Is working considered exercise?

kmjoctober · February 2012

I work at a grocery store. I stock, unload freight, pull freight, clean, and walk. Using my pedometer I average 3 miles on an 8 hour shift.

Do I put this in my exercise journal? Does it even count as exercise?
I tried to put in "walking at a slow pace" for 240 minutes and it says I burned like 1100 calories. That doesn't seem very accurate.

Help?

kendib · February 2012

When you filled out your profile it asked what was your daily activity like? I work at a desk all day and so mine would be Sedentary. I would list yours as Light Active to Active depending on how much of your day is spent lifting.

My husband's job would be considered light active so he gets more calories everyday to eat and then logs exercise.

lizard053 · February 2012

I don't count work as exercise, however on my best days work is lightly active.

You have two choices on how to deal with this. Set your daily activity to lightly active, and not log what you do at work as exercise. OR, list yourself as sedentarty (especially if you are when not at work) and list work as exercise. I think there is even loading and unloading in exercise!

kmjoctober · February 2012

well I put lightly active at first and it told me I needed to eat like 2200 calories. so I put sedentary instead and now it tells me to eat 1800 calories.

kmjoctober · February 2012

OK for example yesterday I worked 1pm to 10pm. From 5pm to 6pm I am sitting cause it's my lunch hour. the rest of the time I am standing but not necessarily walking, but constantly moving whether I'm unloading, printing labels, cleaning, etc. So even though I ate 2100 calories (according to my food diary, give or take) I know I burned some too because I was moving for at least 7 of the 9 hours.

So should I change my active thing to lightly active and just not put any exercise at all?

yesthistime · February 2012

I don't count any of my work as exercise (I work in a hospital and the amount of walking from place to place varies by the hour). I count my activity level as sedentary still because I only work an eight-hour day and five days per week, and I do a WHOLE LOT of sitting once I get home and on weekends. So I only count the exercise I do for health (gym, extra walks, workout DVDs, etc.) as exercise to ensure that I am not overeating. Honestly, I would play around with the numbers and find what's comfortable for you -- your plan is more likely to stick that way :flowerforyou:

kmjoctober · February 2012

Right now in the winter time I am sedentary cause it's cold outside but during spring summer most of my free time is spent outdoors doing yardwork.

And I'm about to start building a chicken coop for chickens. YAY CHICKENS.

MaximalLife · February 2012

Every friend I know who never loses weight has a pedometer and wants to log in their numbers as exercise.
It's NOT exercise.
Throw that thing away and just exercise.
Account for your walking around during the day in your activity settings.

reaolliemama · February 2012

I don't count things I NORMALLY DO at work as exercise, but the other day we cleaned out some storage area, lots of lift and carrying stuff to the dumpsters and stuff I don't normally do, so I did. My job is usually sedentary!

Pollywog39 · February 2012

OK for example yesterday I worked 1pm to 10pm. From 5pm to 6pm I am sitting cause it's my lunch hour. the rest of the time I am standing but not necessarily walking, but constantly moving whether I'm unloading, printing labels, cleaning, etc. So even though I ate 2100 calories (according to my food diary, give or take) I know I burned some too because I was moving for at least 7 of the 9 hours.

So should I change my active thing to lightly active and just not put any exercise at all?

If I were you, I'd change to lightly active (or even ACTIVE, as you're movin' and groovin' most of your work time), and only put in exercise that you do OUTSIDE of your norm........if you're unloading trucks and hauling boxes and lifting a LOT in a day, I would add a bit for that (there are excercise categories for Moving & lifting). How much is your goal to lose a week? I would up that, if you want LESS calories.

For me, I only want to lose 1/2 lb a week. I am sedentary to lightly active, so put my exercise goals at 4 twenty minute workouts a week............that seems to be working for me, and gives me a little over 1400 calories a day

engineman312 · February 2012

Every friend I know who never loses weight has a pedometer and wants to log in their numbers as exercise.
It's NOT exercise.
Throw that thing away and just exercise.
Account for your walking around during the day in your activity settings.

this

stormieweather · February 2012

I would say lightly active. If you were moving constantly (even if not sweating or lifting) you would probably put active.

