Do you consider this exercise?

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Just putting in my 2 pennies - it clogs my community feed

Americans are fat because they think you need to have a special spandex outfit and a gym memebership and some bulky piece of home exercise equipment to stay in shape. If more Americans took on the attitudes of other cultures and simply DID MORE STUFF instead of sitting around feeling bad about not doing "real" workouts, obesity would be less of an issue here.

Actually Americans are fat because they eat too much. Americans that don't eat too much are thinner............without exercise.

A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I have myself racked up as sedentary, so anything that is beyond doing deskwork I log... Such as walking, gardening, carpentry etc... But this is a personal thing, so I can track for my own benefit. If other people think it is lame then they can unfriend me.

That aside I do some good cardio burns most days 800 to 1600 calories.

We have a Keurig coffee machine at work that uses these little cups to make coffee (similar to pods, but bigger and environmentally more evil, though cutely named K-cups). You have to place one of these K-cups in the machine for each cup of coffee. When I make coffee, I always open the machine back up and throw away my used K-cup. Not everyone does this. Sometimes people leave the K-cup in the coffee machine, so when I go to make a cup of coffee, I have to first throw the used one away before inserting a new one to brew my coffee.

Because I am human and weird in human ways, and live in a country where privilege has made many molehills into mountains, I feel slighted by this. I feel that because *I* make the choice to throw away my K-cups, others should make the same choice. Believe me, I'm sure there are plenty of people here that would agree with me. I know I am right. I have let it actually make me irritable when I'm already having a bad day. I have made comments under my breath about throwing away other people's trash. And you know what? I am acting like a petulant child when I do.

It doesn't really matter what other people do. It is almost the same amount of work for me to open the machine and insert a new K-cup as it is to open the machine and remove an old K-cup before inserting a new one. The trash can is feet away. I can assume other people are being insensitive or rude or somehow consciously making the opposite decision I am while evaluating the same facts. But it doesn't matter. It's silly to get worked up over it.

I feel like I'm doing it right, and any deviation from that is incrementally less right. That's the problem right there. And when I stop to really think about it, it makes me want to poke fun at myself. It doesn't matter what other people log as exercise. At least, it doesn't matter to me personally, and it doesn't affect what I enter as exercise. If I choose not to log activity A as exercise, why do I have this need to call out others who choose to log it? Why would I take the time to post that they are "cheating" (which is another way of saying they are "doing it wrong")? I don't know. But we are funny people.

The moral of this story is that Keurig - while convenient, does create a lot of waste, and isn't really that good of coffee and only works when I've run out of the coffee I brought with me and... .no wait... Sorry. The moral of this story is that your choices are your choices. Unless they are directly affecting someone else, your choices are ultimately meaningless to anyone but you. Make your choice because of the intrinsic value of what that choice means to you. Don't deny others the experience to make their own choices.

Finally, no sandals with socks.

We have a Keurig coffee machine at work that uses these little cups to make coffee (similar to pods, but bigger and environmentally more evil, though cutely named K-cups). You have to place one of these K-cups in the machine for each cup of coffee. When I make coffee, I always open the machine back up and throw away my used K-cup. Not everyone does this. Sometimes people leave the K-cup in the coffee machine, so when I go to make a cup of coffee, I have to first throw the used one away before inserting a new one to brew my coffee.

Because I am human and weird in human ways, and live in a country where privilege has made many molehills into mountains, I feel slighted by this. I feel that because *I* make the choice to throw away my K-cups, others should make the same choice. Believe me, I'm sure there are plenty of people here that would agree with me. I know I am right. I have let it actually make me irritable when I'm already having a bad day. I have made comments under my breath about throwing away other people's trash. And you know what? I am acting like a petulant child when I do.

It doesn't really matter what other people do. It is almost the same amount of work for me to open the machine and insert a new K-cup as it is to open the machine and remove an old K-cup before inserting a new one. The trash can is feet away. I can assume other people are being insensitive or rude or somehow consciously making the opposite decision I am while evaluating the same facts. But it doesn't matter. It's silly to get worked up over it.

