Do YOU count cleaning?

ebayaddict0127
ebayaddict0127 Posts: 523 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am torn. I mean.. I'm definitely walking around, and using my arms to scrub or wash dishes or dust.. and I'm bending down and picking things up and pushing the vacuum. It just seems weird to count that as exercise...
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Replies

  • Marcia315
    Marcia315 Posts: 460 Member
    I don't. The only "home care" stuff I could is shoveling snow and gardening. Not bending over and pulling a few weeds and picking some beans gardening, but the crawling in the dirt, pulling weeds for hours, shoveling, digging stuff.
  • lucan07
    lucan07 Posts: 509
    I am torn. I mean.. I'm definitely walking around, and using my arms to scrub or wash dishes or dust.. and I'm bending down and picking things up and pushing the vacuum. It just seems weird to count that as exercise...

    If you do enough then set yourself as lightly active that covers cleaning and washing up!
  • hatterasclayer
    hatterasclayer Posts: 10 Member
    I have a sedentary job, so I count the activity I do on the weekends because I feel like I am moving more than I do on weekdays (unless I binge watch TV, lol). Interested to see what others say.
  • bl1nk6
    bl1nk6 Posts: 175
    i dont count every day activities as exercise, my bodies used to it (worn out from it lol), i dont know if i should or not i think i do more than the average person.
  • monty619
    monty619 Posts: 1,308 Member
    yea and I count walking to the refrigerator too...
  • Fit4Yah
    Fit4Yah Posts: 39 Member
    I don't count cleaning or anything else if it doesn't cause me to breathe heavy or sweat LOL but as someone else stated, I do count snow shoveling :)
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    Exercise = workouts. Everything else = activity level.

    Think of any calories you burn whilst cleaning as insurance that you're eating at a deficit.
  • redambition
    redambition Posts: 39 Member
    Only if I am spending quite a while (several hours) doing it.

    Doing the dishes/daily chores don't count. A big deep clean, I'd log it, but also underestimate the calories. I don't count it as exercise, but if I've spent the whole day cleaning then I've been more active than my estimate, and I should probably compensate accordingly.
  • ebayaddict0127
    ebayaddict0127 Posts: 523 Member
    Only if I am spending quite a while (several hours) doing it.

    Doing the dishes/daily chores don't count. A big deep clean, I'd log it, but also underestimate the calories. I don't count it as exercise, but if I've spent the whole day cleaning then I've been more active than my estimate, and I should probably compensate accordingly.

    If I do count them, I usually underestimate. Unless I'm really going fast and sweating buckets. (scrubbing floors, moving furniture, deep scrubbing the tub, etc.)
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    No you don't count it
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,566 Member
    If it's the stuff you do on a regular basis I wouldn't but maybe if say it was your heavy spring cleaning type thing where you are washing walls, etc

    The regular stuff you were doing before right? So it would be normal daily activity.
  • ThinkInOregon
    ThinkInOregon Posts: 283
    I have my activity level set as sedentary, so if I clean hard enough to sweat I do count it. Have also been moving furniture, etc. in my home and prepping/painting rooms. I count that as well, since it is replacing my structured workout and I am sweating while I do it.

    If I had my activity level set for anything other than sedentary, I would not count it.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
    Power cleans, squat cleans, clean and jerks? Sure.

    Tidying up around the old place? Not so much...
  • hf91
    hf91 Posts: 23
    I only log it if it's a deep, rigorous cleaning session. Something like scrubbing floors on hands and knees, washing walls, dusting, vacuuming, shampooing carpets, etc. where I'm consistently cleaning for hours on end. I also don't work out on these days so I am essentially swapping out my regular work out for cleaning. I only do deep cleaning once every few months so it's not something my body's adjusted for so I feel fairly confident in logging it. Regular cleaning I do not log as it would count towards my regular activity level.
  • MildredBarhopper
    MildredBarhopper Posts: 99 Member
    I'm with pretty much everyone else. I don't count everyday chores, but since my activity level is set at sedentary (I have an office job, eat back exercise cals), if I have spent the day cleaning a lot more than usual (to be honest, only once in a while, I'm pretty lazy haha), I will count it, but underestimate. If I have been cleaning for a couple of hours, for example, I'll only log 20 minutes or so to get a bit extra calories, but I don't want to assume I burned too much since I eat them back.
  • kcasey155
    kcasey155 Posts: 968 Member
    I only count it if it is not what I do everyday and causes me to break a sweat. So everyday hoovering, laundry, loading/unloading the dishwasher is not exercise in my book. But maybe scrubbing a carpet, washing down walls, polishing woodwork or cleaning all the windows once a quarter is, but only if I'm doing it for long enough to break into a sweat.
  • iggyboo93
    iggyboo93 Posts: 524 Member
    Power cleans, squat cleans, clean and jerks? Sure.

