housework counting as legitimate exercise
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Light exercise I do not log. However, I do log cleaning when it's vigorous stuff like moving furniture, washing walls (I'm a shorty, so cleaning walls involves A LOT of climbing up and down a ladder and lots and lots of arm movement!), or dusting shelves (see "cleaning walls").
I also log mowing the lawn and gardening (the latter because my yard is like a jungle, and it involves crawling around, digging, climbing, squats, and various other weird activities).
Light activity? Not worth logging.0 -
it depends on your daily activity level surly? for instance if you have initally entered sedentry lifestyle, then surely any physical activity that you dont do every day is counted?
so - if you have entered ''extremely active'', then you shouldnt be logging any activities that are already included in your ''extremely active'' day.
my rule is if you do it every day then dont log it, so im at home all day with children doing school runs, and light tidying, shopping etc etc i wont log any of that. a weekly houseclean, bike ride, gym session, family walk, vaccumming whole house, i would log. If i walked a dog every day i wouldnt log that. But if i did an extra walk i would.
hope this makes sense.
Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter0 -
also to add to my previous comments, I move furniture when I clean as well,0
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YES. CLEANING LIGHT EFFORT0
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I was doing all the same housework while I was gaining weight, didn't seem to help me out when I was shoveling food into my face. Don't know why the same activity would have any special magic now that I'm eating at a deficit.
However, I was NOT walking/running 6 miles/day and lifting 3x/week when I was gaining weight. That is why I count that as exercise now.
Gotcha so because you were doing house work you shoveled food in your face and that is why you gained weight. Man who knew house work could do that.0 -
I wouldn't log it. I agree, I can get a good workout in cleaning, but I gained weight while keeping a clean house. It's the same with shopping sprees, walks around the park with my kid, etc. If I did it when I was gaining/maintaining a heavier weight, I don't count it. Those are just parts of life for me, not "exercise".
This. I walk my dog for at least an hour every day. Twice. And I don't count it. It's a casual stroll. My heart rate isnt up and I'm not sweating and I've always walked. It's not a workout.0 -
I'm amazed that so many people are so flippin' sedentary in their day to day that they'd actually consider cleaning and the like exercise.
Lots of people are sedentary. It should not be taken negatively all the time. I am sedentary yet I workout 6 times a week. There are reasons for people being sedentary, dont confuse that word with "lazy".
Great response! Many people (myself included) work a full-time job that includes a day full of sitting at a computer or being otherwise sedentary. It is quite a quick judgement to label that as "lazy."0 -
I think it depends on how you set your daily activity level. I am a psychologist (sitting all day!) so mine is at sendentary. Because of this I log things like walking the dog and my weekly cleaning routine because they are more active than what is in my normal daily routine. If I am going to spend 5 minutes sweeping the kitchen or some other daily chore, I don't log it, but my weekly routine definitely is more exercise than "sedentary" !
Moral of the story ~ If your setting are set to sedentary, I would consider counting things such as yardwork & cleaning that feel aerobic. Also, if you are using an actual HRM (not an electronic pedometer) that says you are burning calories, then you are!
That's how I feel. I teach, tutor, and freelance online (sitting all day!), so my setting is "sedentary" because of it. Though, I do not log light activities like dusting a table, doing dishes, or folding clothes, but stuff that actually requires a little effort.0 -
I count it, but I also wear leg weights when I clean since I go up and down the stairs, so it is burning extra calories!0
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Train insane or remain the same!
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I dont count mine. That is just normal every day stuff. ...
if i counted mine i would never lose weight.
to each his own though.0 -
I think the idea is to count the calories that count as additional to your norm...For me housework is not my norm as I hate it! So the odd day I will do it, when I think that I can no longer leave the house to fester, I do it, have a big blow out and so could count those calories. I do not count the calories I burn at work... even on the most hectic of days, because THAT is my norm. I do not count the dog walks that I do for less than an hour, because that is my norm, too. So, If H/w is your norm, then don't count it!!!0
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Personally I do not count it just like I dont count lawn work or outside activities I figure its a plus but if it is working for you then go for it.0
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I count it if I'm doing stuff that's actually getting my heart rate up. Especially if your daily activity is set at sedentary.0
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I wouldn't log it. I agree, I can get a good workout in cleaning, but I gained weight while keeping a clean house. It's the same with shopping sprees, walks around the park with my kid, etc. If I did it when I was gaining/maintaining a heavier weight, I don't count it. Those are just parts of life for me, not "exercise".
