Information about housework for weight loss on the net

I have been spending some of the quiet periods at work researching the net for other people who have considered this concept of house cleaning as a viable exercise regimen.

I came across this video, which I found to be rather amusing in which a man claims that he lost 2,389 calories doing a 5 hour ceiling to floor scrub of his bathroom. Judging by his other videos, he seems to embark on a number of challenges in which attempts to "break records", so I'm guessing that was his goal. It's interesting though to see a man view housework in this way. I have memories of trying to "trick" my incredibly slovenly ex boyfriend to clean up, by telling him it would help him get rid of his gut (he was complaining about his gut at the time). He never even acknowledged the idea.

There's a lot of useful tips in this video segment from a British TV show Kerri-Anne. Tips include: squatting, exercise with a timer, use music. They also show floor scrubbing, which from my experience leaves me heaving and drenched in sweat, so I know that will be one of the things I try to shoot for on a regular basis.

This following user uploaded video on YouTube has some fun with the idea in a tongue and cheek dance infused cleaning "routine". I think it's great, because I plan on dancing while I clean as well.

Also on YouTube it appears someone has taken the time to create a "housework mixtape" of electronic music. Regardless of what you think of the music, I love the idea of making pre-set mixtapes for the cleaning sessions, the same way one would for a trip to the gym or a jog.

Here's a British Nivea skincare video recommending the housework workout method. I'm noticing a definite trend with the British and this idea.

This woman folds her laundry while on a recumbent exercise bike. I have an exercise bike, but mines not recumbent and that makes me bummed now.

Here is a list of other blog post and online articles:

A Clean Home = Exercise = Weight Loss By Jan Hayner

Tone up with the housework workout By Susannah Marriott

This claims that it takes "400 calories burned a day to stay in shape". It provides perspective by stating that 30 minutes of vacuuming can burn 105 calories. I've seen sites that list that number as closer to 200. If that's the case, then my planned household routine should burn more than enough, so I'm excited!

Keeping in Shape with Housework By The Fitness and Health Store

It makes reference to the fact that our society seems to like to make things difficult and to chase after things that are right in front of us. It's true that it is funny that we all pay for gym memberships and leave the house for a couple hours when we could be using that time and money towards running around with our kids, or walking the dog, or in my case improving our living conditions by taking care of the house. No need to make things more difficult.

The Housework Fitness Plan by Lana Hollwes

How to Turn your Housework into an Effective Full Body Workout By Astrid Bidanec

This article highlights using tools, such as ankle and wrist weights and resistance bands while cleaning. I don't think I'm there yet, but I will give it some thought.

Spring Cleaning for Fitness By Diet Pulpit

This article actually proposes some math to consider. According to the article, you need to burn 3,500 calories to burn a pound of fat. Additionally they say the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lists cleaning to burn up to 300 calories per hour (I will try to determine an accurate reading for actual calories lost in another post.) That means it would take 12 hours of cleaning a week to lose one pound. I was planning on doing about 9 hours a week of cleaning, so that is a bit discouraging, but then again... I am also planning on changing my diet, so fingers crossed.

Burn Calories Cleaning the House By Sarah Brown

Includes calorie chart.

Think Cleaning isn't Exercise? Think Again. By Brie Cadman

Fascinating article about a research study in which some housekeepers were told housework was exercise, and some were not. The group that THOUGHT of housework as exercise ended up losing more. The article does not explain why this is, but I am going to assume it's because the group that saw it as exercise probably used their bodies in different ways, maybe they held their muscles more tight, maybe they moved with concentrated effort, perhaps the flexed their glutes, or lunged and squatted as they scrubbed, because mentally, they were preparing themselves for this to be a workout. I think concentrated effort such as this will make a huge difference. I can see that actively squatting to pick things up off the floor for instance, would be, and feel mentally, more effective, than say, lazily bending forward. Also includes calorie chart.

Reasons for house cleaning for weight loss

House cleaning my way to weight loss is wise for the following reasons:

