Lighlty active and don't log or inactive and log?

stonedog1

As per the title i can't decide if i just put lighlty active and don't log my 30 min crosstrainer every other day and 15 mile cycle every other day or set inactive and log it!
Im a stay at home dad so allways running around after my kids i walk everywhere as i don't own a car and that totals about 2000 steps per day.
Thoughts please

Machka9

From the Guided Setup under Goals ...

How would you describe your normal daily activities?
Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)
Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. teacher, salesman)
Active: Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. waitress, mailman)
Very Active: Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter)

I'm an office worker, therefore I'm sedentary.

Plus I log my 60 minutes to, well, several hours ... of exercise a day.

stonedog1

Thanks for the reply:) Im not really sure which i fit into as my job is shopping housework taking the kids to school etc. Has sedentary plus logging all exercise worked for you? i used to do alot more and log it but my weight loss stalled even though i was cycling 160 miles a week.

StealthHealth

Don't stress over the detail. Pick one and move on - Personally I can't be bothered logging exercise so I'd go for that option but if you're likely to drop the exercise on busy days/weeks/months then logging may keep your calories in check.

If you find that the weight loss is too slow with the system you picked, drop the cals a little. if it's too fast or your too hungry, up the cals a little.

Note: 2000 steps is pretty low for a stay at home dad without a car; I'd expect you to be hitting over 6000 per day at least.

stonedog1

StealthHealth wrote: »

Don't stress over the detail. Pick one and move on - Personally I can't be bothered logging exercise so I'd go for that option but if you're likely to drop the exercise on busy days/weeks/months then logging may keep your calories in check.

If you find that the weight loss is too slow with the system you picked, drop the cals a little. if it's too fast or your too hungry, up the cals a little.

Note: 2000 steps is pretty low for a stay at home dad without a car; I'd expect you to be hitting over 6000 per day at least.

I often think thar 2000 a day seems low maybe the pacer app is no good or maybe its just me being over optimistic about how much i actually walk lol

StealthHealth

I'm an office worker, I basically drive to the office, sit and work except for bathroom and coffee breaks: on the days that I DON'T go for a lunchtime walk I hit about 2500.

Machka9

stonedog1 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply:) Im not really sure which i fit into as my job is shopping housework taking the kids to school etc. Has sedentary plus logging all exercise worked for you? i used to do alot more and log it but my weight loss stalled even though i was cycling 160 miles a week.

Sedentary to me means ...

Walking back and forth to the photocopier, toilet, kitchen etc. several times in a large office. I discovered it's 200 metres round trip to the toilet and back.

Plus shopping, housework, laundry etc. etc.

I don't log any of that.

But I do log the walking portion of my commutes, my walks at lunch and after work, and my bicycle rides etc.

And yes, it works for me. I lost 25 kg (55 lbs).

LivingtheLeanDream

2000 steps a day is counted as sedentary (less than 5k is sedentary). Keep MFP set at sedentary and log your purposeful exercise.

stonedog1

Thanks for replying i think i will try going down the Sedentary route

daniip_la

RunRutheeRun wrote: »

2000 steps a day is counted as sedentary (less than 5k is sedentary). Keep MFP set at sedentary and log your purposeful exercise.

Actually, hitting ~2000 steps is the upper limit for sedentary. Once you're above 2000 steps, MFP usually starts adding calories.

malibu927

stonedog1 wrote: »

StealthHealth wrote: »

Don't stress over the detail. Pick one and move on - Personally I can't be bothered logging exercise so I'd go for that option but if you're likely to drop the exercise on busy days/weeks/months then logging may keep your calories in check.

If you find that the weight loss is too slow with the system you picked, drop the cals a little. if it's too fast or your too hungry, up the cals a little.

Note: 2000 steps is pretty low for a stay at home dad without a car; I'd expect you to be hitting over 6000 per day at least.

I often think thar 2000 a day seems low maybe the pacer app is no good or maybe its just me being over optimistic about how much i actually walk lol

Hmm, Pacer usually overestimates for me. It says I took over 22,000 steps today whereas my Fitbit says 16,000.

That said, MFP's activity level is based on your daily activity WITHOUT exercise. I would say go with sedentary, log your exercise (while eating a portion of those calories back), and adjust based on your losses over the next month.

thunder1982

I find it hard to believe you would only hit 2000 steps per day at home with kids. I hit 1,000 getting ready in the morning by the time I get everyone's stuff together. I have an office job, no exercise days are about 5,000 steps. Less than 2,000 of those steps are the walk to the printer/toilet etc. Weekends are usually up around the 10k depending on how much housework I get done. A really busy day at home like last Friday I hit 16k that included a short walk to shops as parking was horrendous at the shopping center.

If you are consistent with exercise than you could set yourself to active, depends on whether the different types of exercise affect your hunger differently. If hunger is pretty much teh same between both forms then a TDEE (make yourself active and not log exercise) is fine.

LisaTcan

I'm on mat leave with a 4 month old and only get to the gym a couple times a week. I don't have a car and walk or take public transit and I normally get in anywhere from 5-12K steps a day. I choose to set myself to lightly active and not lot exercise unless I do an intense workout.