Is housework considered excersise?

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Replies

  • Rhea30
    Rhea30 Posts: 625 Member
    Well, is it? I have been doing fall house cleaning (I mean serious cleaning, including furniture moving) for the past 3 days and I am exhausted. However, I have not logged it as exercise. Given how hungry have been (probably due to the physical exertion) I think it should count for some extra exercise calories I could eat back.

    ...and if I do count it, how many calories does it actually burn up?

    Yes, if whatever you are doing, even if its housework is working you out then count it.
  • Sharyn913
    Sharyn913 Posts: 777 Member
    I personally have my settings set to sedentary since I have a desk job. I sit on my butt most of the day. If I decide "instead of sitting, I'm going to scrub my walls from top to bottom" and in turn I break out a sweat, I will log it. Because it's something I knowingly go out of my way to do. However, I completely underestimate. If I clean for 60 minutes, I may log it as 20-30 mins, and then reduce the calorie count as well. I generally only give myself an additional 1-2 cal per min for stuff like that.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
    i don't clean, my husband does all the housework, so when i do bother to do it, i list it. i do laundry and cat pans every week, so i don't list it, but if i got wild and busted out the vacuum i would list it.

    Careful with that vaccum. Push it around for too long and you'll get MAD biceps!
  • lmeasterling
    lmeasterling Posts: 139 Member
    Good question, I'm getting my hair cut later on today, can I count this as exercise?

    Absolutely! And be sure to weigh yourself afterwards...you've probably lost at least a few ounces! haha. :wink:
  • ThatDarnZach
    ThatDarnZach Posts: 52 Member
    I consider it exercise because I always bring my stereo downstairs with me and play loud music while I clean the kitchen or the living room and dance/jump/sing/play. By the time I'm done, I'm sweating, out of breath, and starving! That's not what I would have done before MFP but now I just use it as extra cardio time!

    Richard Simmons is that you? I love to sweat to the oldies while I clean.....

    It's the only way to make it bearable!!
  • AnneC77
    AnneC77 Posts: 284
    Good question, I'm getting my hair cut later on today, can I count this as exercise?

    I love how the men post things like this.. Maybe if they DID house work they would know you can break a big sweat scrubbing the shower and moving the furniture all day.

    edit: Not all men... just the majority I know.

    This!

    I personally don't count it and class it as a bonus but hunni this is your journey, if it exerted you, made you sweat then add it. Do what you feel is right for you, good luck! x
  • Rhea30
    Rhea30 Posts: 625 Member
    If you were truly hungry, you should just eat something. Or you could just use it in your favor and stick to whatever your plan is. Counting things like housecleaning is silly as there is no real way to log it accurately.

    You can check with a HRM. I did that and it was telling me that housework was exercise :)
  • DesireeLovesOrganic
    DesireeLovesOrganic Posts: 456 Member
    I do if it's something big. Like last week we had people coming over and I spent an hour scrubbing the hell out of my disgusting hard water stained bathtub. My arms, shoulders, and *kitten* (sitting in squat position for an hour) hurt for two days! HAHAHA I don't for regular everyday stuff though. It's listed on my fitness pal though, you can enter light or heavy cleaning.
  • sherisse69
    sherisse69 Posts: 795 Member
    Good question, I'm getting my hair cut later on today, can I count this as exercise?

    I love how the men post things like this.. Maybe if they DID house work they would know you can break a big sweat scrubbing the shower and moving the furniture all day.

    edit: Not all men... just the majority I know.

    So AGREE!!!!!!!!!
  • Cliffslosinit
    Cliffslosinit Posts: 5,044 Member
    I got this big doing house work. It was part of my normal routine....so for me I don't count it.
  • mjgregg12
    mjgregg12 Posts: 36
    When I moved my entire apartment, the time I carried HEAVY boxes up and down the stairs multiple times each day, so I counted it.
    What's the difference between being in a gym and lifting weights and lifting a heavy box and carrying it up 17 stairs? Your body doesn't know you are in the gym, your mind does. So I say if you are moving furniture and doing strenuous things, count it.
  • norcal_yogi
    norcal_yogi Posts: 675 Member
    Good question, I'm getting my hair cut later on today, can I count this as exercise?

    whatever. your wife/gf is at home taking care of it, right?
  • Alex_is_Hawks
    Alex_is_Hawks Posts: 3,499 Member
    I only count what I call purposeful exercise....

    that means unless I say, I am going to exercise now and this is what I'm going to do...then I don't log it, I just count it as my day to day activities...some days I burn high, some days I burn low...

    that being said, that is my choice, if you want to log it, because you obviously worked up a sweat if you found yourself hungrier, just search for it in the search engine...there are two options, light cleaning and heavy cleaning.
  • GretchenReine
    GretchenReine Posts: 1,374 Member
    Would you have called it exercise before you started MFP? I doubt it.

