Cleaning as exercise!?

NenaM812
NenaM812 Posts: 101 Member
edited September 28 in Fitness and Exercise
Does anyone count cleaning or cooking as exercise? According to MFP, 30 mins of cleaning is 187 cals (I think...it's either 30 mins or an hour) and I think 30 mins of cooking is around 80 cals.

Confession: I do, only when I've gone over my calories by no more than 100 and it's not an exercise day :blushing:

Replies

  • rubyrenga
    rubyrenga Posts: 402 Member
    Well, I just moved into a new house, so the cleaning has been pretty intense, and I have logged that. But yeah, don't feel bad--I too start logging more of the mundane activities of everyday life when I've gone over my calories!
  • wintermama13
    wintermama13 Posts: 172 Member
    If I do some good hardcore cleaning I will. I pick things up daily but every week or so I have a good day of scrubbing everything down real well and really working up a sweat doing it. May as well count them!!
  • momma3sweetgirls
    momma3sweetgirls Posts: 743 Member
    Maybe I should count it...might encourage me to actually clean my house! Seriously, I consider any cleaning I do part of my regular activity. I can't say I've ever broken a sweat cleaning. You can tell by the state of my house!
  • LiciaHarry
    LiciaHarry Posts: 25 Member
    Any time you're burning calories OVER what you normally do during the day (so, mostly sedentary as normal in my case) should be counted. Spring cleaning, gardening, running after kids now that school's out (we're BORED), standing and cooking up amazing meals (lots of chopping, stirring, etc.) really should count. So I do count it.
  • RubyA2011
    RubyA2011 Posts: 66
    i do cleaning tidying and cooking everyday so i dont count it unless i clean the carpets or do heavy gardening then i do as they are things i dont do often
  • marathonmommy0205
    marathonmommy0205 Posts: 40
    I don't normally but today I did cause I bathed the dog (120lbs) cleaned both upstairs and downstairs. I was sweating as if i worked out and could feel my heart beating fast so it was a workout! :)
  • Last_15
    Last_15 Posts: 129
    Since I only do a thorough cleaning one day a week, I certainly do count it! My BodyMedia shows that I burn quite a bit extra, so I count it.
  • AtomicDarling
    AtomicDarling Posts: 42
    If I break a sweat, I log it. If not then I don't bother. :P
  • OnionCookie
    OnionCookie Posts: 272 Member
    My rule is that if its cleaning you do often don't count. If its cleaning you don't do too often, count it.
  • AtomicDarling
    AtomicDarling Posts: 42
    If I break a sweat, I log it. If not then I don't bother. :P
  • basschick
    basschick Posts: 3,502 Member
    I don't count house cleaning but I do log when I wash the car. All those repetitive arm movements are a good workout.
  • jrueckert
    jrueckert Posts: 355 Member
    My policy is - if I sweat or I feel like I want to count cleaning as exercise, I do it :) After all, it is my decision!
  • jamielise2
    jamielise2 Posts: 432 Member
    If you've listed your activity as Sedentary, then absolutely. If you've listed as lightly active, then only if you break a sweat and REALLY clean vigorously. Just my opinion.
  • ChantalGG
    ChantalGG Posts: 2,404 Member
    I did on the weekend but only because i was lifting and movie furniture and switch rooms around. And scrubbing pots and pans like a crazy woman. I was sweating so i checked it out to see if it counts and it was on there so i added it.
  • njean888
    njean888 Posts: 399 Member
    No I don't, because if you truly burned that many calories cleaning, I'd weigh 110 pounds.
  • rorosaw
    rorosaw Posts: 360 Member
    Funny you should mention this. One of my MFPals had logged a calorie burn through housecleaning. I had just gotten my new HRM and thought what the heck? I was about to start my housecleaning anyway. Here's what I posted:

    "Well this is just weird. I turned on my HRM and did some ridiculously mild cleaning at home--really barely moving. I kept the HRM on for 01:25:01 and it says I burned 188 calories basically by just walking around my house a bit. No up and down the stairs or anything. Wow. Not bad."

    I didn't log it but it was an interesting exercise. I wasn't scrubbing floors or doing anything heavy duty though so it was more like what my body was burning naturally by moving around my house.
  • soniajc
    soniajc Posts: 38 Member
    I would only count this as an exercise if your settings are set to sedentary
    :wink:
  • misscfe
    misscfe Posts: 295 Member
    I don't officially count cleaning, as in record it on here. The company I train with though does say it is a good form of fat burning training. I don't count cooking at all because to me that is part of my daily calorie burning, that is not something extra I do.
  • NenaM812
    NenaM812 Posts: 101 Member
    Hehehe I'm glad I'm not the only one. I listed my activity as sedentary because I'm a probation officer and spend most of the day sitting at a desk...I gotta take what I can get!
  • NenaM812
    NenaM812 Posts: 101 Member
    Funny you should mention this. One of my MFPals had logged a calorie burn through housecleaning. I had just gotten my new HRM and thought what the heck? I was about to start my housecleaning anyway. Here's what I posted:

    "Well this is just weird. I turned on my HRM and did some ridiculously mild cleaning at home--really barely moving. I kept the HRM on for 01:25:01 and it says I burned 188 calories basically by just walking around my house a bit. No up and down the stairs or anything. Wow. Not bad."

    I didn't log it but it was an interesting exercise. I wasn't scrubbing floors or doing anything heavy duty though so it was more like what my body was burning naturally by moving around my house.

