Calories at Work

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crking
crking Posts: 175
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok, so I have a question! I work outdoors. It can be hard labor when we are busy. For 5-8 hours day, I am on my feet outdoors...bending, squating, reaching, walking, twisting, constantly sweating etc...today I decided to wear my heart rate monitor that tracks calories. According to it, i burned 815 cals in 5 hours. I consider it a work out because it requires a lot of moving and it can cause me to be sore if we are really busy..I still have to do my ChaLEAN Extreme workout for the day but is it appropriate to consider the calories i burned at work as part of my exercise..I don't want to cheat by adding it but I feel like it should be part for how much I do during a working day that is like many exercises...thanks guys! :happy:

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  • SweetCharity
    SweetCharity Posts: 83
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    Hmm, that's a tough one. Have you had this job for a while? I think your job does contribute to your activity level but not to your exercise. So - you should be eating a certain amount of calories for your liefestyle - not including exercise. Then when you add workouts in, you add calories for that workout. So the amount of calories you would normally eat (regardless or working out) should be a little higher if you're factoring in your job.
  • crking
    crking Posts: 175
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    I've been there about 8 months now...but that makes a lot of sense what you are saying! I never though about that..thanks!
  • LPNlauren
    LPNlauren Posts: 27
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    I wouldn't count it because after awhile your body becomes use to the daily activities that you do like work. Thats why if you do a BMR calculator it ask you what your lifestyle is and estimates the amount of calories you burn through out your day.......for instance when I worked in an office during LPN school I had a desk job and the calculator told me that I could have 1200 cals a day to loose weight. When I became a nurse and I redid the calculator because I am walking all day, which put me in a slightly active lifestyle instead of a sedentary lifestyle, I was allowed to have 1400 cals a day. The same principle goes for the plateau effect your body will develop if you don't confuse your muscles. Hope this helps ; )
  • afeinberg
    afeinberg Posts: 93 Member
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    the other thing is how you set your preferences when you set up MFP - you are asked to choose your lifestyle - sedentary vs active - if you choose active then MFP already figures that in for you when determing how much you should eat..... just a thought
  • crking
    crking Posts: 175
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    Thanks guys, this really helped a lot..I wasn't figuring in all the things you guys talked about! I was just interested in knowing! Thanks!

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