do i count this as exercise?

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lucylue21
lucylue21 Posts: 214
in Health and Weight Loss
i wore a pedometer during this and i went alittle over 2 miles but it was dusting, moving furniture( i rearranged my living room and dinning room), folding and putting up laundry, i scrubbed a whole room on my hands and knees, sweeped the whole house, beat two rugs to get the dirt out. i did this for two wjoe houres took a break and did some more. i put in 120 minutes of light cleaning and it told me 287. seems kinda high to me. i dont know. what do you think?

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  • chris1529
    chris1529 Posts: 315 Member
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    I think that sounds about right! :)
  • jessmars
    jessmars Posts: 131
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    i say count it!!! if you feel the calorie count is too high then drop it down to like 200 calories when you record it. BUt when you are working hard like that you are burning calories.
  • karenjoy
    karenjoy Posts: 1,840 Member
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    I don't count things like that at all, it's normal activity, not exercise. There is a reason they don't do vacuuming and dusting classes at the gym lol :flowerforyou:
  • sjtreely
    sjtreely Posts: 1,014 Member
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    My experience has been MFP is very generous with its calories burned. My HRM is always much lower than MFP.
  • netchik
    netchik Posts: 587 Member
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    if you broke a sweat, record it but temper mfp's estimations. if you weren't knackered after the cleaning session, then don't log it as it's day-to-day.
  • lil_pulp
    lil_pulp Posts: 701 Member
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    I don't count anything that I did before I started making a serious attempt to be active. I've never liked it, but I've always cleaned. However, I do have several MFP friends who count that stuff and seem to be losing, so if it's working for you, I'd go ahead and count it....but if you're not losing, those "exercise" calories could have something to do with it.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,251 Member
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    I don't count things like that at all, it's normal activity, not exercise. There is a reason they don't do vacuuming and dusting classes at the gym lol :flowerforyou:

    It depends on whether or not cleaning like this is something that's done every day or just once a week.
  • Alice230
    Alice230 Posts: 66
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    Yes,you can count it because there is a section under cardio that says ''cleaning''. You just put how long you did it for and it will tell you how many calories you burned.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
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    I don't count cleaning as a workout at all. It's part of your lifestyle. Although you might've burned some calories off, it's something I consider to be essential activity and part of daily life instead of something I consciously do to burn more calories, get my heart rate up, and build muscle. That being said, it's really up to you and your activity level.
  • auntie_missy
    auntie_missy Posts: 113 Member
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    If you gave your activity level as sedentary and it is out of the ordinary for you, count it. If you gave your activity level as "lightly active" or higher, do not count it.
  • lucylue21
    lucylue21 Posts: 214
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    I don't count things like that at all, it's normal activity, not exercise. There is a reason they don't do vacuuming and dusting classes at the gym lol :flowerforyou:

    It depends on whether or not cleaning like this is something that's done every day or just once a week.

    sadly, i only do major cleaning once a weak because im wayy to busy in the week. you cant always go by if its daily or just once a week though. i go 5 out of 7 days a week and run 6 or more miles. i count that eventhough it is very close to being a daily activity.
  • mrmanmeat
    mrmanmeat Posts: 1,968 Member
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    i wore a pedometer during this and i went alittle over 2 miles but it was dusting, moving furniture( i rearranged my living room and dinning room), folding and putting up laundry, i scrubbed a whole room on my hands and knees, sweeped the whole house, beat two rugs to get the dirt out. i did this for two wjoe houres took a break and did some more. i put in 120 minutes of light cleaning and it told me 287. seems kinda high to me. i dont know. what do you think?

    Personally, no. I wouldn't & don't count "cleaning". Your body will burn calories no matter what, even if you're in a coma.

    I find it ridiculous that people count cleaning as exercise. But that's just my opinion, all you're doing is hurting yourself.
  • AngelikaLumiere
    AngelikaLumiere Posts: 862 Member
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    For some people that kind of housework is an accomplishment, they were unable to do it before loosing weight, for others it is included in their daily living calories. I only put down housework when it is something I don't normally do like steam cleaning the carpet. It is really a judgement you have to make for yourself. For example I wouldn't count the dusting but I would count beating the rugs.
  • tebbs915
    tebbs915 Posts: 133 Member
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    honestly, when its just the normal day-to-day cleaning, i don't count it. BUT when i break a sweat (like vacuuming, moving furniture) i count it. and when I say vacuum, i mean REALLY vacuum. I have two dogs, so i go over the floors 3, 4, or 5 times to get all the hair up. THAT really breaks a sweat.

    good luck in your decision!
  • emergencytennis
    emergencytennis Posts: 864 Member
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    I started at 7 weeks ago, brand new to the site and never having done anything like this before. Because I know nothing I set my activity at sedentary and have followed everything the site said and logged everything I could as exercise including 120 min of light cleaning if I do it, 2 hours of fishing in a boat, an hour of shopping in the mall as an hour of slow walking...and then eaten all those exercise calories. I have lost 11 pounds so logging that stuff is def working for me.

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