I work in a retail environment, which means I'm on my feet for 9 hours straight, also up and down a flight of stairs quite often, sometimes cleaning out windows displays etc/carrying moderate weight items.

I was wondering today, does this kind of daily activity burn up a lot more calories do you think? I feel really really hungry when i get home, but I'm not sure whether I should increase my calories or add more carbs etc on days I work?

Any input or advice would be great

I'd like to know the same thing. I only work 3 days a week usually, but the days I do I sit down maybe an hour total during a 7-10 hr shift. I don't get home til 9 and I always want to eat even though I've eaten at work.

From my understanding standing only burns a bit more calories than sitting. It's a difference that does depend on your current weight.

But here:

http://www.ehow.com/about_5472437_ca...s-sitting.html

it says that an 8 hour day of standing will burn from 96 to 240 more calories.

Now adding walking and lifting and stuff will burn more, but it's hard to say unless you get a heart rate monitor or something to tell exact calories burned in that time. I know for me I'm burning around 2000 calories a day but when I was heavier I was burning around 2300 per day. As I've lost weight the numbers go down (I have a gowearfit device to measure this).

It really depends how much you're moving, not whether you're sitting or standing. My wife switched florists from one where everything was stored in a smaller space (containers, flowers, supplies, etc were all in a relatively small area) to one where the containers were in the back room, flowers were a walk away, etc...just a bigger shop in general. She stood for the majority of her work in both places. She had been maintaining at the same calorie level for 2 years, and immediately when she switched jobs, she was starving, added more snacks, and still dropped 10 lbs in a few months.

So movement (walking, reaching, lifting) all day definitely can make a difference, but simply standing won't make much of one.

I wear a Gowear fit armband and watch that counts how many calories I burn in a day. From 12am to 7am in the morning I usually burn 1300 calories from just walking, cashiering and putting a few boxes up.

I might have to invest in one of those. I've really been wondering how much I burn at work because it sure feels like a lot.

If you're hungrier than usual I would suggest adding a snack. Simply because if you're hungry, that's what your body needs right? I love my heart rate monitor but our bodies tell us things too, they are just the aid. Good luck.

My problem is that I work in a cafe, so I don't know if I'm really hungry or just craving the delicious things I'm making!