doing housework.... does this count as exercise?

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Replies

  • ErinBeth7
    ErinBeth7 Posts: 1,625 Member
    I say you can count it if you feel you want to or need to. This is your weight loss journey and its your exercise journal. You can approach it however you darn well please!! :smile:
  • bhalter
    bhalter Posts: 582 Member
    I don't count daily housework as exercise, however - if I have a weekend where I do a super-duper deep clean and am legit cleaning for a solid couple hours or something that is out of the norm, I'll count that as "light cleaning" under my exercise. It's not very often though that I count it.
    I personally don't cont housework. I follow the "sport bra" rule ... if I don't have to change into workout gear to do it, I don't count it.

    Lol! Good way of looking at it, but for my deep cleans, I always change into a sports bra and sweats so that I don't sweat all in my good bras and regular clothes.
  • nikrit84
    nikrit84 Posts: 44 Member
    I count it, but not the full amount MFP gives me. Even if it is heavy scrubbing, sweeping, moping, etc I do the light cleaning and I do it for half the time. so if it is for an hour I only do 30 minutes.
  • BeetleChe13
    BeetleChe13 Posts: 498 Member
    If you do it every day and it is part of your lifestyle, I would not count it. However, I count mine because I clean someone else's house every other week and have sweat pouring down my back when I'm done. I think that should count as exercise, whereas picking around around my own house doesn't count. Decide for yourself what counts as exercise. If you're sweaty, out-of-breath, and starving afterwards, it probably counts.
  • mem1086
    mem1086 Posts: 136 Member
    I think it has to do with what you activity level is set at. Mine is set at Sedentary and I do most of my housecleaning on the weekends, so I count it. I wore my HRM while vaccuuming one day and after vaccuuming for 45 minutes I burned 256 calories. That's a significant burn! Another example is while doing some picking up/cleaning/ organizing for 90 minutes I bruned over 400 calories. Anything that is over the normal burn of my BMR I count. But that is me.

    Do you have a HRM? If so wear it and if the numbers are significant I say why not! You're exercising more than if you were sitting on the couch!
  • elsinora
    elsinora Posts: 398 Member
    I log it, no matter how vigorous or not, just because I like just logging how active I've been :) However, I never eat the "exercise calories" from this and I would advise against, unless you have a Ki band or something to monitor it and know exactly how strenuous it is.

    Like I said, I just like logging the activities I do, just to see how lazy or not I have been! :)
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
    I ONLY count fitness-related activities as exercise. Everything else is part of my lifestyle factor (BMR X activity factor = TDEE/Maintenance).

    For me, heavy cleaning is going to maybe, at best, add 100-200 calories to my day. Not even enough to compensate for that cold beer I had afterwards :tongue: .

    The answer is this...if it doesn't hurt your weight loss, sure, go for it. But if it slows or hinders your weight loss, why would you count it?
  • jenj1313
    jenj1313 Posts: 898 Member
    Rule of thumb for me: no, but I usually clean on my non-workout day. If you are really sweating, you might count part of it, but I find that MFP seriously over-estimates calories burned for me, so you may not want to count it all. Realize that if you're trying to lose 1 lb per week, you're already at a 500 calorie deficit each day, so you can go over a little and still lose or at least not by "over" (i.e. gaining) for the day.
  • rjo921
    rjo921 Posts: 130
    I do log in my housework...on Sundays I clean the house top to bottom....dusting, vacuuming, cleaning 3 bathrooms, kitchen, laundry, going up and down stars constantly, making beds, etc. Anything that is just light day to day stuff I don't long in...but if I'm cleaning for hours then yes, I log it. I also wear my heart monitor as well.
  • ConnieB1979
    ConnieB1979 Posts: 239 Member
    I dont log every day activities.....BUT I do log it when I clean out my horses stalls....Shoveling all that crap it quite the chore! LOL:laugh:
  • steffihoney
    steffihoney Posts: 392
    I do log my cleaning as light. Some days are more effort than others. Also, some days, I have to get my house clean (messy hubby, child, and 4 dogs), so exercising isn't on the top of the list. I run around while cleaning like a chicken with my head cut off and work up a sweat.
  • shadan87
    shadan87 Posts: 13 Member
    i dont count everyday house cleaning like dishes, a load of laundry, taking out the garbage etc. HOWEVER, for example, yesterday i moved all my furniture and cleaned under and behind everything and rearranged my living room, did laundry ALL day, stripped down and remade beds, took out garbage, weeded flower beds, went grocery shopping, vacuumed and wet swiffered everything and picked up every room in the house including all of my 3 year olds toys so for a day like that YES i do! i was sweating all day and busting my butt! it was about 6 hours overall but i only logged 2 hours of heavy house work to compensate for the fact that doing dishes and folding clothes and things like that arent hard work and you stand still...
  • mrselanco2268
    mrselanco2268 Posts: 38 Member
    I have in the past counted household chores and marked as activity, however now that I am tracking on MFP, I do not use them for extra calories unless it's a leisure or brisk walk or some other workout.
  • elsinora
    elsinora Posts: 398 Member
    I dont log every day activities.....BUT I do log it when I clean out my horses stalls....Shoveling all that crap it quite the chore! LOL:laugh:

    Totally! I remember having to shovel all that c*ap and it was really heavy!!!! ew! ;)
  • minimaggie
    minimaggie Posts: 224 Member
    I log the big stuff, just not the everyday stuff. If I'm moving furniture to vaccuum and sweating I log it. If i'm standing in the kitchen doing dishes and/or making dinner, I do not log it. I log gardening too.
  • huskamute
    huskamute Posts: 17
    Thanks for all the replies..... I am not going to be logging it, but it is interesting to read all the replies. I have two large husky x malamutes who are blowing their coats like crazy, hence the hard core hoovering that does bring on a sweat, ( yes i am veryyyy unfit!!), everything has to be hoovered, lol. x
  • Graciecny
    Graciecny Posts: 302 Member
    Thanks for all the replies..... I am not going to be logging it, but it is interesting to read all the replies. I have two large husky x malamutes who are blowing their coats like crazy, hence the hard core hoovering that does bring on a sweat, ( yes i am veryyyy unfit!!), everything has to be hoovered, lol. x
    We have two German Shepherds, and let me just say I feel your pain!

    After reading all these posts, I think I'm going to have to wear my HRM the next time I do some serious cleaning and see what I burn! The normal laundry/beds/vacuuming/dusting, no, but the heavy spring cleaning, garage, etc, I'm going to give it a go. My lifestyle is set as sedentary, so I think it would be reasonable to count the over and above the norm stuff.
  • CapellaBlack
    CapellaBlack Posts: 2
    My attitiude is that I've put myself down as sedentary, and have thus been given 1200 calories per day. I know that if I did all my normal housework and non-sports bra activities, and only ate 1200 calories, I'd feel faint and go into starvation mode. On the other hand if I count that stuff and eat the extra ~200 calories, I lose weight nicely and still have some energy at the end of the day.

    So for me, counting heavy housework (i.e. not just loading a dishwasher and making the bed - my only regular stuff!) is sensible, as is counting walks longer than 20 minutes. For others it might not be - it's got to be about working out what helps you to lose weight as healthily as possible.
  • momtokgo
    momtokgo Posts: 446 Member
    I don't count housework. Any of it. If I have a really busy day with 3 kids, errands to run, groceries to buy, along with the normal dishes, making beds, laundry, sweeping, bathrooms, vacuuming etc I'll have an extra snack if I'm hungry and feel left me I need one and just not feel guilty about it.

    I do log mowing the lawn. It's a big lawn.
  • stacymama5
    stacymama5 Posts: 391 Member
    I claim my cleaning as exercise (if for no other reason than to have it noticed), but I have my settings adjusted accordingly. I put myself down as sedentary, and I log my walks and my cleaning and my yard work in addition to my 30DS and Zumba. That way on the weekends when I do nearly nothing (except CONSTANTLY remind my kiddos not to kill their sibling) I eat accordingly. If I decide it's time for spring cleaning and kick butt, I eat accordingly. It works for me... about 2 pounds a week dropped.

    Also, I log ALL my cleaning as "light to moderate effort" just in case the burn numbers are high. I reserve "heavy effort" cleaning for when I'm packing because I'm not just cleaning I'm also moving boxes and furniture... and I usually don't eat ALL my cleaning calories back... closer to half if I even get that far (and I usually don't).

    Good luck!

    I ditto what she said!! :smile:
  • marm1962
    marm1962 Posts: 950 Member
    It's hard for me to believe you break a sweat doing housework, unless your air conditioning isn't working and it's hot out. Sorry, but I do housework, heavy cleaning housework every weekend (laundry too!) and I don't break a sweat. I think only real exercise should be counted. Like going to the gym and doing cardio classes. You have to really push yourself to get your heart rate up. That's exercise. Just my opinion.

    I'm sorry, but I laugh every time I read this. Congratulations for being in such great shape! I clean houses for a living, there are times I don't sweat, but there are other houses I clean and the sweat just pours off of me, and believe me their air conditioning works just fine. It's not just what you do, it's how many hours it takes to do it and how fast you move. I don't personally count it as cardio, because I don't believe I go into fat burning mode, but your still burning calories doing it.
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