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

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  • alliemarie77
    alliemarie77 Posts: 378 Member
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    Not the usual house cleaning, but if I am rearranging, and "Spring cleaning" doing more than usual then yes I will claim that.

    EDIT: Especially if I am sweating!!
  • Ashwee87
    Ashwee87 Posts: 695 Member
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    House work - No
    Yard Work - Yes, but only cutting grass since I have a push mower.
    Shopping - LOL f*** NO.
  • coolraul07
    coolraul07 Posts: 1,606 Member
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    • Cleaning, shopping, etc. - no because my FitBit One will track that. Unless I'm doing something that required a LOT of effort while mostly stationary.
    • Yard work - Again, FitBit One tracks the walking, but I also wear my Polar FT7 HRM and will turn it on when doing stuff that more effort than standard step-based stuff (e.g. raking, reorg shed, working on swimming pool, etc.)

    Today's a perfect example, time to open the pool and I'll have the HRM running most of the time. THAT'S a workout!
  • Mmmmona
    Mmmmona Posts: 328 Member
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    It depends if you put yourself as sedentiary or active when you started.

    If you are very sedentairy then any activity should be counted. If you are lightly active or better, no, it shouldn't be counted.
  • eating4me
    eating4me Posts: 239 Member
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    Normal, everyday housework, or just sweeping a bit outside, no. If I'm running around the house like a madwoman getting everything clean, mopping & buffing floors, washing walls, vacuuming everywhere & getting my HR up and sweating, then yes, definitely. If I'm leisurely planting flowers out in the yard, no, but if I'm digging up bushes and doing anything strenuous (again, the key factor being getting my HR up & sweating), then, yes. Shopping? No. Not unless I was literally running around the store! I am careful to log anything that gets my HR up, because I don't want to lose much more weight, and I really don't want to be burning muscle -- I want to be sure I'm getting enough calories.
  • ruwise
    ruwise Posts: 265 Member
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    I count it if it's more than usual for example we were clearing our garage out last week. It involved a lot of heavy lifting and 2 trips to the tip. I ached for 2 days after which is more than when I do normal exercise so yes I'd count that. I don't always know a way to log it but it means I wouldn't worry too much if I was over calories.
  • Alatariel2002
    Alatariel2002 Posts: 65 Member
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    I mowed my yard today(with non proprelled push lawn mower) specifically for the workout. Normally I have my son mow the yard, but I wanted to add some variety to my exercise. My yard is very uneven, and the grass is very thick in places....so I counted it as my exercise today....as it is not something I do on a regular basis.
  • RoadsterGirlie
    RoadsterGirlie Posts: 1,195 Member
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    No. I only track exercise that is dedicated to just that.
  • highervibes
    highervibes Posts: 2,219 Member
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    I don't count normal housework but I don't do yardwork a lot so if I'm weeding 4 beds in the sun and hacking and bending and sweating then yeah, I'm counting it because I"m going to be HUNGRY and my 1750 isn't going to cut it on a day like that.
  • JusticeGirl25
    JusticeGirl25 Posts: 703 Member
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    Absouletly I count it as exercising especially with house and yard work. If you're working up a sweat with house and/or yard work, that counts as exercise. And if you're going out shopping, walking around in the mall, that counts as exercising as well because you are WALKING.
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
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    Every day type cleaning? No. Really heavy cleaning or clearing of closets, basement, etc..? Yes. And I do count mowing the lawn. By the time I'm done I feel like I worked my quads and core pretty well. If it feels like exercise, it's exercise to me.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Things like this are for the most part included in my activity level setting when I set up my profile. In other words, those calories are already accounted for in my NEAT...it isn't exercise. If I have a big day landscaping or something I usually just chalk that up to a few extra beers afterwards and I'm no worse for the wear. I don't actually log it as an exercise event though. Personally I think too many do this and eat back those calories and then get on here claiming they're doing everything right but not losing. Yes...you are supposed to eat back most of your exercise calories...not your dish-washing calories.
  • LexiAtel
    LexiAtel Posts: 228 Member
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    I would log yard work, but not the shopping (even though I monthly shop, and I actually DO burn calories) or the house work.
  • ncl1313
    ncl1313 Posts: 237 Member
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    Calories burned are calories burned. I guess it depends on what your "normal" routine has been. I do a majority of the cooking and grocery shopping, my husband does a majority the cleaning and yardwork. If I get home from work before him and there are a ton of leaves to be raked or snow to be shoveled and I decide to do it, I'd log that because it's out of my usual routine. If I choose to shop at the farmers' market instead of the grocery store, I may log some burned calories due to the fact that it's a much longer walk, uneven terrain, and I'm carrying my bags the whole time instead of pushing a cart. It comes down to personal preference.

    If you're just starting out and coming from a truly sedentary lifestyle, maybe you want to log everything to start just to get a good idea of how much activity you actually get in a day/week/month. Maybe after a month, calculate how much weight you've lost. If it's less than expected, maybe you don't log those activities anymore. If it's more than expected and more than is safe/healthy, maybe you stop logging those things and adjust your calories accordingly. Do what works for you.

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