Extreamly Different Daily Activity

jakejacobsen
jakejacobsen Posts: 584 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello, the long story short is I am a

Carpenter on my feet 8-12 hours lifting, climbing, ect through the day,

the next day

I am a College Student on my butt drinking coffee and water and doing home work. I do try to sneak in 2 walks (30 minutes a day 2x day) plus exercise which I log.

My question is how much should I increase my cals for the day of Carpentry work vs the day of studying. I have my settings as sedimentary as that is me the majority of the time.

I am working part time 2-3 days a week, I was thinking of logging it as cadio for 1000 cal (which is nothing) seeing that I burn that in 2 hours walking according to my HRM. I would rather not where the HRM all day at work plus I am now wondering about its accuracy, based on the "walking burn" I should add 4000 cal which doesn't make sense to me either.

What do others do? I am sure there are some nurses on here who work crazy shifts 3 days a week, and other part time carpenters ect....

Replies

  • NaomiJFoster
    NaomiJFoster Posts: 1,450 Member
    Monday through Friday, I'm a preschool teacher quite literally running my a** off for 8 solid hours. Saturday and Sunday, I barely get my a** off the couch, unless it's to go to a movie or do some small errands. I do work out both weekend days and three work days. I work out longer on the weekends to sort of kind of a little bit try to balance the difference in activity level. I also try to stay just a bit below my target a few days out of the week, wherever they can happen...to give myself some extra wiggle room on the weekend. But mostly, I don't worry about it. It all balances out in the end.
  • wahelga
    wahelga Posts: 304 Member
    Why don't you play with the activity setting here to see what mfp allows for a very active person vs a sedentary one. I think its an extra 500 cals per day, but worth checking
  • 12bfree
    12bfree Posts: 67 Member
    Are you feeling sluggish at work? I wouldn’t make any drastic changes. If you do feel fatigued, you may want to try adding some protein and carbs to your caloric intake.

    Personally, I don’t adjust my caloric intake regardless of the intensity of my day. I might increase my protein and carb intake but will remain within my allotted calories.

    I only log my exercise and whatever my fitbit flex says. So, I don’t have a recommendation about how to log your calories. Do you eat back your calories burned or are you just trying to reassess your caloric intake? If it’s the later, and you are trying to loose weight, I’d stick to the caloric allotment on your least productive day.
  • jakejacobsen
    jakejacobsen Posts: 584 Member
    I haven't done this type of work for years, illness took me out of it 2 years ago but now am returning do to drastic health improvements.

    MFP guidelines say I should increase them sedentary 1910->3180, so the + 1000 cals seems close to correct enough for me.

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