Do you add the calories you burn at your job?

KelseyBee2014
KelseyBee2014 Posts: 188 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I work part time at a movie theater where I usher. My theater has 13 screens so it's fairly large. I work 8 hour shifts (included is a thirty minute lunch) where I'm running around from one side of the theater to the other, up and down the stadium seating stairs, carrying heavy trash bags, etc. I don't have a heart rate monitor to see how many calories I'm burning (BTW, if anyone can recommend a cheap but quality HRM that would be great! Very limited budget.) See, if I added in 8 hours of walking at like a 2.0 pace MFP it would give me over 2000 calories burned plus calories I would burn when I go to the gym. Should I add in the calories I burn while at work? Or should I ignore them since it's just a part of my life 3-5 days a week?

So is anybody else in this situation? And what do you do?

Replies

  • georgiagreeneyes
    georgiagreeneyes Posts: 69 Member
    By chance do you own a pedometer? If you're taking 10,000+ steps in a shift, you'd be considered "active" and it may be worth adjusting your settings. Have you noticed weight loss while working and managing your diet? Is it more than 2+ lbs. a week?

    I love the HRMs by Polar! Honestly a pedometer may be just as helpful, and likely cheaper--- unless you're looking to use a HRM to track workouts.

    Keep up the hard work!!
  • rachelhaueter
    rachelhaueter Posts: 41 Member
    I'd like to figure this out too. I'm a CNA so I'm constantly running back and forth tending to my patients, and the last two hours is non stop movement, since this is the time where I get people up in the morning. Walking briskly, lifting people, hauling huge bags of trash and linen, just movement in general.

    I bought a pedometer, but I killed it I think. I don't know if I had an accurate reading or not. I had attached it to my sock (it was a cheap 5 dollar one from Wal Mart and it wouldn't pick up on my steps clipped to my scrub pockets on my pants so I went for the sock that way it couldn't miss when I moved.) and by the end of the shift the display was messed up. I had a reading of over 6k steps and distance of 4.4 miles. I wouldn't count my entire shift as it's just daily mumbo jumbo for me, but I would like to see about getting those last two hours in. If I can't I may just start running up and down the stairs on my 30 minute break.
  • v4skateuk
    v4skateuk Posts: 1
    I'm a chef and I set my activity level to active. I don't count anything I do at work as exercise it's just my everyday. So then anything I do after work like running/walking I count calories on and that's how I can sneak in a G&T!
  • paulperryman
    paulperryman Posts: 839 Member
    only what fitibit registers. periodically i wear my HRM for 24hrs to get a baseline reading on a non gym day
  • KelseyBee2014
    KelseyBee2014 Posts: 188 Member
    By chance do you own a pedometer? If you're taking 10,000+ steps in a shift, you'd be considered "active" and it may be worth adjusting your settings. Have you noticed weight loss while working and managing your diet? Is it more than 2+ lbs. a week?

    I love the HRMs by Polar! Honestly a pedometer may be just as helpful, and likely cheaper--- unless you're looking to use a HRM to track workouts.

    Keep up the hard work!!

    I bought a pedometer recently for like $17 and even attached to my ankle it barely picked up 30 steps in a mile.

    I've been working at this job for nearly nine months now, but never watched what I ate or tracked my weight until this month. But I never saw a difference (probably because I was eating so bad) but I did notice that the constant movement became a ton easier as the weeks turned into months (coming from a completely sedentary job and life before this one).

    Thanks for your help!
  • daynerz
    daynerz Posts: 227 Member
    you bet, count it because it matters, you are still moving

    an its just another slight way to congratulate yourself and acknowledge your activity/ and ability to stay occupied!!!!

    :)
  • KelseyBee2014
    KelseyBee2014 Posts: 188 Member
    I'm a chef and I set my activity level to active. I don't count anything I do at work as exercise it's just my everyday. So then anything I do after work like running/walking I count calories on and that's how I can sneak in a G&T!

    I wasn't sure what to put my activity level as. Besides working 3-5 days a week, my life is really sedentary (new to the gym life and loving it!) so I set it at sedentary. Should I up it though?
  • paulperryman
    paulperryman Posts: 839 Member
    i average around 6Km's a day in my job.
  • Susieq_1994
    Susieq_1994 Posts: 5,361 Member
    If your job is active, I would suggest setting your MFP to Active or at least Lightly Active... If it's part of your everyday life and you are doing the same thing day in and day out.. You aren't sedentary! :flowerforyou:
  • pyrowill
    pyrowill Posts: 1,163 Member
    I would just turn your activity level to active or very active and leave it at that for a month or so.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    I have a FitBit. During my work shifts I average about 1000 steps per hour (12 hour shift). On those days it gives me about 200 extra calories. Because it is part of your routine, it won't burn as much as you think. This is because your body is used to it and becomes more efficient with this activity. Personally, I think you should increase your activity level to at least lightly active (probably the next level up even). You will still add in exercise calories and it will give you a few extra daily calories.
  • Foodiethinking
    Foodiethinking Posts: 240 Member
    You can change your settings for the TDEE method, or go for % deficit and add exercise additionally (what I do).

