Cleaning....

gourmetgal77
gourmetgal77 Posts: 73 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Light/Moderate VS Heavy/Vigorous....

In your opinion - how do you differentiate when trying to calculate your exercise for the day?
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Replies

  • soldiergrl_101
    soldiergrl_101 Posts: 2,205 Member
    If you are tracking cleaning as exercise and then eating back the calories you will never loose weight. Use cleaning as an added bonus to your daily goal because you got moving but dont track it...track running or walking, or dancing what ever your form of exercise is and consider cleaning the house a bonus. If you want cleaning to burn more calories turn on some music and clean as you dance around the house, thats what I do
  • JenMc14
    JenMc14 Posts: 2,389 Member
    If you are tracking cleaning as exercise and then eating back the calories you will never loose weight. Use cleaning as an added bonus to your daily goal because you got moving but dont track it...track running or walking, or dancing what ever your form of exercise is and consider cleaning the house a bonus. If you want cleaning to burn more calories turn on some music and clean as you dance around the house, thats what I do

    QFT. Counting cleaning, especially every day tasks, and then eating back the calories is just sabotaging your efforts, imho.
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
    Since my baseline is sedentary, I do log exercise calories. Or I did. In recent weeks I've decided that I have a calorie budget of 1500 whether or not I exercise. I want to develop very stable eating habits; I don't want to go up and down depending on exercise.

    Heavy cleaning is when I'm moving almost constantly and really working up a sweat - like vacuuming the whole house, mopping multiple rooms, rearranging furniture, stuff like that.

    Light to moderate is when I'm doing a variety of things that keep me moving but don't really work up a sweat - like cleaning/straightening/dusting the living room. I might do some vacuuming, but other activities are so light that it all kind of balances out, I think, to moderate at best.

    I never counted stuff like the constant picking up and putting away tasks, loading the dishwasher, wiping counter tops, etc. There's just not that much exercise involved. It's light activity at best.
  • gourmetgal77
    gourmetgal77 Posts: 73 Member
    I never counted my cleaning as exercise -- but then I saw some one else tracking theirs - so I did a cleaning search under the exercise tab and saw that you can choose between light/moderate and heavy/vigorous. I was just curious what people track and how they count it.

    I typically track my WiiFit usage, any exercise (cardio) videos I do, walking/running, dancing... things like that.
    If you are tracking cleaning as exercise and then eating back the calories you will never loose weight. Use cleaning as an added bonus to your daily goal because you got moving but dont track it...track running or walking, or dancing what ever your form of exercise is and consider cleaning the house a bonus. If you want cleaning to burn more calories turn on some music and clean as you dance around the house, thats what I do
  • gourmetgal77
    gourmetgal77 Posts: 73 Member
    I would agree with you 100%... like others have said, I would count it as a bonus at best.
    If you are tracking cleaning as exercise and then eating back the calories you will never loose weight. Use cleaning as an added bonus to your daily goal because you got moving but dont track it...track running or walking, or dancing what ever your form of exercise is and consider cleaning the house a bonus. If you want cleaning to burn more calories turn on some music and clean as you dance around the house, thats what I do

    QFT. Counting cleaning, especially every day tasks, and then eating back the calories is just sabotaging your efforts, imho.
  • ilovedeadlifts
    ilovedeadlifts Posts: 2,923 Member
    I dont really change my eating based on housework. Mopping the floors isn't burning enough calories to log.

    If you're lifting up a couch with one arm and dusting underneath it, then maybe you should log your cleaning...........
  • soldiergrl_101
    soldiergrl_101 Posts: 2,205 Member
    I mean I like at it like this, Cleaning the house is a part of life, I have been doing it for years...yet I am still overweight, therefore if it truely where a means of weight loss I would look great ha-ha!! But its good that you track wii fit :)
  • gourmetgal77
    gourmetgal77 Posts: 73 Member
    Right there with you! With the amount of cleaning I do in a day -- I would be a size 2 instead of a size 12!
    I mean I like at it like this, Cleaning the house is a part of life, I have been doing it for years...yet I am still overweight, therefore if it truely where a means of weight loss I would look great ha-ha!! But its good that you track wii fit :)
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
    Light/Moderate VS Heavy/Vigorous....

    In your opinion - how do you differentiate when trying to calculate your exercise for the day?

    Seriously...?
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
    I dont really change my eating based on housework. Mopping the floors isn't burning enough calories to log.

    If you're lifting up a couch with one arm and dusting underneath it, then maybe you should log your cleaning...........

    Now he needs to log his house cleaning. When he mops his kitchen he lifts the refrigerator up with one arm and uses the other to mop under it.
  • luticiaf
    luticiaf Posts: 92 Member
    omg, when i'm on one of my 'weekend missions', THAT counts as a workout, and for sure I log it! When we're talking handwashing and scrubbing floors, washing walls, vacuuming stairs, cleaning out the pantry/garage/basement, and climbing the stairs countless times, you bet i'm sweating and huffing and puffing. do that for 3 hours straight, you feel it, so heck yes, log it!

    swiffer/sweeping/regular mealtime cleaning doesn't count lol...
  • gourmetgal77
    gourmetgal77 Posts: 73 Member
    That was my basic thought too... but, was wondering what other people's take on it was....
    omg, when i'm on one of my 'weekend missions', THAT counts as a workout, and for sure I log it! When we're talking handwashing and scrubbing floors, washing walls, vacuuming stairs, cleaning out the pantry/garage/basement, and climbing the stairs countless times, you bet i'm sweating and huffing and puffing. do that for 3 hours straight, you feel it, so heck yes, log it!

    swiffer/sweeping/regular mealtime cleaning doesn't count lol...
  • gourmetgal77
    gourmetgal77 Posts: 73 Member
    Seriously... what? I know some people track it, as I have seen it on their journals. So, I was curious how many people do and how they dedicate it....
    Light/Moderate VS Heavy/Vigorous....

    In your opinion - how do you differentiate when trying to calculate your exercise for the day?

    Seriously...?
  • strawberriekt24
    strawberriekt24 Posts: 61 Member
    I do log heavy/vigorous cleaning, but only when I'm moving a whole lot of furniture around and then SCRUBBING. Everyday tasks don't get logged.
  • jlapey
    jlapey Posts: 1,850 Member
    I eat between a range of calories 1500-1700. I don't log my exercise. I just mention it in the exercise notes so I know what I did when I look back.

    If I were to log exercise calories, I would only log activities that I do specifically for weight loss. Anything else is a bonus, except raking leaves. I burn killer calories that need to be replaced when I rake.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Huffing, puffing and sweating are not indicators of calorie burn but rather how physically unfit you are. Unless the activity is significantly raising your heart rate for an extended period of time you aren't burning much more than you would normally. There is a huge difference between perceived exertion and actual calorie burn for a lot of people. Logging cleaning as an excuse to eat more is a cop out.
  • da_bears10089
    da_bears10089 Posts: 1,791 Member
    I eat between a range of calories 1500-1700. I don't log my exercise. I just mention it in the exercise notes so I know what I did when I look back.

    If I were to log exercise calories, I would only log activities that I do specifically for weight loss. Anything else is a bonus, except raking leaves. I burn killer calories that need to be replaced when I rake.

    Raking is a completely underestimated chore. i will have to try to rake up all the dead grass from the winter, and that is HARD.
  • soldiergrl_101
    soldiergrl_101 Posts: 2,205 Member
    True statement
  • tatd_820
    tatd_820 Posts: 573 Member
    I do not log cleaning. I was surely fat and overweight while cleaning before. It's just a normal day to day thing that burns minimal calories. I would not count that. Mow a yard...count that! Garden....count that. Play softball....count that. Not cleaning.
  • gourmetgal77
    gourmetgal77 Posts: 73 Member
    Thanks for replying! That was my thought too... when you are doing your "serious spring cleaning" that is one thing. Timing how long it takes you to sweep and mop on a daily basis, is another thing...
    I do log heavy/vigorous cleaning, but only when I'm moving a whole lot of furniture around and then SCRUBBING. Everyday tasks don't get logged.
  • gourmetgal77
    gourmetgal77 Posts: 73 Member
    Thanks for replying ~ I never would have thought to include gardening or raking or any of those outside activities.

    Congrats on the weight loss... I see you are almost to your goal based on your ticker!
    I do not log cleaning. I was surely fat and overweight while cleaning before. It's just a normal day to day thing that burns minimal calories. I would not count that. Mow a yard...count that! Garden....count that. Play softball....count that. Not cleaning.
  • gourmetgal77
    gourmetgal77 Posts: 73 Member
    Thanks for the reminder - raking and cleaning up the yard are on my "to-do" list this weekend if the weather is good...
    I eat between a range of calories 1500-1700. I don't log my exercise. I just mention it in the exercise notes so I know what I did when I look back.

    If I were to log exercise calories, I would only log activities that I do specifically for weight loss. Anything else is a bonus, except raking leaves. I burn killer calories that need to be replaced when I rake.

    Raking is a completely underestimated chore. i will have to try to rake up all the dead grass from the winter, and that is HARD.
  • bethany41h
    bethany41h Posts: 218
    I don't count cleaning... much like another poster - I consider it a bonus is I happen to get a burn from it. In a few weekends I will be digging a patio, and laying brick all day.. I count something like as its not an everyday type of thing. But I'd error on the side of just not counting it.
  • phyllisbobbitt
    phyllisbobbitt Posts: 347 Member
    :flowerforyou: i count it when i am doing a once a week moving furniture & cleaning under cabinets & in cabinets where i am climbing up & down, scrubbing bathrooms polishing floors, scrubbing ovens, cleaning fridge, changing bed linens, washing clothes & pulling on wet clothes. all this activity that lasts for hours on end yes that counts!
  • WAHMto5
    WAHMto5 Posts: 375 Member
    I also never understood why others count it as exercise, just like some that count cooking as exercise??
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
    I mean I like at it like this, Cleaning the house is a part of life, I have been doing it for years...yet I am still overweight, therefore if it truely where a means of weight loss I would look great ha-ha!! But its good that you track wii fit :)

    This does not compute. Yes, I've been cleaning all my adult life, but I was also overeating. Correcting the overeating part of the equation should give cleaning calories better effect. Isn't it said that losing weight is 80% diet?

    I found logging cleaning to be great motivation to do more cleaning of both yard and garden.
  • luticiaf
    luticiaf Posts: 92 Member
    :flowerforyou: i count it when i am doing a once a week moving furniture & cleaning under cabinets & in cabinets where i am climbing up & down, scrubbing bathrooms polishing floors, scrubbing ovens, cleaning fridge, changing bed linens, washing clothes & pulling on wet clothes. all this activity that lasts for hours on end yes that counts!

    Agreed. I think any activity that gets your heart rate up for an extended period is worth logging:)
  • n3ver3nder
    n3ver3nder Posts: 155 Member
    There's only one type of cleaning worth logging as exercise...

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFSBGIPMa9A
  • lsmsrbls
    lsmsrbls Posts: 232 Member
    I only use heavy/vigorous if I feel like I'm going to be sore from it the next day. I think that's happened twice in the past year. I use light/moderate for almost everything.

    I log cleaning and eat back the calories and it has not hampered my progress (my activity level is set to sedentary). It's been an extremely positive experience for me because it's encouraged me to spend more time cleaning, which results in a cleaner house and more time spent being active.
  • tatd_820
    tatd_820 Posts: 573 Member
    Thanks for replying ~ I never would have thought to include gardening or raking or any of those outside activities.

    Congrats on the weight loss... I see you are almost to your goal based on your ticker!
    I do not log cleaning. I was surely fat and overweight while cleaning before. It's just a normal day to day thing that burns minimal calories. I would not count that. Mow a yard...count that! Garden....count that. Play softball....count that. Not cleaning.

    Thank you! I am there...just decided to keep going a bit further.

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