Don't Cheat Yourself.......

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  • Trinity0210
    Trinity0210 Posts: 7
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    If you don't normally play kick ball with your kids, then yea count it LOL, i totally get what you mean!
  • NancyAnne1960
    NancyAnne1960 Posts: 500 Member
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    If I sweat, no matter how small or quick the sweat appears, I log it. After all, I don't sweat in my normal daily routine. Using cleaning seems a safe and reasonable activity. It just adds enough to say I over extended myself during the day, and I may need more food to keep me going.
  • Keegansmum6
    Keegansmum6 Posts: 193 Member
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    If I vacum (which i dont do every day),do alot of bending down,dusting,sweeping I count it,I dont really count picking up my sons toys and dishes as added activity, I also dont count shopping unless it involves going to a big city such as newyork or boston and walking alot then maybe i would count it
  • TS65
    TS65 Posts: 1,024 Member
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    It really depends on your settings. If you are set as sedentary, then anything outside of sitting is basically exercise. I'm set at sedentary, but I only count things that make me sweat & get my heart rate up.

    That being said, I never thought of gardening as exercise - UNTIL I wore my HRM. In 86 minutes, I burned 574 calories. Of course, that included quite a bit of shoveling and digging. You'd better believe I counted it. :wink:

    Oh yea... and if you saw my kitchen floor, you'd take back that statement! (who puts white linoleum in a kitchen... in the country?!? I have a dog, a cat, a 7 year old and a hubby in construction... white is not good. *hands, knees, scrubber brush, hours... ugh!*) :laugh:
  • calmmomw3minimeez
    calmmomw3minimeez Posts: 499 Member
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    When I first started on MFP, the first 2 weeks, I lost about 8lbs by following a specific meal plan and no exercise. Week 3, I started doing like 5min of exercise(had to make myself get started because I HATED exercise) and later worked my way up to doing regular workouts...by week 4-5, I hit a plateau that lasted about 2-3 weeks. I didn't know what to do and then I started to notice some of my friends logging the cleaning, gardening, etc.:noway:

    I felt that it didn't make sense to log something that I did all the time but I was desperate so I tried it anyway...I have been losing consistently every since with the exception of water retention gains once a month:explode: , but of course that goes away.

    I don't always sweat while cleaning(usually I do), but I don't log the entire time either. I guess that whatever you do that is not lying in bed or sitting still is considered exercise, because your body burns calories while sedentary also, so whether you're out of breath or not - it's movement which is exercise.:huh:

    I usually overestimate my food a little, and underestimate my exercise a little which has been working for me, so I think that if you are logging cleaning and gardening as exercise AND YOU'RE LOSING WEIGHT, it's not cheating... it's working.:wink:
  • FairyMiss
    FairyMiss Posts: 1,812 Member
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    it was part of my normal routine I wouldn't log it. I see people logging 'working' 'cleaning' 'sex', surely these are a normal part of our routine? ;)



    heh My boyfriend lives in another state, so some of those things are not a part of m normal routine
  • Barneystinson
    Barneystinson Posts: 1,357 Member
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    I add exercise on here, but I'm hesitant to really do that anymore. I have an idea of how much I'm burning but not an exact figure (even with an HRM) and I do a lot of short burst stuff through the day, spend a lot of the day standing, and goof off on a regular basis...soooooo....

    I'm more of a "lifestyle multiplier" person where I determine my caloric needs through my perceived lifestyle. Because I walk a considerable amount (for an American, maybe) and work out 5-6x weekly I place myself within the moderately active category. Basically ends up being my BMR x 1.6 to determine my maintenance needs. My deficit varies.

    My activity level will go up and down some weeks, of course.

    Cleaning and gardening can be a ridiculous workout, depending. I busted a sweat this morning hauling around laundry...
  • kcavities
    kcavities Posts: 18
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    i set my activity level as either lightly or moderately active--can't remember which--and i still log things like long walks, etc. HOWEVER, i do NOT EAT THOSE CALORIES BACK once they have been accounted-for. i think that's what matters...that's where "cheating oneself" as a concept comes into question.
  • makcarly
    makcarly Posts: 24 Member
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    I logged my cleaning yesterday. I cleaned like a crazy woman and burned like 900 calories according to my Bodybugg. :noway: I never log grocery shopping but my Bodybugg says I burned 1,000 calories in the 3 hours I was out shopping today.

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