How often should I work out?

0EmmeNicole0

Okay, i've been trying to figure out a work out schedule, but i'm not sure how often I even should. I work part time as a waitress 4 days out of the week && it is at least 5+ hours of constant walking and moving. On weekends though I work at least 8+ hours waiting tables. I am exhausted when I get off work, but I don't count this as exercise because I am not increasing my heart rate all that much, nor am I breaking out into a sweat even though I have before. I also want to work out at least 5 days out of the week with two rest days but is that overdoing it? Should I count my pt job as exercise since I only put lightly active as my activity level? I am really confused about this...

butterflymarks

I would advise you to put your setting at sedentary, just so you know the minimal amount you could eat.

Actually. scratch that. I would advise you to find your TDEE. It's much more accurate. http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

If you put your exercise level at 0/sedentary, then you can estimate how much you walk around throughout the day, plus any exercise that you do, and then log that. Then eat back some of the calories you have "burned" through work and exercise in addition to your normal intake required for you to live!

I am horrible at explaining things and my info may be wrong, but at least this will bump your question to the top of the page

0EmmeNicole0

aww thanks! Your bump comment made me giggle I'm sure the question is just confusing, since technically there is no limit to how much I could work out, lol.

Crazy4Healthy

I would say you should count work, even if only as light walking. I wear a bodymedia fit and I can tell you I definitely burn more calories on the weekends when I'm just up and around. I work a desk job during the week and if I don't workout I only burn maybe 1,700-1,900 calories. On the weekends, shopping, cleaning, sometimes just standing in my kitchen cooking meals for the week, I will burn closer to 2,300 calories. So, while you may not be getting your heart rate up, you are certainly burning more calories than you would sitting in front of a computer of TV.

love22step

I like to do some kind of workout every morning. I got more carried away when I was losing weight, but now that I'm maintaining, this is my weekly schedule:

Sun. - strength training
Mon. - Cardio DVD
Tues. - run
Wed. - strength training
Thurs. - run
Fri. - strength training
Sat. - run

Try different things until you figure out what works best for you.