"Daily Activity" Exercises

LuLuRunner1

As a rule, even if I do my vigorous cleaning and work up a sweat, I don't log cleaning. I look at those extra burned calories from cleaning the same as the calories from the taste test of food while I'm cooking or a bite of the kids snacks that I'm not logging....and if I lose weight while cleaning and not logging the calories burned, I still win!

karenhs2

I remember first seeing those cleaning posts and thinking, wow, I can log that? I am not the greatest housekeeper so it has actually been motivating me to get stuff done and in a very aerobic fashion. (and my activity level is set to sedentary and I am very conservative on logging time for it).

So my house is getting cleaner and I am getting smaller at the same time. Talk about your win win!

Maybe eventually my husband will notice and join me (in losing weight) and eventually I might even get to make a decision about whether or not to log "long, vigorous sex." One can dream...

Pebble321

I keep my pedometer on me at all times and I log in my calories burned to this site based on what it says. That way i know its very accurate.

As long as you aren't counting those calories twice - remember that MFP has already calculated "daily activities" in your calorie allowance, which would include a bit of walking around even at a sedentary setting.
But, if what you are doing it working, keep it up!

yogamom16

Wait... how do we log sex?

kp_88

I only log it when I'm doing more than my activity level. Like the other day I seriously deep cleaned my house moving everything organizing for three hours. I logged two hours and exercised that night as well.

savage22hp

The closer you are to your goals the less some of the more unorthodox or mundane activities will be of benefit , but just as you should log every tablespoon of margarine you should log the activities that will benefit you by burning calories . It's all about cause and affect and training yourself to recognize what your output on a normal day is so you can moderate your caloric intake . Diets come and go with differing results but changing your lifestyle in the real world has to include what you will do when you no longer are " dieting " . ( my opinion , you are welcome to make it yours )

savage22hp

When I first started, I logged everything... like going shopping for groceries I'd log as walking 2mph. It got me into the habit of moving more, and kept me out of the habit of depriving myself.

Sometimes I'll still log cleaning, if it's a marathon "going to have company over" type of cleaning, where I move furniture to vacuum under it and stuff like that. The time I didn't log it, I lost two pounds that week, while aiming for a half pound.

And I'll still log shoveling snow and mowing the lawn. If it's something I only do every two weeks or so (hopefully only every two weeks or so), it's not part of my normal routine.

Yes , exactly . It is a matter of where you are in your weight loss .

tya2007

You should not knock what poeple do on here. You don't know there reason. There are poeple I know so big that everthing they do counts. Any good Dr. will till you the same. I wish you all the best in your workouts. But please respect what poeple put. We are here to help each other.

tya2007

Where can I get a good pedometer at a low cost?

crzyone

I am obese. I was living a sedentary life. When I first started I needed to "just get my body moving" so I logged and still log anything that is "out of the ordinary" for me. The more I move the easier life gets!! It works for me!!!

Just_Dot

When I know I'm going to have a marathon cleaning session...as in one that's going to take more than an hour, or I'm cleaning the garage, doing heavy yard work, etc. I totally wear my HRM to see what I'm burning. It's always higher than the "vigorous cleaning" setting (for me anyway) so I log that crap. Again, it depends on what your regular activity is, and what you have your levels set to. To the people who are complaining? Why does it matter to you? I know there is a huge social aspect to MFP, and I love that part of it, but in the end, my goals are my goals, and I'll get to them how I see fit.

bjfmade

It makes it really hard on people to honestly post something that they don't understand and be attacked about it. I am glad you were able to better understand logging now. All of us, at one point or another, were beginners at this site and we had lots of questions. I am thankful to those who took the time to explain things to me. Merry Christmas everyone. Here is to a wonderful 2012, I for one, am looking forward to it.

sagetracey

I pay a housekeeper so that I don't have to do my own cleaning therefore it is not a part of my normal activity. When she goes on holidays, is sick or otherwise unable to clean and I have to do it myself, then I will count and log it because it is not a normal part of my activity.

For me, I log anything that is above and beyond my usual activity.

