is hanging up laundry considered exercise?

okay thanks just was curious. Its not on the database. well this is week 2 for me, i didnt even realise i was eating my exercise calories till one of my friends told me not to eat them up I do put cleaning as work out even a light one cause i clean a room in my house a day. Its still moving....but shoo carrying those heavy washing baskets out to the line i could feel my heart beating. lol

Those activities should be considered when putting in your daily activity level. Virtually no one who isn't bedridden is actually sedentary- if you cook or do chores on a regular basis, you are, at the very least, lightly active. As such, things like cooking and cleaning shouldn't be counted as "exercise".

Rule of thumb: if you did it regularly while gaining weight or before attempting to lose weight, don't log it as exercise.

So, a person who jogged 5 miles every day and gained weight because they were at a surplus of calories, shouldn't log the 5 miles once they start dieting?

Source for this, please?

If it's something they did regularly as a part of their routine, then no. That activity and those calories burned should be included in their daily activity. If someone jogs 5 miles daily, they would be considered, at the very least, moderately active. If it's a regular thing in your routine, it should be part of your daily activity, not extra.

Out of curiosity, how do you think TDEE is calculated here?

I'm confused by your question, as it seems to lend itself to my argument, but I'll humor you.

One's total daily energy expenditure is calculated based on someone's *daily* activities. It can be somewhat subjective, depending on how you figure that number- If you exercise daily and figure it into your TDEE (for numerical calculation purposes) then you should not be logging and eating those calories back. If you are trying to lose weight and are eating a percentage lower than your TDEE which includes that daily activity, and then you eat those calories back, you are lessening your net deficit of calories burned.

TDEE on MFP includes the exercise YOU tell it (*not* just your activity level, which is reflected in your BMR) and includes the deficit (or, for some, gain) you've told it you'd like to achieve. Your activity level as they phrase the question is based on your typical job-related activities - unless they've modified that since I signed up and I missed a memo. It's not based on whether you're going to the gym, or doing 5x5, or running 10 miles a day, because those factors aren't included in their questions about activity level. Unless you deliberately chose a more active lifestyle than the questions MFP asks would lead you to choose, neglecting to log additional exercise does nothing but deprive you of macros you could still eat to achieve your goals, possibly stalling your progress in the process.

Really shocked at some of the responses to this we are all in the same boat here trying to be more healthy and active why make fun of people ? Maybe YOU don't count it as exercise ( and that is your right) but surely you can be polite and supportive in your answer isn't that the point of the forums?

No - think of it this way - were you hanging up laundry or cleaning while you were stacking on the weight - if you were it did not stop you from getting fat - so how on earth are those same activities now helping you drop the weight?

^^smart post.

No - think of it this way - were you hanging up laundry or cleaning while you were stacking on the weight - if you were it did not stop you from getting fat - so how on earth are those same activities now helping you drop the weight?

I wouldn't count it. I don't count cleaning as exercise unless I'm scrubbing the floors or tubs or something like that. Just regular cleaning, it's not like it's hard and burning more calories than you would cooking dinner.

Really shocked at some of the responses to this we are all in the same boat here trying to be more healthy and active why make fun of people ? Maybe YOU don't count it as exercise ( and that is your right) but surely you can be polite and supportive in your answer isn't that the point of the forums?

No. We are not all in the same boat. Some people take their health seriously and don't try and fool themselves into believing that they're doing more than they are, while also not taking themselves too seriously. When you start calling anything other than sitting on the couch exercise, you start overestimating your calorie burn. The inevitable result is failure to lose weight, and often a post about how counting calories doesn't work.

Are some people needlessly "laughing" in their responses? Perhaps they are. But let it go. I've certainly laughed at a number of my own mistakes over the years. It's part of making the learning process less painful.

So because the OP is asking a question, a valid one at that, and is trying to learn, she's not taking her health seriously? Seems like a bit of a pompous statement if you ask me.

I just started hanging my laundry to dry and yeah, my shoulders get a little sore after holding them up for awhile, but I don't log it.

It doesn't bother me what other people log, but I do think that you should be careful not to cheat yourself. I rarely eat back my exercise calories only because I don't have a HRM and some of the MFP estimates seem to be highly exaggerated. So if you're eating back calories, I would say probably not to log it.

If you DO choose to log it, go for it, see if it works for you. If you don't lose or your weightloss plateaus, that may be something you want to come back to and re-evaluate.

I also wanted to say I don't think that was a stupid question. A lot of these people have "been there done that". We are all on different levels and different stages in our journey. Someone may have started out feeling like hanging laundry was a good workout, but is now able to handle a much higher level of intensity and giggles because they used to think hanging laundry was an intense workout. I wouldn't take it personally. A lot of people here are really great for constructive criticism. Others are here for entertainment.

Love her! She is so positive and a great MFP Buddy

Really shocked at some of the responses to this we are all in the same boat here trying to be more healthy and active why make fun of people ? Maybe YOU don't count it as exercise ( and that is your right) but surely you can be polite and supportive in your answer isn't that the point of the forums?

No. We are not all in the same boat. Some people take their health seriously and don't try and fool themselves into believing that they're doing more than they are, while also not taking themselves too seriously. When you start calling anything other than sitting on the couch exercise, you start overestimating your calorie burn. The inevitable result is failure to lose weight, and often a post about how counting calories doesn't work.

Are some people needlessly "laughing" in their responses? Perhaps they are. But let it go. I've certainly laughed at a number of my own mistakes over the years. It's part of making the learning process less painful.

So because the OP is asking a question, a valid one at that, and is trying to learn, she's not taking her health seriously? Seems like a bit of a pompous statement if you ask me.

No. I did not say that, but thank you so much for the personal attack without reading my second paragraph.

If you're angry at the posters providing criticism then perhaps a walk is in order. It will help you reach your goals and reduce the anger and stress.

Good luck with your journey.

My journey is going just fine and I'm not stressed or angry. Sorry that you misunderstood, and that I obviously took what you said the wrong way as well.

If there is one thing that these kinds of threads always prove, it's that people have no idea what "sedentary" actually means in an activity level. Sedentary does NOT mean that you never move. It does not mean that you don't go check the mailbox. It does not mean that you don't cook dinner. It does not mean that you don't do laundry or clean your house. What sedentary means is that for your day job, you spend the majority of it seated at a desk. Your BMR is the number that tells you your calorie burn if you never moved, and if you really wanted to log every little move you make throughout the day, then you would start with your BMR, not with a "sedentary" TDEE.

It is if you put the washing basket as far from the washing line as possible & hang one item up at a time per trip. Takes me about an hour to hang the washing. I then take it down the same way. With my fitbit I can get about 5-6 thousand steps just doing it each time..... enough that I do work up a sweat cause I'm going so fast. I just had to hang my stuff up inside cause it's raining.... washing at one end of the house...clotheshorse at the other...ONE item at a time. Took me 4000 steps to do half, I'm talking ONE sock, ONE underwear, ONE tshirt, ONE pair of pants..... per trip. So grab ONE...walk to line....hang...walk back empty handed....grab one...walk to line..... you get it now?


ANYTHING can be classed as exercise if you do it right..... you should see me clean the floors.


DO NOT LISTEN to those people who do NOT class it as exercise...... if you do it like I do then it's a bloody workout in itself. I didn't hang washing like that when I was fat.

Ugh, this is so ridiculous. You're not getting a workout because you're hanging laundry. You're getting a workout by walking, while you are hanging laundry. I can put a load of clothes in the washer, do several sets of back squats, deadlifts, and bench presses while the washer runs, and then change the clothes over to my dryer, and go back to lifting, then bring the laundry upstairs. Did I get such a great workout from doing laundry? Hell no, I got a great workout because I exercised while I was doing laundry. Two separate activities, that I happened to do at the same time.