Logging 'cleaning' and 'shopping' cals burned etc

stormieweather

I wear a Fitbit and track every day's calories. I do not log cleaning or my normal, weekly shopping trips. However, I took a vacation day last Friday and spent more than 6 hours walking the mall. According to my Fibit, I walked 5 miles during that time and burned 450 calories. I logged 2 hours. My daily calories were much higher than normal, so yeah...I logged them. But I'm not trying to lose weight anymore, just tracking what I eat and do.

AshDHart

It really depends on the individual and where they are coming from. I've been on oxygen since March and was very sedentary when I started here. Pulling everything off the bed and remaking it could take me 15 minutes and my heart rate would hit in the 140's. Tell me I wasn't burning more calories compared to sitting on my butt on the couch. :happy: Cleaning was not part of my routine as I couldn't stand up long enough to load the dishwasher. Heck, this year is the first time in I don't know how long that I have actually done a load. Seeing how all those "little" activities calories added up motivated me to do as many of those "little" things everyday.

I have lost 77 lbs since March so I think it's been working. As I get more active I don't count as much as it becomes less of a workout for me and more of a daily routine.

I do have a question for those that only log planned activities and not general stuff like a walk to view the lights. If I don't plan to run but find myself in the middle of a zombie outbreak and have to run my butt off do those calories not count? :bigsmile:

stormieweather

It really depends on the individual and where they are coming from. I've been on oxygen since March and was very sedentary when I started here. Pulling everything off the bed and remaking it could take me 15 minutes and my heart rate would hit in the 140's. Tell me I wasn't burning more calories compared to sitting on my butt on the couch. :happy: Cleaning was not part of my routine as I couldn't stand up long enough to load the dishwasher. Heck, this year is the first time in I don't know how long that I have actually done a load. Seeing how all those "little" activities calories added up motivated me to do as many of those "little" things everyday.

I have lost 77 lbs since March so I think it's been working. As I get more active I don't count as much as it becomes less of a workout for me and more of a daily routine.

I do have a question for those that only log planned activities and not general stuff like a walk to view the lights. If I don't plan to run but find myself in the middle of a zombie outbreak and have to run my butt off do those calories not count? :bigsmile:

Only if you survive!!

chyloet

Well, my understanding is that the calorie requirement is based on the minimum calories that you would burn just breathing so, technically ANYTHING you do CAN be tracked. So, I think that the question is ... SHOULD or DO you?

I personally don't track anything that isn't above and beyond normal daily activitiy. That being said, I wear my HRM on my "big cleaning" days (ie, days that I vacuum, dust, mop, laundry, scour bathrooms, etc) and track them. However, I walk my dogs every night after work and I do not track that, I just don't feel that I get my heart rate up enough to warrant it. I guess that's how I decide wether or not I will track it as exercise.

Jebo200

What about walking the dog...?

msbobbitx

I log it if it's more than 30 minutes or if I feel winded. With my sedentary lifestyle and size, I'm definitely burining calories.

Contrarian

I don't clean. :happy:

Barefoot_and_Beautiful

I work as a housekeeper at a hotel and do log my hours at work as exercise, more often out of curiousity to see what I burned. I often work 5+ hours (I know, not a heck of a lot, but when you break it down to a half hour per room, sometimes longer, it makes for a long day). I count it as light to moderate cleaning even though most of it is probably considered 'vigorous' what with cleaning bathrooms, mopping, and vacuuming. I run the stairs instead of taking the elevator when I can and log that as well. I don't even try to eat back all those calories. I try to stick as closely to my 1200 calorie per day allowance, although sometimes I'm over. I don't log shopping, although I probably could, I park waaay in the back of the parking lot so that I have to 'hike' to the store and then back to my car, but I never time how long it takes me to get in, get what I need, and get back to my car.

amoffatt

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

I love this so true! Hard core people with weight loss are big on logging every thing that touches their tounge, so why not those few calories burned through cleaning house....Makes sense. I have a split level, so to do laundry is at least a "million" trips up and down two sets of stairs a day, that has to count for something. I load, unload and stack hay but have a hard time finding a way to log it unless I do it under house cleaning or that kind of work or not at all, but then how will I know exactly what I am burning especially if I need to know exactly what I am eating....:bigsmile:

Raclex

A calorie burnt is a calorie burnt.

Do you log sex :blushing: ? Hey, at the end of the day, it all adds up!

Yes! Not often enough, though!