    ^^^ This
  • katkrak
    katkrak Posts: 92
    The only time I have personally counted it towards exercise was when I was packing house up for our move. I was lifting furniture and packing/moving heavy boxes, and deep cleaning. Then unpacking in new home. I also logged it the other day when I swept/mopped/vacuumed whole house, upstairs and downstairs and scrubbed bathrooms for company visiting-more for my own curiosity. Use your own judgement. If it's not everyday light cleaning, I would log it.
  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
    uh-oh not again
  • leggy_sweet_thang
    leggy_sweet_thang Posts: 1
    Why shouldn't you count it? It is under the exercise portion of the site. Now, that being said, just don't overdo it and eat all the caloires you gained by doing it. Unless you were wearing a heart rate monitor while doing it, you won't know exactly what you burned, so just air on the side of caution so you don't blow the hard work you have already put in. As for the negative comments, haters gonna hate, that's why you have your supportive friends on your MPF site. Keep up the good work and don't let the other comments keep you from asking questions. :)
  • Carfoodel
    Carfoodel Posts: 481 Member
    People count walking as exercise...and yes you walked everyday, even before you worked out and joined MFP!

    yes people may have walked before joining MFP, but it may have increased greatly.

    I took the dog a 5 mile walk this morning - I would never have managed that before i started trying to tackle the weight - I wasn't fit enough. I purposely walked that length as I am having rest day so I wanted to stretch my legs and be active without going to the gym.

    I also walked to the shops today - at one time I would have taken the car, I will also take the dog at least another 2 or 3 walks today and I expect my fitbit to have told me that I have walked at least 10 miles today - I don't eat normally eat my walking calories back - but a 5 mile walk - and I am hungry and tired - yes I will and I will still lose weight.

    I know this topic comes up all the time and derisory remarks are often made - but for some people that were very inactive - being more active is a big change and does use more calories and what skin is it off other people's noses if some people log it - it's up to the individual how they want to approach their weightloss.
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,010 Member
    DavPaul says you can burn 1000 calories in 30 minutes cleaning your house if you work hard enough.

    ummmmm. no
  • dbevisjr
    dbevisjr Posts: 183
    I always tell my wife that if she does the house work naked the calorie burn is higher. (No? Well, it didn't work with her either.) But if you really want to know how many cals it burns I suggest the Fitbit or other similar device. Housework does burn calories but you don't want to count it twice since that would be misleading to your theoretical results on paper. (ie: thinking you burned twice as much as you actually burned would lead you to expect twice the weight loss that you actually get.) So if you have already counted your normal daily cleaning routine into your normal daily activity level when you set up your goals on MFP then you wouldn't count this. Since you are talking about seasonal cleaning I doubt that is aleady counted in. So, you should count it. Fitbit , if you are interested, clips onto your belt or waistband and will count your steps and calculate calorie burn for the entire day and will most likely be more accurate than the mathematical guesstimate made by the algorithm used on this (or any other) web site.
  • jynxxxed
    jynxxxed Posts: 1,010 Member
    I don't count it, but to each his own I guess.

    I feel that it's the equivalent of logging every time I walk to the fridge and stand there for 5 minutes in the squat position trying to figure out what I want.
    I'm sure I burn a few calories doing it, but it's just part of my everday life.
  • embercakez
    embercakez Posts: 141
    Deadlift the couch & squat a chair and then you can call it exercise.
  • RAD_43
    RAD_43 Posts: 9
    not exercise but an burn calories
  • lporter229
    lporter229 Posts: 4,907 Member
    Your journey, your decision.

    Just because you don't log something. doesn't mean you didn't burn any extra calories doing it.
  • dsak
    dsak Posts: 367 Member
    My mindset: I did that kind of stuff when I was fat.

    What I DIDNT do when I was fat was diet and exercise. So those mindful, purposeful things I count. The rest I just chalk up to life as a bonus.

    Exactly.

    I agree!
  • Sister_Someone
    Sister_Someone Posts: 567 Member
    Personally, I count major cleaning (the kind that involves moving furniture or scrubbing floors on my hands and knees, or hanging curtains) and the cooking that isn't for myself (I bake for money).
  • Losing2Live69
    Losing2Live69 Posts: 743 Member
    If it makes you break out in a sweat and keeps your heart rate elevated for at least a half an hour then yes. The only way to truly know how many calories you burn is to get a hrm. I never go by MFP's figures. They are very inaccurate.
  • Drunkadelic
    Drunkadelic Posts: 948 Member
    ...but if i got wild and busted out the vacuum i would list it.
    :laugh:
  • fcp1234
    fcp1234 Posts: 1,098 Member
    My saturday morning cleaning, I think, would be considered exercise, but I dont log it.
    But Im OCD like that, so its 3-4 hours of non stop movements, pulling, pushing, going up and down etc. When Im done, I am more tired than after working out. But, like I said, I dont log it. Laundry and stuff like that dont count in my opinion.
  • springseternal
    springseternal Posts: 245 Member
    When I was set to sedentary, I would log all of it. I am currently set at light active to accommodate my work. Now, I log housework if I do more than two hours on top of working. I won't eat back more than half of those calories unless I'm using my HRM while cleaning (I have in the past, but don't always). I also don't count it if I'm doing it on my days off. It works for me. If any of that made sense.

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