Cleaning calories
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Well, my opinion is count them. Its movement, exertion, and if you're breaking a sweat then yes count them. But here is the BIG kicker, DO NOT REPLACE THOSE CALORIES THAT YOU HAVE BURNED WITH FOOD!! That is where I see a lot of people getting this wrong. Just because the program gives you back those calories doesnt mean you should use them. It will tell you that you are consuming too few calories but just ignore it. If you have met your calorie quota in food then STOP, even if it says you have some left.0
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Hey I think you answered your own question when you said your goal is to keep track. Then you definitely should log everything you do! People with different goals probably have different opinions... the only thing I worry about is that MFP (actually most) calorie burned estimators seem to be inaccurate and estimate more then you actually burn. I feel like the only way that is close to accurate if you get a heart rate monitor and have your body stats punched in.
Do you know of any good ones?0 -
So what is the NEAT method? So really is it worth putting in any exercise no matter what is it if they expect me to eat back those calories I just burned? This is where I am confused...if I burn 300 calories why would eating them back be a good idea?
NEAT = Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.
You "burn" calories by merely existing...if you actually just get out of bed, you burn more calories...you "burn" calories brushing your teeth and walking around and driving your car and typing on the MFP forums, etc. These things are accounted for with your NEAT.
Here's an example using my numbers...
Without exercise I "burn" roughly 2300 - 2400 calories by merely existing and with my day to day hum drum...this means that to lose about 1 Lb per week I need to cut out about 500 calories per day from my diet (this is what MFP calculates for you when you say you want to lose X Lbs per week) which gives me about 1800 - 1900 calories to eat to lose weight WITHOUT exercise.
Now let's say I go work out and burn 600 calories...with MFP, I would log that and my calorie goal would increase by 600 calories...but I would still have the same net deficit of 500 calories per day because while my gross intake would be 2400 - 2500 calories to lose, my maintenance number will have also increased by the same...so my new theoretical maintenance number would be 2900 - 3000 calories (which is accurate for me).
Other calculators would just assume that exercise up front in the equation and simply cut from my 2900 - 3000 calories and give me a goal of 2400 - 2500 to lose weight. You just have to understand the method and the tool you're using. Beyond that, it's just math.
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The reason people don't generally log cleaning is because it is part of their regular activity level. If the cleaning you're planning to do today is way beyond your regular activity level, you could choose to see it as "exercise" and log it. MFP's method is to ask what your regular activity level is like and use that when calculating how many calories you are "allowed" each day to fit your goal. Extra exercise (which is good for fitness, toning, health etc.) allows you more calories if you want to eat them back.
I walk my dogs most days for almost an hour but I don't log that as exercise unless I go much faster or longer than usual. I consider those regular dog walks part of my general activity level. If later in the day I walk or run on my treadmill I log that and then have more calories to play with for the day.
Make sense?0 -
clearly you have NO idea how this tool ACTUALLY works. smhWell, my opinion is count them. Its movement, exertion, and if you're breaking a sweat then yes count them. But here is the BIG kicker, DO NOT REPLACE THOSE CALORIES THAT YOU HAVE BURNED WITH FOOD!! That is where I see a lot of people getting this wrong. Just because the program gives you back those calories doesnt mean you should use them. It will tell you that you are consuming too few calories but just ignore it. If you have met your calorie quota in food then STOP, even if it says you have some left.
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I keep a pretty clean house throughout the year, but two or three times a year I'm down on the floor with a scrub brush and up on a ladder with a rag. I wouldn't count running a mop over the floor, but I would count buffing the grout with a toothbrush on my hands and knees. Extra, out-of-the-ordinary activity would get logged. That being said, I use TDEE calculations so the point is moot for me. I get no extras for being superwoman. :-(0
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ex·er·cise
ˈeksərˌsīz/Submit
noun
1.
activity requiring physical effort, carried out especially to sustain or improve health and fitness.0 -
Hey I think you answered your own question when you said your goal is to keep track. Then you definitely should log everything you do! People with different goals probably have different opinions... the only thing I worry about is that MFP (actually most) calorie burned estimators seem to be inaccurate and estimate more then you actually burn. I feel like the only way that is close to accurate if you get a heart rate monitor and have your body stats punched in.
A HRM isn't going to be remotely accurate for house cleaning or yard work or anything like that. Your calorie burn is not directly correlated to your HR...your HR is just used in an algorithm to determine some level of estimated VO2 max you are working...so a HRM also assumes you are doing a steady state cardiovascular event.0 -
I notice there is always a big debate for if you should or shouldn't count calories from cleaning. Here is why I do and please feel free to correct me if I am wrong. I am doing a massive clean today, I mean my whole house top to bottom, I will be moving furniture, dusting the ceiling, vacuuming, carrying stuff out to my shed, cleaning out every closet, scrubbing baseboards, packing away summer and fall clothes (yes I am that slow lol), scrubbing counters, toilets and bath tubs, cleaning under my fridge and stove, cleaning in my stove and a lot more. That is a lot of hard work that will take me hours, so why are some people so against including that in their exercise for the day?