I can't find that on the list! I have considered logging it in as "wrestling", but I'm not sure how accurate that is! It's not like either of us are trying to get out of the hold....:bigsmile: (and neither of us has ever "lost" a bout! )

Howl out loud... that was funny! But you're right, I've yet to find it... What would we log it under anyways? perhaps I should start a new thread?! LOL

Raclex

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

I love this so true! Hard core people with weight loss are big on logging every thing that touches their tounge, so why not those few calories burned through cleaning house....Makes sense. I have a split level, so to do laundry is at least a "million" trips up and down two sets of stairs a day, that has to count for something. I load, unload and stack hay but have a hard time finding a way to log it unless I do it under house cleaning or that kind of work or not at all, but then how will I know exactly what I am burning especially if I need to know exactly what I am eating....:bigsmile:

I never saw it that way... You are 100% correct!

shawneez75

A calorie burnt is a calorie burnt.

Do you log sex :blushing: ? Hey, at the end of the day, it all adds up!

Yes! Not often enough, though!

I can't find that on the list! I have considered logging it in as "wrestling", but I'm not sure how accurate that is! It's not like either of us are trying to get out of the hold....:bigsmile: (and neither of us has ever "lost" a bout! )

Howl out loud... that was funny! But you're right, I've yet to find it... What would we log it under anyways? perhaps I should start a new thread?! LOL

Here is a website that lets you know how many calories you burn having sex or during foreplay and tons of "other" things....all of this is based on your weight, your age and height...my FITBIT is almost spot on with most things on this site...

http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

Hope I helped end the debate from cleaning to shopping to having sex....:drinker:

amoffatt

My dog out walks me, and shes a smaller one. I tend to walk at a faster pace, but use the walking/walk dog in the exercise part of MFP,

MacMadame

Well, my understanding is that the calorie requirement is based on the minimum calories that you would burn just breathing

It's not though. The minimum calories you burn just existing is your BMR. If you pick "sedentary" as your activity level, the daily calories MFP assigns you is larger than your BMR. It includes a certain amount of activity already.

So then the question becomes, does what MFP assumes for you include things like cleaning and having sex. My experience is that it does. (I don't clean much though. If I did Spring cleaning, I might consider logging it as exercise.)

77tes

I'm pretty sure that cleaning the house burns more calories than sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating chips. So, when I need to burn some calories, I'll go clean a bathroom or scrub down a wall. I call that a win-win. My house is cleaner since joining MFP.

dad106

Today I walked around Chicago( From the Oligive Train Station), to State Street, up and down State St,then to Michigan Ave, then up and down Michigan, and then to the kinder-market and finally back to the train station. I started at 9:23 when we got off the train, sat down for an hour around noon to have lunch and got back on the train at 3:45.. so besides that hour for lunch, I was walking and moving the entire time.

Have I logged it or will I ever log it? No.. because, like I OP, I believe that to be a part of everyday life. You're always going to be walking around shopping somewhere(either running an errand or hare core shopping) or cleaning something. To log it, to me is silly.. but to each their own. I have my profile set as lightly active, so I just consider it extra calories burned and that if I want that extra treat then I can have it!

chevy88grl

I refuse to log cleaning and shopping. Women, as a whole, tend to undercalculate their calories consumed, and overcalculate their calories burned- and it's because we log stuff like this. If it isn't planned, I won't log it.

While it may be physically demanding, and it may get your heart rate up, I don't think you should count it unless it is a planned exercise. When you're walking in a store, you walk maybe a mile or two an hour. That's a very leisurely pace. You'll help yourself in the long run if you do it anyway and just don't log it. Think of it as bonus calories. As long as you consume above your BMR, it's only going to help you out!

As a woman, I can assure that I do not under estimate my calories.

If not logging it works for you, great. But, it really bothers me when I see someone telling someone else what THEY should do. Do what works for YOU, but let everyone else make their own choices. And please, don't generalize about things. I'm betting quite a few people on this site UNDER estimate their calories because they don't want to overeat. So, once again - stop generalizing.

chevy88grl

Double post. Sorry. My pc hiccuped.

krista010105

i just log work outs. the only time i would find it accurate to to log cleaning is when im doing atleast a pure hour of cleaning or more like when i was detail cleaning my old house after we moved out. that was non stop 4 hours of scrubbing twisting pulling and i was sweating head to toe afterwards. and my normal lifestyle is sitting down with my kids. i dont clean a whole lot.

LeanerBeef

Cleaning, shopping, walking the dog (maybe this one), taking a bath, having sex, watching tv, taking out the trash, having a catch with your kid, washing the car, hanging Christmas lights ......none of this stuff is going to help you lose weight - don't log it. You did all this crap while putting on the weight, it didn't turn into exercise when you joined MFP. Why is this the great debate? Exercise is good for you, everything else is life. Exercise more and it makes all this other stuff easier. The end....

