question

amberjulius
amberjulius Posts: 4
in Introduce Yourself
i'm somewhat new to this. i just have a question. i work as a waitress. if i am busy (on my feet walking fast) for a few hours straight, should i consider that exercise for the day?

Replies

  • amberjulius
    amberjulius Posts: 4
    i'm somewhat new to this. i just have a question. i work as a waitress. if i am busy (on my feet walking fast) for a few hours straight, should i consider that exercise for the day?
  • karlira
    karlira Posts: 100
    HI

    I wouldn't count that as exercise, although that depends on if doing that is something you're used to. If that's the case, probably it wont affect your weight loss.

    I count as exercise only what I know I did as exercise...
  • sac04809
    sac04809 Posts: 9 Member
    when you put in your goals on this website it asks what type of job you do then it determines the calories your able to eat. I don't know if this info helps answers your question somewhat.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,940 Member
    It is an "activity level" in your "Goals". It even uses waitressing as an example. Any 'planned' exercise would be manually added as "Exercise" on a daily basis.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    right, what cm said.

    The reasoning behind this is as follows:

    the human body has evolved to walk a lot. Exercise should be things that you wouldn't normally do every day. Something that is done every day every week (or close to it) isn't really exercise because your body has adjusted to it. Is your metabolism higher then if you didn't do this at all? Maybe a little, but not as much as you would think, that's why they set an activity level in the goals section.

    Exercise should be outside your comfort zone.
    By that I mean, you shouldn't be comfortable when exercising.

    Exercise can vary from light to moderate to hard. It doesn't matter that much at the beginning which one you choose as long as you are aware that the harder you exercise, the more calories you will burn.

    that being said, it's not always a great idea to jump right into hard core cardio from nothing. Make sure your body can handle it first. Get in a few weeks of light to moderate cardio first, if you feel ok after that, then make the decision to go harder if you want to.

    Remember, this is a lifestyle change, which means, changing forever. Adding exercise should be something you feel you can do for the rest of your life.
  • sonjavon
    sonjavon Posts: 1,019 Member
    right, what cm said.

    The reasoning behind this is as follows:

    the human body has evolved to walk a lot. Exercise should be things that you wouldn't normally do every day. Something that is done every day every week (or close to it) isn't really exercise because your body has adjusted to it. Is your metabolism higher then if you didn't do this at all? Maybe a little, but not as much as you would think, that's why they set an activity level in the goals section.

    Exercise should be outside your comfort zone.
    By that I mean, you shouldn't be comfortable when exercising.

    Exercise can vary from light to moderate to hard. It doesn't matter that much at the beginning which one you choose as long as you are aware that the harder you exercise, the more calories you will burn.

    that being said, it's not always a great idea to jump right into hard core cardio from nothing. Make sure your body can handle it first. Get in a few weeks of light to moderate cardio first, if you feel ok after that, then make the decision to go harder if you want to.

    Remember, this is a lifestyle change, which means, changing forever. Adding exercise should be something you feel you can do for the rest of your life.

    WOW! Thanks for that excellent explanation! Ya know how you've kind of heard something for years and years and it never really "clicked" but all of a sudden someone said something in a slightly different way and you have an "a-ha" moment? Yep - that was right now... Thanks! AND.... Go Red Sox!!!
  • amberjulius
    amberjulius Posts: 4
    ok. well, i only waitress 1 or 2 times a week, so i'm just not sure. does that change any of your responses?
  • sonjavon
    sonjavon Posts: 1,019 Member
    It's activity - but I don't think I'd consider it "exercise". For instance - for the past several days our dogs have not been able to use our backyard - so I've taken them out walking separately to "do their thing".... all in all, about 2 hours of walking... but, I don't count that towards "exercise" because it's stop and start, fast at times but slow at others. While I'm sweaty by the time I come home - my heart rate never stays at an elevated level for a significant time.

    I used to waitress, so I TOTALLY understand wanting to count that exercise because IT IS a workout at times... but I wouldn't count it if I were you. I'd just look at it as "extra- off the books" movement... the good news is... it can't hurt.
  • amberjulius
    amberjulius Posts: 4
    good point. thanks for the input!
  • purpleparadox
    purpleparadox Posts: 40
    Well, while you're still burning calories being up and about all day, it's not the same as exercise, where you burn a lot of calories in a relatively short amount of time with a decent amount of effort.

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