What is your activity level set at?

SisepuedeLinda

And why did you choose that setting? I'm at a loss to set it between lightly active or active. I'm not too sure I think I'm more lightly active?

BoxerBrawler

I am very active but I set mine at sedentary. I know that within MFP and other programs and trackers calories tend to be under estimated while exercise burn tend to be over estimated. To be on the safe side I also under estimate my calorie burn and over estimate my calories. Maybe overkill but I don't like surprises

Jadedinosaur

Sedentary because I work a desk job - I log intentional exercise as exercise as that doesn't factor in to the MFP activity levels. My "normal living" is not active.

scarlett_k

Pick one and try it for a few weeks, see what happens and adjust as required. Doesn't matter what everyone else is doing

JaydedMiss

sedentary ....one day i should just suck it up and put very active but seeing 1500+ exercise calories is motivating, Plus having the option to sit on my butt and not move a muscle after a hard day work and not have to recalc XD

gamerbabe14

Sedentary so I count every calorie burned via walking and other exercise I include. Also I chose this because I work from home and some days I don't exercise.

bribucks

If you have a way to count steps, these are the recommendations I've seen:

1) <5000 steps = sedentary
2) 5000-7499 steps = lightly active
3) 7500-9999 steps = somewhat active
4) 10,000-12,499 steps = active
5) 12,500+ steps = highly active

Your activity level should exclude purposeful exercise. Personally, I have a desk job and hardly get any steps in during my work day, so I am set at "sedentary."

Sometimes I take walks after work, but my Fitbit is linked to MFP so I just let it calculate those "extra" calories. If I consistently took a walk every single day, I would opt instead to factor it into my activity level, but I'm not consistent enough with it. Also, I log purposeful exercise (going to the gym) manually.

Lounmoun

Sedentary because unless I am purposefully walking for exercise I would get less than 3,000 steps. I'm not doing intensely physical things most of the time.

I read that sedentary is 5,000 steps or less and active would be 10,000 steps or more.
https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/questions/16736253-question-about-activity-levels

Are you on your feet moving around all day or have a very physical job? Are you using an activity tracker?

kristen8000

Sedentary, because I have a desk job. I feel activity is bonus. And I find that it's pretty accurate according to my losses.

MegaMooseEsq

scarlett_k wrote: »

Pick one and try it for a few weeks, see what happens and adjust as required. Doesn't matter what everyone else is doing

This. I started at sedentary due to my desk job and then adjusted upwards when I found that MFP was constantly projecting a lower weight loss than my actual numbers, which meant that I was maintaining a greater deficit than intended. I am set to active now in spite of my butt-in-seat job, which probably reflects that I've always been one of those "twitchy" people who had a hard time gaining weight (until I really put my mind to it a few years ago...), which is really difficult to measure or predict until you start watching your numbers as closely as I have for a pretty decent period of time.

janejellyroll

I chose Sedentary and I let my Fitbit do all the necessary adjustments.

zorrocat

I use lightly active because I have a standing desk and walk around the floor a lot at work. I only log intentional exercise and walks that are longer than 5 minutes.

spiriteagle99

I spend most of the day sitting - either at a computer, watching TV, or reading - so I am mostly sedentary. OTOH, I do a couple of hours of intentional exercise. MFP is great for that because I can count and eat back my exercise calories. I actually burn a bit more than MFP says, but that's fine with me.

misnomer1

scarlett_k wrote: »

Pick one and try it for a few weeks, see what happens and adjust as required. Doesn't matter what everyone else is doing

This ^. I started with sedentary. After 40 days I realized I was losing weight too fast, so back calculated and found out I was 'active' as per mfp. Mfp standards of activity are low.

