Standing at desk all day-- how much activity would you rate this?

jennabridgers

Hey EM2WL fam,
I am new here- just found y'all yesterday and I am so excited! I have a question but first, here are my stats:

5'5'
age 36
female
lift heavy 2 days a week (just started back 2 weeks ago after a LONG break)
weight is 191

I work a desk job and have been slowly gaining despite eating a very clean, low carb diet. I started working out two weeks ago and so when I did my calculations I put in moderate exercise (1-3 hours/wk). This week, due to some chronic back issues, I have decided to start standing while I work. I stand most of the day, while taking a break to sit for lunch and then doing some stretches, or sitting here and there to allow my back to rest.

My question is, should I "up" my activity level or should I just play around at this level for a while and see what happens? I am now eating about 1890 cals per day.

Thanks for your input! I am so excited to have finally found what I think the missing link has been for me!!

Jenna

Jennbecca33

Hi Jenna! Welcome to the group - we're glad you found us! It's great when you find the missing link...I've heard a number of people describe it as that same thing - or the missing puzzle piece. I felt the exact same way when I found EM2WL - and it did turn out to be the missing puzzle piece for me.

So yes, standing will burn more calories but hard to tell really how much more. I wouldn't ignore it though. You said you chose moderate activity on Scooby, but the 1-3 hours you specified is actually light activity. Moderate is 3-5 hours. Most people, unless they are completely sedentary all day every day, already fall into the lightly active category, and then you add your exercise hours on top of that. So with your lifting and standing all day, I'd say you would be in the 3-5 moderate activity level. I think that is the level I'd start out with - moderate with no more than a 15% deficit - and see what your results look like after a several weeks. You can always decrease down a bit if needed, but it sounds like that might be the right level for you. That will have you eat a few more cals than you currently are.

Also, unless you just really enjoy it, there's no reason to eat super clean or very low carb...just eat what you enjoy and focus on getting lots of protein...as long as you have a small calorie deficit, you'll see fat loss.

jennabridgers

Thanks so much, Jennbecca33 for your response! I am going to try upping things a little more this week. I am feeling better already with the most noticeable benefit being that I can pop out of bed for my 5:30 workouts with ease. Before I would hit snooze about 7 times and then miss workouts. I hit the gym 3 times last week which is a huge victory for me! Thanks again for your input!