Loading trucks

I asked this question a while back in regard to lawn work. Most MFPers suggested a heart rate monitor, which I purchased. Surprisingly, the lawn work was right on, but other things I logged off the general exercise were off. It also changes as you lose weight, you burn less doing the same thing. My advice would be NOT to eat all the extra calories until you are able to confirm that you are burning that many.

I just started a job at UPS. I am loading semi's with boxes and tires (boxes can weigh anything from 5lbs to 60lbs) and on average, I work about 4 hours a day. When I put it into my exercise journal, it says that I burn over 2000 calories just doing my work, can that be true?

Like anything else, you will become more efficient as you go. If this is a regular job, rather than log it as exercise, I would up your general activity profile. That's really where it belongs.

I tried the exact same job 26 years ago when I was in graduate school. It seemed like a good idea and the pay (for the time) was pretty good. Unfortunately I was going to school full time and living in a 2-room apartment with no air conditioning in the middle of the summer with my wife and infant daughter. With full-time classes and the temperature and everyone else's schedule, it was impossible to get any real sleep before starting the 2am to 6am shift. After 2 weeks I was catatonic with fatigue and nearly failed all my midterms. Needless to say, my UPS career was very short.