Tracking regular daily activities as exercise?

Shell521
Shell521 Posts: 30 Member
edited September 25 in Health and Weight Loss
So I noticed a lot of people track their daily activities in their exercise area, like laundry, cleaning, cooking etc. I personally have not because to me, these are things I do every day & if they were not helping me lose weight before, why am i going to track them? I feel like it would almost give me a false sense of calories burned & I would then think I have more to eat back? Am i making sense lol?

I'm just curious as to how many people add stuff like that into their diary because I see a lot of people doing it & MFP obviously has numbers logged for these activities. All this time I have only been tracking my actual workouts. I can see burning calories if you are vigorously cleaning & scrubbing floors on your hands and knees for example, but just my daily dusting, laundry folding etc. I don't know if its worth tracking or not?
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Replies

  • stacygeorge
    stacygeorge Posts: 11
    I agree. I only log actual workouts.
  • spcopps
    spcopps Posts: 283
    I only log my workouts. Like you I don't bother with the "daily" chore logging. I do however log if I am on a trip all day with all walking such as touring.
  • Tamstar1985
    Tamstar1985 Posts: 334 Member
    i, personally, do not do this. i frequently clean like a madwoman, wash clothes by hand, lug huge bags of stuff up and down the six flights of stairs to my apartment... i just consider these incidental calories burned :) i ONLY log purposeful exercise.
  • bhb301
    bhb301 Posts: 338 Member
    My theory is it didn't make me thin before and it won't now
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
    It's not, I would only track that stuff if it's hardcore cleaning that I wouldn't normally do. For example, last weekend I cleaned out our "junk room". It was a lot of heavy lifting, trips up and down the basement stairs and I was sweating, so I logged it. I wouldn't log just a regular cleaning.
  • redxmasqueen
    redxmasqueen Posts: 81
    I only log my actual exercise.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    Well cleaning n laundry DOES burn calories...just a fact. Maybe not 600 but some
    I agree. When tracking input/output, I think it makes sense to add them.
  • abbigail_r
    abbigail_r Posts: 283 Member
    Well as I was reading about calorie intake the other day I found that you should not because the alotted calories you begin with cover those activities already. It says basic movement throughout the day you do on a regular basis is why you need to eat say 1200 calories to begin with. Just like if you workout you eat them back.
  • emd0019
    emd0019 Posts: 179 Member
    I agree with most everybody in that I only count my actual workouts
  • Becky011
    Becky011 Posts: 384
    I say to each their own. If it works for you great! If not also great :) it could be encouragin to see the cals burnt, who knows.
    it's all about doing what works for you to lose weight . Itry not to pick on anybody because I know my way wouldn't necessarily work for them either.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    Well as I was reading about calorie intake the other day I found that you should not because the alotted calories you begin with cover those activities already. It says basic movement throughout the day you do on a regular basis is why you need to eat say 1200 calories to begin with. Just like if you workout you eat them back.
    Now the question is what activities should be considered as "basic movements"? :smile:
  • precious71701
    precious71701 Posts: 105
    I walk around my classroom alot..and up and down the stairs at least 4 to 5 times a day...I log this as about 15 min of walking a slow pace...only 56 calories burned...I don't log the other stuff like cooking or cleaning etc...I too do not want to be thrown off..I probably will be able to tell more about it by the amount of weight I lose from week to week...I just joined, so Im gonna give it some time...
  • sweetnshy
    sweetnshy Posts: 97
    I log them only if it's something out of the ordinary. Like a few weeks ago I was stuck cleaning out a warehouse...normally I sit at at desk, so it was something different for me so I logged it. Well only like 1/4 of it :P
  • sheilamo
    sheilamo Posts: 115 Member
    I consider that stuff a given. I'm only counting what I do extra!
  • Shell521
    Shell521 Posts: 30 Member
    I'm just wondering if I have been doing it wrong lol! I mean I guess there really is no right or wrong for this since everyone has different goals, bodies & amount of exercise their capable of doing. Just trying to see what most people are tracking, because everything technically burns calories, breathing, sleeping, eating etc. but I don't track them because its stuff that I do daily.
  • Coramae09
    Coramae09 Posts: 60 Member
    today i wore my hrm while i cleaned my house and i burnt 950 cals in 3 1/2 hrs.....though when i clean i crank up the radio and dance along as i scrub lol! i have never logged it before but wearing my hrm proved that you do burn quite a bit if you make it more of a work out than just a regular picking up the house. to each there own i guess do whats right for you
  • kcphilly
    kcphilly Posts: 71
    I've only logged cleaning once so far and that was for hardcore cleaning of all my floors which takes about 2 hours, wears me out, and basically took up my time for regular exercise. Other than that I think if it doesn't raise my HR up into "the zone" it doesn't count.
  • reese66
    reese66 Posts: 2,920 Member
    I say to each their own. If it works for you great! If not also great :) it could be encouragin to see the cals burnt, who knows.
    it's all about doing what works for you to lose weight . Itry not to pick on anybody because I know my way wouldn't necessarily work for them either.

    I agree with you, to each their own.
  • MettleForger
    MettleForger Posts: 5
    It take me at least 10 minutes of intense exercise to get my heart rate up and another 5 or so to start sweating. If I am doing long distance cardio it takes about twice that long. I dont log workouts (even if they are real ones) unless I break a sweat. I do cheat however and do enough cardio to break a sweat (and more usually), then I will do intense calisthenics and/or weight lifting and count both. Since my heart rate is up, I can keep it up and even if I only lift for 5-10 minutes it will continue to burn calories.

    I would like to say that many of the calorie counts are way high! I played softball for 1.5 hours. It was pretty leisurely, because it was softball! the tool said I burned 540 calories - which is way off. 540 calories is 45 minutes of leg burning uphill biking, not 90 of softball. I feel like counting calories doing the laundry would be detrimental to a persons goals, because the tool is most definitely overcounting the calories burned to do so. I do my laundry all the time, it is probably the same amount of calories as simply standing for the same amount of time.

    My apologies for anyone doing an entire football team's laundry or something like that, because you should log that if thats the kind of laundry activity you are doing!
  • lovingbears2
    lovingbears2 Posts: 73 Member
    If it is just regular daily activity, I figure that was included in my original sign-in for my activity level ( i.e. sedentary, moderately active, etc). If I am doing extra activity that isn't my "norm", then I will count it, but don't necessarily add back in the calories burned and eat them unless it ended up turning into a non-traditional "workout",after all. ( i.e. went out to garden to pull some weeds and plant, and got extra motivated while there ,and find myself 3 hours later still hauling bags of pulled weeds and goodness knows what to the trash!.) If I have a full exercise workout, then , yes, absolutely I would log it in, and add to my food calories needed to eat for the day if necessary. Does that make sense?:huh:
  • InspiredByStreisand42
    InspiredByStreisand42 Posts: 29 Member
    I log all of my excercise, but I don't track things like cleaning, folding laundry, rushing up 3 sets of stairs to my room because I've forgotten something etc, but I do add walking to and from places (I used to go by car a lot), especially if I'm going quickly or going the long way (not taking the short cut like I used too!). I also log my choir rehearsals and singing lessons (under "Music playing" because I'm doing more of them than normal nowadays, and, man, am I working hard during them!
  • amylynn96
    amylynn96 Posts: 114 Member
    I only log the hardcore like 4 hour cleaning, scrubbing bathtubs, vaccuming stairs.....vigorous cleaning...everything else is every day stuff and to some ppl it may just make them feel like they werent lazy, if your cleaning and doing laundry your obviously not lazy but its still not an "actual workout".
  • Barelmy
    Barelmy Posts: 590 Member
    I don't log them, and think of them as a 'buffer' in case I measure something inaccurately, and underestimate my calories. I'll avoid logging the odd walk for the same reason.
  • Shell521
    Shell521 Posts: 30 Member
    I'm sorry, I hope I did not offend anyone. It was just a general question of curiosity. If logging these activities works for some people, then that's terrific. Everyone is here for the same reason & my intent was not to be unsupportive or anything, just curious as to who logs them & if it makes a difference for them, I know personally for me, it would not. I WISH it would though lol!
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
    If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you're having success not logging, don't log it. I DO log it, and I also have success (except this week, but that's because I've been lazy on the food front). It also depends on your activity level that you chose when you joined MFP. I chose sedentary, because I am. So when I spend 2 hours cleaning the house, that's extra. When I strip the beds and vacuum the carpet and wash the kitchen floor by hand because I hate my mop, that's extra. I don't typically eat all the calories MFP gives me from those activities because I think they're a little high, but darn straight I count it and log it. It's good motivation to get it done and to push myself to try to do it quickly and work harder because I know it's going toward my health as well as a clean house.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    I don't log them, and think of them as a 'buffer' in case I measure something inaccurately, and underestimate my calories. I'll avoid logging the odd walk for the same reason.
    I really like this idea.
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
    I don't log them, and think of them as a 'buffer' in case I measure something inaccurately, and underestimate my calories. I'll avoid logging the odd walk for the same reason.

    See, and that works for a lot of people. For me, I was losing weight too fast, and that was WITH eating back a lot of the calories burned through housework. I would have been in trouble if I hadn't been tracking and eating those calories.
  • ladybg81
    ladybg81 Posts: 1,553 Member
    I do not log normal daily activities like light cleaning or cooking. I do however, log it when I am doing heavy duty cleaning (ie spring and fall cleaning, bathing all 3 of my dogs at the same time.) I must work up a sweat before I log. Otherwise, it is normal daily life to me.
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
    The only chore I actually log is mowing the lawn. I burn over 1000 calories mowing the lawn for 2 hours. Otherwise I log acutal workouts.
  • Huffdogg
    Huffdogg Posts: 1,934 Member
    If you are routinely doing these things, then it should be factored into your baseline daily caloric requirement when you establish your goals. There should be no reason to log them.
This discussion has been closed.

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