House work/Grocery shopping

ambee0803

Does grocery shopping and house work really count as exersize? If I spend 2 hours doing house work do I really get to eat that extra snack?

arewethereyet

Amb, this is how I look at those things.

Did I clean house and grocery shop and still remain over weight?

I feel they are part of your every day calorie burn. Now if you decide to shampoo all the rugs or hang all the laundry on the line.....THAT I add in. But every day stuff, not me.

Today I went grocery shopping. I always go after I hit the gym and my metabolism is racing. I go straight to the dog food and water isle, load the carriage with a case of water and a 20 pound back of dog food............and THEN shop!

Good luck!:flowerforyou:

ambee0803

You're right. I think I'm just trying to justify things. Like I really want that pizza everybody else is eating but I dont have time to workout today but I did clean up and go to the store...that burns calories. That pizza doesn't look so good anyway.

cdavis1126

You want pizza? Have pizza!!! Make your own like I'm doing tonight. 1 weight watchers pita round split in two so you have two rounds. 1/4 cup of classico tom and basil sauce split between the two rounds, 1/4 cup Sargento low sodium mozz cheese split between the two and then I'm doing 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms. I sprinkle a little oregano and garlic powder on top as well. Pop them into the oven for about 25 minutes and voila! You've got a great pizza. I take the pizza cutter and get 8 pieces of pizza, with a side salad it's more than enough food. Try it, you'll never want that greasy pizza again. Christine

auntbliz

When I did my weight loss profile, I put lightly active. Housework is part of what makes me lightly active instead of sedentary. I don't count chasing after the kids and cleaning the house and going up and down the stairs at home as extra.

Romba

technically you are burning calories, but it does not replace true exersize with reps and sweat and jumping and squats...blah blah blah. So I would try to get a small work-out in if you can (since 2hrs of housework is tiresome and time consuming I wouldnt over-do anything but probably wouldnt eat a huge piece of cake as a reward or anything lol).

Buzzkitty1

Grocery shopping I would never count. Even if I'm doing the grocery store sprint, it's just not something I count. Nor do I count light housework. But if I'm moving furniture and scrubbing floors and vaccing and sweating, I do count it. Usually if I clean for 3 hours like that, I'll count it as one hour of cleaning.

OddSquid

I would only count grocery shopping if it's a full bore half hour of climbing the shelves, leaping across the aisles from the top shelf, then doing shuttle runs through the deli section. Follow that by grabbing two 12-lbs frozen turkeys and doing three sets of curls with them while power-walking through the condiment aisle.

While this description is meant in jest, it's not far from the truth. Justifications and rationalizations do nothing but hurt our own efforts. It may burn calories, but not the ones that count in our weight loss journey -- that's just part of your daily, regular expenditure.

imarlett

Housework done right should count as exercise. I dont know about you all, but vacuuming and moving furniture makes me break a sweat. So does mopping. Dusting, making the bed, laundry etc. doesn't. If you are making some sort of exertion then it's exercise. As for grocery shopping or walking around the mall, that is exercise too. You are walking, it's exercise. It maybe a slow pace but you are walking. I usually just count going to the mall (as I make it a habit to do three circuits around the mall every time I go) and vacuuming and mopping as light cardio.