JacksMom12

I log whatever I feel like logging and I don't really care what anyone thinks today I logged 2.0 walking (I'm a waitress). I logged my p90x core syn workout, and I logged my cleaning. I'm set as sedentary so I log everything. Just because I log cleaning, it's not the only thing I do. If I ate 100 extra calories because I cleaned my house or if I ate 100 extra calories because I switch my profile from sedentary to lightly active, what's the difference? I'm 10 lbs from goal so I must be doing something right.

Bellyroll

I log for cleaning. My lifestyle is generally sedentary. As a law student, I sit, read, and study ALL day. When I do get around to cleaning, my heart rate goes up and sometimes I even break a sweat. Logging for cleaning is fine if your lifestyle is sedentary because the mere act of cleaning is actually a physical activity to someone who is sedentary.

This is so me. I also log shopping I have actually worn my heart rate monitor and lost mucho cals shopping. But I do go shopping for a long time. it is not an hour thing.

deeharley

I scanned the first three pages of this thread for the little guy beating the dead horse, it's not here. Ya'll are slackin'.

EuroDriver12

Cleaning, shopping, walking the dog (maybe this one), taking a bath, having sex, watching tv, taking out the trash, having a catch with your kid, washing the car, hanging Christmas lights ......none of this stuff is going to help you lose weight - don't log it. You did all this crap while putting on the weight, it didn't turn into exercise when you joined MFP. Why is this the great debate? Exercise is good for you, everything else is life. Exercise more and it makes all this other stuff easier. The end....

true brother!!! might was well logg taking a shower.. brushing ur teeth(oh i brush my teeth for long must burn like 25-30cals!)... takinga dump... heck might as well log the time it takes u to walk to the kitchen n prep some food or grab that bag of chips on the top shelf!

i posted something similar a while back.. maaan i got ripped apart hahaha but its simple.. if you did these things before.. how the heck did they all of a sudden become a excersise or workout just cuz u joined mfp? also easiest weightloss tip.. eat less.. move MORE!

waiting for hate mail from all they keyboard worriers :P

megz4987

I log whatever I feel like logging and I don't really care what anyone thinks today I logged 2.0 walking (I'm a waitress). I logged my p90x core syn workout, and I logged my cleaning. I'm set as sedentary so I log everything. Just because I log cleaning, it's not the only thing I do. If I ate 100 extra calories because I cleaned my house or if I ate 100 extra calories because I switch my profile from sedentary to lightly active, what's the difference? I'm 10 lbs from goal so I must be doing something right.

This. I've lost 70+lb so I guess logging cleaning isn't hurting me. So there.

Lozze

According to Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic, it's more important to move than that it be "planned exercise" in weight loss. He stresses that his studies show that NEAT, or Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, is the best way to lose weight or avoid gaining weight even if you eat too much. He says, "When we perform studies to examine how normal people walk as they go about their business during the day, we find that the velocity is about 1.1 mph. Our research suggests that weaving this kind of walking throughout the day can help overweight people shed far more pounds than they ever dreamed possible." Workouts are not the only way, or even necessarily the best way for some people, to lose weight. If they feel good to you, by all means do them, but anything that isn't sitting on the couch watching TV COUNTS, and it's all many people with chronic pain can manage. It IS judgmental and counterproductive to suggest that counting NEAT is ridiculous.

Getting your NEAT increased is what you are to aim to do. How many weight loss articles state to move more?

My question is does he state to eat these exercises back? That to me is the main point of logging exercise, so you can eat them back, not just to say you've done it.

I log any continuious movement longer than 10 minutes. So I log my 15 min walk to and from work. I DON'T log the stairs I take when I get to work. I log my pitching training, but I don't log the running around I do when I'm coaching t-ball. (it's too stop start)

Even though sex will be longer than 10 minutes I don't log that. Feel like a fool for doing that.

Ultimately people can log whatever they want. But I don't get logging the incediental exercise. That's the stuff you do that's extra. Not to eat it back.

