Is my activity level right?

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MAB0218
MAB0218 Posts: 39 Member
in Getting Started
Hello. I have a question on how I should put my activity level here. I am a house keeper at a nursing home for 6 days out of the week. I walk about 6 miles a day while at work. I do zumba twice a week. I also have three kids and a house that I am constantly cleaning.

I have been on MFP for 42 days and have lost 16lbs. I weigh everything I eat and usually stay within my calorie budget. (except for holidays and birthdays). I am proud of my loss so far but the scale hasnt really moved at all in a week or more. I have my activity set to active. I am wondering if I am not eating enough? 1410 is my goal. I am 5ft5 177.2 lbs. I have 27 lbs more to lose until my first goal. Any tips?

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  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    When doing activity level you don't count "purposeful exercise" so leave Zumba out.

    I would put you at active...check out this study (I put in the important part below) it helps people decide.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18562971

    Per this article
    1) <5000 steps.d (sedentary);
    2) 5000-7499 steps.d (low active);
    3) 7500-9999 steps.d (somewhat active);
    4) > or =10,000-12,499 steps.d (active); and
    5) > or =12,500 steps.d (highly active)

    As for the scale not moving I wouldn't worry too much ...water retention probably (TOM maybe)

    Your goal seems low to be honest...what do you have set as your "weekly weight loss goal" that can cause issues.

    With 27lbs left should probably be 1lb a week and once you hit 20lbs to lose 1/2lb a week.
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
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    That's a really great list for ease of figuring @SezxyStef I agree, with your job you are most likely Active. What you do for exercise should not be counted in determining your activity level.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Emphasis on why you don't count exercise - because you log it when actually done. It does count, just not the way MFP does it compared to many other sites.

    Then to keep the same hopefully reasonable deficit - you eat it back.
    Oh, with only 27 lbs to healthy weight - 1 lb deficit is reasonable right now. At 15 lbs to go, 1/2 lb is.
    Reasonable means fat only loss hopefully, unreasonable includes muscle mass - you'll regret that later.

    So that 1410 on likely the wrong activity level was ONLY for the days with no exercise - you should have eaten more on days you burned more.

    You merely need to eat less than you burn in total.
    On days you burn more, you get to eat more. Either view it as reward, or feeding your body to recovery from a good workout and actually make improvements from it.

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