Do you consider this exercise?

jayliospecky

We judge people too much.

Precisely.

ivansmomma

I consider every thing I do a form of exercise and I will tell you why.....


The real secret to weight loss is simple math.... if I make a tuna sandwich... I count the calories from the bread, the butter,the mayo, and the lettuce.

Whether I write it down in a book or log it in on the computer... my body absorbs those calories......

Now when I walk upstairs to go to the bathroom instead of going to the one down the hall... .I burn an extra 8 calories.....when I push myself to get up there a little faster I burn 10 ....

The point is... start treating your whole day as a way to burn off calories.... stand up straighter, feel how hard it is to hold yourself up right... that's working those muscles.... muscles at work burn calories... so what if it's not as much as 20 minutes on the treadmill.... you see how hard it is just to stand up straight and hold your stomach in for more than a minute....by the time it becomes easy you will be seeing results and feeling like you can do more......

So turn your housework into a work out and keep it in mind while you are sweeping and mopping!

I totally agree! Your BMR is calculated if you stayed in bed all day. Anything you do above that is exercise. Yes, I work out, do exercise DVDs, play Kinect with hubby, but I also count general house straightening, which could include anything from hauling laundry, sweeping, vacuuming, in my count.

nwkirk03

cleaning is a very physical activity( it takes me an hr or longer to clean my house) and i do count it as exercise cause if you are moving its exercising

kennethmgreen

Interesting! So, in summary would you say that the Keurig is overrated? Now, this is useful information!

It's actually pretty good, especially if you get a good blend you like. We have a commercial one hooked up to a water line, but we used to have a consumer one. Went through two of those (the pump gave out both times) before getting one designed for an actual office.

It is by far better than most brewed office coffee. At least as good as Starbucks brewed coffee, not quite as good as McDonald's premium coffee (McD's coffee is pretty good - great for fast food coffee), and nowhere near as good as freshly brewed coffee from freshly ground beans. So.. not overrated. But ugh, I hate the trash it generates.

babylettuce2009

So many opinions! I think anything you do above sitting still all day should be counted as a calorie burned. I also believe you need to get your heart rate up for fitness. A combination of strength training and cardio are good for losing weight and getting fit. This is a discussion of "apples vs. oranges" - just because you burn calories doing household chores does not necessarily mean you are getting fit. Hopefully we will do both - keep up with chores and do some cardio or strength training most days of the week. That's my 2 cents and my plan.

Erica002

NOPE!! I find it very annoying when people count that as exercise. I'm sorry but daily things in your life such as cooking and cleaning is NOT exercise!

Spinelli2288

My two cents.... What other people do is their own decision, who are any of us to judge. If you don't agree with it, go on about your day. I know when I clean my house I'm running up and down stairs every 10 minutes, and a million other things to get my house completely clean (I have 3 dogs, enough said) before I pick my boyfriends son up from school, come home, help him with homework, cook them dinner, clean that up, cook my dinner, clean that up, run up and down stairs a few more times for laundry, and then I can think about relaxing and laying down for sleep. Yeah, I'm real f*cking lazy. Ever think that people do that plus more on a daily basis. For a site that should bring people together to reach a common goal, it seems that there are too many judgmental pr*cks. It's really unfortunate and I feel sorry for people who are genuinely hurt by threads like these. We're all here for the same reason people, who are you to judge, really?

JenniferGomez12

I usually don't count the "normal" day-to-day activities, but sometimes I will count the 10 minute walk from the parking garage to my office (if I happen to eat too many calories by days end)

In my case, I usually lose more than the projected amount. I guess it's because I don't log every little cardiovascular thing I do. If I did, I would probably overeat. Regardless, I'm happy with the way things are going.

If logging everything isn't too time-consuming and it works, so be it. If you don't want to, then don't. As long as "your way" works, it really shouldn't matter what others do. Don't fix something that isn't broken.