    That's VERY interesting. I've been looking into HRMs, but do they HAVE to be tied around your chest or are there some that you can wear just like a watch??? I don't know if I can handle walking around with something like that wrapped around me :ohwell:
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    I don't log cleaning (or cooking) because I too think of it as part of my normal routine and I usually am not cleaning too vigorously. As a rule, I don't log anything as exercise unless it's actual exercise and I'm wearing my HRM so I know exactly how many calories I'm burning.

    If I do happen to do something outside the normal weekly cleaning routine, I just know in the back of my head not to worry if I also go over my daily calories by 100-200 because I've likely used up the difference.
  • notapromqueen
    notapromqueen Posts: 63 Member
    I log it, but I don't actually "count" it. For example, if I have a goal set for 60 minutes of cardio on a specific day and I do two hours of cleaning, I'll log that I did two hours of light/moderate cleaning, but I also make sure I do my 60 minutes of cardio (walking, running, tredmill, etc.) too.
  • soniajc
    soniajc Posts: 38 Member
    That's fine then log in all those cleaning and cooking hours.
    Watch that weight fall off.
    Good luck :flowerforyou:
  • rorosaw
    rorosaw Posts: 360 Member
    I would only count this as an exercise if your settings are set to sedentary
    :wink:

    For me, my settings are set to sedentary because I have a desk job--I sit on my dupa for 8+hours a day. I didn't count the calorie burn because it's a normal just existing in my house activity. Had I been scrubbing my floors or doing really hard core cleaning where I break a sweat, it may have been different.
  • Jenscan
    Jenscan Posts: 694 Member
    Funny you should mention this. One of my MFPals had logged a calorie burn through housecleaning. I had just gotten my new HRM and thought what the heck? I was about to start my housecleaning anyway. Here's what I posted:

    "Well this is just weird. I turned on my HRM and did some ridiculously mild cleaning at home--really barely moving. I kept the HRM on for 01:25:01 and it says I burned 188 calories basically by just walking around my house a bit. No up and down the stairs or anything. Wow. Not bad."

    I didn't log it but it was an interesting exercise. I wasn't scrubbing floors or doing anything heavy duty though so it was more like what my body was burning naturally by moving around my house.

    That's VERY interesting. I've been looking into HRMs, but do they HAVE to be tied around your chest or are there some that you can wear just like a watch??? I don't know if I can handle walking around with something like that wrapped around me :ohwell:

    The HRM with chest straps are the most accurate. I wore mine doing yoga yesterday - twisting, bending, all that -- and was very comfortable. It sounds binding and uncomfy, but it really isnt.

    For me, I log cleaning if I do a good thorough one and break a sweat. Not just the day to day stuff.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I only count it if it's "the inlaws are visiting" type cleaning. They live 200 miles away, so we don't see them often. And MIL is allergic to cats, and we have seven. So it's MAJOR floor to ceiling, under and behind all the furniture, cleaning when they come to town. But I only log half of it.
  • MyaA
    MyaA Posts: 87
    my mum has an hrm that is only a watch...but i'm not sure how accurate it is...i have a polar hrm so it has a chest strap, but i swear, it's not confining...it's adjustable so you can set it comfortably - most of the time i don't even remember it is there.
  • rorosaw
    rorosaw Posts: 360 Member
    Funny you should mention this. One of my MFPals had logged a calorie burn through housecleaning. I had just gotten my new HRM and thought what the heck? I was about to start my housecleaning anyway. Here's what I posted:

    "Well this is just weird. I turned on my HRM and did some ridiculously mild cleaning at home--really barely moving. I kept the HRM on for 01:25:01 and it says I burned 188 calories basically by just walking around my house a bit. No up and down the stairs or anything. Wow. Not bad."

    I didn't log it but it was an interesting exercise. I wasn't scrubbing floors or doing anything heavy duty though so it was more like what my body was burning naturally by moving around my house.

    That's VERY interesting. I've been looking into HRMs, but do they HAVE to be tied around your chest or are there some that you can wear just like a watch??? I don't know if I can handle walking around with something like that wrapped around me :ohwell:

    The chest strap that's part of mine (Polar FT7) is so comfortable I can't feel it once it's on. In fact, I've had mine on since I got dressed this morning because I wanted to go walking at lunch and didn't want to forget to put it on ;-)
  • NenaM812
    NenaM812 Posts: 101 Member
    Funny you should mention this. One of my MFPals had logged a calorie burn through housecleaning. I had just gotten my new HRM and thought what the heck? I was about to start my housecleaning anyway. Here's what I posted:

    "Well this is just weird. I turned on my HRM and did some ridiculously mild cleaning at home--really barely moving. I kept the HRM on for 01:25:01 and it says I burned 188 calories basically by just walking around my house a bit. No up and down the stairs or anything. Wow. Not bad."

    I didn't log it but it was an interesting exercise. I wasn't scrubbing floors or doing anything heavy duty though so it was more like what my body was burning naturally by moving around my house.

    That's VERY interesting. I've been looking into HRMs, but do they HAVE to be tied around your chest or are there some that you can wear just like a watch??? I don't know if I can handle walking around with something like that wrapped around me :ohwell:

    The chest strap that's part of mine (Polar FT7) is so comfortable I can't feel it once it's on. In fact, I've had mine on since I got dressed this morning because I wanted to go walking at lunch and didn't want to forget to put it on ;-)

    OH wow, I bet you burn a lot if you wear it all day. I'd like to wear one during one of my court days. Up and down three flights of stairs constantly, having to literally go running all over (in heels) whenever the judge snaps his fingers, I bet I'd burn a ton on those days lol.
  • misscfe
    misscfe Posts: 295 Member
    LOL...In TX & AZ everything would count cause it is so dang hot. :) Don't need to do anything to sweat. :)
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