What is your take on counting calories burned while cleaning
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I do because I have back problems. I need to count everything. It's not that I'm lazy or just "sitting on my *kitten*." I need to count everything.0
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guessing you would have to do about 3-4hours worth of cleaning to burn 500'ish calories...i clean once a house week for 4hours non-stop...and believe me im puffing and sweating by the end of it! a lot of this is vacuuming, mopping, scrubbing/wiping...which is a workout in itself. when i first started this job, everything ached for a week!
i log my cleaning as 'light mederate effort' for 4hours which comes to about 600 calories burned.0 -
I don't normally log regular cleaning, but I did log yesterday's cleaning. I pulled a darn Rug Doctor and buckets of water around my whole home for 3 hours up and down flights of stairs. I was covered in sweat. It depends on what you are doing and if it's out of the norm. I counted those puppies! I'm sore today to prove it was out of my normal realm of workouts.
If we don't want to count any house cleaning chores, then I guess we shouldn't count things like gardening which is sometimes strenuous or grooming horses. I can tell you fighting with a horse and trying to hold onto it's feet to clean them can be a work-out! I count it! It's a lot different from just strolling through a grocery store or scrubbing some dishes for me. (which might indeed be hard work for others) I think it's all relative. If you feel like you just got a work out you probably did...count it. Only we know what is a challenge for us based on our fittness levels and I don't think there is anything wrong with counting them in that case.
Isn't BMR just based on resting anyway? Like our caloric expenditure for basic survival? Not any of the extra movement? I'm not really sure on this....Anyone know for sure? I'd like to know what all BMR does apply to.0 -
[agree with this]
I don't normally log regular cleaning, but I did log yesterday's cleaning. I pulled a darn Rug Doctor and buckets of water around my whole home for 3 hours up and down flights of stairs. I was covered in sweat. It depends on what you are doing and if it's out of the norm. I counted those puppies! I'm sore today to prove it was out of my normal realm of workouts.
If we don't want to count any house cleaning chores, then I guess we shouldn't count things like gardening which is sometimes strenuous or grooming horses. I can tell you fighting with a horse and trying to hold onto it's feet to clean them can be a work-out! I count it! It's a lot different from just strolling through a grocery store or scrubbing some dishes for me. (which might indeed be hard work for others) I think it's all relative. If you feel like you just got a work out you probably did...count it. Only we know what is a challenge for us based on our fittness levels and I don't think there is anything wrong with counting them in that case.
Isn't BMR just based on resting anyway? Like our caloric expenditure for basic survival? Not any of the extra movement? I'm not really sure on this....Anyone know for sure? I'd like to know what all BMR does apply to.
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Usually, those doing it are looking for an excuse not to exercise while they justify extra eating.
You know your own motivations.
If it's a legitimate burn, log it in.
Usually it's best left to your activity setting, but just do what you feel led to do.
Good luck.0 -
I personally don't count cleaning. But today as I was cleaning the snow off my car here in blustery Pittsburgh, Pa. I was thinking snow removal from car should definitely count!!0
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If you have your activity level set to sedentary, then pretty much any activity beyond sitting on your butt is going to be considered "extra". Not to mention, every single one of us is different. Obviously if you work out for 40 minutes at the gym, then you are probably in a LOT better shape than those people logging a 500 calorie burn cleaning their house. Weight plays a big factor on how much you burn during any given activity. Many people on here are going from pretty much zero physical activity and trying to do what they can to get themselves moving. So for those individuals, cleaning house *is* a big freaking deal, and it very well could burn 500 calories. (Depending on how long they did it and how vigorously they were going about their business.)
Bottom line: What does it matter? Consider yourself lucky that you aren't in a position to consider housecleaning a form of exercise. It doesn't harm you in the least bit if these other people log their cleaning time. However, you could very well be harming someone else's progress by calling them out in a post like this. Maybe one of those people ends up seeing this and says "Forget it. It doesn't count. It doesn't matter. Why don't I just continue to sit on my *kitten*?" Because I assure you that there are plenty of people on here for whom an hour of housecleaning is a big freaking deal, and minimizing their efforts is humiliating and unnecessary.
Well said! Couldn't have said it better myself!!! People need to motivate NOT humiliate... no one knows another's situation.0 -
I do add mine if I am doing HEAVY cleaning..(running vac and moping) but not for just picking up after the kids or hubby..I also add cooking if I am standing and cooking and cleaning 45 min or longer..(I do have mine set on sedentary)0
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i clean once a house week for 4hours non-stop...
Is there only me who is now wondering if I 'clean' enough?!
(hoovering my whole house takes about 15 min max, cleaning bathroom - 30 min p/w, everything else - dishes, worktops, laundry - as and when needed?) x0 -
No, you are not alone. Feeling like a pig right about now.i clean once a house week for 4hours non-stop...
Is there only me who is now wondering if I 'clean' enough?!