IronmanPanda

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!! There are times where it is.. like washing walls down or something... cooking for a big dinner party.. If you are making ramen noodles i don't want to see that you logged 2 hours for cooking.. Same thing goes for playing with your kids... It's not exercise peole.. It called being a parent

If its taking you 2 hours to cook top ramen you're just doing it wrong...

hedgiie

i think it's all about psychology, in the book "why are we fat" one reason that the author is pointing out is the "sloth" this site avoid the "glutton" since it monitors your eating habit.

What i'm saying is consider those as a workout activity and log them, put some calorie values in there too so to make you feel good about moving. so over the next days, you'll think about them as workout hence will give you good reason to move that butt

SerenityRabit

I don't count household jobs as exercise, because it doesn't really get your heart rate up or increase cardiovascular muscles, sometimes it doesn't even work your muscles to the point you can feel it.
Unless it's something more intense, maybe like moving heavy boxes for a extended period of time..
but defiantly not cooking, or cleaning,etc.
Just my opinion on what is and what isn't exercise...

jayliospecky

Interesting! So, in summary would you say that the Keurig is overrated? Now, this is useful information!

It's actually pretty good, especially if you get a good blend you like. We have a commercial one hooked up to a water line, but we used to have a consumer one. Went through two of those (the pump gave out both times) before getting one designed for an actual office.

It is by far better than most brewed office coffee. At least as good as Starbucks brewed coffee, not quite as good as McDonald's premium coffee (McD's coffee is pretty good - great for fast food coffee), and nowhere near as good as freshly brewed coffee from freshly ground beans. So.. not overrated. But ugh, I hate the trash it generates.

Oh. Okay. Thought for a minute I could take it off of my "things I kinda' want" list. Not just yet, apparently...

kit_katty

To each their own, I'd rather under log than over log. If I break a sweat and the activity was say a min of 15 minutes, then I'll log it. Or a decently long walk, ie not to the mail box on the corner. Otherwise, I might actually eat more calories than I actually burned.

Jeff92se

If you work hard at it, I can be. Do you get your HR up? Sweat? Then probably yes. But it also depends on your activity level you're set at. Set at highly active? then no. Set at hardly active? then perhaps.

If you count it, keep under your calorie goals and you gain, then something is wrong.

20More

I never count that as exercise either. My job is very physical and I don't count that either. If I am power cleaning or shoveling snow and really break a sweat, I think of this as bonus or hidden calorie loss. It will add up eventually and show up ont he scale but to think to log that too is too much work

KeegansMomma

I ALWAYS count my house cleaning. Daily chores and picking up, no. But cleaning, yes. I also count laundry as my washer and dryer are down stairs...and going up and down them on a daily basis is something I do not do.

I do have to chime and say though, that to a completely sedentary person, any little bit of daily house cleaning/picking up/taking out the trash is exercise. This is assuming they are very large and it gets them winded doing little things.

Really, rather you count it or not is up to you. But, every thing you do during the day burns calories...and my thought is, if I'm burning calories, I should go ahead and count it.

giggitygoo

I only count something that is extra and outside of my normal daily life.

sweet110

I use to have an *opinion* about things like this. "Grocery shopping? Really? That's exercise now, lazy bones?" But you know what? If that person is achieving their goals, well, um, I will just pat them on the back and say well done. Because that's how I'd like to be treated in return.

If they ask my opinion, I'll tell them what *I* do and why. Then they can decide for themselves what they want to do. But if they don't ask? Well, they'll figure out, through trial and error, whether it works for them or not. No judgment or evaulation from me needed.

...And everybody's happy.

frycase

I really only count exercise (going to the gym, running, etc.) as exercise. I may burn extra calories by cleaning or shopping or whatever, but without paying attention to exactly how long I was doing these activities and exactly how hard I was working, I'd be really guessing at how many. I'd prefer to not count that as exercise and be pleasantly surprised that I'm losing more weight than expected, rather than try to record every extra movement I make and wonder why I'm not losing at my projected rate.

kauaibaby

I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia and lost 90lbs in a two year period--yep you guessed it by cleaning and doing daily activities. These are the things I'm physically capable of doing on a paced schedule. I didn't step into a gym or break a sweat! I guess it all depends on the person. You bet I'm going to log that! As long as my two feet are moving and my A&& isn't planted on the couch I KNOW I'm losing!