Counting physically strenuous tasks at work as exercise?

quelquun

I'm trying to figure out if it's "cheating" if I count some of my time at work as "exercise."

A good portion of my day, I'm lifting, bending, squatting, twisting, briskly walking/jogging, and sweating like a mo-fo. The other portion of my day I'm doing admin duties (no calorie burn). I work at an animal shelter, so there's a slew of heavy lifting and unintentional cardio involved. Of course, I work out at home, too... just trying to be more creative in finding exercise in my everyday activities... There's just not enough hours in the day for me.

I work a standard 8 hour day, and counted 60 minutes of it as "Moving household items, boxes" today... is that cheating?

Bakins929

If it's a regular occurance, you might be better off setting your activity level a notch higher.

sagetracey

I think it would depend on whether you allowed for that sort of activity in your activity setting level. If not, then you should count it but if you have, then you are double counting and won't get the results you are expecting.

Showgirlbody

Lifting I would consider strength training rather than cardio but it is activity. I am a massage therapist so I am actively working most of the day but I don't count it in my exercise, I count it in my lifestyle. I think they determine part of your calories on lifestyle profile so if you put that your work life was sedentary, you'd get less calories than if you said active like a waitress. So I don't think it's cheating unless you see a stall from eating those calories that may or may not be an accurate burn.

KaleidoscopeEyes1056

I add walking to class to my workout schedule!

JNick77

If it's a regular occurance, you might be better off setting your activity level a notch higher.

^
This

ESVABelle

Every Thursday, I help unload a 52' tractor trailer full of merchandise for my store. Of that entire truck, about 20% of it goes to my dept and I have anywhere from 3-6 pallets of footwear stacked higher than me. I have to put them all out on our sales floor so I end up lifting them 2-4 times total throughout the merchandising process. I don't count it. I figure it's a bonus burn day.

If you don't count "invisible" calories (if you're unsure what these are, search the forums for "when calories don't count") - then don't count "invisible" burns.

quelquun

Thanks everyone for your input! I changed my lifestyle from lightly active to active. I don't think I'll add it then in the future, unless I deliberately take one of the dogs for an extra long run. Some of you alluded to disappointment if I didn't get the results I was working toward... and I'd rather be surprised by reaching my goals sooner than surprised by not reaching them at all because of a little overcalculation