Logging 'cleaning' and 'shopping' cals burned etc

SHERRYBERRY11

If Im gonna log every calorie I put in my mouth, then Im gonna log every calorie I burn.....plain and simple!!!!

SafireBleu

I only log it if it is beyond what I would normally do, like 8 hrs of food prep, making traditional foods for the holidays or cleaning where I am climbing ladders and moving furniture or maybe cleaning out the garage. I don't log grocery shopping I'd normally do or cleaning I'd normally be doing anyway. That is included in as calories eaten IMO when you calculate calories and list your lifestyle. I would calculate mowing the lawn or raking leaves stuff like that since I never do those things.

jennieodwyer

I generally only log workouts but when I am shopping for 2-3+ hours I definately log it as well since that is not a regular occurence for me.

4thehardman

Yes, cleaning and shopping should be praised!! Those are both good things to do!!!!

It's whatever works for you!!!!

Yep, my husband praises the cleaning! not so much with the shopping though........it appears I may have found a new addiction!

frugalmomsrock

I don't log my every day cleaning or my regular weekly shopping trips. I did, however, log time yesterday for all the walking I did because it was totally abnormal. I am usually watching football all day on Sundays, and instead, I went Christmas shopping for a total of about three hours (broken by some driving and a nap for the baby at home). So I took it. I would have burned very little watching football on my rump, so I considered it movement I wouldn't normally do.

Diary_Queen

I log cleaning if I break a sweat and keep sweating for at least 20 minutes. If that happens (or if I honestly anticipate it happening), I strap on my HRM and keep track that way. Often, I do track what is called shopping here on MFP, but it's just me walking around Wal-Mart for 2 hours pushing a shopping cart full of 120 lbs. of small children and not buying anything. Usually we do this after a big lunch before we go home. The kids get to play with toys and look at stuff. I get to walk and push them around in the cart. It's not so bad.

Jenn638

i assumed that cleaning just went with your lifestyle when you signed up. so no i don't log it either. only when i do something i wouldn't normally do. like if i deep cleaned the whole house from top to bottom (which would never happen)

SHERRYBERRY11

P. S.

I dont eat the calories back!!!!

chevy88grl

I never clean my own house, we pay my MIL to clean for us. So if I actually run the vacuum, sweep and mop floors, dust and clean toilets, then I promise you I will work up a sweat.

I personally find these kinds of threads insulting and demoralizing. I don't understand WHY anyone else cares what someone logs as exercise. If you have a very obese person who manages to move around their house and do some activity, then why look down on them for logging that as exercise. If same person then complains they are not losing weight and can't understand why, that may be a different story. But to just judge based on what some deem as exercise can be hurtful to those who feel a sense of accomplishment. Try to remember not everyone is in the same place as you.

I completely agree. I don't understand why people care what strangers log as exercise. I don't log my day to day cleaning stuff. I will, however, log lawn mowing (my lawn mower isn't self propelled and is like pushing a tank through sand) and I will also log long, intense cleaning (like steam cleaning or floor scrubbing on my hands and knees). If I'm breaking a huge sweat, I will log it. I may or may not eat back those calories. It just depends.

Everyone is on an individual journey and I'm always so baffled as to why other people are worried so much about what someone else is doing. Focus on your own journey, your own goals, your own success and don't worry about what someone else is doing.

KimmieBrie

I don't care what other people log - some people log cleaning for 15 mins. That's fine.

I have a desk job too - but otherwise, I'm pretty active.

I don't log cleaning. Whether it's every day or every other or once a week - I have always cleaned.
I have always done laundry. I have always vacuumed etc etc. I don't log every walk or set of stairs I take that I
normally would. But that's just me. For example - my husband and I walked all around the city Saturday night looking at lights, bouncing around town, but I did not log it. I only log intentional exercise. But that's just me - do what works for you.

knittygirl52

Here is what I do: there is a certain amount of cleaning and shopping that one does every day. That is just part of my "lifestyle." However, because I work a sedentary job and am out of the house during the day, my life on the weekend is quite a bit different. What I do for cleaning on a Saturday is definitely an aerobic activity, and I log it as such. However, since I know that I am likely to stop for a minute or two here and there to read a piece of mail, or to sort through a stack, I only record it for a portion of the time actually worked. If I clean for 3 hours, I am likely to record it as 1.

As for shopping, again, it depends on what you are doing! I used to go shopping with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law and the pace at which we moved could not have even qualified as "strolling"! I would never enter that! On the other hand, I've power-walked the mall with my sister as she went from one end to the other trying to make a decision on a purchase between two stores at the opposite ends of the mall (this required several trips). Would I log at least some of that? You betcha!

The big thing here is to use common sense and not to try to fool ourselves. If we are honest WITH OURSELVES about what is exercise and what is not, we will do fine.

MB_Positif

Personally only log cleaning when it is way above and beyond anything I would normally do.

_SusieQ_

I never clean my own house, we pay my MIL to clean for us. So if I actually run the vacuum, sweep and mop floors, dust and clean toilets, then I promise you I will work up a sweat.

I personally find these kinds of threads insulting and demoralizing. I don't understand WHY anyone else cares what someone logs as exercise. If you have a very obese person who manages to move around their house and do some activity, then why look down on them for logging that as exercise. If same person then complains they are not losing weight and can't understand why, that may be a different story. But to just judge based on what some deem as exercise can be hurtful to those who feel a sense of accomplishment. Try to remember not everyone is in the same place as you.