By the way, 3 miles is not really that much. I use a FitBit and log more than that in my sitting-at-a-desk-all-day job. That's all considered to be part of your "lifestyle". Only exercise for the sake of fitness should be considered extra (on MFP).

becoming_a_new_me · February 2012

OK for example yesterday I worked 1pm to 10pm. From 5pm to 6pm I am sitting cause it's my lunch hour. the rest of the time I am standing but not necessarily walking, but constantly moving whether I'm unloading, printing labels, cleaning, etc. So even though I ate 2100 calories (according to my food diary, give or take) I know I burned some too because I was moving for at least 7 of the 9 hours.

So should I change my active thing to lightly active and just not put any exercise at all?

Go with active and not log exercise unless you do a real workout

kbendert · February 2012

For me, I don't consider any of my normal daily activities as exercise. This includes doing dishes, laundry, walking to and from class, walking while shopping, etc. However, my day as a student is not as physically demanding as yours. The only things I count as exercise are things that I go out of my way to do as exercise (zumba, running, walking for exercise specifically). My activity level on MFP is set on sedentary.

This has worked well for me. However, if your job is very physically demanding, just setting it on sedentary may be under-estimating the calories you need. If you find yourself feeling hungry or tired, you may not be eating enough to cover your exercise & work activities, and you may need to consider switching from sedentary to lightly active.

rileysowner · February 2012

With your work you are definitely lightly active. You should set that as your activity level and only log exercise that is actually exercise.

engineman312 · February 2012

you know, none of these numbers are accurate. MFP's numbers are a recommendation. try setting it to lightly active, but if you are really hungry some days, don't be afraid to go over. log your exercise calories, and eat them.

Partyofpugs · February 2012

Things I do daily (including work) is what my body is used to. I only track exercise that is out of my daily normal. I never eat my exercise calories though. I just use them as a way of keeping track of my efforts.

kmjoctober · February 2012

thanks for everyone's input. I guess what I need to do is put myself on a strict diet of leaves, sticks and berries. Haha!

Okay I'll just not consider it exercise. I guess it was when I first started doing it a year ago but now my body is used to it. I'll just log the unloading and stuff because we only do that once a day (except on rare occasions, twice)

anberlingasm · February 2012

I've started wearing a HRM to work. I work 8-9 hour shifts in retail, where I'm only taking a half hour out for lunch. The rest of the time, I'm not just stood, I'm walking around, lifting boxes, climbing ladders, moving things around.

Should I consider it exercise? I burned 2200 calories today, you're damned right I'm going to be logging some of that! I've chosen to log HALF the calories I burn at work every day because some days, I'm busier and definitely need to be eating more.

I'm sure some people will tell me I'm wrong and that the 2200 calories I burned today isn't the same as 2200 calories burned at their gym, but I lost 5lb last week so combining it with a healthier diet is definitely working just fine for me.

Glovesave3373 · February 2012

When you set up your account it asks you about your activities and work. For example my normal M-F job is seditary and I sit at a desk pretty much all day. However my part-time job I'm standing all day. For propery calorie count and goal, I set my activity level low at seditary and therefor anytime I do anything above sitting around like, stand for 6-7 hours I add that to my daily total.

If your job has you that busy all the time you should adjust your profile to show your activity level is higher than seditary.

Good luck and keep up with the questions ... they all count!!!

Glovesave3373 · February 2012

I've started wearing a HRM to work. I work 8-9 hour shifts in retail, where I'm only taking a half hour out for lunch. The rest of the time, I'm not just stood, I'm walking around, lifting boxes, climbing ladders, moving things around.

Should I consider it exercise? I burned 2200 calories today, you're damned right I'm going to be logging some of that! I've chosen to log HALF the calories I burn at work every day because some days, I'm busier and definitely need to be eating more.

I'm sure some people will tell me I'm wrong and that the 2200 calories I burned today isn't the same as 2200 calories burned at their gym, but I lost 5lb last week so combining it with a healthier diet is definitely working just fine for me.

You go... and hell yea you should count that.... GREAT JOB!!! AND I FULL AGREE!!!

Is working considered exercise?

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