Fitness/exercise questions! =)

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rachyz88
rachyz88 Posts: 32 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
If anyone can help me with a couple questions i'd be very grateful :)

First..... I just started the 'Women's Health Lean-Body Workout' and I'm not really sure how to work out how many calories i've burnt doing it. Has anyone done this before??

Second question is..... I work in retail as a part of a merchandiser crew. I do ALOT of lifting, boxes ect.... Should I log this as extra work? I already selected a active lifestyle when I set my profile up, but I feel like 1200 sometimes just is not enough! Especially when I'm exhausted from work and don't work out.

Any help or advice would be awesome :)
Thanks!!

Replies

  • Angela4Health
    Angela4Health Posts: 1,319 Member
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    Hi there. You really should purchase an HRM with a chest strap to calculate calories burned during exercise. Polar FT4 is what I have and it's the best investment I ever made. Others here will recommend you get an HRM as well.

    If you have already selected active lifestyle I'm not sure why you would only be on 1200 calories a day. In that case, yes I would log that as exercise on the days you lift heavy boxes and such, but those extra calories should have already been figured in when you chose active lifestyle. I'm not sure why it didn't happen.
  • rachyz88
    rachyz88 Posts: 32 Member
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    Ok... sounds gd thank you! I actually work in a sports store so I'm sure I could find one for a reasonable price :)

    Yea.... It's hard to stick to such a little amount of calories when I'm sooo active!I notice myself cheating because I'm hungry alot lol.

    Thanks again that has really helped
  • hroush
    hroush Posts: 2,073 Member
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    As far as the second question, I definitely think you should consume more calories. What do you have your weekly loss set at, 2 lbs? Whatever it is, I would suggest lessening that by a half pound and that should boost your calories.
  • Disciplined74
    Disciplined74 Posts: 298 Member
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    Here's my two cents for what that's worth.

    Set your activity level to sedentary and then log your work and workout. Because 1200 doesn't seem like nearly enough for a physically demanding job.

    In addition to that see how much weight you are loosing. Ideally you only want to loose a pound or two a week. If you are eating 1200 and working in a physically demanding job you are probably loosing about a pound a day but feeling hungry and sluggish. Eat more calories if you are loosing too fast or are unable to gather the energy to get through a work day.

    Smaller meals more frequently (I think nuts are a great pick me up snack that leaves me feeling full).

    I wish you the best.

    Eva
  • tbrown1025
    tbrown1025 Posts: 165
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    I love my FT4.

    MFP may be calculating 1200cals based on the amount you selected to lose per week. Try changing that amount and see if your cals needed changes.
  • rachyz88
    rachyz88 Posts: 32 Member
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    As far as the second question, I definitely think you should consume more calories. What do you have your weekly loss set at, 2 lbs? Whatever it is, I would suggest lessening that by a half pound and that should boost your calories.

    I seeee yes I actually have it set at 2 pounds a week because I have a vacation coming up lol! I know half a pound to a pound is the best way. I'm just being impatient I guess :)

    Thank you for your help!
  • rachyz88
    rachyz88 Posts: 32 Member
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    Here's my two cents for what that's worth.

    Set your activity level to sedentary and then log your work and workout. Because 1200 doesn't seem like nearly enough for a physically demanding job.

    In addition to that see how much weight you are loosing. Ideally you only want to loose a pound or two a week. If you are eating 1200 and working in a physically demanding job you are probably loosing about a pound a day but feeling hungry and sluggish. Eat more calories if you are loosing too fast or are unable to gather the energy to get through a work day.

    Smaller meals more frequently (I think nuts are a great pick me up snack that leaves me feeling full).

    I wish you the best.


    I wish I was loosing a pound a day lol!! I notice I cheat because I'm hungry so I def think your right. I'm going to log my activity and just set my lifestyle as less active.

    thanks!
  • MrBrown72
    MrBrown72 Posts: 407 Member
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    Please do make sure you selected "active" in your profile. Your starting calories should be a bit higher. Perhaps as hroush said trying for 1lb a week instead of two?

    I do strongly agree with the HRM idea. It really is amazing what one it can do for the psyche. I have use mine to compete against my previous workouts as well as to keep me pushing harder.

    I don't think I'd log the things I do everyday anyway. If my daily activity were going to work I'd not have an issue to begin with. Besides it too easily becomes a way to avoid actaully trying and you find yourself trying to count every time you so much as move as some kind of carido. In fact I'm surprised I've not seen anyone add "Showering" as an exercise yet. However if you help unload the semi that brings the stock once a week or twice a month I'd say count that one.
  • rachyz88
    rachyz88 Posts: 32 Member
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    Please do make sure you selected "active" in your profile. Your starting calories should be a bit higher. Perhaps as hroush said trying for 1lb a week instead of two?

    I do strongly agree with the HRM idea. It really is amazing what one it can do for the psyche. I have use mine to compete against my previous workouts as well as to keep me pushing harder.

    I don't think I'd log the things I do everyday anyway. If my daily activity were going to work I'd not have an issue to begin with. Besides it too easily becomes a way to avoid actaully trying and you find yourself trying to count every time you so much as move as some kind of carido. In fact I'm surprised I've not seen anyone add "Showering" as an exercise yet. However if you help unload the semi that brings the stock once a week or twice a month I'd say count that one.

    haha you had me laughing with your response, but it's so true!

    I def will take your advice... thanks :)
  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    That's awesome, good luck getting to your goals. A couple things to consider:

    1. The calorie tracker should account for it for your job's physical requirements, at least to a point.
    2. Remember it's not just about how much you each, but what you eat. Although the calorie tracker breaks out macro-nutrient goals I would recommend ignoring them while you're doing this. Slowly cut back on your carbs; I'm not saying go full Keto or anything but drop that down a lot and up your protein in-take. Make sure you're consuming Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's) and good carbs with what carbs you do consume.

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