You can burn calories with housework!

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  • AnitaVolpato
    AnitaVolpato Posts: 204 Member
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    I went grocery shopping and shopping for clothing for over 2 hours Sunday. When I got home I was so tired. That was 2 hours of walking so yes I logged it. It wasn't normal activity for me. I only clean house 3 times a week so I log it also. It's not something that I do everyday. The last time I vacuumed I broke out a sweat so yes I am logging it. I am set to sedentary on this site so everything else is calories burned...... :)
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    Google "non-exercise activity thermogenesis". It adds up. If you have a Fitbit, try one day just getting up and sweeping a floor or doing knee-ups or something for 5 minutes per hour, or for ten minutes, 6 times a day. Compare that day's calorie burn to the day you sat around all day but spent an hour in the gym or on the treadmill. You'll probably find the little bursts of frequent activity add up to more overall calories.

    That said, don't eat it back (unless you do so as a "Fitbit adjustment", which is comparing your Fitbit TDEE to your MFP one and just telling you a difference).

    In MFP when you picked sedentary, lightly active, whatever, it applied a multiplier to BMR to account for these things. Even sedentary people do housework and other normal activities. That's why the estimate of their BMR is 1.2 x BMR. So for me, I'm expected to move enough in a day to burn at least 290 calories above BMR, when set to sedentary. If I put 'active' I think it's .55 x BMR, or 800 calories of non-exercise, non-BMR movement per day for me that's already factored into my deficit.
  • shoesalwaysfit
    shoesalwaysfit Posts: 48 Member
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  • reyopo
    reyopo Posts: 210 Member
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    so my question about logging housework is this.....didnt you do housework before or during the time you gained weight?

    Yes. And I also did Zumba, hot yoga, aqua aerobics, walking and everything else I do at the gym...except weight training, and THAT plus calorie counting is how I lost weight. But I am not one who logs housework either...I rarely break a sweat doing it.
  • sabolfitwife
    sabolfitwife Posts: 424 Member
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    I did 2 hours of yardwork/gardening and according to MFP I burned 735 kcals. I'll take it! Sure was sweating up a storm! I don't log a simple cleaning up the house session, but something like that that I don't normally do I definitely log.
  • neaneawy
    neaneawy Posts: 146 Member
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    I myself do not log housework as exercise as i have always done this diet or no diet!

    I don't log the everyday stuff, but the deep cleaning, cleaning/organizing closets, cleaning carpets, intense food preparation, etc, which are over and above the normal, I log. :flowerforyou:

    Yes, to this. I don't log anything that's part of my everyday norm. That's included in my "lightly active" lifestyle, so you already get cals for not being sedentary. Major deep cleaning days and yard work days really get in the way of also having a typical workout, so I log those as exercise for the day. I usually only log 1/2 or less of the actual hours I spend working. It gets me enough extra cals so I feel like I still eat enough. I've seen the nasty posts too from those that think housework can't be tough enough for exercise. They should mind their own business. Only you know how hard you are actually working. If you feel your heart rate elevated while scrubbing a tub then count it!
  • emilypurplefrog
    emilypurplefrog Posts: 92 Member
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    I only log when I'm doing cleaning that involves a lot of moving around or scrubbing. So I really only count it when I'm cleaning my bathroom or cleaning the kitchen and that is something I do not do every day and takes more time than just folding a load or two of laundry and just tiddying up around the house.
  • rlmadrid
    rlmadrid Posts: 694 Member
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    Challenge accepted.
  • wavdawg4
    wavdawg4 Posts: 139 Member
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    I'd never really looked at house work at exercise but when I saw that MFP listed house chores as an exercise, I decided to begin logging it. I feel that any activity that helps me burn calories and assists me with my weight loss journey is worthy of listing!! You'd be amazed how many calories are burned by simple chores as vaccumming or mopping!

    That is a good outlook. I wouldn't really think of logging my household chores, but I think you have a point there.. "Any activitity that helps me burn calories and assists me with my weight loss journey is worthy of listing" -- perfect!
  • LeeshaNichole
    LeeshaNichole Posts: 179 Member
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    I log house work (not dishes or laundry) because I make it a workout. When I'm vacuuming I jog while pushing the vacuum. When I sweep, mop I also jog. When cleaning toilet, bathtub/shower/sinks I do squats (no weights but still works). I also jog to one part of the house from the other. If I am gonna fold laundry, I do a few lifts of the laundry basket. I am usually sweating pretty good by the end of my house work. Also, if a song (I always listen to music when I clean) comes on the radio that I really like-I start doing aerobic type exercise and stay with that for 10mins (I always set a timer).

