really? logging "standing" as a calorie burn?

kittyloo123
kittyloo123 Posts: 300 Member
edited October 4 in Fitness and Exercise
i'm all for motivation, support, etc. But isn't standing, (say at work) just part of life? It's really not a calorie burning cardio type of a thing.
On the same note, my friend who joined, logged burning over 2000 calories, doing vigerous house cleaning. i have been to her apt, and it's a small apt. i have some real eyebrow raising on that one. If you want to cheat using the "tool" that mfp is, guess who is going to end up being the "winner"?
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Replies

  • bear_nakey
    bear_nakey Posts: 340 Member
    I question it too. . . I clean everyday almost, and I don't log it, its a part of life. There are other similarities to those who log odd things like that too. . . :p
  • kmcrey87
    kmcrey87 Posts: 422 Member
    To each their own I guess.....

    I personally don't log anything I consider my "regular" routine like cleaning and walking the dog.

    Maybe they get really into it and are getting their heartrate up?!
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
    I don't log my daily cleaning, but if I do something more intense (like steam cleaning, moving furniture, scrubbing floors on my hands and knees, etc) then I DO log it. I may or may not eat back the calories, but if my heart is pounding and sweat is rolling off me? I'm counting that! LOL
  • JWoodyard07
    JWoodyard07 Posts: 55 Member
    I clean my house everyday, so I don't log that, but once every two weeks, I clean my Aunts house for 3 hours vigorously and wear my hrm. I burn 500 calories in those 3 hours, so I log those! However, standing??? Well then, I guess I will log my sitting;)
  • Samerah12
    Samerah12 Posts: 610 Member
    If they are really, really heavy maybe they can burn a significant number of cals just standing or cleaning. Other than that you should recommend they change their activity level in their settings rather than log every little thing. Its easy to be overzealous about logging stuff when you first start out but it really becomes a pain to do long term.
  • SarahxCheesecake
    SarahxCheesecake Posts: 169 Member
    It might have been code for something else? Like ya know...something cheeky?
  • mimaduck83
    mimaduck83 Posts: 175 Member
    When I've finished a 6 hour shift at the pub and we scrub the place down I log it - we literally go to town with the hoover, the mops, glass trays etc...it isn't something I do everyday, twice a week is the most but it counts. Horses for courses I think :)
  • LabRat529
    LabRat529 Posts: 1,323 Member
    I think myfitnesspal is a little generous with their calories-burned estimate. I wore a body-media band for a while... and my burns were always lower than what was suggested by the MET/heart rate monitors on machines at the gym. I don't know which was more accurate, but common sense makes me think 2000 while cleaning house is a bit much.

    However, when I first started losing weight, I thought it was hard to walk a few blocks. I work in a lab and on the 'busy' days in the lab where I was actually standing... guess what? I was exhausted on those days. And here's the kicker, according to my arm-band, I WAS burning a fairly substantial amount of calories just by moving my bulk around the lab a little.

    The band had a rather interesting effect on me- once I realized that I could burn calories just by getting out of my chair and walking down the hall to the bathroom and back, guess what? I started doing that a lot more frequently.

    I'm inclined to give people their victories. If someone is really heavy and wants to log 'standing' as a calorie burn, then they should. If you're really heavy, standing probably IS a substantial calorie burn. Of course if you're 5'3 and 115lbs, standing is probably not much.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    I don't log my daily cleaning, but if I do something more intense (like steam cleaning, moving furniture, scrubbing floors on my hands and knees, etc) then I DO log it. I may or may not eat back the calories, but if my heart is pounding and sweat is rolling off me? I'm counting that! LOL

    This mentality doesn't make sense to me, the only reason on this site to log exercise is to know how many exercise calories to eat back, otherwise there's no reason to track it, it doesn't mean anything.
  • GouchisGirl
    GouchisGirl Posts: 321 Member
    I use to log every little thing, my first 2 weeks here, just to keep myself motivated, but it was never in an attempt to be able to eat more. Now I only log "real" exercise unless I am totally flying around the house cleaning to a point I sweat. But everyone has a different way of getting motivated.... if it is being used to get more calories to eat, then the scale will show whats up in the end. If it is just a motivational to I say more power to them :) But that is just my opinion. :)
  • SkateboardFi
    SkateboardFi Posts: 1,322 Member
    change their activity level in their settings rather than log every little thing.

