House work as exercise

I don't personally log housework because, as a stay at home mom, it's something that I do every day. But for people who are not always going up and down their stairs or washing walls or vacuuming, it's a form of exercise. I do log when I do a seriously thorough cleaning though. I think this is just another one of those things that women are criticized for. *shrug* Women can be really mean to each other.

This. Especially the last line.

I don't log my exercise on here anymore but I'm also a stay at home mom with two young kids and a small apartment, all I do is clean, haha. If other people don't normally clean as much, then yes, it would be exercise.

I hope this thread will encourage some people to rethink their views.

I have read a few threads recently which criticiseMFP members for adding housework (cleaning) to their cardiovascular exercise. I find this quite bizarre as my understanding is that MFP works out the number of net calories you need to eat using the number of calories you would burn if you stayed in bed all day, your weight goal and the number of pounds you want to lose per week.

Why is housework a lesser form of exercise than any other? Is there some sort of exercise snobbery going on? Just because it has to be done, it doesnt make it less valid in my opinion. Is it a sexist thing? If so why is it predominantly women that have been critical? I sugar-soaped my kitchen door at the weekend and it was a great work-out for my bingo-wings! Are there any other forms of exercise that people think should not be listed? Dog walking? Gardening? As a single Mum I have all these responsibilities. As I also have to work, cleaning, dog walking and gardening are sometimes the only form of exercise I have time(or the opportunity) to do - and its paying off because I am listing them as exercise, sticking to my net calories (most of the time) and I am losing weight! What are your thoughts?

PS I wish MFP worked out the calories burned during strengthening exercises e.g. pressups, situps. Is there a reason for this?

I'm always on the "log it" side so I'm not sure there's any reason for me to answer but...

One group of these people condescendingly says the equivalent of "You're only cheating yourself." It's a sly way to imply cheating, when sedentary is defined by MFP as "mostly sitting," (not lying in bed, as you claim, but that's really irrelevant.) so no "cheating" is involved, and there's really no such thing as "cheating yourself," anyway. They can feel better about themselves by telling the world that YOU are a cheater, THEY would NEVER cheat.

Another group says, "I got fat while cleaning my house, obviously I'm not going to get thin by calling cleaning exercise." These people ignore the fact that MFP is a multi-pronged approach, and they, and you, didn't get fat while cleaning the house AND maintaining a caloric deficit. Don't clean and don't eat the cleaning calories or clean and eat the calories, the deficit is built in, and most of us can't clean while sitting. Net less than you burn and you lose. You body can't tell if you're using a stepper machine or running up and down your basement stairs to check the laundry. No reason why one is exercise and the other isn't. These people also can feel better than you, because they work out and you do not. It's not exercise unless you wear special clothing for it, you know.

My personal favorite are the people who say it's not exercise if you "usually do it," or "do it daily or almost daily." Of course they exclude running or workouts THEY do daily or almost daily, because these are "obviously exercise." They never seem to have an answer to whether people who pay someone else to clean for them have to subtract some calories for the ones they say MFP adds in for the cleaning that it's "normal" to do. Again, it's all about, "I'm somehow more virtuous than you."

And I also actually dislike the "peacemaker" group. They say "I would NEVER count housework, but if someone is VERY OBESE, and this motivates them to move more, maybe this all they can do right now." Also busy feeling better than those poor souls who have to count housework because they're not as "fit" as these people.

I think it's all about feeling superior. S you just do what works for you, keep your food and exercise diaries CLOSED so you don't get sidetracked by people who think they're better than you, and remember you only have to answer to yourself.

I wear a FitBit and only manually log things FitBit can't measure accurately (or in some cases, like swimming, at all). So my "cleaning" is recorded as exercise by my FitBit because it does indeed record more calories when I'm cleaning than when I'm not. Maybe the best thing would be not to call it "exercise" since it's really "calorie burning activity."

And MFP does list calories burned during strength training. Why wouldn't it?

I think counting housework as a work out is valid because i sure do feel like Im burning calories while im sweeping mopping and doing all household chores

I don't log house work because I HAVE to do house work. I log my workouts and runs because I DON'T have to do any of that. That is just my opinion.

Why would you burn calories doing something you don't HAVE to do and not when you DO have to do it? How would your body tell one from the other? This makes absolutely no sense to me.

agreed. if you google image "maid" you get some very very sexy and fit women pop up on the search. so ladies, clean your pretty little hearts out!!

About the only exercise I get is housework and yardwork. I generally try not to eat too many of the calories back from either because, to be honest, I am skeptical that I really burned that many. I do log it though and I am losing weight very steadily. I see NOTHING wrong with logging chores as exercise! :happy:

On the other hand, I work full time as a registered nurse and do lots of walking all day and don't count that because I feel i do it all the time.

What I don't understand is why I am not losing more when I don't (usually) log my daily activities like housework, gardening and MFP doesn't calculate calories burned strength training. I entered sedentary because that is what I was when I started but not now. If MFP figures calories needs on no activity then I should be in a much larger calories deficit.

Remember! if you've set your lifestyle to sedentry and your aiming to loose 2lbs a week than you'll not only be eating for someone who lives in bed all day, but also your under even your BMR which is the energy your body needs to function if you were in a coma (dont worry i'm not knocking it, im doing this myself!)

Therfore you need to add back everything as your body needs this fuel to work and function! calorie burn is calorie burn whether its anerobic, areobic or f'n exausting!... your body needs fuel to function so why deny it what it needs when your already denying it a large amount of the energy it needs anyway!....

I still did housework when I was fat. I mean really, I was fat but not a fat SLOB. Come on.

Agreed.
Just yesterday I logged mine. And I wore my HRM when doing it, as I was moving the furniture and such to "deep" clean parts of the house.

I personally log my "extra" house work not my day to day stuff. But to each their own. Besides if you log it or not as long as your losing weight (which is why were all here) WHO CARES. Everyone is different for pete's sakes.

Happy Friday!!

i don't clean every day. most days i am sitting at a desk/laying in bed watching tv.
i log anything that i do for more than 15 minutes.

Agree with you on the housework. I recently scrubbed my tub for a solid hour and was sweating like I was at the gym! Also, if you search "strength training" under Cardiovascular it is there. So I log that to get the cals and then log the individual exercises to remember what I've done.

I don't know why someone else would criticize what another person counts as exercise! I agree that it is totally individual. I personally never log cleaning because I workout 6-7 days a week and am logging more than enough exercise calories, and maintaining my weight (not trying to lose). If you don't exercise much, and clean alot, then why shouldn't you log it if it makes you feel better and you are actually burning calories that way? To each their own...

Whenever I do a shift at the restaurant, I log it as cleaning, light for a normal shift, heavy if we're busy, because it's hard work. Yes, we may only be smiling and carrying plates, but I walk around, wash dishes, clear and clean tables and rush around doing the bills. I'm on my feet and busy for a solid 5 hours, and I'm tired by the end. That's clearly burning calories.

I also log if I'm vaccuming, particularly trying to get dog hair out of the carpet, because It's tiring! Or if I spend an hour washing dishes and putting them away, I'll probably log half an hour light cleaning.

*Shrug* Why not. It's my diary, not theirs.