Logging Housework as Exercise??

meerkat70

Here's the equation MFP uses to calculate your calorie intake, if that's helpful:

http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

I find it a really useful way of gauging what I should eat. I burn 1000 cals most days, and don't want to eat that much back. I aim for the 'moderately active' intake level based on my BMR, and that seems to work pretty well for me. That sees me eating into exercise calories, but not eating all of them.

To the OP, might this help you resolve the cleaning conundrum?

monkeymouse74

I utterly disagree with people saying it shouldn,t be logged!
If you use a hrm and your a clean freak as i am then why not add calories burned! I burn a lot of calories doing daily cleaning.
So why shouldnt it be logged!
If it works for the individual then great if not then dont log it!
I sometimes tire with peoples comments on you shouldnt do that!! why the hell not!!!

people can do what they want i just dont want to hear whining or that ive been on a plateau for a year!! cuz thats total BS! there is no such thing as plateau for a year unless ur too lazy to take the next step n make some changes in ur life!!

my wifeys a clean freak! she literally cleans everyday! its redicilous... she doesnt log it!!!!!! instead she works out for an hour a day and eat clean! n she has made some amazing progress! cleaning... she did that before... so why would it make her loose weight just because she decided to log it as fitness...

i think the main point alot of people try to make is lets say if you cleaned, showered, mowed the lawn once a week etc when you were overweight and now you are trying to loose weight you have to do something aside from that.. not just the things you were doing before and log them as excersise.... you need to do all those things and then go for a 30min-40min walk depending on how much your knees n legs can handle if you are very over weight.... then log THAT as excersise because its something you did thats completley new and your body is going to go WWWTTTFF are you doing to me i better melt off some of this extra energy i have stored as fat!

Thank goodness someone gets my point!!! (and I presume some of the others on this thread.)

shipwreck3

I do log my housework some days when I am scrubbing walls, and literally moving no stop. I usually only claim 1-2 hours. I have a toddler in the art stage and he is determined to make all my walls look like Elmo's World. I wouldnt personally log just loading dishes, doing laundry etc though. I say if it makes u work up a sweat, or you are working hard enough you are cussing on the inside...then log it. Those who who dont see housework as real work.. must either have a maid or not doing it right.

realtreegirl

Hey there, I never log it as exercise when I clean house. I do log stuff like when I clean out my garage which usually takes me about 3 hours, or when we moved and I was hauling boxes and moving furniture in and out of the house. But to me house work is something that always has to be done no matter what, where real exercise is when we take time out of our day to work up a sweat doing things that we normally wouldnt do so as to be healthier and lose weight. I also log when I mow the yard or am working in it raking it and such.

shakybabe

I've seen one for 'pushing a stroller'

I don't record moving about even though I may burn a little higher than average due to my condition (causes mild involuntary muscle twitches) I try and do most of my housework myself cos I know I'm burning more cals and also go on the Wii. I manage to burn around 500 from the wii fit etc alone.

engineman312

get a cleaning lady. problem solved.

trud72

ARHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH don't do it...
the way i see it....
it is ONLY exersice if you physical go out of your way to do the exersice itself! not dusting and hoovering...comeon cop out :bigsmile:
let anything eles be a bonus right! :ohwell:

Listen to the people who have gotten results - not just the philosophy of those who dream about it.
It's activity - not exercise.

This is if you really want to reach peak fitness. If not, do whatever....

Not everyone is looking to become an athlete. Plenty of people are here because they just want to lose some weight.

WOW i must be the fattest athlete you have ever seen then lol
i am no athlete i just want to lose weight!

EuroDriver12

get a cleaning lady. problem solved.

lmmffaaao THIS!!!

ishallnotwant

I've seen one for 'pushing a stroller'

When my littles were younger I used this while losing weight. I had 3 littles under 3 years old, so I would pop the two toddlers in the double stroller, put my infant in a carrier on my chest, and go for a walk. We lived on a street with an incline-it is the main street that goes up to the mountains in that city, so the incline is a good one. I used to start my walk going downhill to warm up and then walk home going uphill. This was my workout at first while I got myself back into shape. I had to be creative with all those littles, and when I first started this was it. :0) I was happy to have the "pushing a stroller" thing to log...let me tell ya, it was quite a workout heading uphill with two kids in a stroller and a baby on my chest! lol!

As for housework, no, I don't log it. Not even if I clean the backyard or scrub the (huge) kitchen/dining room floor on my hands and knees. As someone else said, if I did that stuff before, and didn't count it as exercise, why would I now?

fteale

ARHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH don't do it...
the way i see it....
it is ONLY exersice if you physical go out of your way to do the exersice itself! not dusting and hoovering...comeon cop out :bigsmile:
let anything eles be a bonus right! :ohwell:

Listen to the people who have gotten results - not just the philosophy of those who dream about it.
It's activity - not exercise.

