Cleaning house

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Theham2016
Theham2016 Posts: 27 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Does cleaning house count as exercise? If so how do you gauge it?
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Replies

  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    I don't count it. Only log purposeful exercise.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    It depends on what you mean by cleaning. If you are referring to everyday stuff that you have consistently done at whatever weight you are, it's probably not a good idea to count it as exercise because it already falls into your regular daily activity burn.

    If you were doing an out of the ordinary strenuous cleaning, then yes, you could count some of those calories as exercise and eat a little more that day without throwing yourself off track.
  • Theham2016
    Theham2016 Posts: 27 Member
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    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    I don't count it. Only log purposeful exercise.

    I hate to exercise... I was looking for all I could get LOL!
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    tlarue2016 wrote: »
    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    I don't count it. Only log purposeful exercise.

    I hate to exercise... I was looking for all I could get LOL!

    Lol I get it :smiley: but for every day cleaning it's not that you'd earn many calories really, maybe an extra 100 for an hour if even that. Depends on how vigorous.
  • Theham2016
    Theham2016 Posts: 27 Member
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    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    tlarue2016 wrote: »
    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    I don't count it. Only log purposeful exercise.

    I hate to exercise... I was looking for all I could get LOL!

    Lol I get it :smiley: but for every day cleaning it's not that you'd earn many calories really, maybe an extra 100 for an hour if even that. Depends on how vigorous.

    You're right! Maybe I'll run from room to room!
  • Josh_lol
    Josh_lol Posts: 317 Member
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    I wouldn't count it as exercise
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Nope, unless it's a full on spring clean.
  • Theham2016
    Theham2016 Posts: 27 Member
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    :(:(:D:D
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
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    While it is not “exercise” per se, All activity counts as part of TDEE. How much much it adds is quite variable. How you decide to account for it is up to you.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
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    The only housework I've counted in the sense of logging it here has been shoveling snow. That said, housework can absolutely count as exercise in the sense of getting your body moving and your heart rate up! I would be reluctant to adjust my calories based on it, however. Just consider it a bonus, watch your rate of loss over time, and if you're losing faster than expected and want some more calories, adjust at that point.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    Exercise offers 2 listings of "cleaning", one vigorous, one light.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    No, cleaning is a normal lifestyle activity and is included under your NEAT, or your base daily calorie allocation. It is in the database, but MFP draws from a standard database and not every action in the database should be added to your MFP exercise log.
  • 30kgin2017
    30kgin2017 Posts: 228 Member
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    I work full time and have 3 kids so I can easily do 5 hours of cleaning on a Saturday above what I would do during the week. In particular as we have stairs and our laundry under the house I can rackup a lot of steps doing washing alone. I wear a fitbit so I dont have to gauge it but when I have looked at my data for me it is similar to a slow walk in terms of the calorie burn. Mowing the lawn burns a lot of calories apparently.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    edited January 2018
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    I wouldnt eat many extra calories for even a deep clean really, BUT your up moving and being productive and a clean house is great for mental health. So its a win either way :p I either exercise or clean its my options so im productive in some way

    Pro tip: Throw on some music bust a few moves. Movement is movement and all movement helps, Trackable or not. Make it fun :D
  • sarahthes
    sarahthes Posts: 3,252 Member
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    Wear an activity tracker linked to MFP. If doing housework makes you more active than normal you may get a small boost. Probably don't eat back all of it. If it doesn't cause you to go from e.g. sedentary to lightly active, then it will be neutral or even subtract if you are then less active than normal afterwards.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,885 Member
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    tlarue2016 wrote: »
    Does cleaning house count as exercise? If so how do you gauge it?

    I don't count it ... unless I'm doing a particularly long and strenuous clean.

    In other words, I counted it once when I spent about 5 hours straight cleaning the house and unpacking boxes when we were moving in. I was hauling heavy moving boxes, walking from room to room, vacuuming, scrubbing, moving more heavy boxes ...

    Other than that one occasion, I haven't bothered counting and have just assumed that it is part of my normal sedentary lifestyle. :)
  • sytchequeen
    sytchequeen Posts: 526 Member
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    If you really put your back into it housework can be a workout. How you measure it? dunno lol
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
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    sure, every movement counts to me.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
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    its under cleaning
  • Falklang
    Falklang Posts: 220 Member
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    You do burn a bit of calories by cleaning but I don't really log things like that as I count it as general daily activity, even walking to the shop I don't count.

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