Hi there! i am new-do you count your shift as exercise?

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  • buabern
    buabern Posts: 1
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    When you first signed up and entered your data you were prompted to select a lifestyle type. One of the options was "partially sedentary" and listed nursing an an example of that type of lifestyle. If that is what you selected, then, no, I would not count that as exercise. The profile questionaire uses your responses to determine how many calories you should be eating each day.
  • loves_jc
    loves_jc Posts: 86 Member
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    I would like to weight in (pun) on this I am now a stay at home wife, used to work in the hospital running up and down the stairs/halls. with the house supervisor. even though it was excercise your body is used to it so you cant count it. It is also already counted in your activy levelllll.
  • Kikilarue59
    Kikilarue59 Posts: 81 Member
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    Well I wear the Fitbit when I work. And I'm a Pastry Chef who is on her feet all day and lifting heavy bags of flour, Sugar #50 Lbs. and pails of Icing. And I usually end up walking all day also. about 10K and I am tracking it. The good thing about the FitBit is the sensors are so slight that they are picking up the Lifting and other strenous work and incorporating that into my Calories used column. I see it when I go to the site and it shows up. So, Yes definately I think you should count your steps while at work. and think about the times when you are just walking around vs. Walking around and lifting and pulling heavy things or patients. It does count.
    Kiki
  • Photoace18
    Photoace18 Posts: 1
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    Hello, I am a High School English Teacher, I walk around a lot as well however, sorry to say you cannot count that as your daily exercise. Your body is use to that and that is probably what keeps you from gaining too much weight but you need to burn more calories that you take in to lose weight. Go luck with the workout. I have a personal trainer and it keeps me accountable.:happy:
  • minime2b
    minime2b Posts: 168
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    i would set your activity level to moderately active and not count it as exercise. all of your regular daily routine stuff should fall into your activity level, and then extra exercise counted in. :)

    This
  • Nurse_krissy
    Nurse_krissy Posts: 102 Member
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    YAY, more nurses! First of all, I'm happy you joined. The best way to encourage our patients to adopt a healthy lifestyle is to lead by example! :)

    I work 12 hr shifts on a critical cardiac care unit. I don't count that as exercise because of how I signed up for MFP in the daily activites section. However, if there's a day that I have to run to a code (or two.... or three) and I'm hightailing it across the hospital and running up 3-4 flights of stairs to get there, I give myself a little extra wiggle room in my diet for the day (a couple Hershey's Kisses, for example)! "Code Blue" translates into chocolate for me!
  • tebadb
    tebadb Posts: 1
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    I am also an nurse who works in a rural hospital in NW Ohio, ER nurse and shift supervisor. I do work 12 hour shifts. I generaly do not count my shifts as exercise. I usually only exercise on my days off.
  • mizzle674
    mizzle674 Posts: 2
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    You should not count your daily activity as your exercise. When you set your daily count for calorie's you can pick a light, moderate, or active lifestyle. I would pick pick light or moderate if you walk that much at work.
  • PLUMSGRL
    PLUMSGRL Posts: 1,134 Member
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    hey guys, i am nurse who walks pretty much the entire 8 hours of my shift, i wear a pedometer from the time i leave home and take it off when i return home, i usually hit well over the 10K step daily goal. should i count that as part of my daily exercise? i haven't started doing additional workouts beyond my shifts but i am certainly planning to. my husband and i are going to start exercising in the evenings together, i am sick of the treadmill/walking so i am looking currently to buy a recumbent bike.

    anyhoo, a little bit about me. i am mid thirties, a psych nurse, live in the cleveland area, married for 10 years, became engaged 12 years ago today in fact. i have 2 children 4 and 5, i sell avon, i am an avid couponer and run an online prayer group and an online facebook group for moms who want to swap and/or sell items. And yes, in addition to this, i am going to attempt to lose weight. HA!!!! i need to be committed to my own floor.

    anyway, would love to hear from some other local nurses.

    take care!~:smile::smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile:

    It's factored in as your activity level~
  • ImSoPerfectlyFlawed
    ImSoPerfectlyFlawed Posts: 127 Member
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    I walk all day and I don't count those calories as exercise. I count that as part of my ADL's, I figure my body is used to that movement.
  • cakeums
    cakeums Posts: 231 Member
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    I would switch your activity level to active. I'm a waitress, in school (I try to take walks around campus when I have breaks), and have two small children. I have a FitBit and I usually average 10,000 steps per day (some days are around 8000, others as much as 16-17000) so I have my activity level set to "active." I had it at lightly active before, but am losing better since I changed it. Then I add in intentional exercise - strength and cardio, things I would use my heart rate monitor for. The FitBit gives me an adjustment on calorie burn too (it links to MFP, so if I burn more than MFP estimates I would in a day based on the FitBit, it gives me exercise calories) but I don't typically eat them back unless it's after a 12 hour double or I did walk upwards of 15,000+ steps that day.
  • ratie
    ratie Posts: 2
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    Hi there fellow nurse.
    I work with the registry and do all kinds of nursing including psych. I hear you about spending almost all of my shift on my feet sometimes, at least 4 hours of pushing the cart and running after patients/residents.

    So..yes I feel justified in counting calories either as fast paced or at times slow walking, I think it counts, and I do feel it too !

    Feel free to add me to your friendship, I have a few months with this MFP and am really enjoying it!

    Good luck!:smile::smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile:
  • louellenlehman
    louellenlehman Posts: 9
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    Hello, your shift is physical, to be sure, but work is work! Exercise should be a specially carved out "you" time--I believe. I wear a step counter too and my work adds quite a few steps, but it is stop and go--not sustained. You deserve to take care of yourself by doing an activity you like--don't just care for others--this is something women tend to do, especially nurses. good luck
  • mccarol1956
    mccarol1956 Posts: 422 Member
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    I have intentionally set my self at sedentary, I work only 3 nights a week, the others I have various levels of activity. I count my walking at work as well as my exercise when I am not at work. This is what works for me. I do not eat back the calories from work only from exercise. I am steadily losing 1-2 lbs a week at 1600 calories a day plus my exercise calories. I think what I am doing works well for me! Thanks for the advice though.
  • hanniejong
    hanniejong Posts: 556 Member
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    You certainly can count your walking at work, they say for us to walk 10k thru the day if we can and you are doing that. Having said that it would also be beneficail if you included other exercise to ofset your walking at work. I also wear a pedometer and I will be adding my walking too.
  • jennpiller
    jennpiller Posts: 5
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    thanks for all the feedback, so far, i am keeping in check with calories NOT taking into account how active i am at work, so hopefully i will keep losing.
  • jpfost
    jpfost Posts: 194 Member
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    It does not count sad to say. Your body has adapted to your day to day walking around. Need to elevate your heart rate to burn calories.

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