    exactly this. i don't count anything but intentional exercise. everything else...consider it a bonus.
  • DesertSunsetRain
    DesertSunsetRain Posts: 194
    You burn more calories standing and moving around (even if it's light) than you do sitting down at a desk all day. I was told by a dietician (granted she could have been lying to me) that you burn about 100 extra calories an hour standing. So it's not completely ridiculous to bump up the activity a little bit to not sedentary. Standing for 8 hours isn't part of life if you live a sedentary lifestyle.
  • Missjulesdid
    Missjulesdid Posts: 1,444 Member
    Who am I to judge? Some of the best losers among my MFP friends are the ones who log things like house cleaning and shopping so it's working for them!

    People who are logging this likely have their profile set as "sedentary" If you have a stand up job, then you would set your profile as "moderately active"

    Vigorous house cleaning definitely gets my heart rate up. When I am up and down the step stool with my arms over my head getting spaghetti off of the ceiling (how it got up there I'll never know) and bending and stretching to clean under furniture, moving furniture around, scrubbing the bathroom. I don't log it but I can see why people do.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    You burn more calories standing and moving around (even if it's light) than you do sitting down at a desk all day. I was told by a dietician (granted she could have been lying to me) that you burn about 100 extra calories an hour standing. So it's not completely ridiculous to bump up the activity a little bit to not sedentary. Standing for 8 hours isn't part of life if you live a sedentary lifestyle.

    If you're standing for 8 hours, you aren't sedentary.

    Also, burning an 100 calories extra an hour is totally bogus. That would mean a person who stands burns an extra 800-1000 calories a day than a person with a desk job, and that's not even close to accurate.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    I have a few friends that do this. "Burned 758 calories walking with a 5-10 pound child. Includes shopping for groceries and running errands." I'm always like where the hell did you even get that number? Also isn't this stuff included in your activity level? O_o
  • subela
    subela Posts: 76
    I did my first week when I realized I probably just needed to eat more calories (1200 was too low for me). I changed my settings from sedentary to slightly active. So now I don't add anything that is daily routine. Now I only add exercise. Although if I was say moving boxes for a move or digging up my back yard, where I felt I was getting a work out I would add a little back in for that because it is not part of my daily routine. I'm losing a pound a week eating 1450 as my base calories. At 1200 I felt too deprived and probably would not stick with it. Whatever people do the scale is going to show. I had a laugh when one of my friends had 90 minutes of heavy housecleaning and then had big weight loss that week. I said my house is gonna get a major overhaul if that works!
  • Maggieq87
    Maggieq87 Posts: 400 Member
    I see friends logging like 90 min of cleaning a day....I really doubt you would have anything to clean if you cleaned that much everyday, they're only hurting themselves.

    I work as a housekeeper, I don't log it unless I had a particularly tough day. Even then I'll only log like 60 minutes even though it's like 3 extra hours. I have a HUGE pub, 9 toilets, 5 showers, 8 bedrooms, and a kitchen over 5 stories that I alone keep clean every day. And a naughty little puppy that follows me around un-doing it all, lol. It's ridiculously hard work, I have to lug all my supplies with me up and down all those stairs all day.
  • satikat
    satikat Posts: 35
    i think it depends on where your base level is set. I know for me, I have a sitdown desk job M-F 8 hrs, etc. So when I stand all day or go the store after work or do out of the ordinary cleaning, i might log it. If my job switched to a mostly standing moving around job, I would change my base level and go from there.

    Base level= ordinary activity
    Logging= out of the ordinary activity
  • Swissmiss
    Swissmiss Posts: 8,754 Member
    I know...sort of comical. Maybe this person sits most of the time so standing would be a large thing for them. I walk five miles a day at my job but I don't log it because my body is accustom to it. The only way that would affect me is it I STOPPED walking.
  • DesertSunsetRain
    DesertSunsetRain Posts: 194
    You burn more calories standing and moving around (even if it's light) than you do sitting down at a desk all day. I was told by a dietician (granted she could have been lying to me) that you burn about 100 extra calories an hour standing. So it's not completely ridiculous to bump up the activity a little bit to not sedentary. Standing for 8 hours isn't part of life if you live a sedentary lifestyle.

