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

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Replies

  • amez1974
    amez1974 Posts: 213 Member
    No I don't log it. For me personally, I only log intentional activity where I am working toward a specific fitness goal.

    I don't log shopping or yard work either. I cleaned out the chicken coop last weekend and didn't count that either. I just figure that is part of my daily activity even if occasionally the work is more difficult. I did however briefly admire my biceps while I was using the wheel barrow :)
  • zenchild
    zenchild Posts: 680 Member
    I don't log normal day-to-day cleaning but I do log when I clean the whole house (vacuum, sweep, dust, laundry, dishes, stove, oven, fridge, counters, baseboards, walls, general clutter, dogs, fish tanks, etc). I end up just as sweaty and tired as after a formal workout. The only difference is my house and my dogs are clean too.
    I take an hour out of every day to workout. That means that my house is somewhat neglected. It's not fair to make my husband do all of it so when I have a few hours on a weekend, it's only fair that I make up for what I don't do during the week. I know the calories burned are probably overestimated so I log a light to moderate effort even when it's a heavy effort and less time than I actually spend.
  • desiv2
    desiv2 Posts: 651 Member
    I don't log a lot of stuff, cleaning, walking at work, small walks, etc. I chalk it up to being lightly active. I only log purposeful exercise, or things like mowing the lawn/gardening.
  • Z3NN4
    Z3NN4 Posts: 58 Member
    I do for fear that I will burn too many calories and not eat enough back. When I started I was not active at all. I cleaned a few times a week, including the really necessary stuff, like dishes. I started taking anti-depressants and then started being incredibly productive, working out 1-2 hours a day- then I started keeping track of how much I was eating and joined MFP and in 3 months I lost 9 lbs. I was almost 300lbs and the lack of change with all I was putting in devastated me. So I did the research and found that I was doing too much and eating too little- so I log all activity so I can be as precise as possible. I lost my first pound in over a month today so I am going to keep doing what I've been the past week to make sure it keeps coming off!
  • LosinItAll2012
    LosinItAll2012 Posts: 238 Member
    If your losing weight then count what ever you want to because what your doing is working so why mess with it. If your not, then take a better look at what your counting as exercise.




    I agree with this.... It's really your own preferance... Do what works for you!! I personally do not log it... If I do have a busy cleaning day, more than usual...and I break a sweat while doing it...Bonus!!
  • kddruckenmiller
    kddruckenmiller Posts: 114 Member
    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?
    This cracked me up! Thanks for the ideas LMAO

    Actually one girl on my friends list does log stairs.. :/
  • Lisah8969
    Lisah8969 Posts: 1,247 Member
    I only log something if I am purposely doing it for the exercise and not if it were something I would be doing anyway. So no cleaning added for me. Also if I am at Disney and walking around the parks for 10 hours, I don't log that. I would be doing it anyway. When I am at Disney and I get up an hour early and run 4 miles, I log that. That is exercise.
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
    Hey, I just thought I'd ask the question, for no particular reason to be honest other that curiosity :)

    I personally don't log it as I clean throughout the whole day picking up after me and the little one, washing the pots just after they've been used etc so I don't see the point in logging it :)
    The only time I do clean for probably 30 minutes straight is when I have to clean up after the other half in the morning lol

    How about you?

    No, it's ridiculous. I wish I can expand upon my opinion but that really sums it up. Logging of exercise calories, eating back exercise calories in general just seems silly to me. Eat at TDEE and don't worry about the small stuff.
  • GeorgieLove708
    GeorgieLove708 Posts: 442 Member
    I don't log the normal stuff. I do log the big stuff that requires moving big furniture that's only done a few times a year... and even then, only if I think I've put enough effort into it that not getting those extra calories will make me feel like crap the next day. Generally I only enter exercise that I've done for the purpose of exercising.
  • boophil
    boophil Posts: 99 Member
    I don't log the normal stuff. I do log the big stuff that requires moving big furniture that's only done a few times a year... and even then, only if I think I've put enough effort into it that not getting those extra calories will make me feel like crap the next day. Generally I only enter exercise that I've done for the purpose of exercising.

    ^^^This. I very rarely will log cleaning. Everyday cleaning, never. I have logged changing the sheets/flipping the mattresses and a full-on cleaning frenzy (an hour or more of intense, sweaty cleaning) in the past. Although I wish I would have thought to wear my HRM when I moved this summer! All of the calories I must have burned lugging boxes and boxes down the stairs from my old apartment and up the stairs to my new one! :smile:
  • Espressocycle
    Espressocycle Posts: 2,245 Member
    I generally just consider it to be part of my daily activity, but if I spend several hours painting or doing heavy housework, I do log it, mainly because all that work made me hungry.
  • sumuwin
    sumuwin Posts: 8
    i like the rule of thumb of logging exercise when you put on exercise clothes. but i do wear work out clothes when i'm cleaning. i look at it as bonus mileage ... running up and down the stairs to clean and collect. sweating while i'm cleaning. just all a bonus. so, i don't log ...
  • sumuwin
    sumuwin Posts: 8
    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.

    great point.
  • DrMAvDPhD
    DrMAvDPhD Posts: 2,097 Member
    I don't have my activity level set as sedentary, but for very active. So I don't log anything except for very rigorous exercise.
  • Maria_T007
    Maria_T007 Posts: 107
    I never log it..I gained weight and cleaned everyday..so what would make me think ill lose it by counting it as working out? Just my opinion...
  • MtnKat
    MtnKat Posts: 714
    No, I don't log it. I don't log sex either.....and I think I may have sex more than I clean lol.