I feel like I'm doing it right, and any deviation from that is incrementally less right. That's the problem right there. And when I stop to really think about it, it makes me want to poke fun at myself. It doesn't matter what other people log as exercise. At least, it doesn't matter to me personally, and it doesn't affect what I enter as exercise. If I choose not to log activity A as exercise, why do I have this need to call out others who choose to log it? Why would I take the time to post that they are "cheating" (which is another way of saying they are "doing it wrong")? I don't know. But we are funny people.

The moral of this story is that Keurig - while convenient, does create a lot of waste, and isn't really that good of coffee and only works when I've run out of the coffee I brought with me and... .no wait... Sorry. The moral of this story is that your choices are your choices. Unless they are directly affecting someone else, your choices are ultimately meaningless to anyone but you. Make your choice because of the intrinsic value of what that choice means to you. Don't deny others the experience to make their own choices.

Finally, no sandals with socks.

Interesting! So, in summary would you say that the Keurig is overrated? Now, this is useful information!

Edit: Oh, and you also make some good points. :drinker:

I wasn't trying to offend anyone.........like I said I have only ever included a daily activity I think once...bu I don't log it because I would have done it anyway.............deep cleaning is hard work, I'm not saying that, I just know for me personally I'm not going to log anything like that because I feel like I'm cheating becasue it's something that has to be done.......

and for the shoveling, I agree it's not real exercise but I do get sore afterwards........I think of it as more of a "weight" thing that actual exercise because I literally NEVER use weights and my arms and shoulders are always sore after so, while I never actually log it and count it, I feel like I "worked out" hahahaha.......probably because my upper body is in such poor shape haha!

Shoveling snow CAN get your heartrate up enough to be considered exercise. Of course it depends on how much snow, but if you have a foot of snow and you're out there clearing sidewalks, driveways and cars for extended periods of time, why wouldn't you consider it? It may not be traditional exercise, but you're body is definitely working, hence the sweat and achy muscles.

Finally, no sandals with socks.

I like to call these my "Ninja Shoes" and actually have a picture of them on FB

I just had this discussion this morning w/a friend. And if someone else has answered like this then I apol for duplication it, ti's just I dont have time to read all the replys. Normally cleaning I do not log, HOWEVER newyears I spent several hours majorly spring cleaning (hauling things around, cleaning under beds, etc) so I did count an hour of it. Also at work the other day, I dusted all the baseboards, door frames, picture frames and shelving. There was a lot of up & down, moving heavy things and stretching I normally do not do (my exercise is mormally walking or dancing) , so I counted ten min of it. (I also felt comfotable counting it bc I could tell I had gotten a work out in some muscles) hope this helps!

I used to have a cleaning job for two days a week and I was MUCH bigger then, and my God, did I sweat. It was deep cleaning, too, moving furniture, cleaning from top to bottom, etc. I rarely eat back the calories I exercise because I exercise to create a deficit and I would usually go to the gym after work, so at those times, I did count the extra calories especially as I was losing more weight whilst doing that work.

I don't count daily things as a calorie burn, though. I'm generally a sedentary person, so say if I go for an hour's walk, I'll count that, but not my daily walking around my flat, etc.

I think it's an individual thing, if you feel like you've worked harder than normal, then feel free to count it, but if you're only counting it so you can have an extra snack, then maybe take 30 minutes on a stationary bike or go for an hour's walk and have the snack after your walk or something. Do some exercise that will probably burn more calories than the cleaning or daily activity.

I think it's individual choice and everybody is free to do as they choose, but you have to look at your own motivations for it. We all know if we're only counting something to justify what we've eaten or to justify eating something later. There's nothing wrong with this, but if you're going to do it, make the burn worthwhile! Hell, I'm doing it today. I've eaten really badly today and now I'm trying to justify it by doing a fair amount of exercise, but this is focusing on cardio based exercises and calisthenics, not things that I know I do on a day to day basis like playing with the cats!

It's probably important to point out that your body has no idea what you're doing, just that you're up being active. It doesn't care how you log it, even if you feel superior logging a spinning class over the person who logs when they clean (and when I clean, I have gym shoes on and I am working hard! I have never thought of tracking it before though). So just get off the couch and do something! I think purposely cleaning your house to the point of sweating is an awesome idea- great workout + clean house!