Should i count my job as exercise???

Well here is it guys and gals!

I work as a waitress and therfore do a lottt of walking, running up and down stairs, lifting plates and large trays full of dirty glasses ect........

And i do this for about 5 hours a shift, and it says on my pedometer that i burn (on busy days) around 400 calories....and that is just steps not including lifting heavy objects and the stairs.

So i was woundering if i should count this as exercise or not??

because i go to the gym twice a week and then run once a week then work friday, saturday and sunday....is it a workout?

Oh and forgot to say i eat around 1300 calories a day...should i up them or stay as i am?

Im 5'7" 120lbs trying to lose around 5lbs and tone a bit

thank youuuuu x

Sort of depends.  If you do it 4-5 days a week then I would probably just up yout activity level to  moderately active. If it's only 2-3 days per week, then I would count it as exercise.

I used to wait tables and I can attest that it burns a lot of caloires. 

You're probably not going to want to hear the rest of this.... 

At 5'7" and 120, you are already at a low BMI.  Not necessarily an unhealthy BMI, but even if you are naturally thin and small framed, I can't really imagine you have 5 pounds that you can afford to lose.  115 pounds would be 18 BMI which is considered unhealthy I believe.

I would suggest you up your calories.  1300 calories a day for someone 5'7" isn't enough for a sedentary person and you are definitely not sedentary.

If you are not happy with your body, why not give up some of the cardio and get some weight lifting in.  It will not make you bulky, but it will give you that "toned" look that you talk about. 

Oh gutted i thought i could sneak it in as exercise ha!  And im glad you can get what i am on about as a fellow waiteress =)

Yeah i suppose your right....i just tryed to double check my weight again and im around 8.5ish stones how many pounds is that?

I feel quite healthy but i do have body issues (hey what girl aint lol) But will try some weight lifting instead =)

Original Post by karozel:

If it's only 2-3 days per week, then I would count it as exercise.

 

Do you mean you wouldnt or would. sorry got a bit confused by this.

Thanks for your help =)

 

Oh, I'm not saying it doesn't count as exercise!  You are definitely burning a lot of calories doing it.   Not sure if it gets your heart rate up enough to be cardio... but you do need to account for all those calories you're burning.

And I checked and 8.5 stone is 119 pounds. 

I think the weight lifting will help a lot more than losing 5 pounds.  Maybe you would be better of taking your measurements and forgetting about the scales for a while. 

oh hahaha!! i thought you were saying not to oops.

=D yeah i will give it a go and see where it gets me...

thank you for all your help karozel, your a star !!!

Good luck with your weight loss too!

I would definatly up your calories, you really at the very lowest BMI for your weight. But yes I would count it as excersise.

Hi :) I'm a full-time waitress as well. I waitress 5 days a week for 6-7 hours a day. Though I'm not necessarily running all 7 hours, I certainly don't get a chance to sit down and therefore I'm burning a LOT more calories than I am watching TV or even at school. Since it's a full-time job and I know I'll be doing it every week - I count myself as moderately active and then log work outs. I formally work out 5-6 days a week for at least an hour as well so my burn-meter is usually closest to "vigorously active".

Hope this helps :) Waitresses are often tiny because it's such an active job. Not that I condone losing any more weight for you - but if you're trying to get a more accurate picture of your activity level, that's what I can offer you. 

If you decided that it does 'count' as exercise, would you do anything different?

Maybe u can get one of those calorie counter wrist watches and see how many calories you are burning.  You are not necessarily exercising, but the more calories you burn the higher chances u have of losing weight.  To me every penny counts and whatever calories you can burn, well burn it.  You will be seeing results anyways, esp. if you are aware of your calorie intake.  So if you end up burning more than your consuming then that will help you definately.

@angeldimples -- you're thoughts are really good for someone who is trying to lose wieght, but kadarka is already at a pretty low weight for her height. 

What she is wondering (I think) is if she needs to eating back some of those calories. 

So for her "burning more than your consuming" is not the goal.  She needs to realize how much she is burning, so she can eat to replace them. 

Yeah i think i misunderstood.  But to increase the calorie count that is easy...just eat, haha.

thank you all for your advice i think i will bump up my activity level up to moderate =)

Oh and floggingsully i probably wouldnt....maybe go to the gym for one extra day probably....