Hey ddc, I have thought about that before myself. My maintenance level, as defined by The Daily Plate at least, is 1830 per day at mostly sedentary. If you divide that by 24 hours in a day that is about 76 calories per hour. I assume that number goes up when awake and goes down when asleep, so I guess I could burn 100 cals per hour on regular stuff, at least according to this. Though to count it as exercise I have to do serious work like mowing the lawn or cleaning the floors or something to up that number.

And congrats Lori!

I am trying to be more active around the house (also a stay at home mom) but I do strength exercises on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and try to get my heart pumping for 90 minutes per week (suggested by Sparkpeople) so I do aerobics tapes (I do as much as I can for now, about five minutes, and then march in place for the rest of the tape) every day except Sunday, UNLESS I'm short on my goal. Like this week I have done 86 minutes of cardio so tomorrow is my free day, but I am 4 minutes short so I will do cardio tomorrow. My body feels GREAT once I've gotten a shower after cardio and I am sleeping much better!

While purposeful exercise is preferable... If someone hates "exercise" and wants to boost their activity level by doing things around the house they might not do normally, or tend to put off frequently (hence getting much more activity then they usually would) then there's nothing wrong with using that as your exercise for the day.

Watching my bodybugg #s its shocking how little I burn when I sit down all day on the computer or whatever. If I were to say go plant a garden or paint the front room or whatever.... things I don't normally do... then it's nice to see how many more calories I burn that day.

I think the problem lies when people count activities they would do daily anyway... You're not burning any additional calories that way then you would normally hence it's not really additional activity and isn't going to help your weight loss any "more".

Most of us could do with both some "purposeful" exercise and plain old getting up off your butt and doing more in general. It certainly would help accelerate our weight loss!

I just spent a little over an hour pulling weeds, and I burned 350 calories according to my go wear fit armband. That's like 5 calories a min.

Lori is right--these things do burn calories..so if you @ home anyway and opt to wash floors or clean bathrooms rather than sit and watch TV, you are a DEFINITE caloric advantage..I do not consider these activities my "exercise"--I am a runner almost daily..but every day chores definitely help you stay fit.

Just wanted to add:
The reason I placed this on To begin with is because so many people sit & are so unfit ~LIKE I WAS~And
I was trying to let them know ~That I myself was a sitter And I do my chores more often~and it's a great way to get some exercise until your able to take on more.
I also Think It is a great site for those who can not do much more than chores...Maybe there not fit enough to start out with a workout but can start out just making sure to do the basics which is better than nothing.
I myself Walk 2 hours a day now and Add in other exercises about an extra 1/2 a day. But when I first started I wasn't able to do all them~I had to get myself back into shape....By washing my dishes More often~doing the laundry without my husbands help....Cleaning the house All by myself~again without my husband Or my kids help. So I think everyones movement is a form of exercise.......Because I ached until I got use to it all Just like I did when I started my walking & other exercises Until I got use to it.

I posted this to help those who Can not do Anything more than the basics So they know it's a start and will help them in there journey.


Thighs~thanks for postingYou know your a big inspiratation to me! HOT LADY
& everyone else. thanks for posting also.
I hope the site is helpful.


I know that these are not the greatest forms of exercises we can do but they are a beginner ~A motivation back to movement, Until we can do more.

I hope everyone Out there who needs some help and can only do these basics at the moment can get some motivation from the site.
TAKE CARE EVERYONE!Thanks ddc!

That is really interesting! It makes me feel better to know i can burn calories by cleaning!

UPDATE:POSTED THIS THREAD DECEMBER 21st Of 2008. So Just a little over a year ago. ~I ignored the posts that said they didn't think it made any difference basically...Anyways I had only lost 13 pounds When I posted this...Now it is January 2nd 2010 And I have lost a grand total of 93 Pounds! SO THIS WORKS!!! ALONG WITH COUNTING CALORIES!!!

You go girl keep up the awesome work its obviously working for ya Also I wanted to add that maybe I should start moving around the house more instead of being a couch potato lol. Well its good to see that its working for you it gives me inspiration

Awesome Carly!!! YOU CAN SO DO IT!!!!