Cleaning = burning??

hey man, if people want to log it, let them. i just wonder how many of the people writing the "help i've been here for x months and havent seen any progress" have been logging cleaning as workouts and eating back those calories.

i never think to log cleaning because even though i do break a sweat, my heart rate never really goes up more than what i get during something like yoga and according to my HRM my calorie burn during yoga barely registers over what i'd burn doing nothing.

I wear a body media fit and I burn a lot of calories cleaning. I wouldn't discredit it. I burned an extra 400 calories on Monday just from cleaning and doing other chores. It was my rest day, too.

I agree, but when I clean, I do it and sweat. Why not get credit somewhere, I sure as heck don't get it at home (ha)!

It irks me when people worry so much about what others do. When I had my profile set to sedentary, I logged cleaning as well as insanity works out. Calories burned are calories burned. Sedentary setting doesn't include those calories. In order to keep a moderate deficit, I tracked ALL activity. I've been very successful.

Explain to me how our bodies would know the difference between burning 100 calories from cleaning the kitchen or 100 calories from jogging on the tredmill.

Also, don't assume people who log things like cleaning use it as an "excuse to eat more". Some of us like keeping a moderate deficit so our metabolisms don't suck. I lost slowly with a small deficit and now I can maintain eating over 2000 calories a day. We're not a bunch of fatties looking for excuses to eat.

I do a sprint cleaning at the end of the night after the kids go to bed where i play some music and break a sweat. That's bending, reaching sweeping vacuuming i make an effort to do it in a way i know im burning calories. And I don't know how many of you who have a toddler but they can make a clean house look like a tornado hit in 2 second. But I guess it all depends on how you do it. How big your house is and how in depth of a cleaning you go into. I get down and scrub my floors tell the sparkle.

It's not necessary to gang up on me or have attitude. I was just bringing up a point.... Of course certain exercises burn calories more efficiently than cleaning would. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. But as someone mentioned, I do notice people who only log that and then complain that nothing is changing. Log cleaning, by all means! I understand your points.

I'm a little surprised by the disrespect of some people, when this site is intended for support and discussion.

i know right? they're coming at you with toilet brushes and swiffer mops :laugh:

It irks me when people worry so much about what others do. When I had my profile set to sedentary, I logged cleaning as well as insanity works out. Calories burned are calories burned. Sedentary setting doesn't include those calories. In order to keep a moderate deficit, I tracked ALL activity. I've been very successful.

Explain to me how our bodies would know the difference between burning 100 calories from cleaning the kitchen or 100 calories from jogging on the tredmill.

Also, don't assume people who log things like cleaning use it as an "excuse to eat more". Some of us like keeping a moderate deficit so our metabolisms don't suck. I lost slowly with a small deficit and now I can maintain eating over 2000 calories a day. We're not a bunch of fatties looking for excuses to eat.

Perfectly Said

It irks me when people post "cleaning" as their only workout for the day. It just seems like the exercise that should be logged is that intended for the purpose of... exercise? Anyone agree?
I dunno.... I managed to clean my house and work in my yard and remain fat.... Haha. Just a thought. Totally not ridiculing anyone or anything!!

So exercise is determined by whether or not you do it for "the purpose of exercise?" Really? So if, say, someone's car ran out of gas and they had to walk 5 miles to the gas station and back to the car with the gas, they wouldn't burn calories because they hadn't done it "for the purpose of exercise?" How does the body determine this?

That you managed to clean your house and work in the garden and remain fat is irrelevant. Eating fewer calories than you burn is how you lose weight, and it doesn't matter how you burned those calories. You don't have to do it in a gym and you don't have to wear exercise clothes. If you are netting at or slightly above your BMR and an amount below your TDEE that equals the amount needed for the amount of weight loss appropriate for you, you will have a sustainable weight loss, and you should eat whatever number of calories is needed to put you in that range--including calories burned when doing things like cleaning and working in the garden.

You probably can cure that "irk" you're feeling by not looking at what other people log for exercise, since it's really not your business anyway. And saying "Totally not ridiculing anyone or anything!!" really doesn't negate your condescending, better-than-you-are attitude, and certainly makes it clear you intended to ridicule people you have determined are not as "motivated" or "admirable" as you are.

i think its just arrogance for someone to question if cleaning should be logged or not.

I do a sprint cleaning at the end of the night after the kids go to bed where i play some music and break a sweat. That's bending, reaching sweeping vacuuming i make an effort to do it in a way i know im burning calories. And I don't know how many of you who have a toddler but they can make a clean house look like a tornado hit in 2 second. But I guess it all depends on how you do it. How big your house is and how in depth of a cleaning you go into. I get down and scrub my floors tell the sparkle.

lol this is me i have a 3 yr old baby and a 28 yr old baby. so when i clean i'm in constant movement as well. picking up toys clothes, etc etc so i do log it that...if its just the occasional pick up dish or cloth and put it where it goes type thing no i don't log it. lol

i think its just arrogance for someone to question if cleaning should be logged or not.

I think it's arrogance to question what anyone else logs, whether it's cleaning as exercise or cheesecake for breakfast.

What amazes me is how many people are looking at other people's logs when they weren't asked to. I simply NEVER look at anyone's logs. Ever. Which, I suppose, is why it doesn'r "irk" me what other people log. It's just never occurred to me--despite all the posts I see about this very issue. Why would anyone do this except to bolster their own self-esteem?

Ok what if it's your job to clean.and you got only so much time to do clean and make loads of beds . I sometimes get a good sweet on so that must burn a lot of cals.

I wear a body media fit and I burn a lot of calories cleaning. I wouldn't discredit it. I burned an extra 400 calories on Monday just from cleaning and doing other chores. It was my rest day, too.

Amen to that - I can look at my calorie burn graph at the end of the day and VERY clearly see the times when I'm cleaning or playing with the kids or basically anything that's not me sitting on my butt. Getting off your butt tends to burn more calories than if you don't get off of your butt.

When I first started working to lose weight, back before I had a BodyMedia Fit and back before I had any energy or in fact any DESIRE to workout, I would get up and clean my house 5 times harder and longer than I would have before I started trying to lose weight. I knew I needed to get off my butt and move but I wasn't confident enough to try 'real' exercise, I was afraid I'd burn out b/c it would be too hard. If I knew I was going to clean really really hard for at least 15 minutes, I strapped on my heartrate monitor and worked as hard as I could to keep my hr up and heck yes I logged those calories. That WAS my 'exercise'. And I was darn proud of it even if it only earned me an extra 100 calories. And guess what? When I logged that cleaning 'exercise' and ate those delicious cleaning exercise calories, I still continued to lose weight at exactly the rate I requested here on MFP. So yeah, cleaning counts, especially when you're so out of shape that the mere thought of 'real' exercise makes you nauseous. It helps if you have your activity level set to 'sedentary' so that you're not double-dipping on the calories, though. I'd say if someone has their level set to lightly active or active, THEN it might not be a good idea to log the cleaning b/c you might already be sort of including that in your activity level. But for sedentary, out-of-shape couch potatoes, or even for people doing a marathon cleaning spree that is unusual for their normal level of activity, heck yes if they want to log it they should feel free to do it w/o people judging them when it does not even affect anyone else's efforts other than the person actually doing it.

It's not necessary to gang up on me or have attitude. I was just bringing up a point.... Of course certain exercises burn calories more efficiently than cleaning would. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. But as someone mentioned, I do notice people who only log that and then complain that nothing is changing. Log cleaning, by all means! I understand your ideas.

I'm a little surprised by the disrespect of some people, when this site is intended for support and discussion. I'm not here to argue with anyone, just to talk. Just relax and be kind.

No one is ganging up on you - you posted a topic, people do not agree. If you do not want people to disagree with your opinion, do not post on a public forum.

I think it is disrepectful to others for you to post this in the first place. If you have seen it on your feeds, then people on your FL are doing it - how do you think they will react to this post

And you know what irks me - people who get all defensive when people do not agree with them.

Each to their own - I don't mind what anyone else does. I personally find 1200 calories are quite low so if I've spent the whole day cleaning/shopping and doing laundry I will sometimes log an hour or two just to boost up my allowance..