housework counting as legitimate exercise

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  • geonbaeLeilee
    geonbaeLeilee Posts: 606 Member
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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.
  • sacredg
    sacredg Posts: 3 Member
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    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.

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  • SweetJoanne
    SweetJoanne Posts: 106 Member
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    also to add to my previous comments, I move furniture when I clean as well,
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
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    YES. CLEANING LIGHT EFFORT
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
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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.
  • Joreanasaurous
    Joreanasaurous Posts: 1,384 Member
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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".

    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.
  • kiekokay
    kiekokay Posts: 101 Member
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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."
  • geonbaeLeilee
    geonbaeLeilee Posts: 606 Member
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    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.
  • kharper85
    kharper85 Posts: 44 Member
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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!
  • _SusieQ_
    _SusieQ_ Posts: 2,964 Member
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    Train insane or remain the same!

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  • meredith1123
    meredith1123 Posts: 843 Member
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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.
  • janatarnhem
    janatarnhem Posts: 669 Member
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    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!!!
  • belgerian
    belgerian Posts: 1,059 Member
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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.
  • katscoots
    katscoots Posts: 255 Member
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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.
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
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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.
  • ivoryangel
    ivoryangel Posts: 6
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    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!!
  • DrMAvDPhD
    DrMAvDPhD Posts: 2,097 Member
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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!
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,324 Member
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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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  • meredith1123
    meredith1123 Posts: 843 Member
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    Train insane or remain the same!

    8kABl7L.gif

    oh god i love Justin Bateman...i love him and want him....
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,324 Member
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    Train insane or remain the same!

    8kABl7L.gif

    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.

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