Is housework worth logging?

clarinetgurl
clarinetgurl Posts: 2 Member
in Getting Started
So I am a student, and I normally spend my work day sitting and studying, for ~7-8 hours so I have my calories set to sedentary. However, today I spent cleaning the house: sweeping, dishes, general tidying, and was walking around/on my feet for at least 4 hours. Out of curiosity, I checked MFP and saw that there was an exercise for housework, but for even 2.5 hours it was nearly 475 calories for me (170 lb F). That seems outrageous, is it? It didn't feel like that much work, but im not sure if it was because it's over such a long period.

Replies

  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    edited May 2019
    Yes. 475/150 is less than 4 calories per minute. If you're moving, picking up stuff, moving stuff, you're burning calories.
  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,493 Member
    IMO the number you are getting is overstated. To be honest based on your description of the activity would not log it.
  • thanos5
    thanos5 Posts: 513 Member
    there are many people on here that log nothing but housework. take that for what you will.
  • MikePTY
    MikePTY Posts: 3,814 Member
    I think some sort of adjustment is probably warranted, but I'd give yourself maybe half that.
  • beaglady
    beaglady Posts: 1,362 Member
    Based on tracking similar activities with my Fitbit, a couple hours of cleaning, gardening and such makes the difference between ‘sedentary’ and ‘lightly active’. Maybe 200 calories, but not 450.
  • Keto_Vampire
    Keto_Vampire Posts: 1,670 Member
    Likely best categorized as NEAT, burns sufficient amount of kcals vs. resting position. Exercise =/= NEAT
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    of that 470 you would have burned say 1.5 cals/min at rest anyway... I would back that out if you really want to log it. so 180 minutes * 1.5 =270, so a net cals burned of 200, on top of what you would have burned had you not cleaned.
  • lms_938
    lms_938 Posts: 11 Member
    I think it’s worth logging, as you clearly burned extra calories compared to being sedentary for that four hours. How many calories to log is tricky though. Housework is such a general term, encompassing lots of activities at different effort levels. If you were actually moving, lifting, scrubbing etc for the whole four hours then 475 seems reasonable. Otherwise cut it back a bit.
  • Sunshine_And_Sand
    Sunshine_And_Sand Posts: 1,320 Member
    I guess it depends. If you chose your activity level based on being someone who cleans often, logging it too would be double dipping.
    I personally don't log housework because for me I find all the exercise calorie estimates to be too high, so I don't really consider it worth logging.
    However, for people who are logging it and eating back the calories for it, if you're still losing as expected, keep doing what's working.
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
    Sunshine_And_Sand wrote: »
    I guess it depends. If you chose your activity level based on being someone who cleans often, logging it too would be double dipping.
    I personally don't log housework because for me I find all the exercise calorie estimates to be too high, so I don't really consider it worth logging.
    However, for people who are logging it and eating back the calories for it, if you're still losing as expected, keep doing what's working.

    This is the key right here. So many factors are involved - how you set up your activity level, whether or not you have a step-counter synced, how often you do the housework and at what intensity, how accurate you are with your food and activity logging, and more. In my opinion, the best approach is to just log it and see if/how it impacts your weight goals. Adjust from there.
  • smoofinator
    smoofinator Posts: 635 Member
    I have a FitBit, so I don't log my housecleaning time simply because those steps are already accounted for. I agree with some of the other posters who suggested maybe halving MFP's burn estimate, if you're not using a fitness tracker of some kind.
  • _faedreamer
    _faedreamer Posts: 56 Member
    I think it's fine to log it as long as you're not eating back those calories. Just count it as a little extra boost to your routine that day. As long as you don't eat the calories, it's not hurting anything to log it if it makes you feel better. Do not, however, trust that number as a reason to eat an extra 450 calories that day.
  • jennibee70
    jennibee70 Posts: 1,067 Member
    I only ever log any activity that's extra to what I was doing previously. I've done my housework all my life, and I didn't stop me getting overweight. Maybe if I cleaned your house as well as my own, I'd count that!
  • elliej
    elliej Posts: 466 Member
    Personally, I look at all my physical activity log as "did I do this while putting on weight and unhealthy?" and if the answer is yes, like it is for me for cleaning, then I do not log it.
  • smoofinator
    smoofinator Posts: 635 Member
    jennibee70 wrote: »
    I only ever log any activity that's extra to what I was doing previously. I've done my housework all my life, and I didn't stop me getting overweight. Maybe if I cleaned your house as well as my own, I'd count that!

    If that's an offer, I'll take it! :D
  • Dakase83
    Dakase83 Posts: 2,524 Member
    Unless you are scrubbing walls like spring cleaning or something I say no... Your normal daily sweeping or laundry should be included in your activity level. Anything out of your "normal" should be considered exercise.
  • TanyaHooton
    TanyaHooton Posts: 249 Member
    I see nothing wrong with logging housework. I log my yoga class, after all. I personally would not log housework because how on earth would I confirm the calorie burn? What I would do is keep my phone on me so it counted my steps, then let that give me exercise calories back. Maybe I actually earned more because of the lifting and hanging and squatting, etc., but I'll just shove those extra into the "eh, earned a few extra calories to compensate for those two bites of cheesecake I had last night that I didn't log."

    If this was a one-time activity, I'd just chalk it up to a high-exercise day that hopefully cancels out a high-calorie day and forget about it. If you do that kind of activity regularly, then you can log it, eat back a portion of the calories, and see if you continue to lose weight or if you plateau.

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