I first posted that I agree but after reading the numerous other posts against counting them I must say I agree. And it really doesn't matter a calorie burned is a calorie burned
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To me, exercise is actual exercise. A walk, a run, a lifting session, dance class, yoga, tennis game, bike ride and so on.
Everything else is just life. Even if I sweat. I would not log a cleaning session, not matter how much my home sparkles after it.
Some people log the calories burned while cooking. I don't get that one either.
Edited for typo0 -
DterMined2012 wrote: »I notice there is always a big debate for if you should or shouldn't count calories from cleaning. Here is why I do and please feel free to correct me if I am wrong. I am doing a massive clean today, I mean my whole house top to bottom, I will be moving furniture, dusting the ceiling, vacuuming, carrying stuff out to my shed, cleaning out every closet, scrubbing baseboards, packing away summer and fall clothes (yes I am that slow lol), scrubbing counters, toilets and bath tubs, cleaning under my fridge and stove, cleaning in my stove and a lot more. That is a lot of hard work that will take me hours, so why are some people so against including that in their exercise for the day?
I agree with you! I will be doing major cleaning today as well, this cleaning is NOT done every day!! So I will wear my HR monitor and see how it goes!
A HRM will not be accurate for this activity....0 -
Another thing to add, if you want to add more to your daily routines such as house work then add exercises to your chores. I live far from an gym and I have two little ones so getting out the door to head to the gym isnt practical for me everyday. So, while I fold laundry I skip in place, vacuuming I do lunges, dusting i do calve raises, if youre forced to watch your kids favorite shows then do some squats. There is an exercise in everything you do
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Well, my opinion is count them. Its movement, exertion, and if you're breaking a sweat then yes count them. But here is the BIG kicker, DO NOT REPLACE THOSE CALORIES THAT YOU HAVE BURNED WITH FOOD!! That is where I see a lot of people getting this wrong. Just because the program gives you back those calories doesnt mean you should use them. It will tell you that you are consuming too few calories but just ignore it. If you have met your calorie quota in food then STOP, even if it says you have some left.
That's the type of thinking that started me into an ED spiral before. Tread very carefully. If you're using MFP calculations, you SHOULD be eating back at least a percentage of the calories burned - most people go with 50% to account for inaccuracies. You absolutely SHOULD. That's the way this tool was designed. If you're calculating TDEE, then no. But your logging would be totally different doing TDEE. I don't log any exercise or activity on here. I have a spreadsheet where I log my runs, lifts, and calories burned so I can make sure I'm close to the activity I set in the TDEE calcs.0 -
I don't log cleaning, just like I won't log walking through disney amusement parks later in the week. However, if I find i have been running from zombies, I'll probably log that.
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clearly you have NO idea how this tool ACTUALLY works. smhWell, my opinion is count them. Its movement, exertion, and if you're breaking a sweat then yes count them. But here is the BIG kicker, DO NOT REPLACE THOSE CALORIES THAT YOU HAVE BURNED WITH FOOD!! That is where I see a lot of people getting this wrong. Just because the program gives you back those calories doesnt mean you should use them. It will tell you that you are consuming too few calories but just ignore it. If you have met your calorie quota in food then STOP, even if it says you have some left.
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As a West Texas gal, I concur. If it was as easy as sweating it out, I'd be skinny as ever during our 115 degree summers. LOL!0 -
Well, my opinion is count them. Its movement, exertion, and if you're breaking a sweat then yes count them. But here is the BIG kicker, DO NOT REPLACE THOSE CALORIES THAT YOU HAVE BURNED WITH FOOD!! That is where I see a lot of people getting this wrong. Just because the program gives you back those calories doesnt mean you should use them. It will tell you that you are consuming too few calories but just ignore it. If you have met your calorie quota in food then STOP, even if it says you have some left.
First post?? Yeah ok.
You have no ideal what you are talking about, lol.
I guess I been doing it wrong, lost 121 pounds.0 -
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Robert Wildman, PhD - Flower Mound, TX - Nutrition & Dietetics Follow
Robert Wildman, PhD, Nutrition & Dietetics, answered
Any type of movement leads to additional calories burned, so absolutely, housework is considered exercise. Just because you might not have sweat pants on or be wearing the latest sport shoe, it's still exercise. For instance, a 130 lb woman might burn an addition 200 calories engaged in moderate housework such as dusting, vacuuming, laundry, etc. If you venture outside that same woman will burn over 200 calories per hour gardening and in upwards of 275-330 calories shoveling snow. Now you probably won't develop muscle mass or experience a lot of cardiovascular benefit, but your efforts will be contributing to easier weight control and self-satisfaction.
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I think that when we are filling out the activity level section even if we list "sedentary" the good people at MFP are assuming that we are engaging in household chores. I don't think a big marathon clean is different than doing the same things a bit each day. If you really think that cleaning wasn't considered a normal sedentary lifestyle activity then I would ask but I'm doubtful the standard is to assume we all have maids! (not that I don't wish this were true).0
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