Need some help :(

Options
KellyUK1987
KellyUK1987 Posts: 75
in Health and Weight Loss
I want MFP to be as accurate as possible, but I'm having issues with the whole 'activity level' thing.

I burn on average 3000 calories per day whilst at work (5 days per week). I don't know what to set my activity level to! I don't know whether I'm classed as lightly active, or very active.

Should I log my calories burnt whilst at work, and put my activity level as very active?
Or should I just not log my calories burnt at work, and set my activity level as 'active'?

Replies

  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Options
    What is your job? How did you come to figure 3000 a day? If you really are burning that, it would be more than lightly active.
    I would select the right activity level and not log work calories

    ETA - I just looked at your profile. What is your job at the supermarket?
  • Changing_Charity
    Changing_Charity Posts: 197 Member
    Options
    what do you do for work? how do you know you burn 3000 calories? i wouldnt log work calories because its something your body is used to doing 5 days a week anyway. only log exercise calories, things that you are actually going out of your way to do and raising your heart rate. MFP over exaggerates on calories burned so its smart to get a heart rate monitor so you know what you are really buning!
  • Noor13
    Noor13 Posts: 964 Member
    Options
    Of you burn 3000 kcal a day you have to take t into account somehow. I would say go with very active!
  • charlie00134
    charlie00134 Posts: 27 Member
    Options
    How active do you end up being on a weekend? More or less?
  • jdad1
    jdad1 Posts: 1,899 Member
    Options
    What in the world do you do to make you believe you burn 3000 calories a day at work? Do you wear a heart monitor or are you just guessing?

    In my thoughts, if you do it every single day then your body gets used to it. I would not count it as exercise. I prefer to only count activity that i do specifically for exercise as exercise. Plus if you are eating TDEE-20% then you don't need to count exercise anyway.
  • jdad1
    jdad1 Posts: 1,899 Member
    Options
    what do you do for work? how do you know you burn 3000 calories? i wouldnt log work calories because its something your body is used to doing 5 days a week anyway. only log exercise calories, things that you are actually going out of your way to do and raising your heart rate. MFP over exaggerates on calories burned so its smart to get a heart rate monitor so you know what you are really buning!


    this
  • notworthstalking
    notworthstalking Posts: 531 Member
    Options
    This is how I worked out mine- I was starving at seditary, newbi error, quickly corrected. At lightly active, lost over 1 kilo each week, started to get hungry. Active, lost at a more reasonable amount, not hungry, Maintaining and not quite reaching calories after extra exercise. Still losing , but not at my minium, so trying not to stress. I working a factory, we either stand still just moving our arms, or walk carrying anything from 4kg to 10 kg. Sometimes pushing around 100 plus kgs lots of bread. Plus the clean up. So I guess that is active.
  • KellyUK1987
    KellyUK1987 Posts: 75
    Options
    I didn't magically summon up 3000 as a number from no where. I purchased a Polar watch & chest strap and have been wearing that whilst at work. It says I burn 2700 - 3600, which depends on the day.

    I work for a Supermarket. My job is to put out the delivery in the fresh foods department, which means unloading around a couple of hundred cases of juice, meat and other heavy items which weigh up to 10kg per case. I do this 3 days per week for 9 hours.

    The other 2 days per week I do the same as above for 2 hours, do reductions for 2 hours (which requires me to fill up a trolley of boxes and walk around the department with it, so it's getting heavier. It ends up being pretty darn heavy and an annoyance to push around!). I then walk around the department for the other 5 hours of my shift (fast pace) checking the dates on certain products for their BBE dates.

    I am definitely less active on my 2 days off. I do go to the gym once per week. I log this and I differentiate between which days I go. (Sometimes it's after work, sometimes on my days off).
  • Changing_Charity
    Changing_Charity Posts: 197 Member
    Options
    well then i would set your activity level to active but i still wouldnt log your work calories. i dont eat back my exercise calories either. i laugh when people log cleaning their house or preparing food as exercise.
  • Mads1997
    Mads1997 Posts: 1,494 Member
    Options
    I didn't magically summon up 3000 as a number from no where. I purchased a Polar watch & chest strap and have been wearing that whilst at work. It says I burn 2700 - 3600, which depends on the day.

