Help me figure out my new activity level - please?

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Verity1111
Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
edited May 2017 in Fitness and Exercise
Would I be considered "active" now vs lightly active or sedentary before? Or lightly active?
An example of my days would be as follows:
Average 11000 steps right now
Also, if I am 10000 steps or less I always have at least 1 extra hr of activity per day at the gym or at home somehow. I either exercise via a dvd, game, stationary bike/elliptical or do some sort of active cleaning like scrubbing and mopping for hrs to make up for it... or if I can't do anything besides walking I usually get in more steps (around 15000-20000). I also do a bit of strength training at the gym and weighted squats at home - but nothing major. I'm not a body builder, obviously. lol. I just started out.

Today I have cleaned for hrs as well as walking almost 15,000 steps while carrying about 20-30lbs and pushing my kid in a stroller for most of it.

I'm 5'4" and 178lbs. Do you think I am safe assuming I am "active" now? or should I put "lightly active"? My FitBit is connected to MFP but I dont know if I will keep it that way because I find it estimates wrong and too high for certain activities (cleaning and gym workouts that are seated, mainly).

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
    edited May 2017
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    This will give you more calories to eat. Is this what you want?

    ETA missed a word.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    edited May 2017
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    Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »
    This will give you more calories to eat. Is this what you want?

    ETA missed a word.

    I was eating 1200 so I'm trying to figure out what to readjust to because that feels low now. I was sedentary before I started dieting again (3000 steps per day give or take) I was eating 1200-1500 sometimes more but winging it the last few weeks because I wasn't sure what to put for my activity. I'd like some idea to have something to aim for.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    edited May 2017
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    Also I was trying Fitbit synced but it tells me to eat way too much lol like 2400+ for a deficit lately. It works for just walking but that's it.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    If you are trying to slow down your weight loss, I would change it to lightly active or eat more calories. Same difference.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    edited May 2017
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    Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »
    If you are trying to slow down your weight loss, I would change it to lightly active or eat more calories. Same difference.

    @Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink Not slow down keep the same or similar. Well I don't care as long as I'm losing at least a half pound per week but I don't want to undereat. I was eating 1200 before when I was walking 3000 steps and my activity level has changed and went much farther up. Basically consider it as I'm just starting out those are my stats sedentary lightly active or active would be best? Although I may up my steps to 15000 average... Today I have 18000 and I'm out walking now so I've been slowly upping them but average is still around 11000 per day. I just want to up my calories from 1200 but try not to go too high that I won't have deficit. I'm trying to readjust my diary settings.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I'd set it to lightly active and enable negative adjustments. I get around 15k steps most days and have myself set to sedentary. The lightly active didn't work for me because i go to bed early, so the extra calories i got for bumping up my activity level nearly all got taken away again by the next morning.

    Another reason i like sedentary is because if i have a day where i truly am sedentary, i won't have anxiety attacks watching my calories going down into the negative. Bottom line, i don't want to be forced to be lightly/active/intensely active just because the app tells me to, too much pressure man!
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
    edited May 2017
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    Christine_72 wrote: »
    I'd set it to lightly active and enable negative adjustments. I get around 15k steps most days and have myself set to sedentary. The lightly active didn't work for me because i go to bed early, so the extra calories i got for bumping up my activity level nearly all got taken away again by the next morning.

    Another reason i like sedentary is because if i have a day where i truly am sedentary, i won't have anxiety attacks watching my calories going down into the negative. Bottom line, i don't want to be forced to be lightly/active/intensely active just because the app tells me to, too much pressure man!

    That's crazy. 15000 to me is definitely active but I don't hit that every single day. I was set to sedentary when I did 3000 steps and I was losing 2.2lbs per week even when I ate exercise calories (which brought me up to like 1500-1600). Now that I'm lighter I assume I'll lose slower but I don't know. I will set it to lightly active then and see how it goes. :)
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    Verity1111 wrote: »
    Also I was trying Fitbit synced but it tells me to eat way too much lol like 2400+ for a deficit lately. It works for just walking but that's it.

    Did you have your stride lengths for walking and running set correctly?

    My fit bit was way out the first month until I got all the settings set properly. I lost count of the times I had to walk the same mile route to get it to read 1 mile :D

    After that it has been spot on for me, my husband and our DD1.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
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    Verity1111 wrote: »
    Also I was trying Fitbit synced but it tells me to eat way too much lol like 2400+ for a deficit lately. It works for just walking but that's it.

    Fitbits are only designed to measure step based activity. :)
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
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    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    Also I was trying Fitbit synced but it tells me to eat way too much lol like 2400+ for a deficit lately. It works for just walking but that's it.

    Did you have your stride lengths for walking and running set correctly?

    My fit bit was way out the first month until I got all the settings set properly. I lost count of the times I had to walk the same mile route to get it to read 1 mile :D

    After that it has been spot on for me, my husband and our DD1.

    The walking is fine but when I go to the gym I don't wear it often because mainly it logs elliptical as walking and as elliptical as well. lol. So I'm assuming it overestimates. But the walking part it does fine. On days I just walk I always use it.
  • Verity1111
    Verity1111 Posts: 3,309 Member
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    snickerscharlie wrote: »
    Verity1111 wrote: »
    Also I was trying Fitbit synced but it tells me to eat way too much lol like 2400+ for a deficit lately. It works for just walking but that's it.

    Fitbits are only designed to measure step based activity. :)

    It measures the calories for the elliptical pretty well but it also logs walking at the same time so it's redundant lol

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