Do you count every day stuff?

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chubswonky
chubswonky Posts: 195
in Fitness and Exercise
I noticed a few of my friends do count things like cleaning the house or doing gardening work. I always feel like I'm not 100% sold that calories burned are accurate for that stuff or if it even counts as additional exercise.

What do you guys think? Do you log things like that?

(Today I logged in my cleaning because I've been feeling particularly down in the dumps)
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Replies

  • tabi26
    tabi26 Posts: 535 Member
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    The way I see it is if you didn't clean your house before or you didn't garden before then go right ahead and log it. But if you did clean your hosue and you always had a garden thenm clearly those things wer not helping lose weight before so why would they 'count' now?? Just my opinion though.
  • LizC26
    LizC26 Posts: 319 Member
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    I only log cleaning or yard work when it's something out of the ordinary and hard...Like completely re-arranging a room or (last month) cleaning out our pool and re-leveling it....I don't log doing dishes or washing laundry....
  • eeeekie
    eeeekie Posts: 1,011 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/291071-activity-level-and-logging-exercise
  • SoldierDad
    SoldierDad Posts: 1,602
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    I only count it if its super ot outside. When I mow for an hour plus in 105 heat that is exercise. Cleaning my house in comfort isn't exercise. Swimming with the kids I sometimes count, sometiems don't. But really I only log my exercise 25% of the time anyway.
  • caroline150
    caroline150 Posts: 53 Member
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    I agree, that's a good way to look at things. I've wondered the same thing, OP.
  • maddymama
    maddymama Posts: 1,183 Member
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    Nope... I only log actual exercise.
    The only exception to that is the day we moved, when I knew I was going to be carrying furniture and heavy boxes and moving up and down stairs all day long.
  • ChanMay
    ChanMay Posts: 39
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    Because I have a desk job, I have my daily activity level set at the lowest so on the weekend, if I do a really good house cleaning, the move the furniture, sweep, mop.. work up a sweat then yes I count it. The normal everyday kind, I don't count those.
  • Jamielynn1028
    Jamielynn1028 Posts: 2
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    It's definitely burning something. Especially if you go into the cleaning with the intention of working a little harder just to burn some off. We took a walking tour of a dairy farm yesterday, I counted it. I lowered the pace for the walking, but it was still a good 50kcal gone. Try not to feel too down! : )
  • Atlantique
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
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    Here's a great blog post that explains how to accurately set your Activity Level and based on that, what you should add as exercise: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/ladyhawk00/view/activity-level-and-logging-exercise-125513
  • vkpmusic
    vkpmusic Posts: 343 Member
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    If it's something I do normally, like laundry. No.
    If it's something extra intense like spring cleaning. Yes.

    My reasoning for this is that I'm so small (5'3) that my weight loss calories are at very close to the minimum recommended for women period for regular metabolic function (1200) so if I do something out of the norm, I want to make sure I don't under eat.
    That being said, every once in a while I count it to make myself feel better to. Kind of...look! I am being active!

    Remember, to each their own. One plan fits all does not work.

    Good luck!
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
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    If they have their lifestyle as "sedentary" and do alot of cleaning or it's their job then fair enough, sounds OK. It all depends really on what you have your lifestyle as, you wouldn't set your lifestyle as active because you workout every day, and then still add in your workout calories - same goes for cleaning, you wouldn't have it as lightly active or active purely because you do alot of housework and then account for it later.
    Figure out what works for you best, personally I would change the activity level and only log specific workouts, but that's just what works for me :-)
  • JoceyyySmall
    JoceyyySmall Posts: 155 Member
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    If it works for you, and that's where youre getting your main exercise from then log it. I personally don' log things like walking to the store or around town because well I have to do that everyday because I couldn't get anywhere if I didn't. While I try to walk quickly everywhere for a little bit of an exercise I just decided not to log it because my workouts at the gym are more intense. I think its a personal choice really.
  • JulieBoBoo
    JulieBoBoo Posts: 642
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    If I work up a sweat I log it. If I don't, I don't.

    Having said that, I don't log every single activity I do, nor do I log every single bite of food or do more than eyeball measure most of the time. Some people object to that.. it works for me.

    I also don't have a HRM and that also works just fine for me.

    You need to figure out what works for you.
  • AreneeS22
    AreneeS22 Posts: 42 Member
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    If its stuff that I do everyday, I dont log it, because when you set up your account and it asks how active you are, I already factor in how much cleaning and such I do, and my usual shopping, etc... If its like, extreme cleaning, or something like that thats out of my norm, then I do log it, but I try and subtract the amount of time I usually spend on that so that Im only logging the extra time... but thats just me, I dont want it to give me extra calories to eat back during the day if they're not really there..
  • luscadero
    luscadero Posts: 92 Member
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    I only count stuff that really feels like hard work - scrubbing the floors on my hands and knees, for example. It's really rare. However, I do count "playing guitar rock/roll band standing" as exercise :laugh:
  • mikethom
    mikethom Posts: 183 Member
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    If, you have listed your lifestyle as sendentary then I think that stuff should count, but if you lead an active lifestyle already then probably not. Another way to look at it is if the activity is enought to get your hear-rate up and break a sweat then it is probably worth logging...

    Just my $0.02
  • szczepj
    szczepj Posts: 422
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    I tried it a few times but I felt like it didn't really count since I'd do it anyway.
  • mindy14456
    mindy14456 Posts: 552 Member
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    I don't ever log those things I have been doing forever, unless it is super tough, like in and out of the attic, moving furniture, etc. I do log gardening if it is particularly hard, only because it isn't something that I do all the time. I do log the "traditional" exercise every day though.
  • carl1738
    carl1738 Posts: 444 Member
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    I only log cleaning or yard work when it's something out of the ordinary and hard...Like completely re-arranging a room or (last month) cleaning out our pool and re-leveling it....I don't log doing dishes or washing laundry....
    Exactly. If it's above and beyond what you normally do in a day, feel free to log it.
  • sheffiej34
    sheffiej34 Posts: 91
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    I think it's personal preference. Any bit of activity you do will add to total calories burned. I choose not to add daily routines, just the intentional exercise. But that's me ..

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