Do you really burn all those calories cleaning?

MizTerry

When I go to clean my Moms place, I don't just wipe a rag over everything, I am down in the mix to make sure it is as close to sanitary as possible. Yeah, I log mine and the calorie burn is pretty high.

__Di__

I spent 3 hours cleaning out the garage today and entered it into MFP as light/moderate cleaning. It told me I burned around 500 calories. This seemed really high to me. Do you really burn so many calories just by cleaning?

Take off the amount you would have burned just sitting watching TV for that amount of time and it actually really amounts to approximately 150 calories.

Now then, how many ate back those 500 calories?

servilia

It sounds right for 3 hours.

__Di__

Probably better to use a heart rate monitor for those things I guess. I don't have one yet, but I'm planning on it. It will be really nice to see better estimates geared toward me and not some standard.

Unfortunately, HRMs are not reliable at all under 120 bpm, even the manufacturers of the devices will admit to that.

__Di__

If your heart rate isn't increasing while you're cleaning, then I doubt you're burning off too many extra calories (ie beyond what your body naturally burns throughout the day).

I usually only log cleaning if I've done a lot of vacuuming and sweeping, and I adjust what MFP tells me down by a lot.

This is the best description ^

If your HR does not increase, then watch that calorie burn, because it will be nowhere near where you think it is, don't let it scupper your weightloss.

paintlisapurple

Probably better to use a heart rate monitor for those things I guess. I don't have one yet, but I'm planning on it. It will be really nice to see better estimates geared toward me and not some standard.

Unfortunately, HRMs are not reliable at all under 120 bpm, even the manufacturers of the devices will admit to that.

Well darn! Are there any that will track both types of exercise? :ohwell:

Sycoholic

Gah.... I don't understand the reasoning behind this. You have a basic calorie amount given to you based on your amount of daily activity. I lowered mine and it was only about a 500 calorie difference. I don't buy into logging things you do around the house. I mow the lawn and do general yard work and don't enter it. I'm not working out. My heartrate isn't elevated enough for me to even consider it.

Look, no matter what you want to log, your body keeps an accurate account. Log that you burned 3000 calories doing house cleaning or whatever, your body doesn't read your MFP log. If you don't log those calories, your body still doesn't read your MFP log. I'd rather not log them and be safe than log them and overeat because of it.

SteelySunshine

This is why I eat back very few if any of my exercise calories. Then it really doesn't matter if the burn is as high as the database says. I still have my MFP deficit and I will still have a modest exercise calorie deficit. And as the poster above has said, your body logs what it logs doesn't matter if you log the exercise or not.

pwnderosa

Getting ready for a marathon cleaning session over here, where I put on my tennis shoes, blast the music, and dance around the house trying to clean and organize as much as I can, as fast as I can, followed by deep cleaning and shampooing the car by hand. I wasn't capable of doing housework at the same speed/intensity a year ago when I was out of shape, and my house was a lot less clean! I will log about half the time I spend at it to account for overestimates on MFP, but I definitely believe I will be burning a LOT more calories today than I would on a regular day at the office, and I'm sure I'll be hungrier at dinner time after all this. Since I'm close to my goal now, if I didn't eat a little extra to compensate for days like this, I would be a shaky, hungry, grouchy mess!

horseplaypen

I've also heard people suggest to change your activity level for the day from 'sedentary' to 'light', or to whatever seems appropriate if you spend a considerable amount of time being more active than usual. I've tried that on days that I'm on my feet all day in the clinic, as opposed to most days when I'm sitting in class. My heart rate never increases so it's not really exercising, but I sure am sore and starving at the end of those days!

debmartin06

I did not eat back my calories because I care about actual progress as opposed to just making the numbers on the screen look good. I did my exercise video later that night JUST to cover myself.

susannamarie

I usually log half the time spent on activities like that. For example, today I spent 4 hours digging weeds, hauling wheelbarrows full of dirt, etc., and logged 2.

MFP is usually very close on its weight-loss predictions for me, so I must not be too far off.

liznsmith

I don't care if it is high, it motivate me to clean!!! Now, whenever I watch t.v. I get up and start cleaning and just use the t.v. as background noise.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

Hi,

I am actually having a lot of problems with this. I work as a gardener and generally do 7 hours straight with very quick breaks for water and snacks. I have no idea how many calories I burn and do require more food on work days. I have been giving myself 400-500 extra calories and it feels right at the end of the day (not hungry or full). I like MFP because its so exacting and I would like to know how much I am burning. I've been looking into getting one of the wrist/arm bands that monitor your calories burned. Has anyone tried this? I've been swaying back and forth trying to justify the cost and the eye rolls from friends and family

Personally I'd say change your activity level and then don't enter the work as exercise.

BoomstickChick

I wear my HRM when I do real cleaning, not the day to day stuff. They don't really lie

theCarlton

I wouldn't know, I don't clean.

wnbrice

Unless it is exceptional cleaning (like once a year spring cleaning sort of thing) I wouldn't bother recording it. Unless you dont plan on eating the calories back....Then go right ahead.

generallyme2

I always double check the calories burned either on another site or with my monitor. That said, I wouldn't add in cleaning as exercise and I don't, not even when i'm scrubbing the couch or lugging around the steam cleaner. I'd rather that just be bonus. I log intentional exercise.

PepperWorm

The only 'cleaning' I ever log is mowing my lawn. It raises my heart rate and I sweat like a pig, especially since it's a push mower. Plus I spend anywhere from 1-3 hours on it.

If you cleaned before you chose a healthier lifestyle and didn't lose weight, it ain't worth logging. Though I agree with some posters when they talk about serious, marathon scrubbin'...though adjust to ensure it isn't ridiculously high.

__Di__

I wear my HRM when I do real cleaning, not the day to day stuff. They don't really lie

Only problem is, HRMs are inaccurate for that sort of thing, the manufacturers will tell you that too. HRMs become inaccurate if the HR goes below 90.