Cleaning as an Exercise

FaugHorn

HECK YES I claim cleaning as cardio. Do you have any idea what kind of mess one husband + a Jack Russell Terrier + a Border Collie can make? If I'm "Cleaning" it means going up and down stairs about 30 times, carrying bags of trash, vacuuming, washing dishes, making a King bed (those fitted sheets are a PAIN) and a host of other moving items. My base level of calories is set for sedentary, I get to claim everything that's not sitting on my *kitten* as cardio and THAT gets me an extra glass of wine each evening

Iamfit4life

when I "Clean" it takes atleast 1.5 hours. And I'm sweating.

So hell yeah, log it

TooFatToFit

I claim it as well. If you think the husband and dogs make a mess, try children!!! Omg, it's a good thing they're cute and that whole maternal instinct thing. If my profile weren't set on sedentary, I wouldn't though, I don't think.

FaugHorn

Wrassling a 25 pound mop dog into a tub has GOT to burn as many calories as an elliptical

AmandaCG

I don't count my everyday chores as exercise because I know that it is factored into my activity level under my settings, BUT heck yes I do count mopping my floors. I work up a crazy sweat AND when I got my HRM, I was curious if I could count it as exercise so I wore it while mopping. My HR was up in the fat burning zone! I was pretty pleased. Needless to say my floors are spotless and you could eat off them. A quick 115 calories burned every time!

Rikki444

I always count my cleaning day and log it as exercise. It takes me.... sometimes 4 hours to clean my place. To think that I need to start cleaning my windows, baseboards and ceiling fans..... heck yeah, that is a workout!

saintspoon

14 pounds down... it's working for you


I just made a whiney status whining about how a lot of people don't count walking the dog as exercise.. same idea.. When you walk the dog are you not also walking yourself??

JIsh09

Being a mother and having to chase around 2 boys all the time..I call it exercise! That includes cleaning up behind them and going up stairs as well! Especially having to deal with a 2 year old..Terrible 2's like they say.

Helenatrandom

I count it! It's good for me to not get discouraged! If I'm too tired to go to the gym because I was cleaning, I don't have to feel like I failed, but like I chose something different instead! I really tripped myself up with discouragement in the past! Every little thing that can keep me encouraged is a blessing from God! I am SO thankful that this site counts cleaning as an exercise. (And gardening, and cooking....)

poisongirl1

Yeah, I count cleaning too. If I'm spending a few hours cleaning this place up, it better count as exercise because I'm definitely tired afterwards.

EmpressOfJudgment

That's totally legit. I have a collie mix and just sweeping up the hair alone probably earns a meal's worth of calories.

FaugHorn

I count it! It's good for me to not get discouraged! If I'm too tired to go to the gym because I was cleaning, I don't have to feel like I failed, but like I chose something different instead! I really tripped myself up with discouragement in the past! Every little thing that can keep me encouraged is a blessing from God! I am SO thankful that this site counts cleaning as an exercise. (And gardening, and cooking....)

Same thing with gardening! I'm out there weedwacking, pulling weeds, dumping and shoveling mulch

and just for you? ENCOURAGEMENT!

There!

jetscreaminagain

Me too.

zebra1965

There is so many male chauvinistic jokes I could add in here, but I won't My thoughts are if you elevate your heart rate and break a sweat, I would claim some exercise. I count mowing grass for an hour as 100 calories. I'd rather underestimate than over.

FaugHorn

There is so many male chauvinistic jokes I could add in here, but I won't ...

I'm sure we all appreciate your restraint

techymum

I think I have to change my thinking - I am truly the worst "housekeeper" ever. But since I enjoy exercise so much, maybe if I make it more of a cardio/strength type activity I will engage in it more often, lol!

NoAdditives

I'm a stay at home mom so my cleaning is part of my normal daily activity, which is why I'm not set at sedentary. It's easier to have a couple hundred extra calories already factored in than it is to log every single thing I do.

realme56

Seeing as how I do not do the cleaning every day I definitely count it, yard work too (hate yard work) I use the HRM and just calculate based on my average heart rate.

amberleebrock

I count cleaning too!! 1 husband, 3 kids, 2 cats, 1 dog and a new puppy! Keeps me busy cleaning all the time, but I usually only log 2 hours a day unless I am doing a top to bottom clean.

methetree

I clean my Aunt's house once every two weeks and it's a 3400 sq ft house. There is a dog and three adults in that house.
They can't clean it, so I do it... extra good workout and it's a feel good activity... plus, I get paid for it, so it's a huge bonus!
It takes me about 2.5 to 3 hours and it's a lot of work. I count it.
Sometimes, if my house is really dirty, I count it, too.

ChrisStoney

logging cooking might just be pushing it though.....

surfrgrl1

Abso-friggen-lutely I count it! :glasses:

fallenangelloves

logging cooking might just be pushing it though.....

I don't know... By the time I get done prepping, cooking and cleaning my mess I'm exhausted! But then again I cook pretty elaborate meals!

LissaD26

I don't count cleaning, but I'm also a "moderate". I'm up and down the stairs eleventy-billion times a day, chasing my youngest. I also walk my oldest daughter to school and back twice a day, which is an extra mile of walking (in 100+ degrees, too!) I don't count. I only track dedicated "tear-it-up-at-the-gym" calories.

lifeisadancefloor

I was just asking my boyfriend about this today, we are renovating our house, a lot of moving things from one room to another and painting and cleaning up after that. So I log it as exercise I also have mine as sedentary because I have an office job. So I think it's fair, felt a little guilty at first but then I really thought how hard I work, because sometimes I sweat like crazy!

ninerbuff

I only claim it during big cleanings since I clean up daily as part of my "active" profile.

annie_p

logging cooking might just be pushing it though.....

If I'm doing my once-a-month-cookathon where I make a few meals to freeze for my husband, I count it. OR if I'm working at my second job(which is in a kitchen) I count it. I never sit down and am usually running back and forth, lifting heavy racks of dishes from the dishwasher, and carrying boxes of food to and from the walk-in/freezer. I definitely don't count my daily meal-prep/cooking while at home or work, as I don't do much.

Don't count cooking out of the running just yet!