MaraDiaz

I'd log sex if I was getting any. Not sure how my hypothetical partner would feel about me checking my HRM before, during, and after, though! :bigsmile:

dia77

it's starting to frustrate me seeing people posting things like cleaning the house, getting the mail, and sex under their exercise. maybe i'm just ignorant, and should be posting that kind of stuff. to me cleaning the house does make me sweat, but nothing like actually working out. what gets me is seeing the calorie count "burn" of doing it like 300-400 calories for some of it. am i missing something? i don't mean to sound like a whiner or anything, i just don't count any of that, and maybe i should be? i only count actually working out.

I think you are wrong. As a fact , cleaning my house is my workout. I have a health problem and for now , this is it . Not everybody is in a shape to work out at the gym.

ajbeans

I remember first seeing those cleaning posts and thinking, wow, I can log that? I am not the greatest housekeeper so it has actually been motivating me to get stuff done and in a very aerobic fashion. (and my activity level is set to sedentary and I am very conservative on logging time for it).

So my house is getting cleaner and I am getting smaller at the same time. Talk about your win win!

This is actually the biggest reason I started logging it. "Dude, if I clean my house I can have an apple with peanut butter? SWEET!" :laugh: I'm all about exercising to earn extra food, and if cleaning gets me more, I'm gonna have a Martha Stewart house!

The way I look at it is this: your body keeps a pretty accurate record of calories in/calories out. It doesn't care what you log. So if you want to try it, log it, and eat the calories, and if it works for you, awesome! If you gain weight, then something's not accurate on MFP's end, so stop logging them. MFP seems to have fairly accurate burns for me on many things, so I just go with it, but it doesn't seem to be accurate for most people. You just have to try it and find out.

lain8609

Every little step counts! Please remember that your body uses energy for all sorts of tasks. Of course I don't consider everyday tasks such as taking out the trash a workout but it does effect the amount of calories your body needs. For some people who want to lose weight but still need that little bit of motivation being able to log all that stuff makes them feel closer to their accomplishment. Of course they do need to take a step back and ask themselves if they are being honest with the amount of calories that were truly burning doing that task. I admit I started off logging EVERYTHING I did but after a while I got frustrated because I saw everything I was doing and my weight wasn't going down fast enough. That's when I discovered that you truly get what you pay for. If you're not truly putting an effort into changing your lifestyle then you won't see the results. Either way I found that after logging the little things that I truly had to change my lifestyle and get some actual excersice in. So even though it may be frustrating to see people log that stuff, it's a good indication that they are thinking on the right path and will sooner than later jump into thier fitness lifestyle.

Sweet_Potato

I remember first seeing those cleaning posts and thinking, wow, I can log that? I am not the greatest housekeeper so it has actually been motivating me to get stuff done and in a very aerobic fashion. (and my activity level is set to sedentary and I am very conservative on logging time for it).

So my house is getting cleaner and I am getting smaller at the same time. Talk about your win win!

This is actually the biggest reason I started logging it. "Dude, if I clean my house I can have an apple with peanut butter? SWEET!" :laugh: I'm all about exercising to earn extra food, and if cleaning gets me more, I'm gonna have a Martha Stewart house!

The way I look at it is this: your body keeps a pretty accurate record of calories in/calories out. It doesn't care what you log. So if you want to try it, log it, and eat the calories, and if it works for you, awesome! If you gain weight, then something's not accurate on MFP's end, so stop logging them. MFP seems to have fairly accurate burns for me on many things, so I just go with it, but it doesn't seem to be accurate for most people. You just have to try it and find out.

That's how I feel. If fun or productive calories somehow didn't "count," I'd have a messy house and unswept yard, and I'd have no time to do the things I really enjoy. I think it is entirely possible to get physical acitvity in ways that aren't forced exercise.

Besides, according to MFP 1 hour of "Cleaning, heavy, vigorous effort" burns 158 calories, and I typically don't do more than an hour of vigorous cleaning a week. Even if MFP is overestimating the calories burned by a factor of two, that means I'm eating about 80 calories more than I should be every week. Big deal!

vjrose

Wow, ask an innocent question and get chided. I get you girl, I don't log any of it because mine is set to active but I think many folks who work in offices have theirs set to sedentary and need to log those calories since they are outside of their setting. I agree that if my 30 minutes on a rowing machine going pretty hard gets me 200 calories then perhaps some of the burns are a bit high but like others said, no worries. Some folks just need to put a negative spin on any question no matter how lightly you ask it.