Cleaning as excerise?

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virichi08
virichi08 Posts: 465 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Do u log it? If so, why?
If not, why not?

Replies

  • CarleyLovesPets
    CarleyLovesPets Posts: 410 Member
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    I do not log it.
    I do not log anything that I did not do just to work out and get exercise.

    So I don't log shopping, cleaning, gardening, etc, etc.
  • Keiko385
    Keiko385 Posts: 514 Member
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    Everyday cleaning - no
    full house cleaning, washing walls, up & down ladders, scrubbing carpets, moving furniture - maybe 1/2 of the time
  • dhakiyya
    dhakiyya Posts: 481 Member
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    If you calculate your calories with an activity factor for sitting on your backside all day, and then you do a lot of cleaning, you could log it, as it's more exercise than sitting on your backside, although you'd have to do an awful lot of cleaning before you'd be in danger of making your deficit too big if you don't eat back the calories (i.e. even if you have set your activity factor that low, not eating back the calories used for cleaning is unlikely to be detrimental to your progress)

    If you calculate your calories with a lightly active activity factor, then you shouldn't log cleaning, because that kind of light activity is already included in your activity factor, and if you do and eat back the calories, you'll basically be eating back the calories twice as they're already accounted for in the activity factor.

    i don't log it.
  • 126siany
    126siany Posts: 1,386 Member
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    If you are set to sedentary, there's an argument for logging it.

    If you do something out of the ordinary, like washing all the walls or scrubbing the floors on your hands and knees or cleaning out the garage or spare room, or re-painting a room--I mean strenuous things you do very irregularly, I think that's worth logging.

    If you are heavy enough/have enough mobility issues that it really is strenuous to do even basic chores like vacuuming or grocery shopping, and you therefore either rarely do them or used to hire someone else to do them, then it's worth logging.

    But I think some people are possibly kidding themselves when they log housework, as anything you do on an average day should be accounted for in your activity level.
  • CyeRyn
    CyeRyn Posts: 389 Member
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    If my cleaning requires more than a few rooms and takes longer than 30min and I am sweating by the end of it.. sure I will log it. If its just for a quick sweep or doing dishes.. nope.
  • Flab2fitfi
    Flab2fitfi Posts: 1,349 Member
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    I stripped and painted one room and wore my HRt monitor - ffour hours later i had burnt over 1200 caloires but it was non stop and yes I did log it but not day to day stuff.
  • bushidowoman
    bushidowoman Posts: 1,599 Member
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    Do what works for you.
    I personally don't log cleaning. I have cleaned, chased after kids, gone shopping, and worked 12-hour shifts mostly on my feet for years. I still stayed overweight despite doing all those things. They obviously don't change my body. :wink:
    I only log the things that have/will bring about change for me.
  • grayprae
    grayprae Posts: 109 Member
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    Not everyday cleaning but the extra "spring" cleaning defiantly and I use cleaning as code for something wink wink
  • keeannholmes
    keeannholmes Posts: 6 Member
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    No I don't log it because it's something that I do everyday on top of my exercise to help with weight loss. I know your body burns calories with almost everything you do in constant motion, but cleaning NO!
  • flyingpurplemonkey
    flyingpurplemonkey Posts: 105 Member
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    Personally, I don't. I only log exercise that I do with the intention of exercising - running, strength training, etc. I usually leave out most of my walking as well, even if I walk 15 minutes to the store. I figure that daily activities are part of my lifestyle that was already taken into account. I feel like if I did log it, it would be only to allow myself to eat more calories. I'm not looking for cheats, I'm looking for results. I'm not saying that this what others are doing, but I know that would be how I would do it.

    And let's be honest... Im a pretty lazy college student. There's not much cleaning for me to log even if I wanted to, but that's a different issue.
  • domsmoms
    domsmoms Posts: 174 Member
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    Sometimes I do, if I've been doing a lot of it and I feel like I've expended a lot of energy. For example when I do laundry, I go up and down the stairs many times, carrying a heavy load a lot of those times, so I feel somewhat justified. However, due to MFP's overestimations of calorie burns, I usually just put in a fraction of the time I actually spent.

    I also do this because my activity level is set to sedentary, so I feel like it is outside of my activity level. And for that matter, if I'm doing enough housework, I get hungrier, and need to eat just a tad more calories.

    This seems to be working ok for me so I'm sticking with it.

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