CMmrsfloyd

Cleaning, shopping, walking the dog (maybe this one), taking a bath, having sex, watching tv, taking out the trash, having a catch with your kid, washing the car, hanging Christmas lights ......none of this stuff is going to help you lose weight - don't log it. You did all this crap while putting on the weight, it didn't turn into exercise when you joined MFP. Why is this the great debate? Exercise is good for you, everything else is life. Exercise more and it makes all this other stuff easier. The end....

true brother!!! might was well logg taking a shower.. brushing ur teeth(oh i brush my teeth for long must burn like 25-30cals!)... takinga dump... heck might as well log the time it takes u to walk to the kitchen n prep some food or grab that bag of chips on the top shelf!

i posted something similar a while back.. maaan i got ripped apart hahaha but its simple.. if you did these things before.. how the heck did they all of a sudden become a excersise or workout just cuz u joined mfp? also easiest weightloss tip.. eat less.. move MORE!

waiting for hate mail from all they keyboard worriers :P

B/c before MFP we were not adding up everything we ate and accounting for our physical activity. Before MFP we ate whatever was delicious w/o any consideration for how it stacked up against our activity for the day. Now that we are paying attention to how the food adds up, we also want to see how the activity adds up against it. It's not necessarily that people are suddenly cleaning more (although from my personal experience I can tell you I DID start cleaning a lot more, just so I could throw on my HRM and earn a damn snack, so there! LOL). But if we feel like the amount of cleaning we are doing goes over and above what MFP might calculate in as part of a normal sedentary lifestyle, why does anyone else care? Obviously my particular style of cleaning and logging has worked out just fine for me - 30 lbs in 6 months, not bad for someone my size. Cleaning isn't the ONLY thing I've done, especially the last 2 months as I've been trying to do some actual structured exercise, but it was a big part of my activity in the beginning, back when I was dropping a lb every 4 days.

parys1

@ Cmrsfloyd: exactly this (can't quote properly on my phone)

HoLLyZ82

Cleaning, shopping, walking the dog (maybe this one), taking a bath, having sex, watching tv, taking out the trash, having a catch with your kid, washing the car, hanging Christmas lights ......none of this stuff is going to help you lose weight - don't log it. You did all this crap while putting on the weight, it didn't turn into exercise when you joined MFP. Why is this the great debate? Exercise is good for you, everything else is life. Exercise more and it makes all this other stuff easier. The end....

true brother!!! might was well logg taking a shower.. brushing ur teeth(oh i brush my teeth for long must burn like 25-30cals!)... takinga dump... heck might as well log the time it takes u to walk to the kitchen n prep some food or grab that bag of chips on the top shelf!

i posted something similar a while back.. maaan i got ripped apart hahaha but its simple.. if you did these things before.. how the heck did they all of a sudden become a excersise or workout just cuz u joined mfp? also easiest weightloss tip.. eat less.. move MORE!

waiting for hate mail from all they keyboard worriers :P

B/c before MFP we were not adding up everything we ate and accounting for our physical activity. Before MFP we ate whatever was delicious w/o any consideration for how it stacked up against our activity for the day. Now that we are paying attention to how the food adds up, we also want to see how the activity adds up against it. It's not necessarily that people are suddenly cleaning more (although from my personal experience I can tell you I DID start cleaning a lot more, just so I could throw on my HRM and earn a damn snack, so there! LOL). But if we feel like the amount of cleaning we are doing goes over and above what MFP might calculate in as part of a normal sedentary lifestyle, why does anyone else care? Obviously my particular style of cleaning and logging has worked out just fine for me - 30 lbs in 6 months, not bad for someone my size. Cleaning isn't the ONLY thing I've done, especially the last 2 months as I've been trying to do some actual structured exercise, but it was a big part of my activity in the beginning, back when I was dropping a lb every 4 days.

exactly. i have definitely noticed that i can burn WAY more calories cleaning my house and working in my yard than i can at the gym for 3 hours (bodybugg wearer). exercise is ANYTHING other than being still. like someone mentioned, back in the day there werent weight sets and all that fancy jazz, people WORKED in fields and what not. THIS was exercise. let people log what they want. it sure as *kitten* hasnt stopped us from losing weight....and i really doubt you guys scrub your house for 4-5 hours either or are out digging holes for new plants. Just because you can bench '250' while someone else might be running around cleaning doesnt make your workout any better...or any worse.

FaugHorn

Hi,

How many of you log calories for cleaning and shopping etc? I know alot of people do but I personally dont understand why, cleaning and shopping is just a day - day thing that people do and something that people obviously done whilst overweight or before they started the diet. I also think people using the MFP estimates are way off, I have seen people logging that they have burned 700 calories doing clothes shopping for an hour and a half!?!? This is so unrealistic, those of you that have a HRM will know that you have to kick your own *kitten* for an hour on the cross trainer for an hour or so to get that kind of burn so why would walking round the clothes shop burn the same!?!?

I think being on a diet and changing your lifestyle to be healthy is to incorporate more exercise and change your normal routines to be healthier, I understand there are people who may have physical problems that cannot get to a gym and the only form of exercise they have is cleaning and shopping by the way so this is not aimed at them.

Do you praise people for cleaning and shopping!?!?

P.S I only log workouts.....

Judge much?

I have a sedentary lifestyle set in the program and log everything I do