Working in retail: how do you log it?

misskarne

I'm curious to know if there's anyone else here who works in retail and how they log their day.

I often do 8.5 hour shifts behind the register, and of course I'm not standing still all that time; I'm walking, I'm ducking in and out, twisting and turning, stepping forward and back - if I am outside in the garden huts of our store, I have a step down to the ground of about three-four inches which I would make anywhere between 2-5 times a transaction on average. En route to a break I walk very fast; if I'm standing on the garden gate I might pace backwards and forwards at a leisurely pace.

How would other MFP users log this?

jeffpettis

Most wouldn't log it... This should be accounted for in your normal daily activity. If you think you are more than lightly active then when you set up your goals use the next one up (can't remember what all of them are). If this is something you normally do each day, your body is accustomed to it. Most people here only log exercise. Hope that helps.

astange83

Not as exercise. Its part of your daily life when MFP asks for activity level I'd say lightly active. Exercise is when you are purposefully doing work to burn calories getting the heart rate up for an extended period of time.

Collier78

Most wouldn't log it... This should be accounted for in your normal daily activity. If you think you are more than lightly active then when you set up your goals use the next one up (can't remember what all of them are). If this is something you normally do each day, your body is accustomed to it. Most people here only log exercise. Hope that helps.

^^This^^

If you want to know what your activity level is, I would recommend an activity tracker, like a fitbit...It will track your steps, calories in, calories out, sync with MFP and tell you if you are burning anything with your regular everyday activity.

amberlykay1014

I don't log it. It's my job, not my exercise! If you feel like you aren't getting enough calories, up your activity level.

laserturkey

I have my MFP set to sedentary because my activities vary significantly from day to day. I am a cashier in a grocery store on a part-time basis. I used google to find two different calculators measuring calories burned from occupations and averaged the two that seemed the most credible. Then I subtracted 80 calories per hour from their burn to account for my sedentary BMR. What's left is about 130 extra calories burned in a 6-hour shift. That's what I record.

jacksandler

I suggest a Fitbit Zip. It logs all your walking type activity and converts it into calories. It syncs with MFP. Costs about $60. You put it on and forget about it. Only log non-walking activities (weights / swimming / etc).

LoudmouthLee

I don't log anything above my normal activity. Ever. Even when I go on a walk, I don't generally log that. Only sweat inducing exercise gets logged.

MrGonzo05

I often do 8.5 hour shifts behind the register,

Log it as walking, zero minutes.

ExtremePhobia

It really depends on how much you walk. I happen to work in retail so ask yourself a few questions:

How often do you have to leave the register? If you stand near the register about 80-90% of the time then you may not want to record it. You'll still get maybe 100 calories but you may just want to keep that as extra in the bank to surprise yourself at your next weigh in. However, if you tend to move around a bit (I work at Godiva so about 40% of our product requires gloved hands, prep work earlier in the day, etc.).

The second thing to consider which most people don't account for is lifting at work, especially at retail since it isn't an "important" function of your job. Aside from shipment which will vary from store to store, if you have to carry even just 20lbs of product at a time from the back of a store to a shelf at the front, you're probably doing about 30 seconds of lifting that's putting resistance on your walking in addition to the actual lift. After a while, this usually isn't difficult but it's a great cardio bonus.

Normally, you'd want to take the lightly active daily activity setting in your profile B UT if you tend to eat the same things on a regular basis then you can likely also extrapolate about how many calories you are burning at work. At one time, I was a little strapped for cash so I was eating very similar meals from day to day. I found out that a day at work tends to burn me about 3-400 extra calories on average and sometimes more depending on how busy the day was.

EDIT: Just a note however. I've found that logging your steps over such an extended period of time tends to lead to very few calories being burned even if you've spent the day moving around. The reason for this is because even if you had a very vigorous half hour here or there, that effort tends to be stretched over the entire 8 hours and so the computation basically reports that it was negligible even if you are walking 12-15.000 steps a day.

albertine58

I agree with the above posters- should be part of your activity level, not logged as exercise.

To be more accurate, I'd really recommend wearing a device that tracks your steps and activity - I use a FitBit Zip- check Amazon for cheap prices, I got mine for $46. I wear it clipped to my bra 24/7 and it'll estimate your calorie burn each day based on your activity level. So on days when I'm walking/on my feet all day, I get more calories than a lazy weekend day. It syncs with MFP which is insanely convenient. It also motivates me to move MORE!

Mischievous_Rascal

You don't. It's not exercise - it's part of your regular day and taken into account on here. I was at my heaviest when I was working retail, doing very similar to what you do. I feel the same about housework, too. If it's something you have to do as part of your daily life, don't count it. You'll set yourself up for MAJOR frustration (and quite possibly weight gain). If you change up your routine and go for a fast walk on your lunch instead of sitting and reading, then log that as exercise. Best of luck.

Moriarty_697

I'm with the people who wouldn't log it. I only log exercise when I've made a conscious decision to exercise. If I go for a stroll after work - as I often do - or if I wind up walking to one of the other offices, I look at this as being a normal part of my healthier lifestyle.

Mokey41

You don't log it. Stepping off a step a few times and a bit of walking are not exercise. It doesn't elevate your heart rate enough to make any difference at all.