Does anyone count housework as excersise?

StArBeLLa87

I set my activity level at sedentary could I put cleaning In my calculation of calories burned? I'm not sedentary at all I work out 6 days a week with cardio 7 days a week please help any advice!

sarab99

Why did you choose the sedentary?

jzammetti

no.

bevmcarthur

do you get your heart rate up when you clean your house then yes if not then NO

AllisonConnell1301

If I feel like the house work is making me break a sweat, I count it.

pinkraynedropjacki

I consider hanging the washing as exercise, but then I don't hang my washing like a normal person. I put the wash basket as far from the line as possible. Then I grab one item at a time, walk to the line (take as long as a route as I can) then hang it & take a long route back. Then do the whole thing again.....one item at a time. Takes me about 30-40 mins depending on the size of the load & I can build up some serious speed. I'm almost running when I'm doing it. I don't log it, cause my fitbit will take care of that part, but it's still exercise. I can get about 5000-6000 steps easy.

I do the same if I have to hang it inside. I'll put the basket one end of the house & the clothing horse the other end & do one at a time.

I also dance while doing the floors, and the dishes. I'm never standing still

JessHealthKick

were you cleaning before you made a lifestyle change? If the answer is yes, then no you shouldn't. Depends of course on what your cleaning involves - I have such a small apartment and I do clean, but I wouldn't say it's that straining or anything...

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

My advice is to choose the correct activity level and then don't enter the housework.

spike90

I used to count it when I was set a sedentary back when I first started. Now I am active so I don't count it (although it is sill a workout for the body a lot of times in my opinion).

jofjltncb6

If you're going to set your activity to "sedentary", then sure, log it...because I'm 99.44% certain you aren't sedentary.

pet1127

nope I got fat while cleaning

cardiophile

If I want to justify an extra glass of wine on the weekend, I may plug in some housework.

Robin_Bin

Not normally, but if I do large amounts, like spring cleaning for multiple hours, especially if it involves a lot of physical activity like carrying boxes up and down the stairs to and from storage.

NakeshiaB

Unless I'm doing something out of the ordinary like a whole day of spring cleaning, then no, never. Housework is something most people do regardless of whether they are actively working out or not. It is part of most people's everyday life, separate from purposely exercising (I say most people because some people wouldn't know a dish cloth if you smacked them in the face with one). Think of it this way, do you count brushing your teeth as exercise?

Sunnyjb

Dishes, laundry, tidying etc... no

organizing, moving furniture, cleaning out the garage etc, yes

pinkraynedropjacki

were you cleaning before you made a lifestyle change? If the answer is yes, then no you shouldn't. Depends of course on what your cleaning involves - I have such a small apartment and I do clean, but I wouldn't say it's that straining or anything...

Under that same logic though. You were eating before you made a change, are you going to stop considering that as well in your day to day activities or just stop eating? No, you still log it I guess. Same applies to housework. Regardless if you do it daily, weekly or whatever..... it's still more than doing nothing at all.

StArBeLLa87

I'm not sedentary at all I work out over a hr a day so what would I put it at?

Viva81Diva

Not if I do it on a daily basis. Now if I organize or move furniture around or even steam clean, then I will. Yardwork, for sure.

sarahDickson501

th only cleaning I count is extra deep cleaning that causes me to sweat. (like detailing my truck, lol)

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

What's your activity like other than exercise?

pinkraynedropjacki

I workout for at least an hour & I out myself down as lightly active I think. But then you know me & I'm on the go all day.

Desk job with little exercise Little to no exercise
1-3 hrs/wk of light exercise Light exercise (1–3 days per week)
3-5 hrs/wk of moderate exercise Moderate exercise (3–5 days per week)
5-6 hrs/wk of strenuous exercise Heavy exercise (6–7 days per week)
7-21 hrs/wk of strenuous exercise/work Very heavy exercise (twice per day, extra heavy workouts)

jofjltncb6

I'm not sedentary at all I work out over a hr a day so what would I put it at?

Ultimately, it doesn't matter what you put it at *at first*...because then you should track consistently for 6+ weeks and *then* determine if you need to change it. People are different in their BMR and the only way to figure that out for each individual is to track and adjust. That said, I recommend starting at "lightly active" and logging your exercise on top of that. (Myself, I had to tweak it up to "active" to account for my metabolism.) Track consistently for 6+ weeks and then reevaluate. If you're losing too quickly, bump it up to "active". Too slowly and then consider dropping it. Track again for at least 6 weeks and reevaluate again. Repeat cycle until goal reached.

lithezebra

If you set your activity level to sedentary, then anything that you do that involves moving around can be counted as exercise. If you call yourself active, then no, you should not count housework as an exercise. If you call yourself active, based on your workout, then you shouldn't count your workout separately either.

tmiracle11

Isn't house cleaning under the exercise database on MFP? I've never used it but I believe it's there...

StArBeLLa87

I worked out 900 plus minutes this week and that's usually my average a week

pinkraynedropjacki

nope I got fat while cleaning

No you got fat while eating.

Robin_Bin

I'm not sedentary at all I work out over a hr a day so what would I put it at?

There are multiple ways to do this. Some people calculate how much they burn including their normal weekly exercise and how much of a deficit they need. Then they put that in as a target. Because their exercise is already included in their target, they then record all exercise as 1 calorie. At the other extreme, some people say they are sedentary (low daily activity) and then record all kinds of activity, like shopping, housework etc.
The concern is that you don't double count exercise or under eat by too much because you don't count exercise.
Over time you'll see what works for you.

temple_n

I sweat so it counts.

temple_n

be nice

Project_Jodie

Nope - I wouldn't.

pinkraynedropjacki

I sweat so it counts.

Just so you know, I sweat in my sleep. I'm not counting that as exercise. Sweat is not an indication of anything :happy: