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MyFitnessPal Community

Question about Cleaning Calories

Heather_Rider

First, I NEVER EVER log my cleaning calories, UNLESS its something MAJOR that I do, for instance, on my hands and knees scrubbing Linoleum floors of the ENTIRE HOUSE without stopping.. which takes about 3-4 hours or so.. and even then, I log it as "light to moderate effort, and I cut the time in half. That is my personal preference. If you do, I do not approve or disaprove, that is your choice and I have no issues with that. I am asking for opinions from both sides.

So here is my statement so you understand the situation.. then, the question...

Last Thursday, my septic system went to ****. (lol...) anyhoo.. it backed up, and the pipe ended up breaking and the pressure caused shiz water to literally spray back up into every "drain" hole in the house.. every sink, toilet, tub.. everything, about 2-3 feet out of the hole. All over my kitchen, my bathrooms, my laundry room.. my toilets over flowed...

SHIZ everywhere........................

I have been SCRUBBING NON STOP like i am cracked out on something for 6 hours now. (which i am NOT.. not even a 5 hours energy.. its just REALLY gross and Im kinda OCD.. I have stopped once to pee (in the woods. haha. plumber not here yet) and once to eat (which i did while updating this) I am scrubbing, washing, wiping, walking, etc.. absoluting not even sit down ONCE. I have my daughter doing the things like dishes and laundry.. so im literally doing all the "harder, moving work" its far from "light to moderate"

I was curious.. and checked the 6 hours ive worked so far (full time (SO FAR) for light to moderate) and there is NO FRIGGIN WAY I have burnt 1100 calories. and im not logging it as that. (AND, that will be "halfing" my hours, because i EASILY have another 6-8 hours to go)

WHAT WOULD *YOU* PERSONALLY DO??

I know MFP sometimes "gives you too many" which is why i always half calories that i do not set out to burn.. (as in if i dont actually WORK OUT for the sole reason to burn fat. Also, this is the only "other" type of calories that I burn - again, reminder that this isnt something I do daily. *ONLY* on very special occasions. (not if im close or going over on calories.. i am one who has a hard time even getting to my calories.

So, Suggestions???

:flowerforyou: Sorry im long winded.. i REALLY needed this break... :laugh:

Oh, one more thing..

While my diary is open, there is a few things you should know. #1. I am on doctor restricted diet for reasons you do not need to know. Do not comment on it, im not asking you about food. #2. I have been EXTREMELY ILL with bacterial pneumonia. I also have COPD and at age 35, the combination of the two can be FATAL. so the last two weeks of my diary might as well be thrown out the window. #3. I drink beer on saturday, so you can throw that out the window as well. #4. I really dont give a CRAP what you think about my diary because it will not change what i do, how i feel or influence me, so you are just waisting your time, and breath. (Also, the ONLY thing i have been able to keeep from vomiting in the last two days is pizza, so its better than what i was doing the three days before that, which was eating and puking my brains out.. or refusing food and sipping water, and nearly ended up in the ER..) Just putting all that out there because SO many ppl on MFP believe they are Jesus, a Doctor, Food Nazi's and my Mother. None applies, so if you believe your opinion matters to me about FOOD, well.. you know what they say... :drinker:

Replies

rachgarm

This is where a heart rate monitor comes in handy. I mark myself as sedentary and then log all the extra calories from cooking/cleaning/shopping, etc. MFP is way off on my calories burned, saying I burn double the calories on the elliptical and half the calories I burn while cooking (though I dance while cooking).

If you rent eating your exercise calories then finding the exact isn't a huge deal, but if you are eating them, I'd play it safe and go with half what MFP says.

rachgarm

If you are, not rent, stupid auto correct

Brunner26_2

tl;dr response: If it was just a one time thing, don't worry about it.

secretlobster

It counts as 12,000 calories burned if you do it at my house

Heather_Rider

If you are, not rent, stupid auto correct

lol.. Autocorrect is awesome. At this time, i do not eat my exercise calories back UNLESS I am hungry.. again, my personal feelings. (Kind of like i got here eating because i wasnt hungry.. why eat if im not hungry now?) My opinion may change the further I get into my journey, but for now, if its working, dont fix it! lol..

I dont have one at this time.. (Come on, Christmas!)

I am also a butt sitter, but do not log the things I would normally do in a day, because i was a butt sitter before and still did those things... and never lost (and ate about the same, really...) im one of these people who MUST move to lose)

Hmmmm.

Heather_Rider

It counts as 12,000 calories burned if you do it at my house

I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THERE!! :laugh:

Heather_Rider

Bak to the grind! Be back later & hope to see more advice! Thanks for everything so far!

Mokey41

Not really sure what your question is? If you don't eat exercise calories and are sticking to a doctor prescribed diet then what are you worrying about? Log it, don't log it, whatever makes you happy.

JohnMessmer

As a general rule MFP does over exaggerate how many calories are burned, so I would cut it in half and list that number so that at least I was close.

