Whether or not to log "work" burned cals

pandalady8

I have a very general question regarding logging calories burned. Perhaps I've missed the answer in another forum, so feel free to direct me to an answer if it's already out there!

I noticed that under my goals section, it says I burn ~2500 calories a day for my current height (5 foot 5 inches), weight (275, sadly), and lifestyle (I entered sedentary). My BMR is just under 2000, so this means the site calculates that I burn about 500 calories each day in just my normal routine.

Here's where I'm confused. I wear a (admittedly cheapy) pedometer that keeps track of calories burned and distance in addition to my steps based on my stride length and weight. I wear it all day just because I'm trying to make it my goal to get close to or over 10K steps each day. If I'm way under 10K steps I try to go for a dedicated walk after work.

Up to this point, I have only logged the calories from my dedicated walks (NOT any calories that I burn just walking around at work). I'm curious if I should be logging my work-calories too, or is that part of the 500 calories that the site automatically added to my "daily burn"? If my work calories are already being accounted for, what happens if I have a very sedentary day and I didn't get up to 500 calories at work? Should I make sure I have a buffer of extra calories left over at the end of the day to make sure I get my usual 750 cal/day deficit (trying to lose 1.5 lbs/week)?

Thanks for any advice!

lilchino4af

I would say anything work-related should be included in your lifestyle you setup (sedentary, moderate, etc). Some days you'll be well over your 10K steps, whereas other days you'll be under; in the end they'll all even out so I wouldn't worry about it. Anything above and beyond that (e.g. your dedicated walks) can be added as exercise.

aippolito1

You're misunderstanding. The 500 is the gap between 2500 and 2000 for you to lose weight. You only really need 2500 calories to "survive" if you don't do anything but since you ARE, you don't eat that 500 and therefore, you lose weight. If you exercise, you have to eat back those calories so you keep the 500 and not make it anymore because that's not quite as safe to do consistently.

I think you should only count the walking you do on purpose. Anything throughout the day would factor into the 2500 (or 2000). So make sure you log it in and then eat that back so your 500 doesn't get to be a bigger number.

imarlett

Yes! If you are not at rest, you should log those calories!

selbyhutch

I would say anything work-related should be included in your lifestyle you setup (sedentary, moderate, etc). Some days you'll be well over your 10K steps, whereas other days you'll be under; in the end they'll all even out so I wouldn't worry about it. Anything above and beyond that (e.g. your dedicated walks) can be added as exercise.

Agree. My daily activity is set to "lightly active"... so I don't log steps at work, house cleaning, shopping, etc. IMO it's built in with the activity level I set in my profile.