    Edit-I also rarely eat back exercise calories.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
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    Your body is always burning calories, there has to be a line somewhere of what to count and what not to. I do not log normal routine housework....even loads of laundry up and down the stairs. I figure it's just bonus calories for all the time I've either over logged my calorie burn or underlogged my food intake.

    The only exception I move make is if I'm moving furniture or heavy yard work.
  • DavetheHYNIC
    DavetheHYNIC Posts: 318 Member
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    Logging housework is just an half *kitten* excuse that people use for not moving their body by truly exercising. This whole process is about lifestyle change and developing your life to be an active fit person. On my side of MFP land lighthouse cleaners, dog walkers, 15 min xbox players get blasted publicly and then deleted.

    #Itsbigpimpinovaherechurch
  • chatterbox3110
    chatterbox3110 Posts: 630 Member
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    Anything over and above my normal daily routine gets logged, especially if I've changed bedding, as I turn a king size mattress and that works up a sweat!
  • DelilahCat0212
    DelilahCat0212 Posts: 282 Member
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    I myself do not log housework as exercise as i have always done this diet or no diet!

    I agree.
  • sammniamii
    sammniamii Posts: 669 Member
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    Once a month I do a whole house cleaning - roughly 7 hrs worth. I've logged it before, that's alot of moving (or other stuff) plus I live in a long trailer (72' long) so going from one end to the other, putting all the crap the hubby has left out over the last month adds up in alot of extra steps.

    Also, look at yard work, mowing the lawn, gardening, house repairs & the lot. You'd be surprised how much you can burn doing 30min of yard work (mowing & weed-eating/edging).

    And a big freaking "SORRY" to the ones that discredit housework/cleaning and the like as exercise.... if you are just starting out or do a marathon session like I do - it IS a lot. The last time I did mine I wore my FitBit all day - it recorded nearly 560 cals extra burnt (which was after the 400+/- I burnt at the gym before coming home to clean) , which I replaced w/ the "house cleaning, light/moderate". Every little bit counts and it is GETTING you moving and moving equals calories burnt.
  • chellefutch
    chellefutch Posts: 1
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    I don't log housework because I don't want it to mess up my calorie counts... especially since I am 9 months pregnant and am taking in more calories than most... and still losing weight.
  • cobracars
    cobracars Posts: 949 Member
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    This is the way I look at it, if I work up a sweat doing it, I get to log it in as exercise.

    THIS exactly

    doing dishes and preparing your meal should not break a sweat. For me, mowing the lawn doesn't break a sweat. Raking leaves and digging post holes, yeah, that's harder and unusual work so I may log that as 'exercise'.

    If you want to count literally every little thing you do as burning calories you should set your daily calorie limit to '0' and then you only get to consume the calories you burned off the day before. If you do 1200 calories worth of little b/s jobs then you can eat 1200 calories back for maintenance.
  • mommasox
    mommasox Posts: 97 Member
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    It does burn a good amount of calories but I don't log any of them since its part of my daily routine. I do, however, log things like gardening or moving furniture or anything else that I don't normally do.
  • cobracars
    cobracars Posts: 949 Member
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    Logging housework is just an half *kitten* excuse that people use for not moving their body by truly exercising. This whole process is about lifestyle change and developing your life to be an active fit person. On my side of MFP land lighthouse cleaners, dog walkers, 15 min xbox players get blasted publicly and then deleted.

    #Itsbigpimpinovaherechurch

    Mostly agree with you, however I do a 1 mile walk at a 3mph pace in the evening and MFP logs 3mph as 'walking dog' even if you don't have a dog with you.
  • bonniecarbs
    bonniecarbs Posts: 446 Member
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    I dont usually cook, but when I do I'm cooking and freezing for a week for three and it takes time. I log it. I've got more room to deep clean since I live in a basement apartment now and not a small sky rise, and I have to clean more often, so I log it. One of my MFP friends wrote a nasty note about it; she and one of her friends sent responses back and forth about me, like I was an idiot. I still log it. Like someone else said, I also exercised on my own and went to the gym as I gained weight.

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