Laundry as exercise

mustnothrowcantelopes

Anyone ever tried logging it and if so what do you log it as ? Also, the question comes to mind, is it recommended to log every day activities such as dishes, laundry, walking, running around at work as exercise or are they just factored in as how active are you on a regular basis?

This may sound like "cheating" or maybe not, but sometimes, when I feel like I'm about to go over or I don't have too many calories left for the day, I sometimes have the urge to log things like dishes or the walking I do at work to give myself some extra calories so I don't end up feeling bad or like I'm going over. Anyone else feel this way?

I mean , the argument can be, that although a person is not doing any heavy cardio, when doing laundry, if you're doing like 10-12 loads , on a hot summer day , like this, and you're going back and forth between your apt. and the laundry place, one can get really hot and sweaty. I guess to me that should count for something, but maybe it doesn't.

cckeimig

Well, if you're hauling bunches of loads of laundry around (especially if stairs are involved), it could be counted, I should think, but only if the time (# of minutes) involved is worth logging, you know? In general, though, daily activities are taken into consideration when we mention our activity level in the goal-setting area of the site.

Hope this helps!

dracobaby82

Glad you added the part at the end... you are definitely burning some calories hauling all those loads to and from... I would count it!

pitbullmama

if its enough to make me sweat I log it.

MindyBlack

I don't ususally add housework to my excercise unless it is something extaordinary. Having said that I do occasionally lug a load of laundry upstairs or down during my normal morning routine of jogging my stairs. If it is something outside of your normal routine I would say you could add it. But I figure that my normal housework is included what "activity level" I indicated when signing up with MFP.

mustnothrowcantelopes

Hmmm...well if I did log it, what would I log it as?

toots99

There's a way to log it under cleaning.

But my .02 is I wouldn't log normal, every day chores unless it's something you've never done before. Me, personally...I got fat while doing laundry and cleaning...it didn't do me any favors before, and therefore I don't think it will now.

This is going to open op a whole can of worms, as usual. :laugh:

healthyjen342

if its enough to make me sweat I log it.

What they said ^^^....I feel the same way..yesterday I logged my grocery shopping...I spent 3 hours walking, unloading; toting a toddler, unloading, putting away...and that's not something I do daily...shopping like that is NOT often...

Some people have opinions and say that Cleaning isnt exercise....you do what is best for YOU! Everyone is different..and whatever movement you can get in..PLEASE DO IT!! And dont you get get discouraged by what others say...it's YOUR exercise diary...shoot, I've logged moving furniture..I don't do that everyday either...

toots99

if its enough to make me sweat I log it.

What they said ^^^....I feel the same way..yesterday I logged my grocery shopping...I spent 3 hours walking, unloading; toting a toddler, unloading, putting away...and that's not something I do daily...shopping like that is NOT often...

Some people have opinions and say that Cleaning isnt exercise....you do what is best for YOU! Everyone is different..and whatever movement you can get in..PLEASE DO IT!! And dont you get get discouraged by what others say...it's YOUR exercise diary...shoot, I've logged moving furniture..I don't do that everyday either...

She's right...there are many opinions on this. All you can do is go by whatever works for you. No one else can tell you what you can or can't log.

Pebble321

I think it depends what you have your daily activity level set as, you don't want to be counting it twice.
- If you are set at for sedentary and you rarely do any exercise that makes you sweat then you could count it.
- If your activity level is set for lightly active or higher, then it has set your daily calorie allowance to include this kind of activity.

For example, I walk to and from the bus stop twice a day and quite often do extra short walks through the day, and carry resources up and down stairs and into the car. I changed my daily activity level from sedentary to lightly active and I don't count these extra walks and activities. If I logged them into my diary I would be counting them twice.

suzooz

I think it depends what you have your daily activity level set as, you don't want to be counting it twice.
- If you are set at for sedentary and you rarely do any exercise that makes you sweat then you could count it.
- If your activity level is set for lightly active or higher, then it has set your daily calorie allowance to include this kind of activity.


I agree with this -- if you have marked your lifestyle as sedentary, then chances are you should log it, since you are burning calories. Chances are if you are lightly active, this is already included. Listen to your body -- if it's telling you that you are a little hungry, chances are you may be burning a few more calories than you think.

I know that there are some people who don't believe in logging these types of activities, but they do burn calories, and you should take that into account. Here's an example of something that happened to me:

I went shopping one Friday evening for about 3 hours and didn't log it since it "wasn't exercise". Since I work at a desk job, I had set my activity level to sedantary. I had eaten up to the calorie levels that MFP recommended for that day.

On Saturday, I ate my normal breakfast and went out to mow the lawn, which I do weekly (and log it since I'm sedentary, and it takes about 2 1/2 hours for me to finish). Anyway, I got halfway through the lawn, and felt weak / faint. It was not a hot day, so I became concerned since mowing has become regular "exercise" for me. I wear a Body Bugg daily, so I checked my calories burned from Saturday, and then lookked at the night before. I had burned just as many calories as I had mowing the lawn! Huge deficits both days -- no wonder my body was hurting! I allowed myself some extra calories that day, but didn't actually recover physically until the next day.

Bottom line is that even though these activities are not "exercise", you do burn extra calories, and you should be accounting for them, and particularly if your goals are close to the 1200 calorie/ day mark.

LauraMarie37

I think it depends what you have your daily activity level set as, you don't want to be counting it twice.
- If you are set at for sedentary and you rarely do any exercise that makes you sweat then you could count it.
- If your activity level is set for lightly active or higher, then it has set your daily calorie allowance to include this kind of activity.

For example, I walk to and from the bus stop twice a day and quite often do extra short walks through the day, and carry resources up and down stairs and into the car. I changed my daily activity level from sedentary to lightly active and I don't count these extra walks and activities. If I logged them into my diary I would be counting them twice.

I agree with this except for something that involves carrying 20-30 lbs at a time, 10-12 times, at least a block...I would set the minimum as "moderately active" rather than "lightly active" before not counting it.

So...if you are sedentary or lightly active, I would maybe log this as either cleaning, or maybe the "hiking, carrying 10 pounds or less" (the fact that you are carrying more than ten pounds will make up for the fact that you are not climbing hills like you would while actually hiking). Then estimate the amount of time you were actually walking (not including the loading/unloading of the machines). So maybe 20 minutes of that?

Just my thoughts, but like other people said, figure out what works for you...

sgv0918

I log it as cleaning