Is it Really Exercise or Am I Cheating?

jmjm55077

They have different names...one is housecleaning and the other is excerising...just my opinion....

tadpole242

My opinion is it's not exercise unless it makes you sweat, increases your heart rate and leaves you out of breath. ;o)

So paying my utility bill is an exercise?

amoffatt

My opinion is it's not exercise unless it makes you sweat, increases your heart rate and leaves you out of breath. ;o)

So paying my utility bill is an exercise?

:laugh:

AlsDonkBoxSquat

My opinion is it's not exercise unless it makes you sweat, increases your heart rate and leaves you out of breath. ;o)

So then weight lifting (which doesn't necessarily accomplish these things even if you're lifting heavy) doesn't count? When I lift properly my hr doesn't really get over 135, and when I'm doing my chest sets it might peak over 100 maybe, but I still count it.

islandnutshel

If you are set as light active you should only count "exercise" as exercise, if you were set to sedentary then some of the stuff could be logged as exercise.

Basicaly, what he said.
I have my settings at SEDITARY so I count only the cleaning that gets my heart rate going like vacuming the house or chopping and stacking wood.
Lightly active includes the lightly active activities.....

sharleengc

I only record stuff like cleaning if it's above and beyond normal cleaning. I don't log my weekly sweeping or dusting or anything like that. I only log cleaning if I'm really deep cleaning, like scrubbing the bathroom from top to bottom and moving rugs/furniature around.

For example, today I am cleaning my classroom. Moving out furniature and cleaning out the items. Things that are above and beyond the normal.

vypeters

One option is to put yourself to "sedentary" and log most of your activity. The thing to be careful of when logging activities of daily living is that you don't overlog, eat it all back, then wonder why you aren't losing.

I set myself as "sedentary" then only log purposeful exercise and walking...and if I don't take a significant (3+ miles) exercise walk, I don't even log my normal walking.

Rhea30

If you're losing weight then probably no problem, if you stop losing weight then stop recording it. There are a few times I think I could had record it but mainly its when I'm doing some housework, cooking, etc under a time limit so I'm rushing and pushing myself which feels just like a work out. Just pay attention to what you're doing and if it works, it works if not then just adjust.

films14

l record cleaning, but only because i run a house cleaning business and i only record the jobs where i'm really breaking a sweat like 3 story houses etc. --i work alone. i'm also a set decorator for indie films & tv, and i'm running around all day packing & loading trucks, moving furniture etc. and i use my "steps" on my fitbit to record that work.

films14

lol!!! (sorry, this seems random.... i was lol-ing to someone's post where they said paying bills makes them break out in sweat, therefore is counted as exercise etc.) --i need to quote my replies sorry...

wolfi622

I don't "eat back" my exercise calories, but I am motivated by tracking my activity as well as my diet. Therefore, I put my settings at sedentary and log most things. Workouts, of course, but lawn mowing, yard work, significant gardening, home repairs, etc., some physical aspects of my job, walking the dogs, recreational things, like water sports - all get logged. But since I don't eat the calories back, it really only acts as a motivator for me and doesn't change my planned deficit.

films14

love that exercise!!! (shopping, in response to someone else's post)

ugh, i'm sorry... i guess i have to quote the post i'm lol-ing or "loving that exercise" or it just adds it as a random comment.

carreen

No I don't.

My reasoning is that if you only do what you always did you'll only get what you've always had.

Unless you were previously severely mobility impaired by weight and for the first time you're doing your shopping, or you've never previously been able to clean your house before, then no.

The database includes things like "personal grooming" and "light house work".

I don't know many people who lost weight showering, cleaning their teeth or dusting...

LOL!!! I haven't gone so far as to count brushing my teeth as exercise, but I see your point. Thanks!

carreen

I would say...probably double doing it. I have gotten around this by puchasing a fitbit (It's a pedometer on steroids). It counts your movements pretty well and will add calories in if you're over what MFP sets you at. I had originally set myself to sedentary (cuz I sit on my *kitten* all day at work) and I was surprised that I was probably more "lightly active" when the fitbit added in the calories.

fitbits are a little pricey ($99)...but worth it if you can swing it. They sync up with the MFP site. Good luck!

Cool! I'll check them out. Thanks!

aproc

No. House cleaning is not considered exercise.. Thats just included in your daily activity factor.. Your not burning much more than normal.

amy1612

I might look like a total ***** saying this, but logging daily chores to me seems utterly ridiculous, if youre doing it to see how many calories you burn on top of your day, fair enough, if youre doing it in order to eat back the calories from exercise, shame on you!

There is no reason that you would need extra food from cleaning, exercise calories are designed to ensure you dont end up in too much of a deficit after doing something that burns significant calories and may make your body feel/become depleted as result. This is not going to happen through doing the hoovering. I walk up 3 sets of stairs to my office daily, I dont count it as exercise and go eat something to make sure I dont 'go into starvation mode'. Come on now people.

Di3012

Hello. I add in everything I do that can be considered exercise into my exercise tracker...not just workouts and walking, but also things like cleaning my house, washing my car, etc.

It just occurred to me that since I already have "lightly active" set up in my goals as my normal activity status, maybe it's already taking those kinds of things into account (in my daily calories burned), so when I record them as exercise, I'm doubling it (ie. cheating it). If I had "sedentary" as my status, I wouldn't worry (then everything would be exercise), but since I don't, am I cheating? Does this make any sense at all?

Do you guys record things like house cleaning?

Thanks!

If you have opted lightly active, it is already taking some stuff into account.

If you really want to count it all, you need to go back and select sedentary.

picassoadagio

I do not record house cleaning unless I am set to "sedentary" because I feel like I am double dipping too.

duhblond

I only count actual exercise, anything else I consider just life =/
I figure if the other stuff really aided me at all - I would not be trying to lose weight
Best of luck to you

carreen

You don't say how successful you've been, but you've been a member for more than 1.5 years and only show a loss of 5 pounds so I'm guessing you haven't been. That means that you're not creating as big of a calorie deficit as you think you are, probably by "double dipping" your exercise calories

I spent some time a while ago trying to figure out how best to account for additional daily activity without double dipping. I found the following chart to be helpful

Classification of pedometer-determined physical activity in healthy adults:
1) Under 5000 steps/day may be used as a "sedentary lifestyle index"
2) 5,000-7,499 steps/day is typical of daily activity excluding sports/exercise and might be considered "low active."
3) 7,500-9,999 likely includes some exercise or walking (and/or a job that requires more walking) and might be considered "somewhat active."
4) 10,000 steps/day indicates the point that should be used to classify individuals as "active".

Based on that I set myself at sedentary because without actively trying to get more steps in my day I was logging around 3,000/day (desk job). I wear a pedometer daily to track my activity, but to be sure I'm not double counting I only log steps taken above 5,000. I don't log typical cleaning (vacuming, mopping, dusting, dishes, toilet scrubbing) as separate exercise, rather I figure that it ends up in my steps taken per day calc and it works itself out. I WOULD log something if it was a significant physical exertion - painting, etc. I've been steadily losing weight at about 1.5 lbs/week, even though I have MFP set to 1 lb/week so something's working!

I wrote a blog post about my method of logging calories above my baseline activity level if you're interested in more info (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/msudaisy28/view/incorporating-more-daily-activity-231335). On the plus side, I'm now averaging around 7,500 steps/day so I'm considering upping myself to lightly active and only logging above that amount

Thanks so much for the info. Just so you know, I did join 1.5 years ago because my friend asked me to, but I didn't really do anything. I've only been dieting for 2 weeks now, so the 5 pounds has come off in the last 2 weeks, not over 1.5 years...lol. Thanks again for the help.

pastryari

If you have to ask, you shouldn't count it.

myfitnessnmhoy

I might look like a total ***** saying this, but logging daily chores to me seems utterly ridiculous, if youre doing it to see how many calories you burn on top of your day, fair enough, if youre doing it in order to eat back the calories from exercise, shame on you!

There is no shame here. There are things that work, and there are things that do not work. We're all adults learning how to lose weight, there's no need to invoke shame.

OP has lost 5 pounds in the last 2 weeks. So far, what she is doing is working. When it stops working, she's already demonstrated the kind of thoughtfulness that it will take to figure out what is wrong (over-reporting exercise) and correct it.

