I work in a food processing plant

queenpixie

So, I work in a food processing plant, which makes potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw and seafood salad. I am not the cook, or the mixer. What I do is packaging and I lift 5kg (11 lbs) bags of whatever salad we're doing that day, at least 2,200 times a day for a max of 12 hours.

I just started this job and it's only for the summer. I cycle to and from work making it a maximum time of 30 min on my bike. I took this job because I thought that it would help me lose weight and I'm still convinced that it will.

So far cycling alone for a month has helped me lose 10lbs, which I'm super happy about. One of the workers at the plant told me that when she started working there, she lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks and that she had very quickly become toned. I really do hope that this is true and that I will have the same success. Working as a "boxer" ( I make boxes, flip them, throw the bagged product in them, lift the box and then send it through a taping machine) is extremely hard work physically because it's so repetitive and being on my feet for 12 hours a day is very taxing on my lower back ( I did get awesome insoles that are really helping though)

Anyway, one of the reasons why I'm posting this, is because I don't know where to post it in the forums and I also want to log my work as exercise, but there are no options for it. Can someone provide suggestions for this?

PinkEarthMama

What do you have your activity level set at?

fluffeesquirrel

I would probably increase my activity level... especially since it's a daily activity.

maru84

Set your activity level to reflect that you work at a strenuous job (My Home-Settings-Update Diet/Exercise Profile)

juliedee6

First, invest in a heart rate monitor. Then, click on "Exercise" at the top, then "My exercises" . You can create your own exercise, and log in the results from your monitor.

I use Polar FT4. It is simple to use and simple to set up.

robot_potato

My job is quite similar to yours, i also work in a food plant, but my job is more on the packaging end of prepack container salads and dips. I lift up to 40kg on my own, and part of my job is quite like dancing in the amount of movement i do. I spend more time fighting with the box taper than i do putting boxes through it. I am going to buy a heart rate monitor this summer. I have been working there 5 years, but in that time i have had a baby and my eating habits have changed drastically. I don't really know how much i burn on a given day, but my activity level is set to lightly active and that seems to be accurate for my weight loss.

I have lost 35 pounds since jan 31, just from diet change, my exercise is still pretty much the same as before.

pantsdailyon

Man, I thought this thread was gonna be an exposé of the industry, a la Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. :grumble:

queenpixie

I signed one of those contract thingies which means that I can't disclose anything... bummer, I know... what I can say about it, is that working there is nothing like how you would imagine. :laugh: