Overestimating Exercise Calories

brittroady0
brittroady0 Posts: 28 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I can't believe some of the things i'm seeing logged under exercise!! Really? an hour of "vigorous" house cleaning and you think you burned 400 calories? Think again!!!

Am I right in saying this is just more of a reason to follow TDEE -20%? So that your activity level is already taken into account and the misrepresented exercise calories aren't so deceptive to the end goal...
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Replies

  • phjorg
    phjorg Posts: 252 Member
    it's a funny sort of denial.

    some people log it as activity. which is fine if it's reasonable and they know enough to understand why housework is not actually exercise. (activity != exercise) but noone is burning 400 from housecleaning. maybe 120 tops. I'm assuming they are making the common mistake of including their bmr in their royals.
  • phjorg
    phjorg Posts: 252 Member
    totals*
  • ThePolishExperiment
    ThePolishExperiment Posts: 32 Member
    well first off, what is TDEE, and secondly, I wouldn't worry about burned calories, work out your macros first, and if they have all been acounted for, and you have taken exercise into account, don't worry about extra bits and pieces, its just extra fat your burning. But if your macros aren't worked out properly your screwed, no matter how much 'vigorous cleaning' you do.
  • quirkyone1
    quirkyone1 Posts: 78
    I can't believe some of the things i'm seeing logged under exercise!! Really? an hour of "vigorous" house cleaning and you think you burned 400 calories? Think again!!!

    Am I right in saying this is just more of a reason to follow TDEE -20%? So that your activity level is already taken into account and the misrepresented exercise calories aren't so deceptive to the end goal...

    I agree completely. There is no way I would even be able to accurately track exercise calories. Yesterday I played in a floor hockey game. How often was I sprinting? How much rest did I take? Tonight I'll lift weights. HRM? Definitely not accurate for lifting. I calculate my TDEE. If I'm gaining or not periodically losing it is time to reassess.
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  • junejadesky
    junejadesky Posts: 524 Member
    I wear a fitbit and when I clean I can burn A LOT depending on what I'm doing... just going up and down my stairs while I clean adds 15-20 floors climbed added on to my normal 14-20... and at least 4000 steps; so it's possible if it's above normal daily activity
  • carolemorden9
    carolemorden9 Posts: 284 Member
    The heavier you are, the more calories you burn. Perhaps the person who puts down the hour of vigorous house cleaning is extremely overweight or obese and really does burn that much. I went to the exercise database and put in 60 minutes of vigorous house cleaning to see how much I'd burn, and it says I'd burn 322 calories because I weigh 236.4 at the moment. I normally don't include house cleaning any more though because I count that as my daily routine.

    So before you start knocking anybody for the amount of calories they burn, think about what they probably weigh and let them do their diaries the way they want to. If it's one of your "friends", you can always remove them so you don't have to see.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    I can't believe some of the things i'm seeing logged under exercise!! Really? an hour of "vigorous" house cleaning and you think you burned 400 calories? Think again!!!

    Am I right in saying this is just more of a reason to follow TDEE -20%? So that your activity level is already taken into account and the misrepresented exercise calories aren't so deceptive to the end goal...

    There are some people who log the silliest things ..... but when those same people have zero weight loss ..... I think most figure it out pretty quick.

    Personally, I like to see my exercise calories (HRM) ..... because I was never someone who exercised on a regular basis before.
  • gaylynn35
    gaylynn35 Posts: 854 Member
    It's no sweat off of your back what others log as exercise!!

    I say to each his own!!

    With that being said I log extreme house cleaning sometimes. No, I don't list regular day to day cleaning, but before I really didn't do a whole lot of house cleaning.

    So, if I or anyone else wants to count it as exercise then that is our choice.

    When I am vacuuming the ceilings and baseboards or scrubbing the baseboards I am definitely burning some calories.

    I am tired of seeing posts belittling others!!
  • carolemorden9
    carolemorden9 Posts: 284 Member
    It's no sweat off of your back what others log as exercise!!

    I say to each his own!!

    With that being said I log extreme house cleaning sometimes. No, I don't list regular day to day cleaning, but before I really didn't do a whole lot of house cleaning.

    So, if I or anyone else wants to count it as exercise then that is our choice.

    When I am vacuuming the ceilings and baseboards or scrubbing the baseboards I am definitely burning some calories.

    I am tired of seeing posts belittling others!!

    I don't like seeing posts that belittle others either.
  • phjorg
    phjorg Posts: 252 Member
    its belittling pointing out that cleaning is in fact not exercise now.. how interesting.
  • zkss27
    zkss27 Posts: 62
    I helped someone move out of their apt this weekend. I kept going up and down flights of stairs, hauling furniture into a u-haul, and scrubbed on my hands and knees... you best believe I logged that, and I put it under vigerous cleaning. I was sweating like crazy. I believe that there could be people who are overestimating things like such, but who's to say who is and who isn't? You never know. Also, a person who is out of shape will burn more calories doing the same activity compared to someone who is in shape.
  • dawnyp72x
    dawnyp72x Posts: 10
    Can someone tell me what TDEE is (im new) Also i went swimmng today for an hour doing breaststroke, I did stop at each end for a few seconds to catch my breath so I put it down as 30 mins and it was calculated as 600 calories burnt!! I am very overweight. The 600 calories then got added to my daily intake, is that right? and what is the "net" bit? Just trying to get my head round it all.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Can someone tell me what TDEE is (im new) Also i went swimmng today for an hour doing breaststroke, I did stop at each end for a few seconds to catch my breath so I put it down as 30 mins and it was calculated as 600 calories burnt!! I am very overweight. The 600 calories then got added to my daily intake, is that right? and what is the "net" bit? Just trying to get my head round it all.

    MFP does not give you credit for exercise .... until you log it. Then yuo get calories added to your daily intake. 1800 calories IN (eaten) VS. 600 calories OUT ( exercise) = 1200 Calories net

    TDEE is total daliy energy expenditure. This should include workouts (up front) ..... you eat this number minus a % .... say 20% to lose weight
  • brittroady0
    brittroady0 Posts: 28 Member
    I helped someone move out of their apt this weekend. I kept going up and down flights of stairs, hauling furniture into a u-haul, and scrubbed on my hands and knees... you best believe I logged that, and I put it under vigerous cleaning. I was sweating like crazy. I believe that there could be people who are overestimating things like such, but who's to say who is and who isn't? You never know. Also, a person who is out of shape will burn more calories doing the same activity compared to someone who is in shape.

    You know I totally agree with you here - moving is some extremely hard work and I fully expect to burn a lot of calories in my upcoming move. My point is that in my experience (which is different from what others may experience!! This is just one case!) I don't lose as efficiently or as consistently unless i'm exercising for EXERCISE sake, not just logging activity that may have been hard work. I feel it works best for me when my mind is focusing on the workout at hand and not at the grime i'm scrubbing.
  • phjorg
    phjorg Posts: 252 Member
    total daily energy expenditure. basically the number of calories you burn normality in your daily routine. exercise is seperate from this as most people don't do consistent daily exercise. so you would add it to your tdee.

    as for your swimming thats a crazy hiiiiigh energy burn for that time frame. like well above what most humans are capable of outputting. you would need to be dam near sprinting full out for 30 straight to hit that level. you might want to recheck that.
  • assblaster69
    assblaster69 Posts: 47 Member
    I helped someone move out of their apt this weekend. I kept going up and down flights of stairs, hauling furniture into a u-haul, and scrubbed on my hands and knees... you best believe I logged that, and I put it under vigerous cleaning. I was sweating like crazy. I believe that there could be people who are overestimating things like such, but who's to say who is and who isn't? You never know. Also, a person who is out of shape will burn more calories doing the same activity compared to someone who is in shape.

    I did that for a living. It is hard especially when youre hired to do it, you better not screw around. It sometimes took ~10 hours with breaks so I adjusted the time when logging it so I wouldnt overestimate (I also weight a lot but it's muscle I'm 15%bf) There's carrying boxes and walking stairs as options in cardiovascular exercise section.
    It is nothing compared to cleaning up though.
    apology for poor english
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    If cleaning isn't exercise, you are doing it wrong!

    Come on over when we are scrubbing the rental, we'll teach you how it is done!
  • dawnyp72x
    dawnyp72x Posts: 10
    Sorry to sound silly but does that mean if I burn 600 calories exercising that I can eat an extra 600 calories and still lose weight?
  • bethlaf
    bethlaf Posts: 954 Member
    ok so moving, helping haul over 150 ft to the road and the truck for 4 hours shouldnt have been logged as 60 minutes moving furniture? what???

    why cany i count sex as exercise?? isnt that cardiac???

    in life and dieting as in everything YMMV
  • phjorg
    phjorg Posts: 252 Member
    If cleaning isn't exercise, you are doing it wrong!

    Come on over when we are scrubbing the rental, we'll teach you how it is done!
    if cleaning is exercise, you're doing exercise wrong. come to the gym. we'll teach you how it's done.
  • bearwith
    bearwith Posts: 525 Member
    I think it depends on how much you weigh - heavier people do burn more because they are carrying themselves around too. If you are down as moderately/lightly active you should not count housework because the MFP database has already factored in some housework. The only things that count are sweaty, panty cardio activities.
  • brittroady0
    brittroady0 Posts: 28 Member
    OP here - My misunderstanding! I definitely think moving is a workout - but when i see "cleaning - Vigorous" in the database my first thought wasn't moving & hauling things. I was thinking more along the lines of mopping, sweeping, laundry, dusting, etc...

    And for the record, this came from me just browsing the database, not any post in particular.
  • MayaSPapaya
    MayaSPapaya Posts: 735 Member
    This is why I don't eat back my MFP excercise calories-I don't have a heart rate monitor, so for all I know I'm not burning nearly that much. I log it, but on days I excercise I only really eat less than 50 calories over my daily goal. I figure I burned at least 50 or more.
  • AIZZO4
    AIZZO4 Posts: 404 Member
    Doesn't bother me what people log in. Sometimes I work out on the treadmill but when I log it, I change the name to something funny. I say do whatever makes you happy.
  • jessilyn76
    jessilyn76 Posts: 532 Member
    Your house is a mess, isn't it........just kidding........who cares.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Can someone tell me what TDEE is (im new) Also i went swimmng today for an hour doing breaststroke, I did stop at each end for a few seconds to catch my breath so I put it down as 30 mins and it was calculated as 600 calories burnt!! I am very overweight. The 600 calories then got added to my daily intake, is that right? and what is the "net" bit? Just trying to get my head round it all.

    There are two common methods for counting calories for weight loss. The TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) method and the NEAT (Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) method. MFP uses the NEAT method which is often easier for people new to diet and exercise as they often lack consistency in performing their exercise and don't have a routine down yet. With the NEAT method, exercise is extra activity above and beyond your day to day...and thus extra calories get added to your calorie goal.

    The TDEE method accounts for all activity, including exercise...because that activity is already accounted for, you do NOT eat back exercise calories using the TDEE method. Really, they are usually six of one...I'll give you an example.

    NEAT Method : 1750 (MFP goal to lose 1 Lb per week) + 300 (exercise calories) = 2050

    TDEE Method: 2550 (Maintenance Calories) - 20% = 2,040

    As you can see, I gross roughly the same calories using either method...and yes, I was losing 1 Lb per week doing this.
  • Mama_Jag
    Mama_Jag Posts: 474 Member
    I don't understand why it should matter to you.

    If someone has their activity level set as sedentary, then it can make a big difference.

    I wear a fitbit, and it tracks higher activity and calorie burn when I do anything other than sit on my *kitten*.
  • dawnyp72x
    dawnyp72x Posts: 10
    total daily energy expenditure. basically the number of calories you burn normality in your daily routine. exercise is seperate from this as most people don't do consistent daily exercise. so you would add it to your tdee.

    as for your swimming thats a crazy hiiiiigh energy burn for that time frame. like well above what most humans are capable of outputting. you would need to be dam near sprinting full out for 30 straight to hit that level. you might want to recheck that.
    [/quoteYes i thought it was high, ive checked it over and over on the database thing & thats what it comes up with]
  • ShellyBell999
    ShellyBell999 Posts: 1,482 Member
    To each his own.

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