Which ACTIVITY LEVEL to fill in

kallemann67

Howdy. I'm confused by this and playing around with it really changes the amount of calories one consumes. In our profile sections under activity level is that referring to our day routine (I sit behind a computer most of the day) but when I'm 'let out' I park furthest away from location, take stairs, walk everywhere etc. However I train for triathlons so there I become highly active. That's 6 days a week x 90 plus minutes. Is this activity level inclusive or exclusive of our exercise regimen. For me moving it from VERY ACTIVE (My calorie credit is 2100) to SEDINTARY (1500) is a huge leap down and I'm struggling with the 2100 as it is ( I was eating around 3650 per day only a month ago).

PaytraB

You can enter sedentary for your every day working life and add your exercise as you do it. The exercise will add calories to your daily calorie limit (ie 1500 + your workout).
If you find yourself always hungry, perhaps have a look at your weight loss goal? Sometimes it is set too aggressively. Aim for 1 lb/week.
Once things are set, try it for a month and monitor your weight loss. You can adjust your goals accordingly. Every body is different, so there's some element of trial & error.

Good luck and keep trying.

ETA: I just saw that you've only got about 20 lbs to lose. You should definitely have a goal of either 1 lb/week or 0.5 lb/week weight loss and no more. Going from the 1500 calorie limit MFP is setting for you, a male, you've probably got your weight loss goal set higher than that. A slower rate of loss is healthier and more sustainable.

kallemann67

Yeah-- I'm coming here with already doing some previous work losing over the spring and early summer. But being one who is aware you can always improve - well that's why I'm here. I've adjusted it to .02 kg per week which levels me at 2000 cal which is only a hundred off from before and that's cool. I'll try it at this point and see where things go. Thanks for your quick and educational reply PaytraB!

snickerscharlie

I also chose sedentary. I let my Fitbit add calories to my allotment for step-based activity and then I manually enter any other exercise as well. I prefer this method because the amount of calories available for me to eat on any given day is directly reflective of what I actually *did* that day, over and above just breathing.

Be aware that exercise calories in the database tend to be rather inflated, so I only eat back a max of 50% of these calories earned. This also leaves a bit of wiggle room for any inaccuracies in my food logging.