How do you count the calorie burned during a work day.

limonami
limonami Posts: 30 Member
edited September 22 in Fitness and Exercise
I work a 5-8 hour shift, I'm standing the whole time.
I put away skids of heavy boxes.
I do a lot of lifting and running around.
I also do packaging and and work that involves a lot of movement and hard work.
Now how would I go About adding that to my exercise under calories burned.
I could not find anything in the database that looks anything like the work I do.
Any suggestions???

Replies

  • potluck965
    potluck965 Posts: 529 Member
    Your work day is separate from your exercise. You should set that up as your daily activity level.
  • fitterpam
    fitterpam Posts: 3,064 Member
    I work a 5-8 hour shift, I'm standing the whole time.
    I put away skids of heavy boxes.
    I do a lot of lifting and running around.
    I also do packaging and and work that involves a lot of movement and hard work.
    Now how would I go About adding that to my exercise under calories burned.
    I could not find anything in the database that looks anything like the work I do.
    Any suggestions???

    Set your daily activity level to Active under goals (my home) at the top.
  • Laceylala
    Laceylala Posts: 3,094 Member
    Yeah I agree...try setting your daily goal to active or medium (can't remember the next level down) and use those settings for a good 6-8 weeks. If you lose weight then you know you've got your settings right, if not change them, but remember it can take a while to get going so give it some time before switching things up.
  • elmct57
    elmct57 Posts: 594 Member
    if it's a normal activity, it's not exercise for the purposes of the database here. if you're doing something in addition to normal activities for the purpose of calorie burning, then you should log and count it.

    think of it like this--when you're on your feet at work, you would be doing that anyway even if you didn't have a healthy active lifestyle. to burn cals, it has to be additional effort activities done besides your regular workday.

    Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36256#ixzz1AYd7OB9l
  • sarahsmom1
    sarahsmom1 Posts: 1,501 Member
    Yep work is different than exercise
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    yup, what they all said. Especially giving it a few weeks before making the change. If you're not hungry and losing weight, then you have it set right. If you're hungry all the time, bump it up a little and give it time to adjust.
    If you're at Sedentary, then bump it up, because your job is not sedentary.

    If you're honestly sticking to your numbers and gaining weight, then AFTER a few weeks to adjust and be sure, THEN bump it down a level.
  • rjcactus23
    rjcactus23 Posts: 5
    When I was in college "health related fitness" was defined as being able to complete your normal work-day with all the activity it entails and still have the energy to participate in physical activities for pleasure and exercise.

    This is an odd concept, but like everyone else has said what you do during your workday is not "exercise". It does however count as calories burned at the end of the day. For example, I'm a PE teacher (sad...and I'm still so heavy!) I'm constantly on my feet and playing with the students all day long. Those 8 hours of classes do not count as exercise though. I still take a trip to the local gym to lift weights and hit the elliptical machine for 20 minutes.
  • brityn
    brityn Posts: 443 Member
    I'd invest in a heart rate monitor. I'm a waitress and am running around a restaurant carrying plates and such 40-50 hours a week. I burn a lot of calories during that time, but never really knew how many til I bought the HRM
  • limonami
    limonami Posts: 30 Member
    Thank you for the info.
    That cleared things up for me:)
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