Lightly active VS active?

jb06592

How do I know how to choose between lightly active and active? I am a teacher, so I do not sit down at work behind my desk. It is summer break, but I am currently babysitting, so I'm not sitting down much now either. I also work out regularly (4 days a week at least) what should I put on my profile?

therealklane

This has confused me lately too. I changed jobs, and even though I have a "desk job," I take 5k-7k steps a day at work. Then, I work out 4-6 times a week. I don't know where to set mine anymore.

TheBigFb

Not active at all I would say

TheBigFb

Try one, follow it , see if you lose weight. If not

TheBigFb

Work outs get added as you do them

cwolfman13

With MFP, exercise is generally not included in your activity level...it is logged after the fact which is why you get additional calories to "eat back" after you exercise...that is how you generally account for exercise with MFP. That said, you could also just include it in your activity level if you want to...many do.

As far as your day to day goes, pick the one with the descriptor that best describes you...start there...see what happens over the coming few weeks and make adjustments as per your true results.

These calculators are just meant to be a good jumping off point...they aren't gospel, so don't treat them as such...just get started and adjust things as necessary.

sijomial

"It is summer break, but I am currently babysitting, so I'm not sitting down much now either." - Suggest lightly active.

"I also work out regularly (4 days a week at least)" - That's irrelevant for your activity setting.


Remember your calorie goal is + exercise calories.

See how you get on for a month and adjust goal if required.

sijomial

therealklane wrote: »

This has confused me lately too. I changed jobs, and even though I have a "desk job," I take 5k-7k steps a day at work. Then, I work out 4-6 times a week. I don't know where to set mine anymore.

@therealklane
You do realise your workouts aren't part of the MFP activity setting?

What is your weight doing? That will tell you if your goal is correct or not. Best not to over complicate things, you have a baseline so adjust based on results.

daydreams_of_pretty

I am a teacher and have mine set at active. I usually have a Fitbit (it's broken atm), and the numbers matched when I started using it during the school year (meaning that MFP was projecting the correct calorie burn for me according to my Fitbit charge HR). From there it's just about tracking my food and being consistent.

I would say it depends on how you teach. My school prefers that we do not sit at all during class and are constantly moving throughout the classroom, plus our main hallway is 1/4 mile long. I usually hit 10,000 steps by the end of the day.

ashliedelgado

I have a Garmin Vivofit that I sync to MFP. Some days are more active than others. So, I choose sedentary, and let my activity tracker tell MFP if that is not the case.