# How come my cleaning lady isn't in better shape? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 2, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701 "2010-12-02T19:34:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/21 "2010-12-02T21:25:30Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > At the risk that I’m being “whooshed” here, I’ll attempt to answer you. For one thing, poor physical fitness has widespread social implications. If the US is eventually going to migrate to socialized medicine, then we will all be affected financially by the aggregate health of our population. Even without socialized medicine, we and our employers pay insurance premiums in a manner in which the healthy subsidize the unhealthy. So, IMHO, the better that we’re all educated on it, the better off society is. > > At no point, did I imply that I’m “in charge” of all this. But satisfying curiosities is one of the longstanding objectives of these boards. Just in case you didn’t notice in your time here. Socialized Medicine :dubious: Yet another reason we don’t need the Federal Government trying to control our lives… As for the tone - I apologize if your interest was idle curiosity of the science of it all. It just painted a picture to me of your wrinkled nose reaction to anyone that doesn’t meet your personal body shape standards. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/22 "2010-12-02T21:26:18Z")
They’re probably older, and have ruined their metabolisms over time with too much of the wrong foods (sugar, starches). Even if they eat fewer calories and exercise more, they probably struggle to lose body fat. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/23 "2010-12-02T21:32:17Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > This probably explains it. If they’ve trained themselves to be more efficient, perhaps they’re not burning as many calories over the course of a day. As has been said, this doesn’t matter much in the long run. Cleaning or walking just don’t burn that many calories, certainly not enough to overcome bad eating habits. And studies have tied lower income levels to poorer eating habits and obesity, which are likely the pay levels of these workers. They’re better off than if they weren’t getting that exercise, but that may not show up in their overall weight. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/24 "2010-12-02T21:35:51Z")
> [@flickster](#): > > Socialized Medicine :dubious: Yet another reason we don’t need the Federal Government trying to control our lives… > > As for the tone - I apologize if your interest was idle curiosity of the science of it all. .. No worries. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/25 "2010-12-02T21:46:33Z")
Ahhh…the old “burn the calories off” myth. I have a new friend. He has a new phone with a cool GPS app. We did about a five mile easy hike not long ago. He emailed the data from this app after the trip. It showed where we had been and an integrated Google Earth Map overlay. And some interesting stats. All very cool. But what was quite interesting was this app claimed that he had burned off over 2000 calories doing this easy hike (we averaged like 1mph). I told him I didnt think he could burn off 2000 calories even if he could sprint the whole 5 miles. Thankfully, especially given that he is trying to get in shape, he knew this app was FOS in that regard. The calorie burning myth…apparently even the computers are falling for it now… ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/26 "2010-12-02T21:47:17Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Cleaning or walking just don’t burn that many calories, It does when you clean the way I do. When I am done, I am covered in sweat and exhausted. Mind you I like my house very clean and I work very fast. Between elbow grease and speed vacuuming, it’s definitely a workout. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/27 "2010-12-02T21:58:29Z")
They probably get paid significantly less than you do, which is a starting factor. They may have multiple kids or help to support large families (especially during a recession) which necessitates they buy large quantities of cheaper-quality food. They may be genetically predisposed to hang on to more fat than you. They may be significantly older than you, too; perhaps your metabolism is faster or you’re just at a stage in your life where it doesn’t matter how much you eat or exercise, you’ll look pretty much the same regardless (like 25 year old guys). Lots of potential reasons. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/28 "2010-12-02T21:59:04Z")
Your cleaning lady is fat because shes poor. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/29 "2010-12-02T22:21:40Z")
The New York Times ran a piece on this very thing a few years back. It seems that part of it is psychological. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/magazine/09mindfulexercise.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/magazine/09mindfulexercise.html) > [@](#): > > At the start of the study, Langer and Crum quizzed 84 maids at seven carefully matched hotels about how much exercise they got. Fully a third of the women said they got no exercise at all, while two-thirds said they did not work out regularly. Langer and Crum took several measures of the women’s basic fitness levels, which indicated that they, indeed, had the poor health of basically sedentary people. Then just over half the women were told an unfamiliar truth: cleaning 15 rooms daily — pushing recalcitrant vacuum cleaners, scrubbing tubs, pulling sheets — constitutes more than enough activity to meet the surgeon general’s recommendation of a half-hour of physical activity daily. The researchers even provided specifics: 15 minutes of scrubbing burns 60 calories, 15 minutes of vacuuming burns 50. The basic message and the details were then posted in the maids’ lounges in the hotels where the 44 women worked, to serve as reminders, while a control group was left in the dark. > > A month later, Langer and Crum checked back with the women to find, as they reported in the February issue of Psychological Science, remarkable results. The average study-group maid had lost 2 pounds, while her systolic blood pressure had dropped by 10 points; by all measures the 44 women “were significantly healthier.” Yet there were no reported changes in behavior, only in mind-set, with the vast majority of the women now considering themselves regular exercisers. Langer sees the study as a lesson in the importance of mindfulness, long a subject of her research, and which need not involve Buddhism or meditation, she stresses. “It’s about noticing new things; it’s about engagement,” she says. ---