    Tidying up around the old place? Not so much...

    +1
  • jessrue83
    jessrue83 Posts: 3
    No, defiantly not. I see people adding things to their diary that are not exercise, but should be thought of as part of your daily routine, part of life . I feel that adding cleaning or yard work would be like adding taking a shower or making dinner- silliness.
  • cheripugh1
    cheripugh1 Posts: 357 Member
    Only if I am spending quite a while (several hours) doing it.

    Doing the dishes/daily chores don't count. A big deep clean, I'd log it, but also underestimate the calories. I don't count it as exercise, but if I've spent the whole day cleaning then I've been more active than my estimate, and I should probably compensate accordingly.

    If I do count them, I usually underestimate. Unless I'm really going fast and sweating buckets. (scrubbing floors, moving furniture, deep scrubbing the tub, etc.)

    I'd say you are counting it the right way... I do see people count cleaning house and dang they count high burns! but no cleaning house is not, in my opinion counted unless like you said it's major cleaning! If you aren't breathing hard and/or sweating then that is not a workout! (in my opinion lol)
  • Lindsayrob
    Lindsayrob Posts: 247 Member
    During the week I sit at a desk all day, so I log my activity level 7 days a week as sedentary. At the weekend I log cleaning, but I make sure I work at it!
    the alternative would be to set my activity level all week as lightly active, so that these activities would be covered. But as I rarely clean every day, this would be misleading.
    Really, you should log what you feel happy with yourself, you know best what your usual activity is.
    Oh, and the only person who should judge you on that is you ...
  • aquarabbit
    aquarabbit Posts: 1,622 Member
    Not for everyday cleaning (dusting, vacuuming, dishes, laundry, etc), but I do a "season cleaning" (instead of just spring cleaning because there is dust where I live that gets EVERYWHERE!) every 3 months. Shampooing the carpets, cleaning the curtains, moving the furniture to underneath, cleaning out the light fixtures, going through all our things to find throw away or donation items, blah blah blah. I totally count that. But I do cut my time in half since since I think that MFP over estimates. But it usually takes me a week to get through the whole house, so that's a week when I eat a lot more!
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
    No. That is part of my normal routine for the week.
  • bl1nk6
    bl1nk6 Posts: 175
    yea and I count walking to the refrigerator too...

    i should do this!
  • IIIIISerenityNowIIIII
    IIIIISerenityNowIIIII Posts: 425 Member
    The only time I count it is when it is some serious scrubbing. If I'm sweating and cleaning the entire house for.more than an hour, I count it. I'm a sahm and clean constantly every day but that is just light cleaning that I don't count. So far today I did two loads of laundry, took out the trash, swept leaves from the sidewalk, washed dishes, swept three rooms and tidied the play room. I don't think I should count that BC it is normal for me...or should I?
  • redambition
    redambition Posts: 39 Member
    Only if I am spending quite a while (several hours) doing it.

    Doing the dishes/daily chores don't count. A big deep clean, I'd log it, but also underestimate the calories. I don't count it as exercise, but if I've spent the whole day cleaning then I've been more active than my estimate, and I should probably compensate accordingly.

    If I do count them, I usually underestimate. Unless I'm really going fast and sweating buckets. (scrubbing floors, moving furniture, deep scrubbing the tub, etc.)

    Sounds perfect :)
  • CarolinkaCjj
    CarolinkaCjj Posts: 622 Member
    I count it because I really do not clean - REALLY (our house is a mess) so when I do any significant cleaning, I include it.
  • rhbabilon
    rhbabilon Posts: 9 Member
    I may enter it in as "cleaning," but the nature of my job as a retail merchandiser requires me to lift and squat and do other things that are like housework but are not housework. The cleaning I do at home, I do not enter as exercise. So, yes, I do count cleaning, but not cleaning at the house.... sounds weird to say it like that....
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    I may enter it in as "cleaning," but the nature of my job as a retail merchandiser requires me to lift and squat and do other things that are like housework but are not housework. The cleaning I do at home, I do not enter as exercise. So, yes, I do count cleaning, but not cleaning at the house.... sounds weird to say it like that....
    I would not count your job either!
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
    I don't count it. I have a good amount of friends on here who do though!
  • jdr1223
    jdr1223 Posts: 13 Member
    I hate cleaning and rarely do more than just a clothes pick up or dusting, but If I spend 2-3 hours of dusting, vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms, kitchen and mopping like I have done today then I do count it....but when I do count it I only put that I did about an hours worth (even though I did way more than that).

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