So people who are bulking while working out in the gym lifting heavy, and still doing cardio should not count the calories as exercise when the are on a cut? Got it. I love how people think that if they did something while they gained weight, they can't do it to lose weight. LIke some how it wasn't all of the food they ate that made them gain that weight.0 -
If it not something you do daily or normally you should count it. It is different from your normal routine. Also it is moving and moving is better than sitting!!0
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If you want to log it, put your HRM on while you sit and watch tv or read a book for 2.5 hours and see what it reads. Subtract that number from your active number and add that amount!0
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I count it, but I also wear leg weights when I clean since I go up and down the stairs, so it is burning extra calories!
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Train insane or remain the same!
oh god i love Justin Bateman...i love him and want him....0 -
Train insane or remain the same!
oh god i love Justin Bateman...i love him and want him....
you must love justin bateman a ton....
but not enough to know his name is jason.0 -
I log yardwork and painting, things that are odd and last for an extended period of time. I've never thought to log housework, definatley not piddly stuff like the dishes, light dusting, etc (although I will admit to logging guitar playing a few times just because it amused me that it was in there.). If I did something all day that was really intense I might log it if I thought of it, but I don't think of it as excercise specifically and that's really all I log.0
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I would certainly log the calories burned, but I might want to check a couple of sources before taking fit bit's word for it.
It seems to me that if you do something that is not part of your daily routine, say like cleaning the entire house, you should count it. Mowing the lawn counts, why wouldn't house work?
To those that say "you were cleaning your house while you were gaining weight , therefore you shouldn't count it now," I offer this. Think about that proposition for a moment. What logical fallacy do you see in it?
What I see is this; what you did while you were gaining weight is still exercise. The difference is you were likely also eating everything in sight (so to speak) at the same time. Now that you are restricting caloric intake and monitoring your "activity level" you should attempt to log activities you perform that are not part of your daily routine. Be careful though, it's easy to add exercise calories until your caloric budget is as big as you once were.
Not to beat a dead horse, but as an example I just finished painting the inside of my garage. Not the most strenuous exercise ever but I did expend energy painting and I don't paint my garage every day. So I logged it.
As a precaution, if I work 90 minutes mowing my lawn (no, not on a riding mower) or painting, I only take credit for about 2/3 of that time or 60 minutes. I want to be sure that I am not overvaluing the caloric expenditure in mowing.
I find this approach works for me. Your mileage may vary. 0 -
As long as you know you are buring more calories than you normally would in a day you can count them, but you have to remember to subtract the calories you would have normallu burned in that time frame, and also don't eat all of the calories back in case your HRM is not correct.0
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Dishes -> I don't log
Pool cleaning -> log
Toilet cleaning -> I don't log
scrubbing like there is no tomorrow for 60 minutes, breaking a sweat, hating my life ->log0 -
Train insane or remain the same!
oh god i love Justin Bateman...i love him and want him....
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I'm amazed that so many people are so flippin' sedentary in their day to day that they'd actually consider cleaning and the like exercise.
Lots of people are sedentary. It should not be taken negatively all the time. I am sedentary yet I workout 6 times a week. There are reasons for people being sedentary, dont confuse that word with "lazy".
Great response! Many people (myself included) work a full-time job that includes a day full of sitting at a computer or being otherwise sedentary. It is quite a quick judgement to label that as "lazy."
I have a desk job as well...10-12 hours per day...I'm an accountant. I still have about 3 hours per day where I need to be taking care of my kids and doing various chores around the house...cooking dinner, cleaning, doing the dishes, etc. So...I gather then that you pretty much do your desk job (as I do)..go get some exercise (as I do) and then just sit on your *kitten*?
The point I'm trying to make is that doing chores is not exercise for the vast majority of people. But whatevs...if you all want to log it an eat it I just don't wan to here about how you're "doing everything right" but it's not working.0 -
My theory is that if it works for the person recording it as exercise (i.e. they're recording it and still reaching their goals) then yes. However, if they have a prolonged plateau then I'd question if it's still a good idea for them. An unfit person's body will have to burn more calories doing rigorous cleaning than a fit person. I painted last night, up and down, up and down, up and down the ladder for 3.5 hours. Reaching, stretching, climbing, etc. I didn't record that as exercise, but for someone else the same effort would be legitimate exercise.0
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Have you ever asked someone how they lost weight and had them reply "by keeping my house clean"?
QFT0 -
Train insane or remain the same!
oh god i love Justin Bateman...i love him and want him....
you must love justin bateman a ton....
but not enough to know his name is jason.
I seriously just snorted so loud!!!0 -
I wouldn't. That's normal day to day stuff.
Exercise is just that, not chores.
I know when I mow for an hour it's a workout, I'm not going to log it though.
Why not??? the body doesnt know if it is at the gym or not?? If you feel a burn... its a work out!!! :flowerforyou:0
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