We are pleased to announce that as of March 4, 2025, an updated Rich Text Editor has been introduced in the MyFitnessPal Community. To learn more about the changes, please click here. We look forward to sharing this new feature with you!

Do you count your cleaning calories??

McFatterton
McFatterton Posts: 1,358 Member
edited September 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
Do any of you enter the calories you burn during cleaning? I had my hrm on from my workout so decided to track how many calories I burned while I cleaned up the kitchen and I burned 458 calories in just over an hour! I was shocked! I don't think I would eat those calories, but it might still be interesting to track them and to see just how many extra calories I burn cleaning. Maybe I'd even clean my house more. Then again, who am I kidding!? :laugh:

Replies

  • AmandaJ
    AmandaJ Posts: 1,950 Member
    I don't count them per se but I just upped my daily calories by moving my lifestyle thing from sedentry to moderately active. When I was out in the snow charting 5 gallons of water to animal pens and carrying 50 lbs of feed I realized that I am not sedentry. I think this is why I am always starving in the evenings. I will see.
  • MadWorld
    MadWorld Posts: 200
    No... but, I don't have a HRM so I couldn't be accurate. That's interesting... I hope I burn that many cleaning, bc I do a lot of it! :)
  • zbtru
    zbtru Posts: 10
    I count them when I clean, and also count the food prep calories when I do it for more then a 1/2 hour. Anything that's not part of my "daily" routine.
  • DrBorkBork
    DrBorkBork Posts: 4,099 Member
    MFP has it listed under cardio if you do a search for it. I always count it. I huff & puff a little bit after picking up my daughter's toys & vacuuming. It's about 10 mins, but every calorie counts!
  • msh0530
    msh0530 Posts: 1,675 Member
    I do sometimes count them. If I am too busy to workout, I consider a cleaning day with more than daily maintenance cleaning to be a workout.
  • ambercole
    ambercole Posts: 426
    I only count my excercise calories or if I work overtime at work I will count the calories that I burned in overtime cause I have a very strenuous job and OT is not part of my daily acvtivities.
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
    I have my activity level set at sedentary, so I usually add my cleaning, walking at the mall...anything above and beyond sitting on the sofa and watching TV pretty much. :)

    I do underestimate the times though just to be on the safer side. I just spent a good 3 hours + at the mall, but logged it as 2 hours of slow walking because the calorie expenditure for 3 hours just seemed too high.
  • Tamishumate
    Tamishumate Posts: 1,171 Member
    the only calories I count are the ones that I burn at the gym , or actually exercising. If I burn extra calories any other time ( like shopping, Cleaning, ect) those are just extra. In my head anyway...
  • wks7777
    wks7777 Posts: 230
    i dont ever count them i just figure im burning a lil extra, but i def do break a sweat doing house work, picking up toys especially!
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
    the only calories I count are the ones that I burn at the gym , or actually exercising. If I burn extra calories any other time ( like shopping, Cleaning, ect) those are just extra. In my head anyway...

    Tami, I usually claim them because I've already eaten them. :P
  • tlapdx72
    tlapdx72 Posts: 311 Member
    Well you just motivated me to clean my house:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • FireRox21
    FireRox21 Posts: 424 Member
    I count them! I also count raking leaves and walking around a store shopping. This helps add to exercise calories on days that I don't go to the gym.
  • lulabellewoowoo
    lulabellewoowoo Posts: 3,125 Member
    I actually CLEAN my house so rarely, that I put my HRM on the other day while spending two hours scrubbing, vacuuming, dusting, walking up and down two flights of stairs. I burn 700 calories. So I subtracted 200 calories (as typically sitting at my computer I burn about 100 calories an hour), and ate every bit of those 500 calories. Then the following week, when I realized I was going to need extra calories because I underestimated a meal I had, I did the same thing so that I could have those qualities. Clean house AND yummy food :)
  • missy_braun
    missy_braun Posts: 2
    I just recently started counting them after an exhausting short 3 hours at work. I do housekeeping at one of my jobs, and when I came home I wanted to see if by chance how many calories it burned. I was SHOCKED when I saw the amount. It definently made me appreciate my job alot more. I didn't work out any less that day, I just looked at it as an added bonus! BTW...I'm new here. Nice to meet you all.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories