Cleaning as an exercise??

I was wondering how many people on here add their daily housework as cardio? I usually spend about 1 hour a day cleaning up after my family :)
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Replies

  • I think its all relevant as you are moving! I personally don't count it, I just think of it as a secret little bonus at the end of the week when I weigh in.
  • maasha81
    maasha81 Posts: 733 Member
    I never count it to be honest but I do see some ppl here logging it on their diaries. It's a personal choice.
  • ekz13
    ekz13 Posts: 725 Member
    don't ... think of it as bonus. and since you're not loggin it.. that will motivate you to do something else that you will log. plus that "extra" will help balance out the margin of error for weighing food, that extra cookie, etc..
  • wahelga
    wahelga Posts: 304 Member
    I don't count it as I consider it part of my daily activities and therefore cover in my calorie allowance (the same for cooking). I would only count it if it was something massively different from usual such as cleaning up while moving, serious spring clean etc
  • asaw00
    asaw00 Posts: 1,904 Member
    Usual day to day cleaning I won't add as exercise, but if I do a big cleaning and I'm doing lots of moving around I'll put it in. I can spend 2 to 3 hours vacuuming, washing floors, going up and down stairs doing laundry.
  • Butrovich
    Butrovich Posts: 410 Member
    Unless I push the vacuum with the same hand the FitBit bracelet is on, I don't count it.

    Mike
  • If I break a sweat doing it, I count it. Such as rearranging the furniture or deep cleaning
  • mitchiejo
    mitchiejo Posts: 179 Member
    I never log cleaning as exercise. Snow shoveling is a totally different story!
  • merisaOct3
    merisaOct3 Posts: 197 Member
    I think it depends on personal preference. For me, I have my settings on "Sedentary" because most days I'm behind my desk. But when I do walk an extra 20-30 minutes or clean for 30 - 60 min, I will add that because my default is "sedentary." It should be noted that I am also a firm believer in eating your exercise calories. You may not see as fast a weight loss as others, but I think it contributes to me being more comfortable and sticking with the program long term.
  • Eleonora91
    Eleonora91 Posts: 688 Member
    I always do my clean up all at once and rarely need less than 1 hour to complete my work, so yes I do log it in. It makes me sweat. :/
  • scrittenden
    scrittenden Posts: 79 Member
    I have my activity level set to sedentary.. I don't log normal cleaning.. 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there etc.... but i will log if i spend a whole chunk of time doing something.. deep cleaning the kitchen for example.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    I was wondering how many people on here add their daily housework as cardio? I usually spend about 1 hour a day cleaning up after my family :)

    To an extent it depends on the base activity level that you set. If someone is set as sedentary it makes sense to include some.

    Personally I'm set as lightly active, I work as a programme manager so whilst I'm not desk bound I'm office based. I don't log the walk to and from work, about 300 cals per day, or housework/ gardening as a rule.

    Equaly it depends how religious one is about the numbers, some people obsess, some treat them as a guideline. I'm in the latter camp. I'm in general in deficit enough to be seeing results.
  • da1128
    da1128 Posts: 212 Member
    If I break a sweat doing it, I count it. Such as rearranging the furniture or deep cleaning

    Absolutely! You are bending, twisting, lifting heavy objects. Why not count it as an exercise? However, if you are munching on a donut while pushing the vacuum, that might be a bit much. :bigsmile:
  • emilymhanson
    emilymhanson Posts: 1 Member
    I would say that it depends on how much you do and what you do. Some cleaning tasks are more exercise than others.
  • I dont. I set my level to lightly active seeing as im at home with 2 kids under 3 and run the household/cook/clean all day so I include it all in my activity level. The only things I log is actual workouts, but its up to the person on what they choose to log
  • CookieEmporium
    CookieEmporium Posts: 74 Member
    I do add it but ONLY when I'm actually running around my house, getting my heart rate up, breaking a sweat. I purposefully clean "harder" to get a workout. I DON'T count it if I'm just wiping the counter down or standing there washing dishes or anything like that.
  • SephiraRose
    SephiraRose Posts: 766 Member
    When I vacuum and wash floors or move furniture, I definitely log it as exercise.
  • lizstyles2013
    lizstyles2013 Posts: 34 Member
    When I vacuum and wash floors or move furniture, I definitely log it as exercise.



