Do you consider this exercise?

rainunrefined

If I'm doing unusual in-depth spring cleaning or outdoor yardwork for 30 minutes or more, then yes I'll log it. But if it's everyday tasks then no.

*EDIT: I would use my HRM to log those exceptions.

HollyStocking

I don't know about you but I sweat my *kitten* of when I clean the tub/shower. If you are sweating and not because your house is too hot then I think its considered.

terrellc1

No, I do not consider that exercise. I call that "living."

Sweet_Potato

I would say it depends on how your activity level is set up. If you have yourself as sedentary and vacuum for two hours I would say that counts as exercise!

vacuuming is exercise? come on people. this is why america is fat.

I'm guessing you've never vacuumed before? I've never been fat in my life, but dragging a vacuum throughout the house wears me out.

ikkle_hellie

I still think its quite amusing that working in a bank is 'sedantry' ... I've worked in Retail Banking for 5 years, in my current branch, my main safe, my office, the toilet and the staff room are all on the 3rd floor (the banking hall is on the ground floor). I am on my feet all day, and I am often chasing the Account Managers / Mortgage and Financial Advisers accross all 3 floors.... there are no lifts or esculators. Now, while I certainly wouldn't count this as exercise, I definately noticed after 4 weeks of being in the branch I am now, that I could run up the stairs without getting out of breath as I had on my 1st day there!

Sofithomas

I try to not log the 'simpel activities' even if I do feel like I have worked, it just makes it easier for me to differentiate between exercise and day to day routines, thus keeping my calories down as I am less likely to overeat.

Having said that, I think any sort of getting about is good for you - so in my head mentally I think yay moving about

plushkitten

I always log in cleaning that I do longer than 15 minutes because I do it everyday.


I'm a neat freak hahah

addisondisease

I log DRIVING.

Oh god i hope you meant diving, please be trolling

cPT_Helice

Even when you set yourself to seditary it is mostly talking about your day job, it even says someone like a bank teller, desk job etc.

Often times the people who count dish washing are just looking to cheat on their diet.

I basically agree. It's just justification to eat more. I know that at work, having my office on the second floor and my lab on the first and the other offices 2 buildings over, I do a lot of moving around. I would never count that!!! That's my buffer.
All in all, it doesn't matter what you count or what you write down here, the body knows. If you want to lose and are really serious, don't take the shortcuts.

irjeffb

If you're configured as sedentary and you do clean something that wouldn't fit into that "lifestyle" (4 hours of deep cleaning, for example), it's fine to log it, but general cleaning, cooking, etc. are included in the sedentary settings (which are calculated as 20% higher than your BRM)

TeaBea

People who log minor things like shopping, dusting, etc. aren't really cheating because it's not really possible to "cheat" when you think about it.

If you log shopping as exercise & eat those calories back ..... then the weight loss will simply be much slower than if you did real exercise. That's not cheating. Slow is slow. Now, if that person can't figure out why they're not losing weight ......... I don't know what to say.

phatgirl30

Anything that excellerates your heart and causes you to break a sweat is exercise. When we log in our exercise, you will notice that just about everything you type in comes up with some type of calorie burn, RIGHT?? I know for a fact that moping, vacuuming, and sweeping my gigantic staircase gives me a hell of a workout LOL

lkm111

If I break a sweat for longer than 30 minutes, I count it. Two winters ago we had so much snow I lost five pounds in one week just from the extra shoveling! I shoveled at least 45 minutes every day for a week, so that is like a workout. I don't log cooking or light cleaning, but heavy duty stuff that is labor intensive I would probably log if it was over 30 min.

lulabox

I think it's probably a cop-out for many. I love running up escalators or brisk walking to work. Is that something I should log? Nah. That's not proper exercise in my books.

Anyway I don't log exercise calories in general so I don't go and undo all my work by rewarding myself with a Mars bar worth 250 calories because the machine/MFP alleges I burnt 500 calories on the treadmill...

llamalland

Those who list themselves as sedentary aren't "cheating" to list activities above and beyond THEIR daily norm.... I've counted days when I've been on my feet for 8 hours straight cooking/baking/prepping/cleaning up in the kitchen, or another 8 hours mopping/shampooing carpets/moving furniture, etc for holiday company as extra activity. I do not count my daily housecleaning or cooking, of course not. I suppose there may be people who pad their activity to get a few extra calories, but I'm pretty sure most people who add cooking or cleaning are doing so only when it's extra.

I am glad to read that others here have the same viewpoint.

HorrorChix89

When I log ANYTHING i don't eat my calories back. Why? Because chances are I miscalculated the amount of calories I ate that day anyway. I don't know what people put in the food they cook and I'm not about to hunt them down and drill them either. Yeah I guess, sue me.

Honestly I don't think anyone can tell you what is and isn't considered "exercise" anything that causes you to get off you *kitten* and do something longer than walking back and forth to the bathroom or kitchen is better than just sitting around all day.

Why would MFP even have simple things listed in the menu if it wasn't considered some form of exercise?

BreakingUpWithObesity2013

The only "around the house" thing I add is cleanng and thats bc I make it a workout lol I scrub floors on my hands and knees...wipe down walls every week plus more. If I sweat...its exercise that gets logged! But cooking and things like that...no i dont.

artcaro1972

I don't log it unless I've put on my workout gear and sweated for at least 30 mins.

Now, if I randomly decided to go climb a mountain or do 3 hours of hiking, or something else I rarely do, I would log it.

If cleaning your house is your version of mountain climbing, go big!

meerkat70

Anything that excellerates your heart and causes you to break a sweat is exercise. When we log in our exercise, you will notice that just about everything you type in comes up with some type of calorie burn, RIGHT?? I know for a fact that moping, vacuuming, and sweeping my gigantic staircase gives me a hell of a workout LOL

A lot of that is user added at some point.

I believe 'standing fishing' is also in the database. I probably wouldn't include that either.

I do think that, over the months I've been here, I've noticed a pattern, that people who log cleaning, and actually *count* it as exercise (i.e. they eat back those cals) tend not to lose. Of course, there are exceptions, but I'd say by and large, that's a pattern I've observed.

Of course, ultimately, that's none of my business. But I guess if it's someone I actually care about (and unlike a previous poster I don't see people as 'internet people', but as living, breathing human beings!) then I do care if they're setting themselves up to fail in some way.

(ETA: I'm referring here to relatively light cleaning and food prep. I've once logged a more 'out of the ordinary' cleaning routine, and have advised a friend to log carrying boxes when moving house... I think the stuff that's proper hard work is fair enough. But no, pushing a vacuum cleaner isn't exercise, in my book.)

jessicaann05

I do not count "normal" activities as most have said, but I do count shoveling snow if I do the entire driveway, sidewalks, etc. Since it takes me nearly 40 minutes and I raise my heart rate. However, I do not eat them back.