Do you count house/yard work or shopping as exercising??

Mcgrawhaha

NO! and i dont know why, but when i see it logged, it really bothers me... issues i guess... lol

mumtoonegirl

no, not the day to day cleaning and I don't count the hours of walking I do with the kids because it is part of my day to day. Now if I am in the garden digging out crap and breaking into a serious sweat I might but unless I am working out I don't. I would be spending my day logging everything then.

Now that being said if we bring our DD for a long very brisk walk at the pace it takes to keep up with her on her bike then I will log it just to assure I am getting enough calories to not be deficient.

But my day to day is chasing 6 kids so I don't log all that.

zillah73

I don't count it. I only count workouts – be it gym, running, walking, biking or yoga. Sure, I can exert myself with house cleaning or lawn mowing but I don't want to get into the habit of letting myself off the hook with my focused workouts by crediting myself with chores. Those are just bonus calories burnt and, if they add up to extra pounds lost when I weigh in, then it's a pleasant surprise.

mariadreamer

No..It's kind of funny but I feel like "cheating" if I add it as exercising!

mitziku

If I sweat from the activity, then yes; otherwise no. Spring and fall yard clean-up definitely count. Shoveling snow this winter has counted.

toutmonpossible

It's not exercise. It does count as Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Exercise is sustained, deliberate activity that pushes your body to the limit.

I count only exercise as exercise.

CM9178

if it doesn't make you sweat, it's not exercise.

If I'm shoveling manure, digging holes for trees - yes. If I'm raking. no

I disagree. You can go for a 2 hour walk, not sweat, and that is definitely still exercise because you would still have burned a large amount of calories.

I think you would personally know if you should consider something as exercise or not.
If I went to the grocery store and walked around for 20 minutes - no I wouldn't consider that exercise - just normal walking/daily activity.
If I went to large mall and walked around for 2 to 3 hours, I would consider that exercise - because it is above and beyond the walking I would do in an average/normal day.

CM9178

It's not exercise. It does count as Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). Exercise is sustained, deliberate activity that pushes your body to the limit.

I count only exercise as exercise.

Disagree - if you burned calories above your daily activity level, it is exercise.

majope

When I spend 4 hours outside mowing and gardening, you better believe I'm going to count it. It takes the place of a "regular" workout. I sure don't have the strength, energy, or time to do both.

This!

LoosingMyLast15

shopping no never. basic every day /every saturday house cleaning no. spring cleaning yes (lots more involved than just basic everyday cleaning). yard work - i never do so if i did yes.

when i was gaining weight i was still doing basic house cleaning and going shopping (for hours/full day - i love to shop) but i never saw a drop in my weight from it.

paintlisapurple

Only if its heavy work that gets me sweating!

bearkisses

no

heidiyf

I generally don't count house cleaning or shopping. I guess I could strap on my pedometer at Target and log the miles but nah. However, these last few days I've been uprooting some decrepit and unhealthy landscaping and it involved some serious use of the mattock removing tree stumps, and I did count that, although I was conservative as I logged in one hour of "gardening" when I was probably spending 3 hours doing it.

Otherwise, I just count deliberate exercise. That way, I am in the clear when it comes to calories in and calories exerted. If I lose some extra weight that week then yay!

missymakayla

Yes I count it, Why not?

chasetwins

I do not count anything that is not an actual workout. If I do not wear my HRM...it doesn't get counted. I used to count yard work but no longer do that.
I installed a pond set up including moving around heavy rock slates last week then Gardened etc - for most of last week and was sweating and exhausted..I prob. should of worn it just to see what the burn was! LOL

Yard work is generally not an everyday / week thing so in theory it should be counted I guess. Shopping and house work is either a weekly or daily thing for me so I never count it.

LBNOakland

cleaning the house, no. mowing the law, yes. my rule is that if i do something around the house, and should shower afterwards b/c of sweating so much, i count it. on my feed i see all types of stuff that people count...cleaning, food prep, stuff like that. to each his/her own, i guess. for me, if i should shower after, it counts.

