Cleaning As An Exercise.

TheDeviation

I just clocked 12.2 calories dusting off my desk at work. You tellin' me that's not exercise? WTF!

baisleac

I wear a BodyBugg and even doing dishes counts... of course, I'm not normally the one doing the dishes and vacuuming and chasing after the munchkin, so I'm not set at lightly active. I know my average daily calorie burn (thanks to the BB) and use that to manually calculate my deficit for MFP; if I do dishes and laundry to help out the hubs, or go antiquing (like this weekend) I can see exactly how many extra calories I burned and darned tootin' I count them.

Accuracy is important in logging. But all of the numbers we use are estimates. And sometimes we just have to go with the best number we can get. However, I think one of the important things to remember is that UNDER logging your exercise is just as bad as overlogging it. You should attempt to be just as accurate in your calorie burns as you are with your calorie intake. Not logging something may be "cheating" just as much logging it, depending on the individual circumstances. ~LadyHawk

meggers123

I also disagree.

If you set your daily activity to moderate, then it's probably just daily activity.

BUT, if you set your daily activity to the lowest (like I do), then count anything that isn't sitting on your butt as "exercise."

I find I get a more accurate calorie count by recording all calories in/out. Of course, I wouldn't use it as my only weekly exercise though.

I'll also log my job (teacher) as walking (slow pace) if I'm wearing my pedometer that day. so? sue me.

lisabstrong

I have a house cleaner so it's not part of my everyday routine...regardless I don't count it as calorie burning...

ziggy67

I'm sorry but I totally disagree....cleaning is movement and movement in whatever form burns calories. Ok it is not going to burn calories as fast as the shreds and zumba's but it will still burn calories...and any movement in whatever form is better than no movement at all.

Bilbobradshaw

I agree and disagree. In my job, I'm often lugging around heavy jugs of milk, giant coffee urns, and garbage bags filled with coffee grinds--I consider this "cleaning" when I clock my calories, because there is no real way of accounting for "carrying heavy barista ****". However, I work a 6-8 hour shift, and usually only clock myself for 30-60 minutes of "light cleaning".

For me, it's a way to acknowledge that I did physical activity that was outside of my normal daily activities without having to go through an figure out exactly how many calories I burned while doing it.
So, mental laziness, essentially.
I'm very lazy with my math.

However, if your house is large enough, doing regular house maintenance can be really physically demanding. Though I live in a small apartment now, I grew up in a large three story house on a farm, and I know doing something simple like laundry or vacuuming actually did require a bit of physical effort. It's sort of like how some people consider walking a form of exercise if they do it for long enough.

feliciapeters

I get SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO STEAMED on anything related to this topic

Sorry - Cant Agree
Do I count the NORMALcleaning I do daily/weekly? - No (ie, washing the dinner dishes, straingtening up etc)

BUT if (like this past weekend)

I pull EVERYTHING out of my Son's bedroom, move all the furniture, empty his closet, wash every inch of it incuding the walls, then put it back together again YES I DO COUNT THAT

Do I count mopping my kitchen floor? NO
Do I count moving all the furniture inlcuding my 100lb kitchen table,getting down on my hands and knees with a scrub brush, stripping off the wax, drying & rewaxing the kitchen floor? - (as i didn this weekend) -YES

Do I count normal dusting & running the vacumn in the livingroom - NO
Do I count Moving all the furniture out of the livingroom, scrubbing all the baseboards, getting on a ladder, going up & down 30 times (& moving it around) & steaming cleaning the carpet - YES

I DONT however, count the entire time ( i use about 1/2) AND I dont count it at all if I skipped the gym that day.

If I clean my *kitten* off for 5 or 6 hours and go to the gym, am I going to add it to exercise so I have a slice of pizza or a cup of coffee & my favorite biscotti when Im done? HELL YES. I think I friggin deserve it after all that hard work. Not to mention, I probably drink 10-12 8oz glasses of water while I do it.

COME TO MY HOUSE AND DO IT FOR ME THEN TELL ME THATS NOT EXERCISE

As far as I'm concerned, ANYTHING you always did WHILE YOU WERE GAINING WEIGHT (including running around as a waitress or a nurse or walking to get a bus or train SHOULDNT be considered exercise. I mean, you were allready doing it & you still became overweight.

HOWEVER, once you start adding "more" in ANY shape or form,THATS the part that I feel you should count. SO if you always walked 1/2 mile to catch a bus, no, dont count it. BUT if you have decided to walk to a bus stop that 1/4 mile farther away, by all means, count the extra 1/4.

If you always moved the furniture to vacumn, dont count it, but But if you decide to move all the living room furniture out of the room before you vacumn, then yes, count it.

And besides it's really no ones business but MINE what I chose to count and what I dont. If it works for me, what does ANYONE else care

prettytoxic

So hang on, I'm supposed to work 10 hours a day and then come home and clean too?!
I don't have time to clean EVERY day. I have a job and my boyfriend has a job. We're both too tired after work to be able to clean.

Sunday is cleaning day for me
[although because of the current riots I'm not able to work but still my point stands]

ilookthetype

And here I was thinking they were being "G" rated about some hanky panky.

KayteeBear

I agree to a point just like everybody else. Regular, every day cleaning...no. But if I'm spending at least an hour cleaning, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, laundry, washing dishes...then I would count it. Otherwise I don't.

Honestly I only count "true' workouts personally. Like workout videos and swimming and walking (if it's meant only for a workout) I don't count things like walking to the grocery store but that's just my personal preference.

futurekilousky

Would i count it ? Nope.
Do i care if some one else does ? Nope.
It amazes me how many people on here are so bothered , annoyed , irked, or any other such thing by the littlest things that other people do, or dont do..

