Sedentary or Light Activity Using MFP?

Heart_Fit

Hi Everyone, i have a question about which Setting i should use. I have been looking at different Calorie Calculators and Getting different Answers to Exactly how many Calories Should i Be Eating Daily. Here are my Stats 52 in Age, 5'3 Height And 145 Lbs Currently. My Goal Weight is 135, But thus far Im having a Very Hard Time trying to Acheive it. At this point i'd Settle for In Between 135 and 140. I was Eating 1270 And After i had a Stall Since The Beginning of July, I increased my Calorie to 1370 Where i feel much more Satisfied. I Was hungry at 1270.

Here is where my question comes in...I Walk 4 Days a Week anywhere from 88 - 110 mins Each Day. One or Two Days a week I Use Dumbbells for maybe 25 to 30 mins. 1 Rest Day where im not intentionally working out. When im not Walking or Using the Weights, im usually Sitting at my desk. Should i set for Sedentary or Lightly Active? Thanks!

MommyMeggo

Whatever the majority of your time is spent doing- thats your activity level.
So choose sedentary and log your workouts (or dont) and eat back some of your exercise calories.
Spend a few weeks doing that and monitor your progress. Adjust if necessary.
With so little to lose a small loss per week should be your goal. 250cal/day deficit approx.

Aaron_K123

Honestly that sounds pretty active to me. I'd have you at above lightly active probably in the moderatly active range. Sedentary is like 2500 steps a day and no exercise, you are definately above that.

That said the idea of the MFP activity level is that you don't record any exercise that you consider part of your regular "activity". So you can set to sedentary and record your walks and lifts as exercise or you could set yourself to moderately active and not add extra exercise. Its an approximation either way.

ogtmama

Or...because it changes all the time, you could go with sedentary and just log all activity.

SusanMFindlay

I think it depends on whether you "go for a walk" or just walk throughout the day. If you "go for a walk" for a certain period of time, that's easy enough to log. But if you just do a lot of random walking throughout the day, it's much easier to pick an activity level instead. And if your job (or similar) dictates that you do a lot of random walking, that's not likely to change unless you change jobs.

All I know is I've had lots of success just using the activity level to account for my walking and only logging formal "working out". I even just switched from "lightly active" to "active" because after 2 months I was still losing faster than expected.

cwolfman13

The way MFP is designed is to select your activity level without any exercise...then you log exercise and earn additional calories. That said, many people who regularly exercise do include that estimate in their activity level...if you do that you don't want to "eat back" calories...they're already included and you would be double dipping.

I've done it both ways and ultimately found it easier to just average out my activity level throughout the week and include it in my activity level...I exercise regularly and pretty much on a schedule so it's just easier. It just depends on how you want to go about it and where you want to account for exercise activity.

In regards to "exact" calories you should be eating, please understand that any and all of these calculators are just reasonably good estimates based on various algorithms and population statistics...they aren't gospel...there is no "exact"...they're really meant to provide you with a reasonably good starting point and that's about it. Ultimately you have to look at your own data over time and make adjustments according to those real world results, not what a computer screen is telling you.

Heart_Fit

I had been setting at light Activity, But some days i may not feel like Working out or just dont have the time to put in as much as im doing now. As time goes by, i most likely wont be Walking as Long as i do now, then i would have to adjust anyway. Im pushing myself at this point to Walk as much as im doing now, So i think maybe i should give Sedentary a try. The only thing about Sedentary for my height and weight (5'3. ..145 lbs) is my Daily Calorie goal will be too low for me to sustain. I Was eating 1270...Now 1370 which is satisfying, but as soon as i put in Sedentary it will shoot out Around 1240 or somewhere that low that will most definitely leave me hungry.

Even though im working out right now walking, which is around my guesstimate about 300 to 350 calories per day which isnt everyday, So theres a problem just in that case alone.

MommyMeggo

Heart_Fit wrote: »

I had been setting at light Activity, But some days i may not feel like Working out or just dont have the time to put in as much as im doing now. As time goes by, i most likely wont be Walking as Long as i do now, then i would have to adjust anyway. Im pushing myself at this point to Walk as much as im doing now, So i think maybe i should give Sedentary a try. The only thing about Sedentary for my height and weight (5'3. ..145 lbs) is my Daily Calorie goal will be too low for me to sustain. I Was eating 1270...Now 1370 which is satisfying, but as soon as i put in Sedentary it will shoot out Around 1240 or somewhere that low that will most definitely leave me hungry.

Even though im working out right now walking, which is around my guesstimate about 300 to 350 calories per day which isnt everyday, So theres a problem just in that case alone.

How much are you asking MFP to lose each week?

Heart_Fit

@SusanMFindlay , i am purposely setting time aside to go Walking and then i go about my day...Yes, i do work from a desk, But i dont just steadily sit there, i do allow myself to get up and walk to different areas instead of Faxing. I do NOT count my walking "Around" my office as i only count my Set Aside Designated time to actually Exercise Walk if that makes sense.

@Aaron_K123 , No way could i get away with Moderate, lol. Im looking more toward Sedentary at this point, But with Frustration and Weiry because the low amount its going to shoot out at that particular level.

Everyone, i so Appreciated all of the Suggestions and i will take all to heart making Adjustments as i go.

Heart_Fit

@ MommyMeggo, i went from 1 lb to now .5lb

ronjsteele1

If you can be satiated at 1370 with the activity level you are currently at, I would override MFP numbers, set your goal at 1370, mark your actual exercise as "1" calorie, and not eat back any exercise calories. I moved from using MFP numbers to using TDEE-20% to determine my calorie level and after fighting the same pound up and down for 6 weeks I started losing again. In changing my calorie calculation I ended up increasing my calories by 200+ but I also don't log or eat back my exercise calories anymore. This seemed to work better for me. You might give it a try.