This is if you really want to reach peak fitness. If not, do whatever....

Not everyone is looking to become an athlete. Plenty of people are here because they just want to lose some weight.

WOW i must be the fattest athlete you have ever seen then lol
i am no athlete i just want to lose weight!

Exactly. As I said. Most people here just want to lose weight. The person I was replying to was talking about "peak fitness".

schnarfo

This has probably already been said but I couldnt be bothered to read all 111 replies.

In my own personal opinion I say that housework is an activity and not exercise however I would still log this. Housework is often hard work and if your activity level on mfp is set to sedentary then I dont think it does any harm to log it at all.
I wouldnt however rely on this type of activity purely for calorie burns in the long run, your still going to need some cardio at some point.

WildFlower7

I have been on the site for coming up on 2yrs. And I NEVER log normal houshold chores as working out. Only extra out of the ordinary things that I don't do regularly, like scrubbing grout or steam cleaning the carpets.
If it's something you already have been doing on a normal basis and you haven't lost any weight from that, it obviously isn't burning enough calories to even make a difference.
Good luck!

Moin78

I log it, but only if I am continuously moving. For example, if I start picking up the house and I get sidetracked (i.e. the phone rings, or I stop to browse through the newspaper), I don't log it. I take heed of the time and keep moving. Sometimes this is the only "exercise" I get because of my busy schedule.

I get up at 5am every morning, drive 15 miles to my brother's house, get his kids off to school (usually I have my niece with me all day), do homework (full time Master's student), clean my house or my brother's house, fill in time with some freelance work (I do graphics on the side and am helping a friend start up a business), go pick up the kids from school, help them with homework or actively engage them after school until my brother gets home, drive 15 miles to my house, fix dinner for hubby, clean up the house, and then it is usually time for bed.

Sometimes I can fit the cardio in, sometimes I can't. It just depends on the kids, the schoolwork, and how much cleaning I have to do. It is tough to keep up two house that are 15 miles apart and take care of 3 kids that aren't your own, so you can bet your bottom dollar that I log my cleaning, but only if it is continuous and if I try to get my heart rate up by moving faster or more to try and get my blood pumping a little and I only log it as being light, never strenuous.

ahealthy4u

Any thing that gets your heart rate up is consider as a forum of a work out.

Moonbyebye

I think it's personal preference. Burning calories is burning calories right? I don't personally. I only log the calories I burn at the gym or running.

Helice

I log it as exericse..
But just because i only do house work to burn a few extra calories..
I am really that lazy.
Im like if i tidy my room for 5 minutes i burn like 13 calories.. Deal!

MaximalLife

I utterly disagree with people saying it shouldn,t be logged!
If you use a hrm and your a clean freak as i am then why not add calories burned! I burn a lot of calories doing daily cleaning.
So why shouldnt it be logged!
If it works for the individual then great if not then dont log it!
I sometimes tire with peoples comments on you shouldnt do that!! why the hell not!!!

people can do what they want i just dont want to hear whining or that ive been on a plateau for a year!! cuz thats total BS! there is no such thing as plateau for a year unless ur too lazy to take the next step n make some changes in ur life!!

my wifeys a clean freak! she literally cleans everyday! its redicilous... she doesnt log it!!!!!! instead she works out for an hour a day and eat clean! n she has made some amazing progress! cleaning... she did that before... so why would it make her loose weight just because she decided to log it as fitness...

i think the main point alot of people try to make is lets say if you cleaned, showered, mowed the lawn once a week etc when you were overweight and now you are trying to loose weight you have to do something aside from that.. not just the things you were doing before and log them as excersise.... you need to do all those things and then go for a 30min-40min walk depending on how much your knees n legs can handle if you are very over weight.... then log THAT as excersise because its something you did thats completley new and your body is going to go WWWTTTFF are you doing to me i better melt off some of this extra energy i have stored as fat!

^^^^^^^
THIS! -- :laugh:

Renonvme

I log it if it's vacuuming or cleaning the laminate floors. Generally, if I spend 2 hours cleaning, (like really cleaning, breathing hard and working up a sweat) I'll log 60 minutes of it.

calliope_music

personally, i don't log housework as exercise unless i'm scrubbing the kitchen floor by hand rather than mopping, for example. (this rarely happens). or, if i am moving, cleaning the garage, etc. otherwise, nope.

ladybg81

I only log intentional exercise. My opinion is that if I did it while I was fat, it obviously did not help me lose the weight. So only real exercise is logged.