I completely agree. I don't understand why people care what strangers log as exercise. I don't log my day to day cleaning stuff. I will, however, log lawn mowing (my lawn mower isn't self propelled and is like pushing a tank through sand) and I will also log long, intense cleaning (like steam cleaning or floor scrubbing on my hands and knees). If I'm breaking a huge sweat, I will log it. I may or may not eat back those calories. It just depends.

Everyone is on an individual journey and I'm always so baffled as to why other people are worried so much about what someone else is doing. Focus on your own journey, your own goals, your own success and don't worry about what someone else is doing.

Yep. The only time I WANT people to care about what I am doing is if I ask. If you have a friend that is stalled and they ask your opinion, then that opens up the opportunity for you to state what you think they are doing wrong. Otherwise it's NUNYA.

calimari

I don't normally log cleaning, but I have in the past week because I have put in a ton of time getting the house ready for Xmas, which we hosted a week early (yesterday). So, by cleaning, I was setting up the tree, decorating it (which involved going up a stepladder, down it, moving it, up/down, move/up down/move to get lights, garland, and ornaments on upper branches). We have extensive decorations, meaning 6 large rubbermaid bins of decorations and several smaller boxes - up and down the stairs. Up the stairs w/ the box, unload it, remove normal knicknacks, store them, dust surfaces, put up XMas decorations, return bins back to basement. So much baking - loading/unloading the dishwasher way more than usual - lots of bending and reaching. So, while I normally don't log cleaning, there was not a day this past week where I did not go to bed completely sore and tired.

morganadk2_deleted

I also log for cleaning, but even if it's vigorous cleaning (tub scrub, vacuuming stairs, etc. and YES! washing the dog I always work up a sweat) I always use the "light-moderate cleaning" to make sure I'm not padding my numbers for the day.

Ever wonder why you can be exhausted after shopping all day? Because you're burning calories while doing it! For a lunch-break quickie store run, I wouldn't enter time, but for 2+ hour mall trip or multiple store stops I would.

I usually use "walking 2.0 miles per hour," be realistic about how much I was actively walking (instead of dawdling and stopping to look at items) and figure that it all balances out in the end.

Like another commenter, after sitting most of the day at a desk, moving around for those 3 or so hours ever day does add up.

i agree with this too, i also sit at a desk most of my time !

StevLL

I don't log cleaning, but in the beginning logged raking the yard and pulling weeds etc. (with five acres its a workout!) Now that I've increased my stamina it's my daily routine, but I still log bucking hay and when I have to dig or when I'm busting a sweat and huffing and puffing. Daily cleaning is in our activity now.
That being said there are a lot of folks with Chronic illnesses etc that can barely move sometimes and cleaning is an excertion for them and I will most definitely cheer them on!

My wife (hootsmamma) has MS and she is hitting the bike and 30 DS like a champ, but 55lbs ago most movement was a workout, so she loggged it. Now mucking a stall is part of her daily activity, but on days where she is hurting it's much more than daily routine, so should you or shouldn't you? I think it's an individuals right to determine what constitutes excercise for themselves and notfor us to judge it.

For those that appear to scoff at the those that do log cleaning etc. I hope your thoughts are from a point of view of experience and not just random judgment.

What we define as excercise for some of us who were athletes in a prior life will be different than those with actual illnesses and disabilities.

vim_n_vigor

If someones activity level is sedentary, and they are doing 'above normal' cleaning and walking, they should probably log it because it isn't a sedentary activity. If I have a marathon shopping day (whole day, carrying kids, etc.) I might log it. If I am moving furniture, steam cleaning, etc. I may log some cleaning, but it has to be very rigorous.

celticmuse

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Everyone is on an individual journey and I'm always so baffled as to why other people are worried so much about what someone else is doing. Focus on your own journey, your own goals, your own success and don't worry about what someone else is doing.
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Excellent point. You need to find what works for you and do that, and not worry about what other people are doing, except possibly to get ideas from other people's successes. But the purpose of MFP is to provide a positive, supportive environment to help everyone achieve their individual goals. As others have noted, there is a wide variety of fitness levels and goals on this board, which makes it interesting.

I do record non-workout activities if they are long and strenuous, and not normal daily activities. I also wear my HRM when I do them, so I have an accurate assessment of the calories burned. I also listed my activity level as sedentary, even though I workout 3-4 times per week.

WifeNMama

Regular every day cleaning, no. Scrubbing out the bathroom or floor, yes. I try to time it accurately and shave off a few minutes to make yp for the mfp excessive calorie burn calculation. I don't think you only have to workout for the workout's sake. I'm pretty sure cleaning up my kids toys all day burns more calories than my 30 minute yoga video does. Most days, my kids are my work out. I don't have the luxury of paying for a gym membership, custom shoes, high tech heart rate monitors and all the neon colored junk north American media insists you need for a good workout. If I didn't use those chores as workouts, most days I wouldn't get much in. My house and kids need my effort, and it's definitely effort.

Why judge people's workout styles?

spookiewon

I agree that MFP's calories burned counts are way too high, but I do base my consumption on calories burned, and my base calories assume sedentary activity, so I do eat back any other calories burned, including those burned shopping and cleaning. As I track ONLY calories at MFP because the food database is so awesome, I don't enter those extra calories here. I've used a Fitbit for tracking those calories until a few weeks ago, when I switched to an UP band because it's easier to not lose--the device, I mean. (I lost three Fitbits in less than two years. At $100 a pop, that's significant.) According to my UP band 5 hours of Christmas shopping burned about 380 calories. This seems about right to me, and this I eat back.

Recent studies show that NEAT, or Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis is more important to weight loss than formal exercise, so I try to include as much of it as possible in my day. I'm disabled and many forms of exercise are not feasible for me, so I do indeed focus on NEAT for much of my calorie burn that is not basal.