Cleaning vs. Working Out

I spent the weekend cleaning my house. My wonderful MIL and her husband 

are coming to visit on Wednesday. We are all pretty excited. 

The last time we have seen Grandma Nana and Grandpa Jim was back in September when we spent a week at Lake Powell.

(Looking through these pictures while sitting in my sweats and a sweatshirt and my house heater running, yeah kindof depressing.)

But anyways, back to getting ready for visitors.

Having people come stay at our home gives me an excuse to get some

deep cleaning done and pack my fridge full of good fresh food.

There are few things that I love more than then a clean house and an organized fridge.

And the smell of Clorox through my house is my favorite.

So my weekend energy was spent doing just that.

(As well as a quick sweaty morning run on Saturday.)

I definitely accomplished the glistening look during this run.

(And are we tired of the same self portrait of me on my treadmill? 

Winter sure is a bore!)

So let's quickly talk about the benefits of cleaning in regards to weight loss.

Because burning extra calories without even knowing you are burning them, really that is what we all want!

Here are some tips that will help you maximize your burn during our all-too-favorite house chores.

Increase the Intensity.  You won't get much benefit from a casual stroll around the house with a feather duster. The more effort and work you put into your cleaning, the more your body and muscles are working, resulting in more calories burned.  

Ways that I add more "intensity" to my cleaning (...which sounds funny. "Adding intensity to cleaning". I think my sister and mom and husband would say I am intense in pretty much everything I do.)

But here are some things I like to do.

• Turn the music up!  Either I will dance along with the music or the beat will make me speed up my cleaning. Music makes everything more fun. And it gets your heart rate going!

•  Get down and dirty! I leave my Swiffer mop in the closet. Scrubbing the floors on my hands and knees is tough work. But I enjoy it. Besides I think I clean it better than my Swiffer could. Scrubbing uses your arms and shoulder muscles like crazy.

• Carrying loads of laundry up and down the stairs.  I usually have Fridays designated as my laundry day, and with 4 kids (3 of them boys) and all my workout clothes, I usually have loads to do! Adding my laundry jobs in with my cleaning on Friday, burned a few extra calories quickly! Stairs and an extra 15 pounds of laundry added to a good booty workout.

• Pull the Core in!  I say this all the time to my clients. So why should it be any different when doing household exercises. Tighten those abs. Give yourself a nice core work.

Shoot for 30 minutes of cleaning.  Though it's not likely to give you the body of a

swimsuit model, doing some sort of moderate activity for 30 minutes every day 

can help in weight loss goals. Every little bit of extra added activity helps. 

The more you are active through the day (cleaning) the easier it is to get 

moving in more intense activities.

Don't hang up your running shoes just yet.  If you add 30 minutes of chores to

a 30-minute session of a more traditional fitness activity (like walking or biking), 

you end up with a full hour of exercise -- the amount experts recommend 

for people trying to lose weight. That can be easier on your schedule than 

trying to fit in a 60-minute workout all at once.

But if you make your kids to do your job, it doesn't count as your calorie burn.

They did a pretty good job though. I was proud of them.

 

Lastly, the number of calories you burn  in your favorite chore

will in depend on your fitness level, your weight, 

and the time you spend cleaning.

But here are some estimates, 

based on a person weighing 150 pounds doing 30 minutes of chores:

General cleaning: 127 calories

Cooking: 92 calories

Trimming shrubs: 157 calories

Laundry: 133 calories

Vacuuming: 123 calories

Grocery shopping: 45 calories

 source

Compare those calorie burns with walking for 30 minutes which burns about 155 calories.

Those are some pretty good numbers in comparison.

There are websites on the web and different apps you

can access that will help calculate daily activity calorie burn.

And I can't help but mention the feeling of satisfaction

I get when I walk into a nice clean smelling bathroom

or see the awesome vacuum lines on the carpet.

Pure happiness I tell you.

So get up from your computer and off the couch and get some cleaning done.

What house chore do you love? What one do you hate?

I love vacuuming! I hate cleaning our master shower. I make Kyle do it. That's love I tell you.

Do you listen to music while you clean?

Who else is dreaming of summer and time at the pool or the beach?

It is a daily thing for me.