    I work for a Supermarket. My job is to put out the delivery in the fresh foods department, which means unloading around a couple of hundred cases of juice, meat and other heavy items which weigh up to 10kg per case. I do this 3 days per week for 9 hours.

    The other 2 days per week I do the same as above for 2 hours, do reductions for 2 hours (which requires me to fill up a trolley of boxes and walk around the department with it, so it's getting heavier. It ends up being pretty darn heavy and an annoyance to push around!). I then walk around the department for the other 5 hours of my shift (fast pace) checking the dates on certain products for their BBE dates.

    I am definitely less active on my 2 days off. I do go to the gym once per week. I log this and I differentiate between which days I go. (Sometimes it's after work, sometimes on my days off).

    Actually HRMs are not accurate for all day use. The intended purpose for heart rate monitors is for exercise. If you want to know what you burn all day get a body media or something similar.
  • Changing_Charity
    Changing_Charity Posts: 197 Member
    Options
    Actually HRMs are not accurate for all day use. The intended purpose for heart rate monitors is for exercise. If you want to know what you burn all day get a body bug or something similar.

    this!
  • KellyUK1987
    KellyUK1987 Posts: 75
    Options
    well then i would set your activity level to active but i still wouldnt log your work calories. i dont eat back my exercise calories either. i laugh when people log cleaning their house or preparing food as exercise.

    Thanks for the useful info. I just wasn't sure what to do as my work is pretty demanding. I don't want to log them, I just want to make sure I'm eating enough :)
  • jdad1
    jdad1 Posts: 1,899 Member
    Options
    I didn't magically summon up 3000 as a number from no where. I purchased a Polar watch & chest strap and have been wearing that whilst at work. It says I burn 2700 - 3600, which depends on the day.

    I work for a Supermarket. My job is to put out the delivery in the fresh foods department, which means unloading around a couple of hundred cases of juice, meat and other heavy items which weigh up to 10kg per case. I do this 3 days per week for 9 hours.

    The other 2 days per week I do the same as above for 2 hours, do reductions for 2 hours (which requires me to fill up a trolley of boxes and walk around the department with it, so it's getting heavier. It ends up being pretty darn heavy and an annoyance to push around!). I then walk around the department for the other 5 hours of my shift (fast pace) checking the dates on certain products for their BBE dates.

    I am definitely less active on my 2 days off. I do go to the gym once per week. I log this and I differentiate between which days I go. (Sometimes it's after work, sometimes on my days off).


    This is not excercise. It is your job. You do it everyday. It does not matter if you burn one million calories. Your body, and your appetite, get used to this over time.
    I was an order filler at a supermarket warehouse for 7 years. I was responsible to move about 460 cases an hour. At first you might loose a little but after your body adjusts it no longer matters. I would not consider what you are doing at work as excercise. If i were in your situation i would put my activity leval as active but i would only log the activity that i did specificially for excercise.

    So in short, i would say you are "active" but not more then that. You may want to consider doing more on your off time that is designated excercise.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    Options
    Actually HRMs are not accurate for all day use. The intended purpose for heart rate monitors is for exercise. If you want to know what you burn all day get a body bug or something similar.

    this!

    Yes, this. That is why I asked. I suspected that may be where the number came from. It is inflated. HRMs can estimate calories accurately during steady state cardio only.

    I'd would select moderately active and go from there. Give it a few weeks and adjust accordingly.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    Options
    This is not excercise. It is your job. You do it everyday. It does not matter if you burn one million calories. Your body, and your appetite, get used to this over time.
    So... the calories don't count if you're burning them every day? Your body gets used to that activity so no longer needs energy to perform it? How does that work?

    OP - I would be wary about trusting those figures from your HRM. They are just not designed to work that way and (from what I've heard, never tried it myself) are not accurate for that kind of activity. They're designed to estimate calories burned in steady state cardio. Something like a bodymedia fit would be more accurate - they are designed for that purpose.

    Otherwise, what I would do is pick one setting - say "active", and log/eat back any extra calories burned through planned exercise. Do that for a couple of weeks and see if you lose as expected. If not, you can adjust from there. It's really the only way you'll know for sure; anything else is just going to be an estimation. (If you think that may be too much, you could try "lightly active" + exercise calories to start with). Experiment, and find out what's really going on.

Categories