Housework as an activity

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  • BigGuy47
    BigGuy47 Posts: 1,768 Member
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    stevew_68 wrote: »
    I have a chronic back issue that severly limits what I can and cannot do at present
    I would log any activity for the purpose of monitoring your back problem. If your back starts hurting you can check your records to see if you over reached recently.

    Are you doing any physical therapy for your back condition?

    My wife has back issues and her spinal specialist recommends walking in a pool. The buoyancy takes some of the load off the spine while helping strengthen the core muscles.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    I don't log anything that doesn't get my heart rate up to 70-95% max. I use my activity log to track cardio (walk/runs with the dogs, dance, elliptical, treadmill) and strength (powerlifting).

    My line is- did I put on a sportsbra to do it? Did I get my heart rate up? If yes to both, I count the exercise.
  • patrickblo13
    patrickblo13 Posts: 831 Member
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    You still gained weight in the past when you cleaned right?!? So how is it different now from then
  • stevew_68
    stevew_68 Posts: 126 Member
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    BigGuy, I am not currently doing any physio. I was having it but I found it either didnt help or at times flared it up.
    the pool walking thing sounds handy. The doc advised against swimming, but he never said anything about walking
  • Lasmartchika
    Lasmartchika Posts: 3,440 Member
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    irishman213 wrote: »
    You still gained weight in the past when you cleaned right?!? So how is it different now from then

    Wouldn't the difference now be that people are eating at a deficit? They're more mindful of what they're eating? They're actually exercising now? Being more active? Before, yes you cleaned, but you also ate a buttload of food. So yeah, it didn't matter before because you ate more, moved less. That's what different now, move more, eat less. Don't people think about that when they ask this question? It boggles my mind every time I see this question asked.

    OP for huge cleaning like what you did, I'd count it. As you said, you were "knackered after it". Normal cleaning, nope. :flowerforyou:
  • ViolaLeeBlueberry
    ViolaLeeBlueberry Posts: 182 Member
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    LoneWolfRunner wrote: »
    You can log it or not. The problem that I see with it is the reason you want to log it is so you can feel justified in eating more (i.e. eat back the calories). If you are not going to eat them back, why bother logging them

    I agree that the crux of the question is "why do you want to log it"? But I don't see any reason to assume it's just to eat calories back. It seems to me that one reason to have lots of different activities available for logging is that it gets you thinking about how to be more active.

    Not many people are really going to go to the gym every day. Not everyone likes to run. But what ELSE can be done to be more physically active? Like walking instead of driving. Or, I dunno, whatever fits your life ... spending the whole day on yard work ... painting the kitchen ... going out dancing ... anything that bumps up your ordinary activity level.

    And whether or not it gets your heartbeat up or you're sweating doesn't need to be the point. Of course that'd be a good benchmark if you're focusing on heart health. But strength training, for instance, wouldn't have you exhausted afterwards. (Or shouldn't, I assume!) And plain old calorie loss can be a long leisurely stroll (and then not eating it back LOL).

    So, yeah, if the point of logging something is to apply it to a Snickers bar, then of course that's fooling yourself and it'll have the expected non-results. And I'm skeptical of the number of calories listed for some non-gym activities (and for a lot of gym activities, actually.) But I definitely don't see that as the only reason to log activities that wouldn't take place in a gym or with workout clothes on!
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    stevew_68 wrote: »
    Well I can certainly say I am not going to log so that I can more calories to eat. Its just to record doing the activity as a record, as, like I say, for me, doing normal stuff that others take for granted, is tough. I try to log everything as accurately as I possibly can.

    In that case, go ahead and log it, with 0 calories. Given physical limitations, for sure it makes sense to keep track of times you exert yourself.

  • KatieHall77
    KatieHall77 Posts: 129 Member
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    It becomes more important when you are trying to maintain. If you keep loosing faster than your goal, or if you dip below the goal, then you may want to adjust.
    As a farmer, I disagree with the person who stated that the only real workout you can get only happens with a gym membership. Come and carry bales of hay into my barn with me anytime. No charge.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    edited December 2014
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    KatieHall77 wrote: »
    As a farmer, I disagree with the person who stated that the only real workout you can get only happens with a gym membership. Come and carry bales of hay into my barn with me anytime. No charge.

    Farm work most definitely burns calories! But it's part of your activity level, and should not be logged as exercise.

    Work = activity level. Workouts = exercise.
  • ViolaLeeBlueberry
    ViolaLeeBlueberry Posts: 182 Member
    edited December 2014
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    KatieHall77 wrote: »
    It becomes more important when you are trying to maintain. If you keep loosing faster than your goal, or if you dip below the goal, then you may want to adjust.
    As a farmer, I disagree with the person who stated that the only real workout you can get only happens with a gym membership. Come and carry bales of hay into my barn with me anytime. No charge.

    LOL, hear hear! I think of a lot of what I do at the gym as an effort to duplicate, at least to a small degree, what my rural family members (like most humans throughout history) achieve naturally every day :smile: One of my goals is to have upper arms that are as wonderfully toned as my sister-in-law. Her "exercise equipment" includes cows, hay, etc!
  • silentKayak
    silentKayak Posts: 658 Member
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    It depends on your activity level. You can log any activity which is more intense than your normal activity level.

    You've said yours is sedentary. Therefore, your "normal activity" is sitting on the couch or at a desk, and maybe walking back and forth to the kitchen, folding laundry, and taking out the garbage. You drive to work, or take the bus but the stop is less than a 10 minute walk away. Don't log any of that stuff. BUT: a 2 hr leisurely Sunday walk? Log it. An hour of vigorous cleaning? Log it. An hour of gardening? Log it.

    If you had set your activity to "lightly active" (activity level of a mom with toddlers or a classroom teacher), I'd say you don't get to log any of that as exercise, because it is *already part* of your daily activity, so you'd be double-counting.

    I tend to eat back about 50% of exercise calories, and using this method I am losing over a pound a week.
  • silentKayak
    silentKayak Posts: 658 Member
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    funchords wrote: »
    If you classified your activity as "sedentary," then your calorie goal was calculated without expecting any activity save being awake and minimal movement. You clearly should include housework in your log in that case.

    If you classified your activity as "lightly active," then it's more of an iffy area. Some activity is factored into your TDEE because you're a bit more naturally busy. To be on the safe side, I probably wouldn't add housework or other non-fitness activities if you're in as "lightly active."

    Exactly. Like the 'farm work' comments above. A farmer would classify themselves as 'active' and would therefore not separately log any farm activities because it's already built in.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    stevew_68 wrote: »
    Someone told me how to work out the calories burned doing housework. I don't do any proper exercise so the housework takes it out of me physically.
    Tonight I went mad with our new steam cleaner for about 1.5 hours. Was knackered after it.

    Any advice is welcome. I know some people dont log housework, and some do. I think its one of those grey areas. How do I work out the cals burned on activity. Housework wasnt listed there.

    You can't be serious.

    It's obviously 100 calories per 10 minutes.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,951 Member
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    KatieHall77 wrote: »
    It becomes more important when you are trying to maintain. If you keep loosing faster than your goal, or if you dip below the goal, then you may want to adjust.
    As a farmer, I disagree with the person who stated that the only real workout you can get only happens with a gym membership. Come and carry bales of hay into my barn with me anytime. No charge.

    LOL, someone always comes up with this funny little argument.

    That's already accounted for in your daily activity level. I wouldn't double track it. rofl.

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