    I have no problems with other people logging it....if that's what you gotta do, then that's what you gotta do.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    Normal housework? No.

    The kind of cleaning I do before my inlaws visit, where I'm climbing ladders to clean the ceiling fan blades and moving the couch to vacuum under it? Yes. Mowing the lawn? Yes. Shoveling snow? Yes.

    Although right now, I'm eating based on TDEE, so I don't exactly count any of my exercise.
  • stefaiman
    stefaiman Posts: 21
    I wish that i could log " work" , as im a care assistant I think i burn calories anyway but I only log my swim sessions.

    Yes I work as a nurse, and I wear my pedometer to work everyday.... I walk an average of 2.5 - 3 miles each 12 hour shift. So needless to say no I don't log that but it does make me fell better that I don't do a formal workout on those days :)
  • laurasimmons
    laurasimmons Posts: 575 Member
    Nope.
  • SarahCW1979
    SarahCW1979 Posts: 572 Member
    Nope. I don't log cleaning, it didn't stop me getting fat so it sure as hell won't help me to get thinner lol
  • rhinesb
    rhinesb Posts: 204 Member
    I only log cleaning when it is spring cleaning type of activity. Where I'm on the floor with a scrub brush or REALLY scrubbing all day kinda thing. Hard work where you are sore at the end of the day.
  • kpnive
    kpnive Posts: 64 Member
    I never log an exercise so i can eat back my calories i worked hard burning. hell to the no!
  • Nerdybreisawesome
    Nerdybreisawesome Posts: 359 Member
    I do not log cleaning. Unless it's a full on spring/fall clean the house out kind of cleaning. I just don't think it's necessary to log everyday cleaning.
  • Nerdybreisawesome
    Nerdybreisawesome Posts: 359 Member
    Nope. I don't log cleaning, it didn't stop me getting fat so it sure as hell won't help me to get thinner lol

    ^this.
  • DisneyAddictRW
    DisneyAddictRW Posts: 800 Member
    I don't because its something undo everyday as my regular routine. I only log something that is above my normal activity.
  • DebraAukett
    DebraAukett Posts: 128 Member
    I only log what I call exercise - I never say I'm going to exercise when I'm going to clean, so I don't log it that way either.
  • Rho_Ro
    Rho_Ro Posts: 201 Member
    I'm surprised at how judgmental a good number of you are.......

    For sure there are those of us who can do the weekly housework in the blink of an eye because of our age, our fitness, our family situation or our health. And why would you bother noting this as exercise because in general it isn't; you didn't break a sweat, you didn't huff and puff with the exertion and you generally breezed through the morning.

    And for others, cleaning the house can be a major chore for all the same above reasons. And in these situations it's a real sense of achievement to successfully complete even one chore and noting it on your exercise diary is an easily seen achievement reminder. Some health conditions that inhibit active participation at gyms or going for brisk walks are arthritis or similar agility problems, asthma and breathing difficulties, depression and anxiety, limb amputations, Agoraphobia, obesity, old age and many, many more.

    In general my exercise is walking and I've built myself up to a distance of about 3km - I try to do this about 3 times a week. But some weeks I am unable to go any further than the end of the driveway because of my arthritic knee. So when I've been able to lux the whole house ignoring the pain and discomfort in my knee, then I do note it down on my exercise diary. Or when I've spent 2 or 3 hours of an afternoon doing baking (creaming the butter and sugar by hand) and then I make tea for the family and I'm tired and exhausted then I figure I've spent effort doing this so I'll put a couple of hours of cooking down in my diary. I don't put the FULL amount of time I take doing any chore - I usually put 1 or 2 hours. It really is just a token but it makes me feel as though I am a contributing human being - contributing to my own weightloss program.
  • deanna_bond
    deanna_bond Posts: 104 Member
    NO unless its VIGORIOUS. Like scrubbing or constant bendoing and weighted like moving (ugh I hate moving). Washing dishes does really burn calories lol unless its for like 3 hours of standing
  • deanna_bond
    deanna_bond Posts: 104 Member
    Hey, I just thought I'd ask the question, for no particular reason to be honest other that curiosity :)

    I personally don't log it as I clean throughout the whole day picking up after me and the little one, washing the pots just after they've been used etc so I don't see the point in logging it :)
    The only time I do clean for probably 30 minutes straight is when I have to clean up after the other half in the morning lol

    How about you?

    No, it's ridiculous. I wish I can expand upon my opinion but that really sums it up. Logging of exercise calories, eating back exercise calories in general just seems silly to me. Eat at TDEE and don't worry about the small stuff.
    WHAT IS A TDEE??????
  • mileah67
    mileah67 Posts: 8
    I think you would consider this "logged" when you select your overall activity level, which sets your daily burn!

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