    If you're standing for 8 hours, you aren't sedentary.

    Also, burning an 100 calories extra an hour is totally bogus. That would mean a person who stands burns an extra 800-1000 calories a day than a person with a desk job, and that's not even close to accurate.

    That was my point... that it wasn't ridiculous to log standing because standing isn't part of every day life if you are sedentary, I was mostly talking about just going up to the next activity level above sedentary. Also, I don't think it's too bogus. You are just at a bit of a higher activity level, so you will be burning more on average.
  • sheilarosella
    sheilarosella Posts: 101 Member
    if it motivates it counts for that person. personally i only do a vigorous cleaning once a week and many times skip the gym to do it so i count it..
    and question why does strength training have no calories burn counter?
  • sevfam
    sevfam Posts: 76 Member
    They are only hurting themselves...Just do the right thing for you!
  • sunkisses
    sunkisses Posts: 2,365 Member
    As others have said, they're only cheating themselves. I don't care what other people are doing.
  • Pangea250
    Pangea250 Posts: 965 Member
    I hear ya! I've seen someone who logs no exercise whatsoever except for cleaning. I also saw someone who logged doing the dishes and folding laundry. Amusing. Edited to add: I also have seen someone log walking at 3.5 mph and said it was food shopping. That's not food shopping, that's speed shopping!

    I don't log cleaning, except for heavy duty cleaning...the kind I only do 2 or 3 times a year. I figure I got fat while doing all that daily cleaning. Where will I get myself if I claim it as calories burned?
  • hikeout470
    hikeout470 Posts: 628 Member
    I don't consider it cheating. I wear an arm band that track my calories and the burn if I am sick in bed all day is around 1400 while a busy day of work including a lot of standing and walking (normal right?) with a 30 minute run at lunch was about 3200 calories. So to each their own. All movement counts.
  • hikeout470
    hikeout470 Posts: 628 Member
    It might have been code for something else? Like ya know...something cheeky?


    word
  • mmuzzatti
    mmuzzatti Posts: 704 Member
    To each their own I guess.....

    I personally don't log anything I consider my "regular" routine like cleaning and walking the dog.

    Maybe they get really into it and are getting their heartrate up?!

    I agree with you, if it's not part of my workout then it does not get logged.
  • Pangea250
    Pangea250 Posts: 965 Member
    However, when I first started losing weight, I thought it was hard to walk a few blocks. I work in a lab and on the 'busy' days in the lab where I was actually standing... guess what? I was exhausted on those days. And here's the kicker, according to my arm-band, I WAS burning a fairly substantial amount of calories just by moving my bulk around the lab a little.

    The band had a rather interesting effect on me- once I realized that I could burn calories just by getting out of my chair and walking down the hall to the bathroom and back, guess what? I started doing that a lot more frequently.
    Just an FYI - monitors are *not* accurate for low heart rate activities. They are only accurate for cardio activities.
  • Beastette
    Beastette Posts: 1,497 Member
    I have a few friends that do this. "Burned 758 calories walking with a 5-10 pound child. Includes shopping for groceries and running errands." I'm always like where the hell did you even get that number? Also isn't this stuff included in your activity level? O_o

    To give a different POV, my oldest son is HUGE. He isn't fat, but he is a 4 year old who is the height and weight of a 7 year old. We are tall. I had my second son when the first was only 1 year old, and at times I carried one in a sling and the other on my hip. Grocery shopping/errands were some of those times. That isn't bull****...that is really a workout. I've run a marathon. I STILL say that was a workout. Oh, and my second kid was BORN 13 lbs. Cut them some slack. When they ask, "why am I not losing?", that's the time to suggest they may be over logging.
  • Beastette
    Beastette Posts: 1,497 Member
    [/quote]
    Just an FYI - monitors are *not* accurate for low heart rate activities. They are only accurate for cardio activities.
    [/quote]

    Please elaborate as to how a monitor only accurately monitors your heart rate for cardio? How does it become more accurate as you work harder?
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