You can burn calories with housework!

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  • HartJames
    HartJames Posts: 789 Member
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    Everyday cleaning could in theroy get logged if your activity level is set to sedentary and therefore your calories are at a sedentary level, BUT, I think the numbers are overinflated on the presets & an HRM is only accurate for true cardio so it would be hard to guess the real calories burned.

    Also remember to subtract the calories you would have burned just sitting around during that time.

    That being said, I have been known to log moving, washing my car and spring cleaning when my activity level was set low.
  • prairiedawg2014
    prairiedawg2014 Posts: 367
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    i was told you can't log housework as excercise because its already figured into your normal daily activities for cal burn.
  • itgeekwoman
    itgeekwoman Posts: 804 Member
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    I avoid housework like the plague. Hubby does the laundry. I do dishes and floors.
    I cook my own food, he reheats his cardboard nasty food.

    Life is good.
  • AmyBecky74
    AmyBecky74 Posts: 437 Member
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    If it is just regular cleaning I don't log it but if it's heavey duty cleaning and moving furniture I log. That's hard work :)
  • senyosmom
    senyosmom Posts: 613 Member
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    Did you know you can burn 136 Calories per hour while doing Laundry! What other house hold chores have you found that burn calories?
    I think if you are a very active person household chores dont do much for you.... but if you are set to sedetary (desk job, etc) some hard core cleaning can add up! I find vacumming, mopping, sweeping to be good for calorie burn!
  • FatAssBecky
    FatAssBecky Posts: 58 Member
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    I'm a homemaker and love when I log my "light cleaning!" I have my calories set to sedentary and I follow two rules:

    - I have to work up a sweat and/or a physical feeling of doing something while cleaning.

    - I max myself out at 2 hours - even if I do much more than that.

    I don't think cleaning is going to get me to my goal, obviously - but it does help me mentally to log it by a. I'm actually good at cleaning my house if I think of it as exercise. and b. Gives me a perspective if I don't get other things done during the day. You know, I can look back and be like "Oh yeah, that's when I pumped out 4 solid hours of cleaning. No wonder I didn't make it to the grocery store!" Or even if I didn't make it to the gym.

    Sometimes us Homemakers need a little pat on the back from someone - even if that "someone" is MFP! :)
  • senyosmom
    senyosmom Posts: 613 Member
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    i was told you can't log housework as excercise because its already figured into your normal daily activities for cal burn.

    Your every day normal calorie burn is if you do NOTHING - its the burn your body does simply by functioning. Anything else can be counted.
  • tyresank
    tyresank Posts: 174 Member
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    Let's just say let my house get a bit out of control. I spent 3 hrs, vacuming all rooms, moping a large tile area, and washing all baseboards, my house is about 2100 sq feet. This was Sunday. Yesterday the back of my thighs were killing me, but still went to the gym and worked out with my trainer, and did 60 mins cardio, today OMG they are killing me. Obviously I need to clean baseboards more often, used something I do not on a daily basis !! All that bending up and down. I burned about 100 cals per hour according to my FitBit.
  • SweetJoanne
    SweetJoanne Posts: 106 Member
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    when i do house work I know i burn a lot of calories going up and downstairs so many times i can't remember, I still wash my floor on hands and knees and do a lot of reaching and bending, it all adds to the burn and looks so nice when clean, having pets you need to clean a lot
  • Linda_Darlene
    Linda_Darlene Posts: 453 Member
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    I don't log it, but a few weeks ago I read this really nasty response about logging excersise so I decided to do a full house clean and wear my hrm just to see.

    In the 3 hours it took to deep clean my kitchen, office, living room and bathroom - I burned over 800 calories. That's more than I would have burned had I gone for a 3 hour walk.

    Still I don't log it, because I did that before I decided to make changes.

    People with nasty comments should be blown off!
  • PlunderBunneh
    PlunderBunneh Posts: 1,705 Member
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    I love my HRM for this reason. If I can't get to the gym and just need to catch up on chores, I throw that baby on, throw on some loud and fast music, and move TONS while doing those chores. You want to burn calories while folding clothes? Try skipping through the living room as you are folding. Wanna burn doing dishes? Instead of bending, squat.

    Jump, wiggle, dance around, and you'll get in a great burn while doing housework.
  • BAMFMeredith
    BAMFMeredith Posts: 2,829 Member
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    Did you do laundry when you were gaining weight/overweight/not getting healthy? I know I did. I got fat while still doing laundry, cleaning my house, etc, so I don't know why I would log it now as exercise. Makes no sense to me.

    Also, no, your normal every day calorie burn is NOT just what you burn by functioning, that would be your BMR. Your TDEE is your every day calorie burn, which is what you should be basing your calorie intake off of (deficit for losing while still eating at least your BMR, eating your TDEE for maintaining, eating more than TDEE to gain weight, etc).
  • giftieetcetera
    giftieetcetera Posts: 96 Member
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    I only log massive stuff, like an hour of scrubbing floors and tubs, or moving around lots of heavy furniture. I figure if I only do it about once a month or less, I can count it, especially if it leaves me too sore to exercise. Otherwise, I consider it normal movement.
  • alexis831
    alexis831 Posts: 469 Member
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    ALL OF THEM! I have a fitbit now so it tracks it for me but I can burn 200 calories from housework especially if I am mopping the floors!
  • TXBelle1174
    TXBelle1174 Posts: 615 Member
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    Mopping and vaccuuming for sure! I work up a sweat when I mop. Also, scrubbing floors, washing windows, etc. If you think about it - how many times do you walk back and forth through the house while cleaning. On an 8 hour cleaning spree, I never sit down, I am moving constantly, walking from one room to another, bending, lifting, etc.

    Also, gardening is a good calorie burner. Especially mowing the lawn, raking leaves, etc. Even planting flowers and pulling weeds burns calories.

    If you are not sitting on your butt, you are burning calories!
  • scapez
    scapez Posts: 2,018 Member
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    If you are not sitting on your butt, you are burning calories!

    Actually, if you were lying in a coma you would be burning calories...
  • tasiamere
    tasiamere Posts: 233
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    I log when I go OD with the cleaning like tearing apart my daughter's room or if I sweep and mop both floors and the porch all at once. smh that definitely breaks a sweat
  • Fromadaughter
    Fromadaughter Posts: 46
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    If you are not sitting on your butt, you are burning calories!

    Actually, if you were lying in a coma you would be burning calories...
    How is that?
  • TXBelle1174
    TXBelle1174 Posts: 615 Member
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    If you are not sitting on your butt, you are burning calories!

    Actually, if you were lying in a coma you would be burning calories...

    Yes, that is true. However, you probably burn significantly more calories while not sitting on your butt than you would in a coma. I was just making a point.
  • MrsKillough
    MrsKillough Posts: 30 Member
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    I log it if it involves concerted effort, or if I want to eat the calories. Today I cleaned the bathroom, which took about 10 minutes, and I haven't bothered logging that, but if on Saturday I spend a couple of hours doing the whole house, the calories will go towards a treat meal that night.

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