Do you count non-cardio exercise (mat/barre/pilates) when determining TDEE?

afcgirl

Hi, I am trying to determine my TDEE. I do advanced Pilates for 30 minutes a day, 4-5 times a week, and no extra cardio. Does this count as "moderate activity" for calculating my TDEE? I do sweat but of course I do not burn as many calories as cardio. I would describe my job as sedentary. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

SusanMFindlay

I just looked up Pilates in the exercise database. For me, 150 minutes of pilates would burn 466 calories according to MFP. So, for a week of Pilates, that's about 65 extra calories per day (on average). I would not call that "moderate activity".

Do you have any idea how many steps you get in a given day? That would give a better idea of your general activity level.

afcgirl

Hi Susan, I have no idea how many steps I get in but to be safe I would count my activity as sedentary (other than my Pilates). I have a desk job. I would say my Pilates class is similar to other strength training activities as far as calories burned (e.g., lifting weights, Tracy Anderson mat work, barre class). So I was wondering if others count that as an "activity" for calculating TDEE, or are we only supposed to count cardio activities such as running or elliptical. Thanks so much!

SusanMFindlay

I just queried "strength training" and it gave me 560 calories for 150 minutes. So, that's in the same range.

My general feeling is that most healthy people can fairly easily hit the "lightly active" activity level just by taking the stairs more, taking walks, parking farther from the door, that sort of thing. Sedentary, as MFP defines it, is really really sedentary. But it'll be that walking and generally being on your feet that'll give you the extra 300ish calories/day that takes you from "sedentary" to "lightly active". Not half an hour of noncardio exercise. Basically, what you do all day matters more than what you do at the gym. (But going to the gym is, of course, still a great choice!)

If you ever do get your hands on a pedometer, "sedentary" is about 3000 steps/day. "Lightly active" is about 8000 steps/day.

SezxyStef

I calculate my TDEE using this formula

total calories consumed+(total lbs lostx3500)/28 (28 being days)...that way I don't have to worry about defining my exercise.

ETA I also count any purposeful exercise when I don't do TDEE...regardless of what it is.

trigden1991

TDEE is "total daily energy expenditure" which is self explanatory .

afcgirl

I think I will just use "light exercise" for the TDEE calculator, although I think I could probably qualify as a "moderate exerciser." I will adjust as necessary based on my results. Thanks for the responses.