How many hours of walking?

jcal1021
jcal1021 Posts: 2 Member
edited November 20 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all!
I work retail and am on my feet all day. I work 7-8 hour shifts with one 1/2 hr break. The rest of the time I am sticking,helping customers,walking back and forth.

My question is, how should I log this? Could I say a low pace walk? How many hours would I put in to make it fair?

Any help is greatly appreciated!
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Replies

  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    If you don't know, how do you expect us to know?

    I wouldn't bother logging it really.
  • Strawili
    Strawili Posts: 48 Member
    Have you looked into fitbits or other step-counting devices?
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    I'd probably make it part of the default activity level if worried about it at all.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    I'd probably make it part of the default activity level if worried about it at all.

    This is what I would do as well. Or get a fitbit type device if you really want to know what you're burning.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    jcal1021 wrote: »
    Hey all!
    I work retail and am on my feet all day. I work 7-8 hour shifts with one 1/2 hr break. The rest of the time I am sticking,helping customers,walking back and forth.

    My question is, how should I log this?

    Work (including housework, yard work and child care) is part of your activity level, and should not be logged as exercise.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
    Get a fitbit if you can. I have a walking based job too and the fitbit really takes the guesswork out. You will have periods of higher vs lower intensity in your day, as you know. The fitbit will track it more accurately than you can do with guessing. I have found it to be a huge help in tracking my calorie needs.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited July 2015
    Because your activity is predictable and throughout the day rather than in bursts, I'd set your activity level to Lightly Active or Active: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided
    Or get a step tracking device such as a fitbit. If the cost is an object, you could ask your family to kick in for your birthday, Christmas, whatever.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited July 2015
    editorgrrl wrote: »
    jcal1021 wrote: »
    Hey all!
    I work retail and am on my feet all day. I work 7-8 hour shifts with one 1/2 hr break. The rest of the time I am sticking,helping customers,walking back and forth.

    My question is, how should I log this?

    Work (including housework, yard work and child care) is part of your activity level, and should not be logged as exercise.

    Some days I don't garden. Yesterday I gardened for two hours. I have my activity level set at Sedentary and log it. Same thing with cooking. Sometimes I cook for just myself but other times cook for a crowd. Spent two hours cooking yesterday. Logged it.

    (I don't eat back all the calories I earn from exercise.)

  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    I wouldn't log it, assuming you gained weight while you were at the same job. You might want to set your activity level at moderately active if it's currently set to sedentary.
  • loulamb7
    loulamb7 Posts: 801 Member
    I would agree that work activity should be included in your daily activity setting not as exercise. Adjust the setting based on experience, if you start as lightly active but are losing faster then expected then increase to active.
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    I wouldn't log it.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
    editorgrrl wrote: »
    jcal1021 wrote: »

    My question is, how should I log this?

    Work (including housework, yard work and child care) is part of your activity level, and should not be logged as exercise.

    Definitely don't log it but if not using a fitbit or other tracker set your activity level to high. I have mine set to high and it still turned out that I was underestimating activity. My Fitbit gives me an extra 7-800 exercise calories a day just from the walking I do as a part of my work day. I eat them all back. I feel better and still lose weight rather easily.

    Some of us just don't fit neatly into one of those activity level check boxes. Having a tracker takes so much of the guess work out of this.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    I'd probably make it part of the default activity level if worried about it at all.

    Yep, or use a pedometer or FitBit.

    I'd start with lightly active if you are reasonably sedentary outside work (although my suspicion is it's more) and see how your loss rate is. If higher than expected you can always kick the activity level up more.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    jcal1021 wrote: »
    Hey all!
    I work retail and am on my feet all day. I work 7-8 hour shifts with one 1/2 hr break. The rest of the time I am sticking,helping customers,walking back and forth.

    My question is, how should I log this? Could I say a low pace walk? How many hours would I put in to make it fair?

    Any help is greatly appreciated!
    I work retail as well and never stand still, constant lifting as well. I have my activity set as light to moderate.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
    I'd consider it when setting my activity level rather than logging it separately.

    Personally I have my activity level set as sedentary. Yes, I have a desk job, but I'm also a mom and home owner. I routinely take several trips up and down the stairs daily (usually lugging laundry), walk the family dog, and my weekends are spend gardening/doing yard work, or hiking to the far reaches of lacrosse fields and soccer pitches. None of that gets logged--I consider it bonus burn and don't freak out if my logging isn't measured to the 0.01 grams. What do I log? Runs (90 miles in June alone), trips to the gym, and yoga.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    +1 to the ones who say either set it to be included in your acruvuity level or get a pedometer/fitbit. Dont start giving yourself credit for activity you arent doing as it will mess your deficit up.
  • missieuk
    missieuk Posts: 9 Member
    If you have a smart phone, down load a free stepper application, I used this before getting my fitbit HR, as long as u have you cell/phone on u it will record the steps and also give you a calorie count, much better than guessing and free
  • emdeesea
    emdeesea Posts: 1,823 Member
    Not likely that you're breaking a sweat or getting up your heart rate. I would not log it.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Set to at least lightly active, maybe higher, or purchase an activity tracker.
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  • whmscll
    whmscll Posts: 2,255 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Set to at least lightly active, maybe higher, or purchase an activity tracker.

    This is what I would do...set your default activity to slightly active. Then you don't have to worry about logging.
  • blossomingbutterfly
    blossomingbutterfly Posts: 743 Member
    As others have said - set your activity level to lightly active and don't log it.
  • pteryndactyl
    pteryndactyl Posts: 303 Member
    Get a Fitbit, definitely! Even one of the cheap $50 ones will help. I do retail part time and some days I'll walk 5,000 steps at work and others I'll walk 22,000, depending on how busy we are. Fitbit really takes the guesswork out of it.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    You only need a fitbit or zip, the HRM ones are no better at logging this kind of activity

    But if you don't want to I'd set your activity to lightly active and judge your weight loss over the next 6-8 weeks and adjust accordingly
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    I'd include it in my activity level and forget about it.
  • Serah87
    Serah87 Posts: 5,481 Member
    editorgrrl wrote: »
    jcal1021 wrote: »
    Hey all!
    I work retail and am on my feet all day. I work 7-8 hour shifts with one 1/2 hr break. The rest of the time I am sticking,helping customers,walking back and forth.

    My question is, how should I log this?

    Work (including housework, yard work and child care) is part of your activity level, and should not be logged as exercise.

    ^^^This!!^^^
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  • suefromgrays
    suefromgrays Posts: 9 Member
    Get a fitbit honey it got me to goal weight :-)
  • liftingandlipstick
    liftingandlipstick Posts: 1,857 Member
    emdeesea wrote: »
    Not likely that you're breaking a sweat or getting up your heart rate. I would not log it.

    You've obviously never worked retail. Downstacking pallets of freight, and then working said cases of (often heavy) merchandise can absolutely cause you to break a sweat and get your heart rate up.

    I also work retail, on my feet 40 hours a week. Some days I work tons of freight, some days I walk the length of the store 20-30 times doing various errands, some days are slow and I catch up on paperwork and other mostly sedentary activities. I set my activity level to lightly active and don't log any of it. Unless I do something insanely higher, like unloading a truck or something. I tried setting myself to sedentary and logging something like 1/2 hour walking or something on "rest days", but I found it made me less honest with my food logging, so I put it back at lightly active. Works for me, and I'm still losing.

  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
    I too love my fitbit zip. I see you only have a few pounds to goal. With so little weight to lose, unless you are very tall, what you set your activity level at is not going to make much of a difference in the calories you can consume and still lose weight. I would set my activity level at active and work at logging my calories in as precisely as possible. Just get a handle on how much you really are eating. If you are not losing or worse yet, gaining, over the next 4-6 weeks, then adjust your activity level down to create a larger deficit and add some exercise.
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