Restless Legs and Calories Burned

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DupreeTheTRex
DupreeTheTRex Posts: 105 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello,

I was wondering if my restless legs could account for some discrepancies in my weight loss. For the most part I’m losing more than expected because I have a tendency to be more conservative with calorie expenditure than needed. However, even taking that into account I’m still losing more than expected.

My wife, who uses the same methods as me is losing an expected amount taking into account her conservativeness (how many weekly calories we are under our goal).

I have an uncontrollable habit of shaking my legs constantly. I’m always tapping my foot up and down all day. I have to see a massage therapist because it gets to the point where my legs just start to hurt from shaking all the time. I was wondering if perhaps this could account for excessive losses (like .5-.75 lbs a week).

I looked it up and from what I can tell fidgeting can result in an additional 350 calories per day burnt. So I guess I was wondering if anyone else like me has noticed similar results?

Replies

  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,940 Member
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    Makes perfect sense. 350 ‘fidget’ calories seems like a lot but I guess it depends on the size/weight of your legs!

    All that leg shaking, foot tapping etc uses energy. Energy = calorie burn!
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,114 Member
    edited October 2020
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    Sounds quite logical to me that any type of fidgeting increases calorie burn.

    Also, the formulas used by MFP (and elsewhere) are statistical averages. They will work (more or less) for most people, but for a small number of people they will be off (too high or too low) by a fairly large number.

    So the leg shaking could explain the discrepancy and/or your metabolism could be a bit off from the average.
  • DupreeTheTRex
    DupreeTheTRex Posts: 105 Member
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    @Lietchi That’s what I’m thinking. The two big differences between me and my wife (other than gender) is they growing up I was more athletic and I always shake my legs.

    We are currently both working from home, and eat the same foods say for small snacks (fruits/crackers).

    I just did the math, and the estimate for fidgeting almost lines up perfectly with the discrepancy in my weight loss. Hard to account perfectly since I fidget less on the weekends (I assume) because I’m on my feet more.

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