    That's how I do it when I work up a sweat I log it
  • McKenzieLeigh
    McKenzieLeigh Posts: 113 Member
    I don't count my daily cleaning at home, but I do clean my office every weekend for extra money and I do count that. It is a little harder work than just my chores at home and I usually try to do it quickly and break a sweat.
  • Linnaea27
    Linnaea27 Posts: 639 Member
    I do if it is a "cleaning day" for me-- that is, if I'm picking up messes, vacuuming, mopping the floor, doing multiple laundries, scrubbing the bathroom. I don't log things like cleaning the kitchen or sweeping the floor or day-to-day straightening up since I have my settings on "Lightly Active" although I have a desk job.

    I can be very busy and active for 4-5 hours on one of my cleaning days, and by the end I'm worn out and sweaty. You bet I log all that time! I just don't know how accurate MFP's cleaning calorie calculator is.
  • navyrigger46
    navyrigger46 Posts: 1,301 Member
    Cleaning is just another part of the day. I don't log it. Loggable exercise to me is what I do in addition to my daily activities. For example, I wouldn't consider things like, getting out of bed, brushing teeth, getting dressed or breathing as cardio. Even mowing the lawn and working in the garden don't qualify in my book.

    Rigger
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    stuff like that should just be included in your activity level. If I happen to have a big day in the yard doing some landscaping or stacking firewood or something, I just chalk it up to some extra activity and know it does the body good. I don't bother logging and trying to eat back those calories or anything...I only do that with deliberate exercise of at least moderate effort.
  • Foodiethinking
    Foodiethinking Posts: 240 Member
    I sometimes log it, it sounds really bad, but I clean about once or twice a week and then do it all in one hit sometimes. Or I do it when I have less time then I'm running around like a moron :)
  • Quieau
    Quieau Posts: 428 Member
    If I sweat, it counts! I don't count daily stuff, though ... just the big 2-3 hour projects that wear me out and drench me with sweat.

    Loading the dishwasher, or doing laundry? Nope. Just happy that I'm not eating!
  • RomaWT
    RomaWT Posts: 17 Member
    I dont count cleaning as exercise. I have been cleaning for years and still putting on the pounds. So I just consider it a part of my routine. However, twice I did add snow shoveling as cardio. We have a big driveway and it really felt like I had a real work out by the time I was done.
  • I add it if it is above and beyond what I would normally do. Moving a bunch of boxes/furniture, doing a "big clean", if I break a sweat I add it, otherwise I don't :)
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    If you are set to sedentary I say go ahead an add it... I don't add it because my fitbit does for me. This last week and a half, I added on average an extra 200-500 calories a day by doing cleaning. But I have both profiles set to sedentary, as I am sitting most of the time at my desk. And if anyone gives you flak for it... just ignore it.
  • k8blujay2
    k8blujay2 Posts: 4,941 Member
    I dont count cleaning as exercise. I have been cleaning for years and still putting on the pounds. So I just consider it a part of my routine. However, twice I did add snow shoveling as cardio. We have a big driveway and it really felt like I had a real work out by the time I was done.

    I'm going to be blunt because I see this answer every. single. time. this subject pops up.... you got fat even when cleaning not because cleaning doesn't help you lose weight... but because you ate more calories than your body could burn... the cleaning is irrelevent... running a marathon would be irrelevent.
  • Morgaath
    Morgaath Posts: 679 Member
    Since it is not a daily thing for me, and when I clean I normally get active enough to break a sweat, I count it....I just don't enter it as I let my BodyMedia take care of that.
    I don't count walking around gather plates and cups...I mean, sweeping, moping, scrubbing the bathroom, vacuuming, hauling stuff from room to room, shifting furniture so I can get under it, etc. The day after my last party I could feel the effects of all the activity, and since the wildest we got was playing board games, I don't think that was it. And per my BM, I burnt more calories than on days I go to the gym and lift weights.
  • keepongoingnmw
    keepongoingnmw Posts: 371 Member
    I don't just guess I spend an hour a day and log it in.
    Sometimes to motivate myself to clean I put a timer on and clean as "vigorously " as I can then log it.
    I don't do this every day. I sweep and do dishes and laundry every day but only log it when I actually time it with a purpose to use lots of effort if that makes sense....