Should my factory work count as exercise?

DarthScabrous
DarthScabrous Posts: 25 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I work in a factory down here, and I am constantly moving and lifting really heavy boxes. We make bearings, and the ones I make are Transmission bearings for cars. The boxes weigh close to 50lbs, and throughout the day, I'll lift close to 150 boxes and move them. We have lifts, but they are slow, and its just faster to carry them myself. I'm sweating, and I can feel my heartrate increasing. Would it count? I am still going to exercise outside of work, I just want to make sure I don't overdo it.

Replies

  • marilandica
    marilandica Posts: 88 Member
    It will be hard to accurately calculate that as a separate logged activity. Might be better to reflect it in your base activity level - I have a desk job, so my base activity level is set at 'sedentary.' You obviously aren't sedentary -- pick a more active base activity level and MFP will adjust your calorie allotment accordingly.
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
    I wouldn't count this as additional exercise but I would account for it in your day to day calorie burn. You beginning calorie burn estimate will be just that, an estimate. I'd at the very least consider you lightly active to active in fitness pal.
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
    It will be hard to accurately calculate that as a separate logged activity. Might be better to reflect it in your base activity level - I have a desk job, so my base activity level is set at 'sedentary.' You obviously aren't sedentary -- pick a more active base activity level and MFP will adjust your calorie allotment accordingly.

    well said
  • DarthScabrous
    DarthScabrous Posts: 25 Member
    I did but it still allots me over 3500 calories per day. That seems insane, could I possibly have been eating more calories than that per day??
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
    agree that its probably best to do it via your 'lifestyle' or 'activity level ' or whatever its called.

    whats your hieght and weight, we could evaluate the 3,500 better with that info.

    althought the work you describe sounds pretty demanding, and i could see it burning anywhere from 500-1000 calories over your BMR over the course of an 8 hour day.

    if you are like me, you werent necessairly eating more then 3,500 every day, but you had 2 or three days a week where you really stuffed yourself and you end up eating more calories then you burn over the course of that week
  • DarthScabrous
    DarthScabrous Posts: 25 Member
    6ft 2
    425lbs
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    I did but it still allots me over 3500 calories per day. That seems insane, could I possibly have been eating more calories than that per day??

    You might get a second opinion.....http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    TDEE is the number of calories required to maintain your weight (include exercise) .....then take a percentage off of that for weight loss.
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
    Depending on your height, weight and activity level that might not be crazy at all. I consider myself sedentary and have a weight loss goal of 1 lb per week. I'm 5'10, weigh 244 and MFP has me at 2,070 calories per day. At the gym on a cardio day I can easily burn 800, so that puts me very close to 3,000 calories for a single day. If you weigh more than me and are active that starts to make more sense huh?
  • marilandica
    marilandica Posts: 88 Member
    You sure could have been consuming more than that - it's remarkably easy to do. If you're just now starting to log what you eat, you might be in for a surprise. Try setting your activity level at 'active' or 'lightly active' and see how that goes for a while.
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
    6ft 2
    425lbs

    3,500 doesn't sound crazy. your tall. as your weight comes down you'll have to restrict a bit more to keep it going.

    you could go for less calories, but the bigger the calorie defecit the more likely you are to drop muscle

    in the end, the only real way to know for sure is trial and error.

    to that end, you will want to make sure you are weighting your food so you know your logging calories accurately
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
    I plugged you into scooby's calculator and it's showing your calories per day at 2,913 and listed you for a job that has you standing and lifting intermittently. So without going to the gym that's about what you burn according to that source.
  • martinel2099
    martinel2099 Posts: 899 Member
    http://scoobysworkshop.com/

    this is a good resource to find your starting out calorie burn

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