Logging calories burned while waitressing

1FitMomof4Girls
1FitMomof4Girls Posts: 202 Member
edited October 6 in Health and Weight Loss
Question~I've been moonlighting as waitress for the past month or so on the weekends.( I've done this kind of work before, so I'm fast,efficient and good at it;) Hence why I do not workout on Saturday. I work from about 4:30pm to around 1 -2 am. I am constantly moving! I wore my HRM one night and I got 1978 calories burned in an 8 hour shift. Which is probably equal to a 2.0-2.5 mph pace. Should I log this as my workouts for Saturday and Sunday? I would never dream about eating back all calories.......Thoughts?

Replies

  • luvinlaurakate
    luvinlaurakate Posts: 145 Member
    I would log it, ya. I log grocery shopping as walking, even though I usually exercise on top of that. Waitressing is hard, and I am not surprised AT ALL that you are burning that many calories per shift. And eating back that many calories would be crazy, but as long sa you eat well the rest of the week I don't think it will be an issue.
  • PoochPottery
    PoochPottery Posts: 205
    What is your daily activity set at? If it is set at sedentary or light activity then I would log it as exercise! If it is set at active then maybe not?
  • britishstar41
    britishstar41 Posts: 140 Member
    What is your daily activity set at? If it is set at sedentary or light activity then I would log it as exercise! If it is set at active then maybe not?

    I agree with this.
  • kevin3344
    kevin3344 Posts: 702 Member
    I only log workouts when I'm actively working out. That is, my heart rate is up and I'm sweating (for example, if I run 5 miles).

    It may be just me, but I don't log normal day to day activities because that could skew the numbers you add to your diary.

    That being said, I would change your activity to Active and see if that helps...
  • vkhaynesrn
    vkhaynesrn Posts: 2 Member
    I agree to set your settings to active. I am a nurse and constantly walking. I use a pedometer and I walk about 5 miles a day. When I starting logging this and eating a bit more, I lost more weight because I wasn't in starvation mode.
  • teamnevergoingback
    teamnevergoingback Posts: 368 Member
    I don't log that because I want to burn more calories! I would just set my settings to ACTIVE, but grocery shopping and working to lose weight?... Doesn't seem like you're really trying to lose weight but logging every single activity as EXERCISE.
  • ChristinelovesCraig
    ChristinelovesCraig Posts: 62 Member
    As a fellow waitress, I was confused about this also. My setting is under active and I do not log in my 10 shifts.

    For those who have never waitressed, please understand that you work your a** off and do, in fact, get your heart rate up all night long. It can be really intense. You may not burn calories like if you were running on a treadmill, but it certainly isn't comparable to going grocery shopping (unless you are shopping at Market Basket outside the Boston area----crazy)
  • Paige1108
    Paige1108 Posts: 432 Member
    I keep my activity set at sedentary and log everything that seems like activity. I do not find the activity levels helpful, they seem to vague to be effective for all people.

    I did just fine losing weight and I'm doing just fine maintaining (for one year) with this formula.

    I also worked in a restaurant, I logged every shift and eat every single calorie. I log walking my dog and biking to work. And I'm very serious about maintaining my lifestyle.

    These are just the things that worked for me. I hope you find a system that works for you. Good luck on your journey.
  • wisters
    wisters Posts: 84 Member
    I am so glad that I found this topic and didn't start a new one on the same thing. I have my profile set at light active because one of the examples they give is teacher and that is what I am. I teach high school and definitely move quite a bit while in "teaching mode".

    I also picked up a part time job waiting tables and it is definitely MUCH more physical! I joke around that I consider what I do at the restaurant as my trip to the gym. I've tried to brake down what I do in a "typical" shift and then used that to estimate how many calories I am burning an hour. It came out to about 88 cal/hr. I do include it in my exercise log but I do not attempt to eat back those calories since my estimates are just that, estimates!

    I have purchased a fairly decent pedometer and will be using it during my next shift so even though it won't include all of the lifting and cleaning i do I am hoping it will give me a better idea if my calculations are close to accurate.
  • GetteJ
    GetteJ Posts: 27 Member
    I'm a teacher who waits tables part-time, too, and I set my activity level to "moderate." I log my serving shifts because they are out of my normal routine. If I ever went back to serving full time -God (and knees!) forbid- I would set my activity level to high and not log shifts, because I would do it nearly every day. I'm trying to ease out of it at the moment!
  • jaybug23
    jaybug23 Posts: 1
    How would I determine how many calories I burn while working? I work at a hospital in dietary and deliver trays to patients.
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    How would I determine how many calories I burn while working? I work at a hospital in dietary and deliver trays to patients.
    Just up your activity level to active
  • DrJenO
    DrJenO Posts: 404 Member
    I would consider getting a pedometer or fitbit/jawbone. It will "read" your steps throughout the day, and you can hook it up to MFP and it will add activity calories back.
  • skinniestminniest
    skinniestminniest Posts: 26
    As a fellow waitress, I was confused about this also. My setting is under active and I do not log in my 10 shifts.

    For those who have never waitressed, please understand that you work your a** off and do, in fact, get your heart rate up all night long. It can be really intense. You may not burn calories like if you were running on a treadmill, but it certainly isn't comparable to going grocery shopping (unless you are shopping at Market Basket outside the Boston area----crazy)

    Completely irrelevant, but I have to have my husband come with me to grocery shop or else I'll have a panic attack in the middle of Market Basket. SO. BUSY. ALL THE TIME.
  • Mommy22Angels
    Mommy22Angels Posts: 4 Member
    I also waitress during the week. 4 days a week at around 25 hours a week, plus I usually get to the gym 4 days a week for at least an hour. I just want to see if I'm doing this right. I used MFP to calculate my goal. I used sedentary which gave me around 1440. Then, the only thing I log are my calories burned at the gym and I eat them back. Usually between 400-600....I use a HRM. Does all of that sound right? I'm 38, 5' 7" and 186lbs. Thanks :)
  • ahoier
    ahoier Posts: 312 Member
    If this is your "daily activities" you should not log it, and adjust your fitness level to "active" or higher.....

    If this is a once/twice a week "gig" you only do on the weekends, and you are sedentary (or whatever physical level you told MFP when you signed up) the rest of the week, then by all means log the calories.....
  • ottermotorcycle
    ottermotorcycle Posts: 654 Member
    I've never been a waitress, but I imagine it to be exercise. Much like walking around an amusement park all day - yeah, you're probably walking at an average 2mph pace, but you're doing it for HOURS and at the end you are tired and hungry and your feet hurt. I would log a day like that as a few hours of slow walking and eat back what I felt was necessary.
  • FindingAmy77
    FindingAmy77 Posts: 1,268 Member
    I've never been a waitress, but I imagine it to be exercise. Much like walking around an amusement park all day - yeah, you're probably walking at an average 2mph pace, but you're doing it for HOURS and at the end you are tired and hungry and your feet hurt. I would log a day like that as a few hours of slow walking and eat back what I felt was necessary.

    I will tell you this, that if you are walking that slow waitressing you probably aren't going home with much money. just saying. sometimes I am running my butt off and definitely hustling from table to table to kitchen to table again ALL NIGHT. it has to be more than 2.0 mph.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Heart rate monitors aren't meant to be used that way and will be wildly innacurate if you just wear them for half the day. I do not believe you burned 1900 calories waitressing.

    I think how people usually handle it is with the idea of "activity level" where sedendtary refers to someone with a desk job while "very lightly active" refers to someone with a job like being a teacher and "lightly active" is someone like a waitress.

    Here is a calculator that takes this into account. You will see definitions for the catagories, just fill out the number of hours you do with each activity and it will give you an approximate TDEE. Not saying its dead on accurate but its certainly more accurate than a HRM telling you you burned 1900 cals.

    http://exrx.net/Calculators/CalRequire.html
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,250 Member
    If you did it all the time, you'd change your activity level to moderately active, so I think you ought to log it if you only do it a couple days and aren't changing your activity level for that reason.

    I swear, 90% of the reason I got fat was because I finished Uni, got a desk job and quit waitressing. It's a hell of a burn!
  • lady_jewels
    lady_jewels Posts: 31 Member
    YES! YES! YES!
  • _KitKat_
    _KitKat_ Posts: 1,066 Member
    Setting activity level would be better than logging it, don't forget your body would burn calories just living for the time of a shift also. The best would be the TDEE method, your weekly activity is figured in including exercise. That method would probably be easiest and most accurate. I did waitress when younger, it does kick your butt.

    For those that log grocery shopping and other life activities, may I ask are they major changes. For myself I just figured I did those things when I got fat, so what is the point of logging. I do understand someone who was house bound and just starting to get any activity. I figured living your life was part of the activity level.
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