how much is worth logging.

With that said, personally I have only counted it once. I was curious, so I wore my hrm while sweeping and mopping all the floors, and moving furniture to do so. I burned 399 cals in 11/2 hours. It's not something I do on a regular occasion, (chores are all split up amongst everyone every week).

SabrinaJL

I'm sorry most of you took it sooo bad, I tend to overestimate the resilience of people (though I do recommend also improving that, it's part of self-confidence)


A lovely lady made a joke of me and my mustard-jumping WHILE stating that she does log in her house cleaning. That is resilience. The rest is defensiveness... which is of course a choice. Sad one though.

So basically people who don't agree with what you have to say are defensive and have low self-confidence? :laugh: That's a bizarre leap to make. But I like it! From now on, every time someone disagrees with me, I'm going to vehemently insist it's only because they have low self-confidence (clearly people with high self-confidence would think I was brilliant and witty and agree with every word I say). Then I will log "wasting my breath" as cardio and "clinging to delusions" as strength training. Oh the lbs I will lose!

chrisyoung0422

I believe that people just starting out should record any calories burned and build from there. I personally did and it worked for me. I used to count things like walk dog, clean basement, work in graden etc but now I count only strenuous and fitness related activities.

I found that as I got more fit less calories were burned so it seemed a lot less like exercise. I did not count these "workouts" anymore because I did not feel it was fair to myself when I am trying increase my activity and cleaning etc were really at the same pace for me which was always faster.

This is just my view and how I dealt with it so please no flaming. :noway:

Azuleelan

I'm sorry most of you took it sooo bad, I tend to overestimate the resilience of people (though I do recommend also improving that, it's part of self-confidence)


A lovely lady made a joke of me and my mustard-jumping WHILE stating that she does log in her house cleaning. That is resilience. The rest is defensiveness... which is of course a choice. Sad one though.

So basically people who don't agree with what you have to say are defensive and have low self-confidence? :laugh: That's a bizarre leap to make. But I like it! From now on, every time someone disagrees with me, I'm going to vehemently insist it's only because they have low self-confidence (clearly people with high self-confidence would think I was brilliant and witty and agree with every word I say). Then I will log "wasting my breath" as cardio and "clinging to delusions" as strength training. Oh the lbs I will lose!

Did you read what I said? The lovely lady disagreed with me. It's right there :flowerforyou:

nisijam5

oh and trying to get my fat behind UP the ladder to my sons bunk bed to clear off his shelf of dirty dishes, and to make his bed that I can't reach otherwise.

Why is his butt not climbing up there for the dishes???

johnwhitent

I have to say that it is relative. Right now house cleaning is not something I would record because I am very fit and do two-a-days of running, cycling, and P90X. But for less fit people with lower activity levels house cleaning is probably exercise worth recording. I'm not just voicing a middle of the road "let's all get along" thought; this is science. Covert Bailey explains in his books that from a fitness perspective its all a matter of stressing the body causing physiological reactions. An out of shape person walking uphill may cause the same reactions within their body as an Olympic level athlete does with an all out 100 yard sprint. Bailey is a nutritionist who has a degree in biochemistry from MIT, so I think he knows what he is talking about. So it is an individual thing. For some people housecleaning is true exercise but the same activity for another (like myself) is not exercise.

jsteras

Then do it. You are an adult and we are all responsible for our own weight loss/gain. We all don't have to agree on what is considered exercise but I know when I'm burning calories and when I'm not.

I agree that we shouldn't be hyperanalyzing the actions of others here...it's not negatively affecting you for other people to do that; ultimately everyone is accountable only to themselves. I'm sure you meant well and I think that maybe this topic could have been brought up in a less offensive way. On MFP we don't coddle people, but we do try and be supportive at all times. Lots of people have very high levels of pain where activity is involved, and to them maybe it's exciting to log a small victory. It's not for us to judge what they qualify as a workout.

Very well said! I am wondering why anyone would be bothered by what someone else is logging. I don't have any clue what anyone else is logging, nor do I care (I don't mean that in a mean way). I use MFP to keep MYSELF accountable, and to get POSITIVE SUPPORT from others.

I agree I don't give a rats@#$ what anyone logs as exercise, It doesn't effect me in any way , shape, or form. It won't make me any fatter or thinner. Let's worry about ourselves and focus on that instead of picking apart what people do for exercise. You are responsible for your body not any one else's body.

stormieweather

Ok, I'll interject some facts.

BMR = what you burn doing absolutely nothing.
TDEE = BMR x an activity factor depending on activity level - Harris-Benidict formula uses 1.2 for sedentary, 1.375 for lightly active, 1.55 for moderately active, 1.725 for very active and 1.9 for extra active. These add the calories you normally burn through everyday activity to your BMR to get your maintenance. This include everything you do normally, including your job.

