Activity level

lauraesh0384

I've always set my activity level to lightly active, but sometimes I wonder if I should set it to active. I'm a veterinary technician and can easily walk 4 miles a day at work; there have been days we were super busy and I've walked more than that. Some days are definitely more physically active such as if I'm lifting a lot of heavy dogs (I can easily lift a 50 lb dog by myself). Should I just keep my activity level at lightly active or change it to active and see what happens? I've read that if you walk more than 12,500 steps a day you're considered highly active, but I don't think I'm highly active even if I do get over 15k steps most days.

malibu927

How is your rate of weight loss lining up? If you're losing more than you've set your goals to, then change to active.

lauraesh0384

malibu927 wrote: »

How is your rate of weight loss lining up? If you're losing more than you've set your goals to, then change to active.

On average I can lose 3-4 lbs a week eating around 1600 calories a day and it's set to lose 1 lb/week. I don't currently log exercise since I don't know how many calories I'm burning, so I never eat back calories. Most days I walk 8 miles total (including work) and at 5'6" 175 lbs I know I'm probably not burning an exorbitant amount of calories.

Cynsonya

lauraesh0384 wrote: »

malibu927 wrote: »

How is your rate of weight loss lining up? If you're losing more than you've set your goals to, then change to active.

On average I can lose 3-4 lbs a week eating around 1600 calories a day and it's set to lose 1 lb/week. I don't currently log exercise since I don't know how many calories I'm burning, so I never eat back calories. Most days I walk 8 miles total (including work) and at 5'6" 175 lbs I know I'm probably not burning an exorbitant amount of calories.

If you're 175lbs losing 3/4 pounds a week while being set to lose 1ppw you should definitely change your activity level. You've got it too low. You're losing at an unsustainable rate. Plus you'll be able to eat more yummy food and still lose!

tomteboda

You're active, possibly highly active. Losing 3-4 lbs/week when your goal is 1 suggests your food intake is disproportionately low compared to your output.

lauraesh0384

Thanks for the input. I'll change my activity level to active and see what happens over the next few weeks. I won't disagree about eating more food!