How do you choose your activity level?

lisaw19855

I have chosen my activity level as Lightly active but I'm not sure if this is correct. It allows me 1760 calories a day but I am usually eating

I work for about 8 hours a week in a very physical job where I clock up 5000 steps in 2 hours, muck out stables, heavy lifting etc.

I horse ride for at least 2 hours a week, use my stationary bike for about 10-15 minutes every day as well as squats and go for a walk most days.

Looking at my pedometer I average about 5000 steps a day if I add up the steps over the week.

Am I sedentary or lightly active? I don't count my work as exercise and only note down using my bike 3 days a week. I also squat etc.

Lasmartchika

Choosing an activity level isn't necessarily about how much exercise you'll be doing, but what your day is like, the things you do day to day including your job. And from the looks of it, you're not sedentary. So I would choose at least lightly active.

Amanda4change

Given the level of activity in your post you are NOT sedentary. That would be working at a desk job and no or very limited physical activity.

lisaw19855

Thank you, I was just confused as while some days I just go for a walk etc and move about I'm not quite sat on my *kitten* all day but then other days I am extremely active which I'm sure makes up for those days where I don't do as much.

sijomial

Take your exercise out of the equation - it's not part of the activity setting on here.
(That's why you log exercise and get those calories added to your daily allowance.)

You need to think about what you do for the majority of the time, lifestyle, job etc...

Don't need to over-think it, just gives you a start point that you can adjust later if you don't get the expected results. Why not start "lightly active" and see how it goes?

DancingMoosie

You use whatever your normal daily routine/job looks like for your activity level. Any additional intentional exercise should be logged separately. If your normal daily routine/job involves 10,000 steps and heavy lifting/cleaning, you should pick an activity level above lightly active. Lightly active would be something like a teacher-on feet most of day, walking hallways, but nowhere near 10,000 steps, no heavy lifting and such. Horseback riding, stationary bike, and going for a walk can be logged in the cardiovascular section in the exercise tab.

sauleszakjis

It was my problem too, but as i understand, you can put your after job activities as activities (horse riding ets.)

bwogilvie

Honestly, it doesn't matter a lot. You're using MFP correctly: setting your activity level to account for your ordinary activity, and logging on top of that only intentional exercise. So here's what to do:

1. Start with any activity level. "Lightly active" isn't bad.

2. Log food and exercise for a while (a month is good). Track your weight.

3. At the end of the month, compare your goal with your results. If you had MFP set to lose 1 pound a week, and you lost 1 pound a week, then "lightly active" was appropriate. If you are losing faster than you want, then bump up the activity level to "active." If you're losing slower than you want, bump it down to "sedentary."

A lot of people forget that you need to adjust MFP's estimates based on feedback from your actual results. As long as you do that, it's a self-correcting system.

Now, the workdays you describe are certainly not sedentary by any definition. So if you find you have to set MFP to "sedentary" in order to lose at the rate you want, it would most likely be because you were overestimating exercise burn or underestimating calories eaten. (Most people, even trained dietitians, underestimate calorie consumption.)

So instead of adjusting your activity level according to results, you could take a closer look at your logging if you aren't getting the desired result. But it's easier just to tweak the system. MFP is a tool to achieve a goal, not an end in itself.