Lesley2901

1100 calories doesn't seem an excessive burn for 6 hours of scrubbing down walls etc especially when you consider that an hours leisurely walk at 2.5mph would mean I was burning 176 cals. I don't generally log cleaning either but for a major clean up that involved hours of hard work I would probably do what you have done and use 'light to moderate cleaning' and then half the total number of calories.

wellbert

I log these cleaning calories...

Heather_Rider

Thanks everyone!

I think I will be happy when I get that heart rate monitor! LOL

For the person asking what does it matter.. it matters because my diet is temporary, and i need to LEARN what to do once this situation arrives when im on a normal diet, eating properly, and eating back my calories, however not everyone is perfectly healthy and can do that right off...............

So, I thank you all for you advice, and I appreciate those who gave it very much! Its very nice when you actually get what you ask for and adults can actually keep their smart, non helpful mouths shut once in awhile. Well.. most of them anyway.

Hope you all have a wonderful afternoon!

Back to cleaning poop! :grumble:

Heather_Rider

:drinker:

Not really sure what your question is? If you don't eat exercise calories and are sticking to a doctor prescribed diet then what are you worrying about? Log it, don't log it, whatever makes you happy.

Im sorry, my question was how to get the most smart *kitten* answer possible with no help whatsoever. Great job! I think you win!
(If you want the REAL answer to your question, see the post above this one.) :drinker:

JersryGirl31

I only log cleaning (or gardening) calories when I work so hard that I feel like I have increased my heart-rate. Yes a monitor would be good for this, but I can tell when I'm really working out or just cleaning up. I would probably log in half the time. It is a personal thing. For some people it's an effort to do laundry and clean. Even walking up or down stairs is a struggle. These people should definitely log cleaning calories. I always felt that was the reason certain activities were on the list.

Jynus

This is where a heart rate monitor comes in handy. I mark myself as sedentary and then log all the extra calories from cooking/cleaning/shopping, etc. MFP is way off on my calories burned, saying I burn double the calories on the elliptical and half the calories I burn while cooking (though I dance while cooking).

If you rent eating your exercise calories then finding the exact isn't a huge deal, but if you are eating them, I'd play it safe and go with half what MFP says.

actually no, a HRM is NOT handy for situations like this.

HRM is very specific device, it's only accurate when you're doing actual physical cardiovascular exercise in the cardio zone. For low impact exercise the body is using a different much more energy efficient system to power muscles, so calorie burn is off.

In addition most HRM's don't factor in BMR. Which is anywhere from 100-180cal/hour. So that figure of 1100 calories could mean that 800 of it was just from existing, and only 300 was actual exercise.

JustJennie1

I only log calories from cleaning when it is above and beyond my normal cleaning. For example a few months ago I logged cleaning because I did a FULL house clean which turned out to be four hours total and I was sweating up a storm when I did it.

If I'm just doing my normal weekly vacuuming then I don't log it.

Azdak

You expend more calories than you take in, you lose weight.

You take in more, you gain weight.

You can track, tally, parcel, log the calories any way you want--if you guess correctly, you will lose weight. If you don't, you won't.

The ACT of logging calories has no effect on your weight loss. Unless you are using accumulated activity calories (or steps or whatever) as a motivator for being more active, and doing it separately from you eating plan, there is no reason I can think of for "logging" activity calories.

If you did an unusual amount of heavy labor and are hungry and feel like eating a little more, then do it. If you are working at a job that you feel regularly has you engaging in activity and feel you need to eat more, then do it. You will soon find out if that was a good choice or not.

If you are eating a reasonable amount of food, and you are overweight, there is really no reason to be that precise about your calorie deficit. You might as well just spend the extra calories and lose a little more weight.

LuckyLeprechaun

I really dont give a CRAP what you think about my diary because it will not change what i do, how i feel or influence me, so you are just waisting your time, and breath.

Duly noted.

EatClean_WashUrNuts

Hire a maid. Answer solved

Mokey41

I bet you could lose 5 lbs just by knocking the large chip off your shoulder!

EvanKeel

If I had a fairly specific set of medical constraints that might involve metabolic complications and require strict diets choices, personally, I'd stick with advice on the topic from a medical professional.

jetscreaminagain

Not really sure what your question is? If you don't eat exercise calories and are sticking to a doctor prescribed diet then what are you worrying about? Log it, don't log it, whatever makes you happy.

This. Plus I'm not clear on why you seem so angry. Well I guess I'd be angry if my septic system messed up and I had stuff all over the place, but then again, I wouldn't be posting about exercise calories and instead I'd be looking for all the bleach I could find.

I wish you the best whether you log cleaning as exercise or not, whether you drink beer or not, whether you change your eating habits or not, whether you take the advice you're given after asking for advice or not.

Take a break and relax as soon as you can, and don't sweat the database questions.

thethingirlinside

You go girl.its about you .