Cleaning. Do you or don't you log it and why?

acstansell

I log it only if it's something I don' t often - like really scrubbing my bathrooms (grout and all), washing all the windows in the house, getting on my hands an knees to clean the floors. If I work up a REAL sweat with an out-of-the-ordinary chore, I log it.

General stuff - nope. Dishes, vacuum, dusting, mopping, general bathroom sprucing, laundry - nopity-nope.

KimMaplesBaker

I count it as light house cleaning, but only when i am at it for a nonstop period of time. For example, if I am up and down the stairs doing laundry, vacuuming, mopping the floor, etc. But the everyday pick up non stop ... nah. Like a couple of others have said, that is just a secret lil bonus for the day

dawlschic007

No, I don't count that sort of stuff. For me, that falls under my activity levels and not as a workout.

WendyBlendy

I don't log it - I count it as a secret "bonus" for myself because I eat the appropriate calories WITHOUT the cleaning and therefore have some wiggle room in there and potential to lose weight faster - if that makes sense.

The only time I logged something like this was when I did yardwork for an entire day and was soooo sore and tired afterwards that I figured I should eat back some of those calories lol.

That's what I do, but sometimes I'll log it in if I've been cleaning for like a half hour or something. Usually, though, it's a bonus for myself!!

JoolieW68

I don't count regular picking up and doing dishes and laundry and such.

I DO log when I do a very thorough vacuuming of my 2000+sq ft house that involves moving AND vacuuming all of the furniture (multiple couches and chairs), the stairs, 4 bedrooms, moving beds, etc. I do this about once every 10 days or so, and it takes me 2+ hours to do, so you're damn right I'm logging it. I didn't do this before when I was fat, because I didn't have 2 cats back then and have a need to get rid of the fur.

julieh391

Never. I cleaned daily during the 5 years I was getting fat.

rachelerwin

No I do not log cleaning. It never helped me lose weight before so why would I log it now? I only log exercise at the gym.

KimMaplesBaker

I also don't count my work activity, which could be counted. I just mark the extra workouts throughout the day.

krickeyuu

Well, I work full time and have a desk job, so I clean the whole house--vacuuming, mopping, dusting scrubbing bath & shower,--I also do laundry and grocery shopping on Saturday. I do count it as it is my exercise on Saturday because I am doing something I don't do the rrest of the week and it does burn calories. I don't count washing dishes, picking up, etc. that I do on a daily basis.

kenazfehu

Yes, I log cleaning, but only a specific type. I registered as sedentary (desk job), so when I'm doing a lot of moving around - vacuuming and mopping for example - and working up a good sweat, I think it's a pretty good workout. I don't count putting away groceries or loading the dishwasher or wiping down counter-tops though.

ChitownFoodie

I log anything thats over 2,000 in caloric burn for the day. So if that included cleaning, then technically yes, I would.

skinnybitchbarbie27

I do not log it. When I am cooking a meal or cleaning I do not concider this above the activity for daily life. It would be like "held the baby for 5 minutes" or "washed the dog" yeah, you obviously burn calories for those but it is nothing like exercise. I also, from living my life, have found it very rare that I am doing 30 minutes of continuous cleaning or cooking. There is always time in between boiling or letting cleaner sit in the bathroom to have a water break.

I think the people who do this cheat themselves a little bit, especially if it is in place of exercise.

lak64

I only count cleaning if its way beyond my normal routine....like spending hours "deep cleaning" and re arranging furniture. Ha ha! Sounds like I actually do that stuff...:-P

KeithChanning

One word. Fitbit

wizbeth1218

It sounds like maybe I am the odd (wo)man out here.

While I don't log routine cleaning (folding laundry, doing dishes, the 10-15 minute little things), I do log when I do dedicated cleaning, or cleaning with a lot of effort. My house is good-sized (not huge, but big enough) and I have 3 kids and 2 dogs at home. When it comes time to de-clutter and put away all that crap that seems to accumulate in piles around the house, I can log (so to speak) a whole lot of steps.

I don't log it so that I can eat back the calories. I log it as a means of motivation, so that I can have an indicator of a trend of moving toward a more active lifestyle. I have a lot of weight to lose and I am by nature very sedentary. I need all the little motivators I can get to encourage me to my my body through space. If logging cleaning as exercise calories motivates me to move AND clean... well then that's a double-win.

I also log my walking... and since MFP calls my walking pace "walking the dog" then I figure... hmmm, I should take the dog with me. Again, it's a win for me and for the dog.

CincinnatiDEIFan

I don't log cleaning...my rationale is that I done it before I watched what I ate and exercised and it didn't do anything for me then, so why bother now...

But I also pick up/clean/do dishes/laundry etc daily instead of a once a week half day "thing" so....

I do count mowing the yard though as it takes only about 15 minutes but is with a push mower in the Florida heat so I sweat my behind off doing it! LOL

squeaktones

i don't log the cleaning up after dinner or picking up the house. i do log it as exercise if it's a heavy cleaning day. when i vaccum cleaner, clean the shower, tub, sweep and mop. it's hard for me and i end up with bruises from it. by the time i am finished i am sweating like a pig. it usually takes me an hour and half. i usually just log it as half hour light cleaning and half hour heavy cleaning. i log cooking too if i am going back and forth from the stove to the sink to the counter several times and the pantry to the counter several times and the sink several times etc. on those days i am doing this for an hour or more and am tierd and sweating from it. on light cooking days where it's a 30 minute meal i don't count it.

Rogiefreida

I log it only if it's something I don' t often - like really scrubbing my bathrooms (grout and all), washing all the windows in the house, getting on my hands an knees to clean the floors. If I work up a REAL sweat with an out-of-the-ordinary chore, I log it.