Everything you do burns calories....brushing your hair, sitting and watching tv, cooking dinner. BUT, these calories are included in the activity factor above. So when you set up MFP, you selected an activity level, and MFP added on the factor for that particular level to come up with your daily energy usage (go to home > goals to see yours). If you feel you are burning more than what this activity level allocates, then you may want to consider upping your activity level.

WHen I was not sure how much I was burning, I did a couple of tests and added up every single thing I did all day long using http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_burn.php. It came close to my FitBit calories and metabolic lab test.

"Exercise" is generally considered to be an activity that is done specifically for the purpose of being or becoming physically fit.

abbyg82

I totally added some housecleaning to my calories one day! If I am just leisurely cleaning..walking around picking things up or wiping things down then no, but If I set my timer & clean vigorously for a set amount of time I will count it. Not to mention I have added a crazy fun dance routine into my daily cleaning activity, and it really gets my heart pumping! The kids love it, I love it and we all get some good exercise! Oh...and anyone who has carried a 20 month old in a baby wrap around the house while vacuuming would feel it counted as an extra calorie burn! :happy:

ladybg81

I will have to disagree just a little. When I am doing normal house cleaning, like vaccuuming or laundry or mopping (normal everyday things to keep my house tidy) I will NOT log. However, if I am doing my twice a year deep cleaning and am sweating my butt off because I am crawling around on the floor, pulling out stoves and fridges, etc, I will log that. HOWEVER, I will only log half the time or less.

irishrose22

I am a stay at home mom and i own a home daycare. I do not count daily chores in my exercise, however if I deep clean for a day here and there I would log some of it, not all of it. Deep cleaning is alot of work and I sweat. Its not something that is slow. I make a list and see how fast i can get everything done (scrubbing floors, tubs, toilets, windows, walls, etc) and I always wear my HRM.

mandapanda001

I don't even see why this is an issue? There are so many other things to worry about in the world other than what someone logs as exercise, just sayin' :-)

feliciapeters

I agree a quick floor mop & dusting, probably shouldnt be counted.

and cleaning YOUR house may not be exercise, but I have 4 kids, 3 dogs & a husband and after I've spent 3 hours, vacumning, (which includes moving EVERY piece of furniture in the house) steam cleaning carpets, dusting, scrubbing bathrooms, washing floors on my hands & knees, scrubbing tile as well as about 20 other things that I could probably add...........and that is my NORMAL Saturday cleaning, after a full 40-50 hr work week, and no, I DO NOT COUNT, regular daily stuff, like picking up stray shoes, folding laundry & cooking dinner, giving the kitchen a quick sweep after dinner.

DO NOT, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES tell me that it's not exercise. Come over one day and do it FOR me..............THAT'LL change your attitude.

BTW I do this AFTER an hour at the gym, and frankly, why do you care what ANYONE does as exercise?

nisijam5

I am still wondering why nobodies kids are helping with all these chores??? I think that should be the hot topic of conversation...

baisleac

I am still wondering why nobodies kids are helping with all these chores??? I think that should be the hot topic of conversation...

Mine's 20 months old. Sometime she "helps" Daddy put her toys in the toybox, but I don't know if HE considers it actual help. :bigsmile: She will, however, have chores at an appropriate age.

nisijam5

I am still wondering why nobodies kids are helping with all these chores??? I think that should be the hot topic of conversation...

Mine's 20 months old. Sometime she "helps" Daddy put her toys in the toybox, but I don't know if HE considers it actual help. :bigsmile: She will, however, have chores at an appropriate age.

hmmm, that is the source of all the housework right there...if we eliminate the children, we won't have to argue over housework being exercise or not...problem solved

nisijam5

oops, double post

feliciapeters

I am still wondering why nobodies kids are helping with all these chores??? I think that should be the hot topic of conversation...

My kids do help.
The 8yr old empties the dishwasher nightly & sets the table for dinner,

the 10yr old loads & clears,

the 17yr old (who has a job as well as school) cleans the "kids" bathroom & will wash any pots the 10yr old cant fix in th washer,

and until last week the 20yr old (who also has a job) & who just moved out to her own apt, would sweep & hose down the patio area (weather permitting) and take apart the dog crates & clean them, which i think I MAY try to pawn off on the 17yr olds BF - hell I feed him 4 nites a week) and any other little thing I needed at any particular time.


But on Saturday cleaning day, I'd rather they all just left the house and got the heck outta my way

DoReMiFaSoLaTiDo

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