(hoovering my whole house takes about 15 min max, cleaning bathroom - 30 min p/w, everything else - dishes, worktops, laundry - as and when needed?) x0 -
I think a "risk" of counting it is that if it takes 5 hours, you haven't burned an extra 500 calories. If your target is 1800 calories for the day, for example, that comes out to 75 calories per hour. So in five hours, you would have burned 375 calories. You only burned an additional 125 calories with the cleaning. So if you eat an extra 500 calories, you are going over.
So, in my opinion, when activities take such a long time, that's the problem with counting daily activities like that. Sounds like trying to justify additional eating. But, the bottom line is whether it works for that person. If they count it, and are losing weight, then it's not a problem. If they aren't losing weight, ghat may be the reason.0 -
THIS!Bottom line: What does it matter? Consider yourself lucky that you aren't in a position to consider housecleaning a form of exercise. It doesn't harm you in the least bit if these other people log their cleaning time. However, you could very well be harming someone else's progress by calling them out in a post like this. Maybe one of those people ends up seeing this and says "Forget it. It doesn't count. It doesn't matter. Why don't I just continue to sit on my *kitten*?" Because I assure you that there are plenty of people on here for whom an hour of housecleaning is a big freaking deal, and minimizing their efforts is humiliating and unnecessary.0
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I only count the extra exercise I do. I've always cleaned so that's not extra.0
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I have mine set to sedentary and I assume that the 1.2 x BMR accounts for cooking and cleaning etc. I DO count out of the ordinary non routine things. For example, I went for a walk, then I spent three hours cleaning and waxing my car. I never wash or wax my car so I did track that activity with my HRM. I ended up "eating" those calories in the form of vodka last night. I realize that my heart rate did not get in to the cardio zone during the car wash and I could have actually gone over my calories but then again, that's something I'll have to deal with if I don't see a loss on the scale. It isn't really a big deal to me. My arms and back feel worked so maybe I did benefit
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I log my weekend cleaning because I only do it once a week. I also severely undercut the actual time I clean. Today I cleaned for almost four hours, but only logged one hour of light cleaning.
That's exactly what I do. I log cleaning if I feel like I got a workout. I do cardio every morning before work and never feel exhausted from it but I sure do after cleaning. When I do my once a week full clean of the house I'm on my feet for 6-8 hours, running up and down the stairs repeatedly, on my knees or reaching over my head while scrubbing vigorously, lifting heavy furniture and working up a sweat the entire time. At the end of the day I'm beat and my legs, arms and feet are sore. If I wasn't doing something out of the ordinary I wouldn't be sore. Still, I only log half the time as light cleaning because, as hard as I worked and as tired as I feel, I just don't believe I burned as many calories as MFP said I did.0 -
No, you are not alone. Feeling like a pig right about now.i clean once a house week for 4hours non-stop...
Is there only me who is now wondering if I 'clean' enough?!
(hoovering my whole house takes about 15 min max, cleaning bathroom - 30 min p/w, everything else - dishes, worktops, laundry - as and when needed?) x
pffft, better things to do in life than clean I say!0 -
No, you are not alone. Feeling like a pig right about now.i clean once a house week for 4hours non-stop...
Is there only me who is now wondering if I 'clean' enough?!
(hoovering my whole house takes about 15 min max, cleaning bathroom - 30 min p/w, everything else - dishes, worktops, laundry - as and when needed?) x
pffft, better things to do in life than clean I say!
just like the topic... it's really nobody's business but your own
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No, you are not alone. Feeling like a pig right about now.i clean once a house week for 4hours non-stop...
Is there only me who is now wondering if I 'clean' enough?!
(hoovering my whole house takes about 15 min max, cleaning bathroom - 30 min p/w, everything else - dishes, worktops, laundry - as and when needed?) x
pffft, better things to do in life than clean I say!
LOL Four hours of cleaning once a week doesn't take over one's life. Four hours every day? Maybe so.0 -
No, you are not alone. Feeling like a pig right about now.i clean once a house week for 4hours non-stop...
Is there only me who is now wondering if I 'clean' enough?!
(hoovering my whole house takes about 15 min max, cleaning bathroom - 30 min p/w, everything else - dishes, worktops, laundry - as and when needed?) x
pffft, better things to do in life than clean I say!
LOL Four hours of cleaning once a week doesn't take over one's life. Four hours every day? Maybe so.
hehehe can't go letting that mop and broom think they're more important than they are, they might go getting ideas above their station and then the revolution would begin!0 -
No, you are not alone. Feeling like a pig right about now.i clean once a house week for 4hours non-stop...
Is there only me who is now wondering if I 'clean' enough?!
(hoovering my whole house takes about 15 min max, cleaning bathroom - 30 min p/w, everything else - dishes, worktops, laundry - as and when needed?) x
pffft, better things to do in life than clean I say!
LOL Four hours of cleaning once a week doesn't take over one's life. Four hours every day? Maybe so.
If you are a clean freak, raising hand, this is a dream come true!0
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