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with setting your lifestyle to sedentary and using food as an incentive to exercise. That's how this site is designed to work. Maybe it doesn't work for you, and that's fine. For you. But don't heap shame on total strangers for trying to find what works for them. That's just downright rude.

carreen

You don't say how successful you've been, but you've been a member for more than 1.5 years and only show a loss of 5 pounds so I'm guessing you haven't been. That means that you're not creating as big of a calorie deficit as you think you are, probably by "double dipping" your exercise calories

I spent some time a while ago trying to figure out how best to account for additional daily activity without double dipping. I found the following chart to be helpful

Classification of pedometer-determined physical activity in healthy adults:
1) Under 5000 steps/day may be used as a "sedentary lifestyle index"
2) 5,000-7,499 steps/day is typical of daily activity excluding sports/exercise and might be considered "low active."
3) 7,500-9,999 likely includes some exercise or walking (and/or a job that requires more walking) and might be considered "somewhat active."
4) 10,000 steps/day indicates the point that should be used to classify individuals as "active".

Based on that I set myself at sedentary because without actively trying to get more steps in my day I was logging around 3,000/day (desk job). I wear a pedometer daily to track my activity, but to be sure I'm not double counting I only log steps taken above 5,000. I don't log typical cleaning (vacuming, mopping, dusting, dishes, toilet scrubbing) as separate exercise, rather I figure that it ends up in my steps taken per day calc and it works itself out. I WOULD log something if it was a significant physical exertion - painting, etc. I've been steadily losing weight at about 1.5 lbs/week, even though I have MFP set to 1 lb/week so something's working!

I wrote a blog post about my method of logging calories above my baseline activity level if you're interested in more info (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/msudaisy28/view/incorporating-more-daily-activity-231335). On the plus side, I'm now averaging around 7,500 steps/day so I'm considering upping myself to lightly active and only logging above that amount

Thanks so much for the info. Just so you know, I did join 1.5 years ago because my friend asked me to, but I didn't really do anything. I've only been dieting for 2 weeks now, so the 5 pounds has come off in the last 2 weeks, not over 1.5 years...lol. Thanks again for the help.

carreen

"Anything you do above and beyond your daily routine is exercise." [/quote]

During the summer I have my activity level set at sedentary because I am not teaching in a classroom walking, bending, moving. In addition, I don't clean my bathroom every day! Neither do I scrub my floors, run the vacuum nor mow the lawn everyday! Therefore, I count them as excercise. I work hard when I clean so if that means I get an extra piece of chicken...then I'm taking it!

I believe your activity should be based on your real life, every day activity. If you clean something everyday...then bump up your activity level and only count "excercise".
[/quote]

I am a teacher too, so I have it set as "lightly active," but over the summer, I've been doing a lot of sitting on my butt. I guess I could just change it to "sedentary", then change it back when school starts. Thanks.

carreen

I might look like a total ***** saying this, but logging daily chores to me seems utterly ridiculous, if youre doing it to see how many calories you burn on top of your day, fair enough, if youre doing it in order to eat back the calories from exercise, shame on you!

There is no reason that you would need extra food from cleaning, exercise calories are designed to ensure you dont end up in too much of a deficit after doing something that burns significant calories and may make your body feel/become depleted as result. This is not going to happen through doing the hoovering. I walk up 3 sets of stairs to my office daily, I dont count it as exercise and go eat something to make sure I dont 'go into starvation mode'. Come on now people.

Well, I was only recording days where I did "deep cleaning"...like 3-4 hours non-stop or something out of the ordinary. Plus I try not to eat them back. Thanks.

amy1612

I might look like a total ***** saying this, but logging daily chores to me seems utterly ridiculous, if youre doing it to see how many calories you burn on top of your day, fair enough, if youre doing it in order to eat back the calories from exercise, shame on you!

There is no shame here. There are things that work, and there are things that do not work. We're all adults learning how to lose weight, there's no need to invoke shame.

OP has lost 5 pounds in the last 2 weeks. So far, what she is doing is working. When it stops working, she's already demonstrated the kind of thoughtfulness that it will take to figure out what is wrong (over-reporting exercise) and correct it.

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with setting your lifestyle to sedentary and using food as an incentive to exercise. That's how this site is designed to work. Maybe it doesn't work for you, and that's fine. For you. But don't heap shame on total strangers for trying to find what works for them. That's just downright rude.

Thats where we differ in thought, using food to reward oneself seems utterly backward to me. Thats like an alcoholic rewarding themselves from abstaining by having a drink. Im not 'heaping shame on total strangers finding out what works for them'. You would never, unless you were trying to lose weight, count something like washing dishes towards working out how much to eat, you wouldnt even think about it, because its an everyday thing. Im simply pointing out how ridiculous it seems (to me yes) to log things like these in order to justify eating more.
Anyway, lets not begin a thread riding argument, your point is taken, I simply disagree.

Im pleased the OP is doing well, good on her. Praise where praise is due,keep up the good work.

amy1612

I might look like a total ***** saying this, but logging daily chores to me seems utterly ridiculous, if youre doing it to see how many calories you burn on top of your day, fair enough, if youre doing it in order to eat back the calories from exercise, shame on you!

There is no reason that you would need extra food from cleaning, exercise calories are designed to ensure you dont end up in too much of a deficit after doing something that burns significant calories and may make your body feel/become depleted as result. This is not going to happen through doing the hoovering. I walk up 3 sets of stairs to my office daily, I dont count it as exercise and go eat something to make sure I dont 'go into starvation mode'. Come on now people.

Well, I was only recording days where I did "deep cleaning"...like 3-4 hours non-stop or something out of the ordinary. Plus I try not to eat them back. Thanks.

Thats fair enough (Im not trying to be mean, but the topic is one of those 'personal gripes' of mine)

princessdracos

I use the cleaning entries a lot when tracking exercise, but I use it for a) housecleaning marathons, or b) crazy nights at work when I am super-busy. This way I take the extra activity into account without (hopefully) overestimating the calories burned. Also, when I look back at my diary, if I see a big entry for cleaning then I know it was a busy night at work. Since my job can go from sitting around to almost running in no time flat, I chose lightly active and only log what I consider to be an insane night.

Hmmm...I'm gonna try to remember to use my HRM tonight at work. The last time I did, it said I burned almost 1600 calories in 4 hours. I want to see how much it varies to determine how accurate I think it is. And no, I didn't eat back those 1600 calories...the number seemed ridiculous to me! LOL

carreen

I might look like a total ***** saying this, but logging daily chores to me seems utterly ridiculous, if youre doing it to see how many calories you burn on top of your day, fair enough, if youre doing it in order to eat back the calories from exercise, shame on you!

There is no shame here. There are things that work, and there are things that do not work. We're all adults learning how to lose weight, there's no need to invoke shame.

OP has lost 5 pounds in the last 2 weeks. So far, what she is doing is working. When it stops working, she's already demonstrated the kind of thoughtfulness that it will take to figure out what is wrong (over-reporting exercise) and correct it.

And there is absolutely nothing wrong with setting your lifestyle to sedentary and using food as an incentive to exercise. That's how this site is designed to work. Maybe it doesn't work for you, and that's fine. For you. But don't heap shame on total strangers for trying to find what works for them. That's just downright rude.

Thats where we differ in thought, using food to reward oneself seems utterly backward to me. Thats like an alcoholic rewarding themselves from abstaining by having a drink. Im not 'heaping shame on total strangers finding out what works for them'. You would never, unless you were trying to lose weight, count something like washing dishes towards working out how much to eat, you wouldnt even think about it, because its an everyday thing. Im simply pointing out how ridiculous it seems (to me yes) to log things like these in order to justify eating more.
Anyway, lets not begin a thread riding argument, your point is taken, I simply disagree.

Im pleased the OP is doing well, good on her. Praise where praise is due,keep up the good work.

lol...Thanks for the thoughts guys. Just FYI, It's not so I can eat the calories back; it's so I can track my weekly activity to see if I've reached my minutes per week goal, and I don't record every time I do a chore....only when I'm doing a big job, ie. scrub the house for hours at a time. Thanks again.

Kara_xxx

My opinion is it's not exercise unless it makes you sweat, increases your heart rate and leaves you out of breath. ;o)

So paying my utility bill is an exercise?

:laugh:

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: