Calories While Working

MommyofBoys
MommyofBoys Posts: 75
edited October 4 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all,
I just bought a heart rate monitor so I decided to wear it to work to see how many calories I burn while working, I'm a cashier at Walmart. It said I burnt 1100 calories in 3 hours, which is around what I would burn using the cleaning exercise from mpf's database. I have my activity level set to sedentary. So my question is, do I log that as exercise or how do I go about this?
Thanks!

Replies

  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
    HRM is not accurate for everyday life like that. Should only be used for exercise
  • lisamate
    lisamate Posts: 3
    wow .. what a way do bring someone's self-esteem down.
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    i dont think she was being mean, just mentioned that HRMs are only intended to be used while exercising.. (though i did use mine while doing some vigorous yard work the other day).
    that said, i think you should change your activity level from sedentary to at least lightly active, and then only log actual exercise
  • Fayve
    Fayve Posts: 406 Member
    wow .. what a way do bring someone's self-esteem down.

    The poster before you is 100% correct though. Most HRMs (other than Bodybugs) are not designed to track periods of time not solely devoted to exercise. I don't know the exact reason, but you won't be able to get an accurate count for a day. Example: I heard about a woman about 150lbs wearing her HRM all day long, and it said about 4000 calories. Likely? I think not.
  • MommyofBoys
    MommyofBoys Posts: 75
    HRM is not accurate for everyday life like that. Should only be used for exercise
    I'm not using it for everyday life, I don't work everyday nor do I work all day when I do. As a cashier I'm constantly moving and lifting things, I just thought that would have counted for something.
  • MommyofBoys
    MommyofBoys Posts: 75
    i dont think she was being mean, just mentioned that HRMs are only intended to be used while exercising.. (though i did use mine while doing some vigorous yard work the other day).
    that said, i think you should change your activity level from sedentary to at least lightly active, and then only log actual exercise
    that's what I was thinking of doing
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    i dont think she was being mean, just mentioned that HRMs are only intended to be used while exercising.. (though i did use mine while doing some vigorous yard work the other day).
    that said, i think you should change your activity level from sedentary to at least lightly active, and then only log actual exercise
    that's what I was thinking of doing

    i just did it the other day. i was set to sedentary and logging walks to take my kid to school and pick her up, and walking to get my produce box. it got to the point that i wasnt getting the same calorie burn and i had to walk a lot faster to get my heart rate up. so i changed to lightly active, and only log my walks around the lake (that i plan as exercise) and 30 day shred. seems to be working for me so far, but has only been a couple days
  • JeepBaja
    JeepBaja Posts: 1,824 Member
    You are burning calories by not just sitting down but 1100 over three hours? I don't have enough experience to say that is true but from my own experience using an iPhone pedometer with GPS tracking, it takes me about 4-6 hours to get into the 1100-1200 calorie burn range...

    I always move around my work as I am a System Administrator for a fairly good sized college. I do 3-4 miles a day! I was amazed how much I walked once I started tracking myself via GPS.

    It's not unusual for me to have 4-6 hours of movement being tracked. I might have a walking rate of .05MPH but during that 4-6 hours I am standing, bending up and down moving around then walking from building to building and usually 4 laps around the track when time permits. For me 1100-1200 calorie burns are the "long days" at work. Most of time it is around 650-700.

    If you have a smart phone that can do GPS check out some of the pedometer apps out there and compare the two...
  • MrsCon40
    MrsCon40 Posts: 2,351 Member
    Or if it's for only 3 hours at a time you can take the calorie burn your HRM reports and subtract what you'd burn at rest for the same period of time. That will be slightly more accurate but your best bet is to change your activity level.

    Enjoy the extra calories! :bigsmile:
  • MommyofBoys
    MommyofBoys Posts: 75
    Or if it's for only 3 hours at a time you can take the calorie burn your HRM reports and subtract what you'd burn at rest for the same period of time. That will be slightly more accurate but your best bet is to change your activity level.

    Enjoy the extra calories! :bigsmile:
    That's a good idea. But how do you know what you burn at rest?
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    Heart rate monitors are not accurate for calorie burn when worn when the heart rate is not elevated to at least 125-130 minimum. Mine said this straight up in the instruction manual. Don't trust that burn number and don't count it into your day.

    If you want to get a daily caloric burn look into something like a BodyBugg or a BodyMedia Fit. They don't go by heart rate at all. They are worn on the upper arm and measure sleep, activity levels, steps taken, and overall calories burned based on four measuring points of data collected all day long (galvanic skin response, skin tempurature, body heat and movement vis an accelerometer).

    You will only be hurting your efforts if you count any amount of those calories as exercise.

    (to answer your question about what you burn at rest, find your BMR and divide it by 24 hours and that will give you your approximate per hour caloric burn while at rest. I have compared multiple BMR calculators against my BodyMedia Fit data and that is a fairly accurate evaluation)
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
    HRM is not accurate for everyday life like that. Should only be used for exercise
    I'm not using it for everyday life, I don't work everyday nor do I work all day when I do. As a cashier I'm constantly moving and lifting things, I just thought that would have counted for something.

    Not really sure how saying that would have brought your self esteem down, wasn't intended to.

    Work is still part of everyday life, it is assumed you get days off hehe xD I was a cashier for 3 years at a grocery store and wouldn't count it as exercise still. I think it would be better to raise your activity level :]

    Try what you wish and see if it works. You can log the 1100, but if you aren't losing then you know you are over estimating, which is very common when someone is trying to lose weight
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