A Waitress' Life: Calories Burned on the Job

kerryannk
kerryannk Posts: 148
edited October 3 in Fitness and Exercise
I never log work as my exercise, but I worked a 10 hour shift yesterday, so I logged half of it.

How much does MFP account for in regards to calorie burn when I say I have an "active lifestyle"?
Does it take into account that I'm not on my feet (working) 7 days a week?

I'm doing some number crunching, and it seems that even accounting for walking at a leisurely pace, I burn 1000 cals per 5 hour shift (my shifts are normally 8 hours, but I'm accounting for the inevitable lounging time). The difference in calorie burn between a more sedentary lifestyle and an active lifestyle is 280 cals/day. An extra 280 cals burned the 5 days a week I'm working will give me 1400 cals burned at work.

So am I burning 1400 cals during a workweek? Or 5000?

I feel like the answers to these questions are always, "Get a HRM". :)

Replies

  • MrsKipp
    MrsKipp Posts: 3
    I am having the same questions, I work as a customer service associate at a grocery store. I work 7hr shifts, and walk constantly. I was not sure if I should log that, I wore a pedometer for a week and it turned out i walk about 3 miles a day a shift :/ Those calories add up, so do i count them or not?
  • Timdog57
    Timdog57 Posts: 102 Member

    I feel like the answers to these questions are always, "Get a HRM". :)

    I don't know the answer to this question, but I will say that a HRM might not help you in this case. The HRM calculations for calories burned assume that you are doing steady state cardio, so they could be way off for something like waitressing. Body Bugg may give you a decent calculation, but I'm not sure.

    I think if you are losing weight doing what you're doing, don't get too worried about the answer to this question. If you are stuck however, then maybe it's time to change something up. That's just my 2 cents...
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