Is it possible to add WORK as exercise in your journal?!

JenMarie8781

I have been working at Wal-Mart for 2 weeks now and I have lost 11 pounds just since I have been working there because I am on my feet all day constantly walking back and forth all over the store.... so I consider that exercise! But I tried to see if I could add that as exercise in my journal and I couldn't figure out how to do it. I have seen other weight loss websites where they let you add "work" as exercise and you had to choose the activity level of it (like light activity like a desk job, or a job where you are moving around a lot, etc.) but I don't see that option on here!

bry_all01

you might consider changing your settings to active, instead.

strivingfor130

It's not listed on here, but some other options are to put it in as walking and maybe wear a pedometer to see how far you walk or wear at HRM to measure calories burned while at work.

JenMarie8781

you might consider changing your settings to active, instead.

What do you mean? lol

JenMarie8781

It's not listed on here, but some other options are to put it in as walking and maybe wear a pedometer to see how far you walk or wear at HRM to measure calories burned while at work.

Thanks! I never thought of that.

ashnm88

Well when you made your profile you choice between

How would you describe your normal daily activities?

Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)
Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. nurse, salesman)
Active: Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. waitress, mailman)
Very Active: Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter)

Your job would be under active.

juleseybaby

IMO - since it is now a part of your 'almost' daily activity (assuming you are not working 7 days a week) - I would not add it as exercise. You may want to adjust your settings though to show that your activity level has changed from sedentary to lightly active or something like that.

dlaplume2

I would go under setting and change your activity level to active. Your body will adapt to that exercise and it will become less effective.

Hellbent_Heidi

In your profile, how is your activity listed? There are guidlines for whether you work on your feet or not...yours should be 'active' and there would be no need to put this in as exercise.

peteb79

When you setup your profile you set your life stye as 'Active' or 'Sedentary'.. you could set it as active to account for working calories, you can set it as Sedentary and wear a pedometer and add that as exercise at the end of the day.

maryv_sf

I have a pedometer that you can set your weight and stride length and it tells me how many steps, miles and calories I've burned. At the end of the day I put in however many minutes of walking add up to the calories.

ashnm88

Work is apart of your daily normal activities!

NoMoreMrFatGuy

I personally think actual get off your butt and exercise should be added. Work is just part of a normal day. If we could add other activities could we: 1. Put down upper body workout for rolling out pizza, bread or tortilla dough? 2. Should we put down "squats" everytime we sit down on the toilet? 2. I walk up three stairs to get to my house...would this be a quad workout? Great job on the weight loss though, whatever you are doing keep it up.

202685tracy

Yes, I have seen it on other sites as well, but personally I don't add work, cleaning or any other daily activity that you do like that becasue it is just part of life and I figure it as an added bonus over and above my workouts. That being said, what I will do sometimes is figure out the calories on another site and then just ad "work" to your MFP exercise database and add it that way. I wouldn't change your setting to active unless you are also working out hard in addition to working your job. Hope this helps.

bjberry

Your cell phone may have a pedometer. Wear it, on vibrate, and walk away those pounds! My daughter works at Walmart and lost down and has kept her size as nicely slim with all the walking, plus she loves green beans and creamed corn--at least 30% of her diet.

deathstarclock

Don't wear an HRM daily as the numbers can easily be fluctuated from certain bodily actions.

UsedToBeHusky

You can create an exercise if you know how many calories that you have burned, but I would suggest that you change your activity levels so that your calorie goal will adjust. I changed jobs a month or so ago and I had to change my activity levels from 'lightly active' to 'sedentary' because I was suddenly eating too many calories and I wasn't losing.

trixylewis

work is a part of your normal life, should not be considered exercise. your lifestyle type is already figured into your calorie count. i get almost 2000 regular calories a day because i have an extremely active job ( i build swimming pools and move hot tubs). just edit your profile to fit your new job

my4hb

I personally think actual get off your butt and exercise should be added. Work is just part of a normal day. If we could add other activities could we: 1. Put down upper body workout for rolling out pizza, bread or tortilla dough? 2. Should we put down "squats" everytime we sit down on the toilet? 2. I walk up three stairs to get to my house...would this be a quad workout? Great job on the weight loss though, whatever you are doing keep it up.

WELL said! (can't stop LOLing)

Tangerine302

I agree to change your original settings to more active. That way you aren't logging each and every thing you do throughout the day. It's easier for me anyway! Then when you mow the lawn, clean, rake leaves, scoop snow, at work, etc. you aren't having to do each item. Then for exercise you can list things that include weights, ex. bike, exercise dvds, or whatever you do.

I'm so happy that you've already lost some weight! That's great!

lep_623

she's right those are great ways to see. However, I would still encourage you to exercise b/c the point of exercise is getting your heart rate up and keeping it healthy. Evenually your body will probably get used to all that walking from work and it won't react like it has been these past few weeks, it is just because it is new "exercise" that your body is not used to you walking all that much. But on the other hand Great job on those 11 lbs that is awesome

JenMarie8781

Work is apart of your daily normal activities!

Well, yeah technically. But after not working for almost a year, it IS like exercise to me because I went from being sedentary to constantly walking and being on my feet all day, 6 days a week.

JenMarie8781

I personally think actual get off your butt and exercise should be added. Work is just part of a normal day. If we could add other activities could we: 1. Put down upper body workout for rolling out pizza, bread or tortilla dough? 2. Should we put down "squats" everytime we sit down on the toilet? 2. I walk up three stairs to get to my house...would this be a quad workout? Great job on the weight loss though, whatever you are doing keep it up.

Well, this is A LOT more activity than what I am used to. And eventually I will add in "real" exercise but as of right now, I am working 6 days a week, on my feet and walking ALL DAY LONG, then I come home to my husband and 4 kids and have to cook, clean, and take care of them.... so fitting in an exercise routine would be next to impossible for me right now! For someone else it might not seem like much but for me it is because I have been a SAHM for almost a year..... so this is a big change in activity level for me.

UsedToBeHusky

Work is apart of your daily normal activities!

Well, yeah technically. But after not working for almost a year, it IS like exercise to me because I went from being sedentary to constantly walking and being on my feet all day, 6 days a week.

Like I said earlier, I struggled with my activity change when I first started my new job. But you have to ask yourself at what point will you stop calling it exercise and consider it a change in activity. I mean you can do it however you want, but your caloric needs have changed and it could impact your weight loss.

JenMarie8781

Your cell phone may have a pedometer. Wear it, on vibrate, and walk away those pounds! My daughter works at Walmart and lost down and has kept her size as nicely slim with all the walking, plus she loves green beans and creamed corn--at least 30% of her diet.

I don't think my phone has that feature but I'm not really sure. How much weight did your daughter lose?

JenMarie8781

work is a part of your normal life, should not be considered exercise. your lifestyle type is already figured into your calorie count. i get almost 2000 regular calories a day because i have an extremely active job ( i build swimming pools and move hot tubs). just edit your profile to fit your new job

I did change my activity level AFTER I posted this. lol. At first, I wasn't thinking and didn't realize you could do that.