Not trying to be mean but... Deep cleaning a house is as MUCH work as mowing a yard. Might be even more if you are sitting on a riding mower like my hubby does! Vacuuming, dusting, washing floors and ceiling fans and baseboards. Scrubbing toilets. Lugging laundry baskets up and down basement stairs! That's alot of work! It takes me 5 good hours to really clean my house! :frown:

That being said, I don't count all of it. If I have cleaned house or worked in the yard for 3+ hours, I will count half of it. Cleaning the kitchen after a meal doesn't count. Nor does pulling a few weeds out of a flowerbed. Heck, I walk 3 miles a day with the dogs and don't count that. But 5 hours of housework, I count at least a portion of! I deserve those calories!!! :laugh:

Rocknut53

bearkisses

NO! and i dont know why, but when i see it logged, it really bothers me... issues i guess... lol

same, i actually delete people. it really discourages me and is not motivating at all to see '35 minutes of cardio including mopping'...um, what?

Lyerin

I don't count anything but actual exercise as exercise. Boot Camp, Zumba, Walking for fitness, all of that I count as exercise. Taking the stairs at work (I'm on the 5th floor) - I don't count it as exercise. I figure all of the "extras" add up to a nice additional calorie burn, but I don't call it "exercise", per se.

RllyGudTweetr

Is it just me, or does the oft-cited distinction in this thread between housework not counting and yardwork counting (which, again, I don't agree with) feel vaguely sexist? "Stereotypical male" household jobs like mowing the lawn or pulling weeds seem to count for a lot of folks, while "stereotypical female" household jobs seem not to count for a lot of folks.

Again, I'm not saying I agree with the sentiment, or that those jobs *should* be defined along gender roles. It just seems curious to me.

81Katz

This is tricky, and each opinion will vary.

My take is this:

I think if you did some HEAVY DUTY cleaning, I am talking hours and hours, crazy stuff like washing walls or scrubbing floors by hand, NOT 5 minutes with a Swiffer Duster, while *I* would not log it, I think a person should keep in mind they did have a 'tad' extra movement than usual, certainly this movement being a bit more strenuous than say ... washing dishes.

Yard work, again tricky. I think if you mowed (by hand, not riding mower) for hours or did something like dig ditches (ok, joke) *I* personally would not log it, but a person again should keep in a mind certain yard work tasks are more difficult or intense than say ... doing laundry.

It's not exercise per se, but it is a little bit more movement than a typical day I guess.

I personally think EXERCISE and EXERCISE. Not walking around the grocery store, not folding clothes, not doing dishes, not hanging laundry, not walking to your mailbox, etc.

But, that's just me.
ANY movement, is good movement honestly, but some shouldn't be counted as your only form of exercise.

LaraeTX

I do count shopping, because I'm walking for at least an hour at a time. I usually log 90 minutes of grocery shopping every 2 weeks, and if I go to the outlet mall, heck yeah i log the walking, it's a lot. I don't do food prep unless it's for several hours, and not just for the family. As for cleaning...only if it's just heavy cleaning, and moving furniture around.

mrslosser

I don't normally. On Saturday's 1000 calorie burn challenge I did BUT I did work up a sweat by doing jumping jacks and lunges as well as other exercises while cleaning... I needed all the help I could get! LOL

mandypizzle

No I never count those things.

crimsoncat

I for sure count gardening as work. Every summer spend two hours every day in the hot sun digging, weeding, raking, hauling mulch etc. Between that and walking the dog I lose 5-10lbs and a pant size compared to winter around xmas time. Clearly, that is good exercise.

Also, I am very sweaty from working like crazy. That should give you a clue as to whether you count it or not.

yo_andi

No. Nor do I count my commute (on foot or by bike) or any other walking I do over the course of the day (which is a lot). I did all of these things while I gained weight too. Logging them as "exercise" now seems like I'm kidding myself.

Missjulesdid

I wear my Bodymedia fit so it all gets counted.. I notice that regular housework doesn't really give me a bigger number for the day but if I'm doing some really heavy duty cleaning or raking leaves, pulling weeds, that kind of stuff.. it can give me 400-600 more calories burned for the day.

Nerdybreisawesome

Normal house cleaning no, deep cleaning, yes. Shopping? If it's an all day thing like Christmas shopping and I spent 6 hours walking around different malls and stores, then yes.

holleyinky

Yes! It does count! Housecleaning and yardwork burns a surprising amount of calories.

wassergottin

Not really. I don't eat back my exercise calories either. I exercise to be healthy and have decent musculature with a healthy heart rate, not to eat more.