    I think it depends on what kind of job you have and the hours you have. I have a zero-hours contract so my work are not obliged to give me hours if there are none available. Sometimes I'll work Monday and Tuesday and then Saturday and Sunday but haven't been active enough Wednesday-Friday to qualify as anything but sedentary. I work on a busy bar and run around constantly at one for one thing or another. If I have a 6 hour shift, I set my exercise as 3hours of 2.0 mph (although I do go faster) to allow for any stops an starts and know I'm guaranteed close to that number. I just checked on my MFP calculator and 3hours of 2.0mph puts me at 600cal burned. Much less than the >1000 I would have had.

    However if you have a full-time job on your feet and are guaranteed work everyday, it may be simpler to do the TDEE method.

    In essence, it depends on your job and as long as you don't count every minute- because it's very hard to physically run around for hours and hours without stopping somewhere- even for a bathroom break.
  • tashnoodle
    tashnoodle Posts: 5 Member
    If you can't afford to buy a HRM, you could download a pedometer app for free (or use the built in one on a Samsung if you have one - S Health it's called). It's fairly accurate, when I've compared to a store bought pedometer. If you're doing 10k+ steps a day then you ought to change your settings on MFP to 'active' as has been mentioned.

    I don't tend to include my calories burned while at work/on my commute as it's part of my everyday routine.
  • udamom
    udamom Posts: 65 Member
    What I asked myself when evaluating if I should add these exercise calories in was---did I do this job (I'm a an RN who works 12 hour shifts. Can be very busy/active at times) while gaining all the weight? My answer was yes. I was doing the same job I did when trying to lose as I did while I gained the weight.
    So for me the answer was no do not add in the calories burned at work.
    I only add in exercise that was above and beyond my usual routine.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Your job is part of your activity setting and not counted as exercise.

    Also a HRM wouldn't be at all accurate for estimating calories in this instance.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
    Your job is part of your activity setting and not counted as exercise.

    Also a HRM wouldn't be at all accurate for estimating calories in this instance.

    Agreed.
  • Frood42
    Frood42 Posts: 245 Member
    Your job is part of your activity setting and not counted as exercise.

    I would suggest Lightly Active if you are on your feet rather than sat at a desk (but ratings are below and see where you would fit).

    Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)
    Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. teacher, salesman)
    Active: Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. waitress, mailman)
    Very Active: Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter)
  • LucyBzz
    LucyBzz Posts: 47 Member
    I would think your role is "Lightly Active" as I would bet there are times when you are not actively moving - eg clipping tickets, greeting customers, changing notices etc
    I am currently wearing a FitBit which tracks my steps & I have found that I do 2500-3000 steps in my normal job (which involves a lot of moving around a building). On some days at work I can notch up 5000+ steps, much of it moving heavy equipment, running up & down stairs etc
    If you were to add in 8 hours of walking I think you'd be giving yourself a false reading - walking around a building in short sections can be active but is not the same as a constant 3-4 mile walk!

    Can you borrow a fitbit, good pedometer or a similar device just for a day and see roughly how many steps etc you do? That will give you an idea how active you really are
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
    change your lifestyle to active, don't add in more for work
  • SMKean90
    SMKean90 Posts: 55
    no - as this is no change to your lifestyle, its why you are asked if you are active, sedentry etc.
    Like you wouldnt log' dusting your house' just because you lift your arms up and down for 20 mins!
    If its part of your daily life routine then I personally wouldnt bother as it is no difference than what you did before you joined
  • squishycatmew
    squishycatmew Posts: 151 Member
    Only log it if you have your activity level set to "sedentary".

    I did, however, personally *really* misjudge how much I actually do walk at my job until I started using my phone to track my steps (and then got a Fitbit). I had myself set a "lightly active" and had given myself a calorie goal that MFP calculated would have me losing 1.5-2lbs/week - I was losing a *lot* more than that. I've dropped 6 lbs in a single week. (27 lbs down and it's slowed some, but I was… not expecting that.) So you might actually be closer to "active" per MFP standards.
  • Papa_Grande
    Papa_Grande Posts: 63 Member
    I did, walking calories added up...But I was losing no weight, so I stopped. Now I only add my big burn (bicycle or a wlk over 20 minutes)

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