General stuff - nope. Dishes, vacuum, dusting, mopping, general bathroom sprucing, laundry - nopity-nope.

This is what I do. I clean regularly everyday both at work and at home, but when I bust into a real "spring cleaning" type clean, where I bust as and break a sweat moving furniture to clean, windows, cleaning shelving 10 feet up at work, etc, then I might log it.

Generally speaking though, I don't log cleaning.

awilmeri

I only log planned exercise that I wouldn't "normally" do. (although now I hate to miss it). I want exercise to be incorporated into my life long term not just to burn calories to lose weight. So I want to see what I've put the effort and time into each week.

chooriyah

I think things like cleaning etc should be factored into whether you are sedentary, lightly active, active, or whatever the categories are that you enter to help set your goals. If you say that you are active because you run around all day cleaning and picking up etc etc, but then log it as exercise, you're double counting. But maybe some people set their activity level as sedentary, and then log their cleaning, particularly when it's active stuff like cleaning the oven or bath...? Saying that, I certainly got my heart rate up putting shelves together last weekend. Didn't count it though...

I'm on the fence about gardening though...

felblossom

I don't log cleaning, or doing laundry - even if that includes getting down four flights of stairs with my basket. There are a lot of things I don't even think about logging. I have, however, logged dancing in nightclubs occationally lol. I do go at it pretty hard, though, and I know I keep my heart-rate up for a good time there. (I also feel a lot less bad for having so many extra calories from alcohol, with a lower number in my journal, hehe...)

Eafears

I don't log it all the time but when I really clean I do. I throw on my headphones and dance while I clean and purposely do squats and such. I use my HRM and burn 450 an hour so yeah I log it

Memerulez

Since I have a routine where each day I focus on a specific cleaning duty, I do log that time in. Today is curtain washing day, you know, climb the step ladder, take down drapes, tote across the house to my laundry room, load the washer, start the washer, go back to the room and clean the window, sills, dust, sweep, mop, vaccuum. Then head back across the house to put the drapes in the dryer for a tumble of a few minutes and then head outside to hang them up for a couple of hours to allow them to lay right. Then it is back to the step ladder and up those 3 steps to stretch, reach, lift, bend, hang those drapes back up. It takes a total of about 25 minutes per room to do. It is a constant reach, bend, step, stretch. It is exercise. It is cardio. It is strength training according to my rheumatologist, cardiologist, orthopedic and general practioner doctors. They are the ones who pointed this out to me. So, why do you not include this in your routine exercise? I have no little one, well, except my house dog. I have limited mobility thanks to DNA--arthritis bad in the knees and hips--so I have to get credit where it is due. My Doctor's helped me see this. I hope I have helped you.

AndiJoy812

Not on "normal" days when I am just doing typical household stuff...but I do on my "deep" cleaning days. We have a family of 7; 5 bedroom - fairly large home, and on the days when I do windows, floors, and other tasks that keep me moving - I log it. Those days I will spend 6-7 hours cleaning, but I will only log 2. I really do need to get a HRM, only for my own curiosity for what I really do burn on those days...because by the end of the day I feel like I've been hit by a truck, and that is NOT normal. I also don't eat back those calories...so I guess for me, it's just for the pure fact that I want to see my hard work written down and get a little bit of credit for it! I sure don't hear it from my teens!! :laugh:

SairahRose

My once a fortnight deep clean (bathroom, shower tiles, carpet cleaning, bed changing etc etc....) will sometimes get logged if it's something I get sweaty for and needs doing. But if I've done enough of it during the week, then I'll not log it that time.
Daily cleaning isn't going to get logged because like others have said, I used to do the vacuuming and the dishes before, and I got fat. Things that are part of my daily routine isn't enough to give me a workout.

Cupcakehippiemommy

Nope but good for you if ya do atelast you're moving your toosh right?

skullshank

here's a question for those who DO log day to day things like cleaning. rhetorical of course, just something to think about...

if you log the cleaning (likely based on MFP's estimated burn), do you then find that you are justifying more food for the day?

"ooooo i cleaned, now i can have more cake!"

the way i see it, any "behind the scenes burns" that take place will just further your progress.

mulderpf

I log cleaning, not tidying up. But that's because during the week, I generally just pack the dishwasher, I might dust one or two things, do the odd load of washing. None of that gets logged as I see it as general day to day stuff. But without a doubt, if I'm washing floors, moving furniture around, running up and down the stairs, scrubbing away, dusting away, hauling the vacuum cleaner around - it definitely gets logged.

I also log all the walking I do (as long as it's more than 5 minutes). I have my BMR calculated on the sedentary option - that way, if I have a lazy Sunday where I hardly move, I wouldn't accidently eat more than I burned because I run up and down the stairs at work all day (and consider myself less sedentary - which is part of the reason I picked up weight!).

I've had no problem with doing this as I have consistently been losing weight, but I do tend to under-log rather than over-log, so I will actually use a stop-watch (or Endomondo) to measure EXACTLY how long I walked and how much calories I burnt.

I suppose the problem comes in when someones doing a bit of light dusting for 8 minutes and it felt like it was 15 and that's what gets logged. I try to just be as honest as possible with myself to make sure that I don't end up logging stuff just to have an extra glass of wine or bit of chocolate.

Amanda21202

no. i log only real exercise.
do you log going up the stairs to bed? going down again in the morning? sitting on the toilet as a squat? getting up again as a second rep?

That made me giggle, a lot hahaha! Sitting on the toilet a squat!:laugh:

silvergurl518

i log it, especially when it's of the "spring cleaning" type, considering i'm not much of a cleaner. if it was something i did every day, i would have adjusted my activity level to not be sedentary.