Do you count every day stuff?

chubswonky

I noticed a few of my friends do count things like cleaning the house or doing gardening work. I always feel like I'm not 100% sold that calories burned are accurate for that stuff or if it even counts as additional exercise.

What do you guys think? Do you log things like that?

(Today I logged in my cleaning because I've been feeling particularly down in the dumps)

tabi26

The way I see it is if you didn't clean your house before or you didn't garden before then go right ahead and log it. But if you did clean your hosue and you always had a garden thenm clearly those things wer not helping lose weight before so why would they 'count' now?? Just my opinion though.

LizC26

I only log cleaning or yard work when it's something out of the ordinary and hard...Like completely re-arranging a room or (last month) cleaning out our pool and re-leveling it....I don't log doing dishes or washing laundry....

eeeekie

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/291071-activity-level-and-logging-exercise

SoldierDad

I only count it if its super ot outside. When I mow for an hour plus in 105 heat that is exercise. Cleaning my house in comfort isn't exercise. Swimming with the kids I sometimes count, sometiems don't. But really I only log my exercise 25% of the time anyway.

caroline150

I agree, that's a good way to look at things. I've wondered the same thing, OP.

maddymama

Nope... I only log actual exercise.
The only exception to that is the day we moved, when I knew I was going to be carrying furniture and heavy boxes and moving up and down stairs all day long.

ChanMay

Because I have a desk job, I have my daily activity level set at the lowest so on the weekend, if I do a really good house cleaning, the move the furniture, sweep, mop.. work up a sweat then yes I count it. The normal everyday kind, I don't count those.

Jamielynn1028

It's definitely burning something. Especially if you go into the cleaning with the intention of working a little harder just to burn some off. We took a walking tour of a dairy farm yesterday, I counted it. I lowered the pace for the walking, but it was still a good 50kcal gone. Try not to feel too down! : )

Atlantique

Here's a great blog post that explains how to accurately set your Activity Level and based on that, what you should add as exercise: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ladyhawk00/view/activity-level-and-logging-exercise-125513

vkpmusic

If it's something I do normally, like laundry. No.
If it's something extra intense like spring cleaning. Yes.

My reasoning for this is that I'm so small (5'3) that my weight loss calories are at very close to the minimum recommended for women period for regular metabolic function (1200) so if I do something out of the norm, I want to make sure I don't under eat.
That being said, every once in a while I count it to make myself feel better to. Kind of...look! I am being active!

Remember, to each their own. One plan fits all does not work.

Good luck!

HeidiMightyRawr

If they have their lifestyle as "sedentary" and do alot of cleaning or it's their job then fair enough, sounds OK. It all depends really on what you have your lifestyle as, you wouldn't set your lifestyle as active because you workout every day, and then still add in your workout calories - same goes for cleaning, you wouldn't have it as lightly active or active purely because you do alot of housework and then account for it later.
Figure out what works for you best, personally I would change the activity level and only log specific workouts, but that's just what works for me :-)

JoceyyySmall

If it works for you, and that's where youre getting your main exercise from then log it. I personally don' log things like walking to the store or around town because well I have to do that everyday because I couldn't get anywhere if I didn't. While I try to walk quickly everywhere for a little bit of an exercise I just decided not to log it because my workouts at the gym are more intense. I think its a personal choice really.

JulieBoBoo

If I work up a sweat I log it. If I don't, I don't.

Having said that, I don't log every single activity I do, nor do I log every single bite of food or do more than eyeball measure most of the time. Some people object to that.. it works for me.

I also don't have a HRM and that also works just fine for me.

You need to figure out what works for you.

AreneeS22

If its stuff that I do everyday, I dont log it, because when you set up your account and it asks how active you are, I already factor in how much cleaning and such I do, and my usual shopping, etc... If its like, extreme cleaning, or something like that thats out of my norm, then I do log it, but I try and subtract the amount of time I usually spend on that so that Im only logging the extra time... but thats just me, I dont want it to give me extra calories to eat back during the day if they're not really there..

luscadero

I only count stuff that really feels like hard work - scrubbing the floors on my hands and knees, for example. It's really rare. However, I do count "playing guitar rock/roll band standing" as exercise :laugh:

mikethom

If, you have listed your lifestyle as sendentary then I think that stuff should count, but if you lead an active lifestyle already then probably not. Another way to look at it is if the activity is enought to get your hear-rate up and break a sweat then it is probably worth logging...

Just my $0.02

szczepj

I tried it a few times but I felt like it didn't really count since I'd do it anyway.

mindy14456

I don't ever log those things I have been doing forever, unless it is super tough, like in and out of the attic, moving furniture, etc. I do log gardening if it is particularly hard, only because it isn't something that I do all the time. I do log the "traditional" exercise every day though.

carl1738

I only log cleaning or yard work when it's something out of the ordinary and hard...Like completely re-arranging a room or (last month) cleaning out our pool and re-leveling it....I don't log doing dishes or washing laundry....

Exactly. If it's above and beyond what you normally do in a day, feel free to log it.

sheffiej34

I think it's personal preference. Any bit of activity you do will add to total calories burned. I choose not to add daily routines, just the intentional exercise. But that's me ..

Blackthorne99

I noticed a few of my friends do count things like cleaning the house or doing gardening work. I always feel like I'm not 100% sold that calories burned are accurate for that stuff or if it even counts as additional exercise.

What do you guys think? Do you log things like that?

(Today I logged in my cleaning because I've been feeling particularly down in the dumps)

The way I look at it is that the system only calculates your basal metabolism by a normal sedentary day. If there is an activity that you do for 20 minutes or more, count it. Besides which - your body is going to know how to properly track it, whether you write it down or not - so why not write it down?

For example - I count "playing pool" because I am on a Billiards team, and I play twice a week. This is NOT a "normal daily activity" because I don't do it every day. What I would normally be doing at that time would be MORE sedentary (sitting in front of the computer) so for me - it counts.

eates

I don't log every day stuff. Stuff that is out of the norm (like today I raked the backyard because we didn't get it mowed last weekend) I count, but if I don't wear my HRM then I only log it for 1/2 the amount of time.

megankayden

I log it if I am doing it for more than an hour, I have lot's of stairs so if I am lugging 4 or 5 loads of laundry up and down the stairs, vacuum the whole house, scrub the floors etc then I log it. It makes me work harder if I know I am going to log it and work up a sweat. I crank the tunes and really move!! (I have a 7 month old baby so I have to clean like Speedy Gonzales anyway to do as much as possible before he get's tired of watching me! LOL
(If I am doing dishes or tidying then no)

ShellyLee

I totally count mowing the yard with the push mower, took me two freaking hours last week because it was so thick that I had to push really slowly or else bog down the mower and have it shut off. It sucks and I sweat buckets lol. I don't log things like laundry, dishes, vacuuming though...

shydaisi

Basically, if I break a sweat, I count the activity. I don't always re-eat my exercise calories, so if they didn't *count*, it isn't really hurting me anyway. Of course, I have a desk job and rarely move during the day, so I have my caloric level set on sedentary; if my activity level for the day is not sedentary, I feel I should log the extra activity - but only if I break a sweat!

momandboys4

I don't count any of that stuff..... To me that is all standard stuff you do on a daily or weekly basis..... To me it is the above and beyond scope of your usual day..............

LisaMariaCallow

If I've busted a sweat cleaning or done something like washing the car I count that. I broke my foot last month & haven't been able to "work out" so I wear my pedometer to make sure I get in at least 10000 steps...those steps/miles/calories add up!!

Oishii

I counted EVERYTHING when I was on 1200, including time spent cooking or washing up, and I still lost faster than mfp thought I should. Now that I'm maintaining it makes more sense, as I've found my maintenance calories are round about 2250, so what mfp thought was a 3,500 a week deficit was in fact more like 7,000.

Now I'm counting things like walking, even if I do it every day, because it motivates me to go faster or further, and hopefully get fitter in the process.

IMHO, as long as you are fairly consistent and keep an eye on your results, it should work.

knowmydestiny

until today i logged only actual exercise. today i did hours of yard work at someone else's house. i only logged 1 hour though