Agreed

meggers123

And here I was thinking they were being "G" rated about some hanky panky.

OMG! I totally do that! It seems less obvious than "aerobics"... guess the secret's out. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

TDGee

Have you met my kids and SEEN my house?! Now, someone call the glue factory.

KnottyRae

And here I was thinking they were being "G" rated about some hanky panky.

I your face buddy.

ajk828

wait, you're telling me that's NOT how you log sex as an Exercise?

allie1904

I don't log:

12.5 Hour shifts as a nurse
Cleaning
Walks to and from the bus stop
Cleaning out the bunnies and Guinea Pigs

That's part of normal life is it not and that is part of your normal activity level. I do a massive clean once a week and that doesn't get logged.

The only exercise I log is stuff that I don't have to do as part of everyday life such as going for a swim, going to the gym, going for a run (not to get to a destination) etc

feliciapeters

Have you met my kids and SEEN my house?! Now, someone call the glue factory.

I KNOW those kids they live at my house, (somedays it also seems like ALL their friends too) plus the 3 dogs 5 hamsters & 2 hermit crabs

ilookthetype

And here I was thinking they were being "G" rated about some hanky panky.

I your face buddy.

Same to you :blushing:

wait, you're telling me that's NOT how you log sex as an Exercise?

^Yeah, I'm totally serious. It is why I NEVER count my cleaning...I don't want people to um, know. I thought this was the MFP standard. Am I wrong? *Actually serious, for once*

stormieweather

I wear a Fitbit and let me tell you, I don't burn anything worth counting in cleaning my house. (I wish!!!)

Think about it. I'm a sedentary individual - I work 2 desk jobs.

For my gender, weight, and height:

The difference between sedentary (desk job) and lightly active (works out 1-3x a week) works out to a 10 calorie per hour difference.

The difference between sedentary (desk job) and moderately active (works out 3-5x a week) works out to a 20 calorie per hour difference.

So, if I spend 3 hours being moderately active, I've earned an extra 60 calories. According to my Fitbit, the ONLY time I ever hit the "active" zone is when I'm running. Mopping, scrubbing toilets, yardwork, etc. are all moderate activities. Walking to my car or through the grocery store is lightly active, meaning I get an extra 20 calories for a 2 hour shopping trip.

Be realistic in your calculations.

Pfauxmeh

Woah, so many pissed off people. Look, however you want to justify it, it's not what I would consider at least 30 minutes of strenuous exercise. If it were, I would probably have dropped the weight by now and have the arm strength of a body builder because I'm a cleaning fool. I don't feel like I got a fantastic work out cleaning...it's just extra to the work load I do in my daily life.

Opinion, fine, I'll wave the white flag and bow to the classification. But be realistic. Who burns 800 calories in an hour of work?

As for yardwork...I didn't say anything about yardwork. Read, people!

Just sayin'.

muffindowd

And here I was thinking they were being "G" rated about some hanky panky.

OMG. I have been caught by a MFP friend of mine...I do this!!

Pfauxmeh

Where's that dead horse GIF when you need it...

Check the eating back you exercise calores, HGC, or TOM threads.

right here

Rofl. Myyyyy bad.

ilookthetype

And here I was thinking they were being "G" rated about some hanky panky.

OMG. I have been caught by a MFP friend of mine...I do this!!

I just won life. :laugh:

Skinny_foodie

I feel this post has been answered and yet I'm still going to add my two cents, you are likely to burn as many calories scrubbing a floor or doing heavy cleaning as you do say walking a mile. I walk a mile here and there in my everyday life but I'm going to count it when I walk a solid mile say here to the post office, why wouldn't I count it if I scrub the floors?

That said, totally scrubbed the floors this weekend and did not count it... to each there own, good luck on your journey!

rhodenizer

Interesting topic, it is everyday life for sure, does it work up a sweat depends, can it be part of your exercise routine, most definitely but you have to make it an exercise. So just don't push the vaccum around the floor. As you are vaccuming, stand tall, put on foot out further than the other and lunge into each pass you make across the floor, change hands and foot postion and do several lunges per side. When washing windows do side stretches as you reach to the top of the window and side bends as you work towards the bottom. Dusting is good for wrist circles. Use each of your cleaning tasks as an exercise and then log those movements into your calorie burnt count. Oh and I imagine arguing about wether it is or isn't an exercise counts too. :drinker:

spikess

If it were, I would probably have dropped the weight by now and have the arm strength of a body builder because I'm a cleaning fool.

i log it an i've lost near enough 90lbs


i think it all just depends on the person an how active a person is, me... i'm a lazy git with my profile set to the lowest activity setting, so that is why i count it, but only if it's been over an hour.

i personally don't care if people do or don't log it, or think it is/isn't exercise, all that matters is what works for you.

Qarol

I laugh when I see someone who posts that

I laugh at how much MFP is estimating the calories burned.

TTHdred

My suggestion (for those seeking actual clarification on how to use this option) would be to read this post on active levels. Long, but worth the read.

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

Tobi1013

My suggestion (for those seeking actual clarification on how to use this option) would be to read this post on active levels. Long, but worth the read.

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

You beat me to the punch!! That thread might need a bump...

shydaisi

I totally disagree!! I have myself set to sedentary since I work a desk job, so I feel that if I spend four hours cleaning my entire house on a Saturday OR if I just vacuum and tidy up generally for a half hour on a weekday that I can certainly count it. It's not my only exercise by ANY means, and I don't necessarily eat the calories back...but why not count it if you are not sitting on your butt??

Exactly!