• I will be able to have guests over without having to frantically shove things in closets and hide my shame before they arrive
• I will be able to fit in some of the old clothes I've been hoarding for years in a storage closet, thus organizing the storage closet, and reaping the rewards of my new body at the same time
• I will never have to yell "No! Keep that door closed!" when guests are over, when they accidentally encounter the wrong door in the hallway.
• I will be able to go swimming in front of people without considering suicide
• I will be able to have repairmen or the landlord over without yelling "One minute!" at the door as I frantically hide messes
• I will be able to allow myself the privilege of confidence
• I will be able to sit in a room without the stifling stress of clutter
• I will be able to improve my health and add years onto my life
• I will be able to achieve that calm feeling you get in a hotel room
• I will be able to be intimate with my boyfriend without piles of clothes around the bed
• I will be able to enjoy simple pleasures in life, like going for a walk with a slight incline, without getting ridiculously winded
• I will be able to find things that I own in my own house
• I will be able to regulate my glucose levels by losing excess body weight, thereby improving my hypoglycemia, and reversing my diagnoses of pre-diabetes
• I will be able to live a life where I don't go into hysterical fits because I lost something for the hundredth time in my own home
• I will be able to reduce my risk of heart related diseases and strokes by reducing belly fat through cleaning induced cardio
• I will be a more responsible pet owner, through cleaning the cat's food bowls and litter boxes more often
• I will create a better role model for health and responsibility for my younger sister
• I will create a better environment for my allergy induced medical condition, eosinophilic esophagitis, by cleaning out allergens such as dust, molds, and pollen from my home
• I will be more attractive for my significant other
• I will look like less of crazy cat lady, as I will inevitably be covered in less cat hair if I can clean it before it gets on me
• I will be create less of a strain on my scoliosis and bad neck, by reducing my body weight
• I will be calmer
• I will be happier
• I will have accomplishments to justify the creation of this blog

The beginning of a unconventional fitness routine

I have spent the past 10 years or so fumbling like a leotard with the concept of adulthood.
I have Googled positively ridiculous things such as "How to have more willpower", "How to be on time", and "How to mop a floor".

All of my adult life I have been a fuck-up. Yeah, from an outsiders point of view I may have the smoking hot boyfriend, the academic job, and the impending Masters degree, but inside is a far scarier place. Inside is a place of false promises and seemingly unending monumental declarations. "Today I am giving up sugar!" "I will get this house clean over summer break!" "I swear to god, I will never let the litter box get that disgusting again!" "One day, I will wake up early enough to walk in to work without wrinkly clothes covered in cat hair, wearing no make up, and unshowered!"

But no, after 10 whole years I still can't seem to manage to be on time anywhere, maintain even remotely clean living conditions, stick to a budget, stick to a diet, or stick to one of my many impressive sounding declarations. I suppose I could blame it on my dysfunctional parents, or depression, or one of the various illnesses I seem to acquire and diagnosis myself with, but at the end of the day I know damn well there are people who come from far worse circumstances, yet live their lives with a much greater sense of harmony and dignity. I know, and I think it's important I acknowledge, as opposed to placing further blame, that my problems come from being the laziest, most selfish, idiotic turd burger on the planet.

So the problem is, what's it going to take? I know that my life's biggest challenges (i.e. the things that make me all whiney) are money, organization, weight, and health. Considering I work in academia, I know money is something I will never make, so organization, weight, and health are the things I should, theorhetically, be able to change. Yet I've researched the diets, I've bought the exercise bike, I shifted the boxes around my house in a misguided attempt at cleaning.

The only hope is to try and fix this all in one fell swoop. I got the idea when a repair man came over. My house was a mess, as usual, and I was unbelievably embarrased as I asked him to step over the bra on bedroom floor, and as I moved boxes out of his way to reach what he needed. I knew I had to make a change or else I would end up like one of those people on Hoaders, and NONE of those people get cured at the end of the hour. Alternatively, where on earth was I going to find time to really deep clean and organize my home and MAINTAIN it, when I had a full time job, a relationship, and grad school on my plate? When I got home from work, it seemed completely impossible to be able to workout for an hour, do my homework, spend time with my boyfriend, make a healthy, home-cooked meal AND clean for an hour.

Using my college brains, I was able to deduce that moving burned calories, and did notice myself break a sweat when I moped the floors, etc. Eureaka, I thought, I broke the code! I will clean my way to weight loss! Like the Google addict that I am, I immediately typed "house cleaning" and "weight loss" in my phone and it seemed to produce unsatisfactory results. There was this one lady selling videos of herself scrubbing a kitchen in ankle weights years ago, which seemed stupid, and there was some small blurbs on blogs, but nothing that really gave me the motivational kick that my weak-willed self seems to need in these situations. I figured, I'm already an internet addict anyway, and decided to give it a go myself.

When I mentioned to my boyfriend, in passing, that I thought about simply scrubbing more instead of going to a gym, he cocked an eyebrow, suspecting it was simply me trying to get out of things once again. Hopefully I can prove that handsome fucker wrong by getting a hot bod, in a house as clean as a goddamn Marriott.

This blog will be for the other women out there looking for a solution to their clutter/weight problems.