**Author:** ![tpatsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tpatsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tpatsfan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/30 "2010-12-02T23:50:12Z")
This is these men/womens jobs. Their bodies are trained to do their walk (postal worker) and the cleaning just like anyone else who has a job who works on their feet. And once you get use to that unless you walk faster or walk farther you aren’t going to lose weight. Just like when you go to the gym you have to run faster when you realize your heart isn’t pumping faster anymore. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/31 "2010-12-03T01:17:23Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Ahhh…the old “burn the calories off” myth. > > I have a new friend. He has a new phone with a cool GPS app. We did about a five mile easy hike not long ago. He emailed the data from this app after the trip. It showed where we had been and an integrated Google Earth Map overlay. And some interesting stats. All very cool. > > But what was quite interesting was this app claimed that he had burned off over 2000 calories doing this easy hike (we averaged like 1mph). > > I told him I didnt think he could burn off 2000 calories even if he could sprint the whole 5 miles. Thankfully, especially given that he is trying to get in shape, he knew this app was FOS in that regard. > > The calorie burning myth…apparently even the computers are falling for it now… Yeah, that’s odd. The general rule of thumb is 100 calories per mile, regardless of whether you walk it or run it. The truth is that there is a bit of variance based on your exertion level, and your weight also figures into the equation, but that number is a good one to use (in my experience), as you’re better off underestimating a little bit than overestimating if you’re monitoring calories for weight loss. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/32 "2010-12-03T01:57:26Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > It does when you clean the way I do. When I am done, I am covered in sweat and exhausted. Mind you I like my house very clean and I work very fast. Between elbow grease and speed vacuuming, it’s definitely a workout. But it still doesn’t burn many calories, no matter how much you sweat. You could eat one blueberry muffin and more than cover the calories you just burned cleaning. ---
**Author:** ![Lightlystarched](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Lightlystarched](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightlystarched)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/33 "2010-12-03T02:00:09Z")
So if the body gets “efficient”, all the advice to get up and “move more” are meaningless, right? I mean if this were true, people who “move more” are no better off? And if we are accustomed to this movement and it doesn’t offer weight loss, than all those people who say we are fat now becuase we are sedentary are wrong? Its all about the food. We eat too many foods that cause an insulin reaction. Good Calories, Bad Calories is a great read for this. The low fat / high carb advice of the last 40 years is the culprit. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/34 "2010-12-03T02:10:38Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > But it still doesn’t burn many calories, no matter how much you sweat. You could eat one blueberry muffin and more than cover the calories you just burned cleaning. Yep, for example, a Starbucks blueberry muffin, calorically, is about equal to a four-mile run. It’s very easy to overestimate the amount of calories burned doing various activities and falling into a trap of “well, I feel like I had a great workout today, so I’ll treat myself to [insert high-calorie item or meal here.]” ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/35 "2010-12-03T02:14:29Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yep, for example, a Starbucks blueberry muffin, calorically, is about equal to a four-mile run. It’s very easy to overestimate the amount of calories burned doing various activities and falling into a trap of “well, I feel like I had a great workout today, so I’ll treat myself to [insert high-calorie item or meal here.]” The secret is to just eat the tops and throw away the stumps…all the flavor is in the tops and all the calories are in the stumps…though disposal of the stumps does create a problem of its own 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/36 "2010-12-03T03:15:32Z")
> [@Lightlystarched](#): > > So if the body gets “efficient”, all the advice to get up and “move more” are meaningless, right? I mean if this were true, people who “move more” are no better off? Not really. While you will get efficient, you are still burning more calories the more you exercise. If I run 30 miles per week I’m going to be burning a heck of a lot more calories than if I am inactive, regardless of how efficient my body gets. I may not make any performance gains if I plateau, but I’m burning lots of calories. As others have said, it takes roughly the same number of calories to move your body one mile no matter how fast you do so. A more efficient runner may burn somewhat fewer, but he/she is probably also running more miles. > [@](#): > > And if we are accustomed to this movement and it doesn’t offer weight loss, than all those people who say we are fat now becuase we are sedentary are wrong? No, that’s an oversimplification. Being sedentary contributes to obesity, and exercise is important for health in many other ways besides just weight loss. By itself, exercise won’t cause most people to lose weight. But when combined with a sensible diet the two together are the best way to achieve good health AND weight loss. > [@](#): > > Its all about the food. We eat too many foods that cause an insulin reaction. Good Calories, Bad Calories is a great read for this. The low fat / high carb advice of the last 40 years is the culprit. It’s a lot about the food, but there is no single cause or cure. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/37 "2010-12-03T13:23:13Z")
All the walking in the world isn’t going to save you if your diet is crappy. ---
**Author:** ![ratmanizhere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b5ac83/32.png) [@ratmanizhere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratmanizhere)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/38 "2010-12-03T14:26:23Z")
Why not just ask someone who cleans for a living like I do? For starters, cleaners ( janitors, custodians, maids,etc. ) really don’t make that much money. For most, it’s minimum wage or slightly above. With that in mind, the wages they earn doesn’t really cover the cost of living especially if trying to support a family on that income. For many, buying low quality food is about the only thing many can afford. As for being overweight despite moving around all day, it’s mostly low-impact. There isn’t really any type of movement related to cleaning that will have any real impact on losing weight because of not being repetitive enough. After cleaning for 8 hours a day, you’re just too wore out to go to the gym for a good workout! ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/39 "2010-12-03T14:40:02Z")
My neighbor is a supervisor for the Post Office. When he got the promotion, his weight ballooned up by a good 60 pounds. He looks like he is carrying twins. It’s pretty disgusting. And he amped up his smoking habit too. I don’t think working at the Post Office is a happy place. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2010, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701/40 "2010-12-03T14:41:19Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > All the walking in the world isn’t going to save you if your diet is crappy. Hey now, don’t be bringing logic to a knife fight. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-my-cleaning-lady-isnt-in-better-shape/562701.md?page=3)