mmmpork

Sedentary. Calories burned through physical activity is not well understood. Calories reported in food is also inaccurate. Use these as a heuristic. For activity beyond "normal" I estimate calories in increments of 50 by duration and heart rate. For 60 minutes of house cleaning I log 30 mins of low exertion and count it as 50 calories. I log 30 minutes of lap swimming as 150 calories or 100 depending on my average heart rate where high heart rate indicates higher exertion. I use calories as a heuristic for portions that I determine through weight or volume. I also categorize foods by a rounded calorie to portion rating (high and low, highly correlated to carb content) and by a satiation rating (high and low, highly correlated to fat and/or protein content). None of these are better or worse or to be avoided, it just helps when making food choice. By weighing myself daily at the same time, I can track how activity and food intake are impacting my weight trends. Only count on the things you *can* measure as being accurate and try to measure them as accurately as possible. Some people do well with a higher activity setting. I don't. The sedentary setting allows me to reproduce their equation so I clearly understand how they are modelling their estimate. It's easier to make adjustments when you know what variables are going into your equation. Increasing the activity level introduces an additional variable that you cannot verify. All of these values are guesses at best and need to be adjusted.

Mr_Knight

Sedentary. I log all exercise activity individually, using my own calculated burns (bad MFP, *bad* *bad*). Including entries for "above normal" steps, in 4000-step increments.

This almost always keeps me within 5% ish of actual TDEE, as determined by long term consistent logging, and the "error" is to the good side.

SisepuedeLinda

I had it set at active in the beginning and lost 10 pounds in a month. That was before I started school and was working 4-5 days a week at a veterinary office so I was constantly running around (sometimes literally when I walk the dogs) lifting dog food, lifting big dogs on the exam table, lifting dogs into the bathtub, restraining dogs, doing the cleanups and closing down the hospital like sweeping mopping etc! But now that I started school I only work 2-3 times a week for 5 hours a day. I'm in class from 11:30-2:30 and 4:30-6:30 so almost like 5-6 hours roughly I'm sitting now so I put it at sedentary last week when I started but man am I a little more hungry lol I got used to the 1800 calories I had on active setting! But my weight did slow down after that first month which is why I'm asking what y'all put. I'm gonna try to stick out sedentary for a while to see if that'll get the scale moving but we'll see. I'm just like I'm still active at work I just work less so maybe I could try lightly active soon after giving the sedentary a shot. Edit: I don't work out or exercise. It's possible I will soon but as of now I don't.

Graelwyn75

Lightly active - I get between 6k and 11k steps per day. I log my intentional workouts separately.

katnadreau

I'm set at sedentary, and am currently using the Pacer app to track my activity. Even though I'm a SAHM, and clean my house every day, I still barely get 5000 steps in. When I workout my average day is 11,000 steps (I love my cardio), but I like knowing if I miss my workout, or spend my entire day snuggling a sick kid on the couch, orhen Sunday rolls around and I do jack squat, I don't have to worry about eating too much, or recalculating my day.

pookey26

Graelwyn75 wrote: »

Lightly active - I get between 6k and 11k steps per day. I log my intentional workouts separately.

This is me too , but like others have said try one and see what works.

IsabeausRose

Sedentary. Then log my 6 miles of walking in each day.

AnnPT77

scarlett_k wrote: »

Pick one and try it for a few weeks, see what happens and adjust as required. Doesn't matter what everyone else is doing

^^^ This. Don't agonize about it up front, just try one and adjust.

I'm set on 'active'. In real life, I'm sedentary, outside of intentional exercise (and I eat all my exercise calories) - I'm retired, have sedentary hobbies. But I lost too fast on sedentary, so I kept bumping the activity level upward until my actual loss rate was close to my target loss rate. Even now, in maintenance, that's what I'm doing.

So, pick one, try it, adjust. It's all estimates anyway, but as long as you fine-tune based on results, you'll reach your goals.

lucerorojo

I put "lightly active". I don't have a desk job but my career isn't that active anymore either.

Psychgrrl

Active. I have a desk job, but get at least 10,000 steps outside of purposeful exercise each day. I find the higher calorie amount due to the setting is less than what I get from the "steps" exercise adjustment leaving less guesswork for me.

Heather4448

Sedentary. I let my Fitbit make adjustments because I am lazy.

kshama2001

SisepuedeLinda wrote: »

I had it set at active in the beginning and lost 10 pounds in a month. That was before I started school and was working 4-5 days a week at a veterinary office so I was constantly running around (sometimes literally when I walk the dogs) lifting dog food, lifting big dogs on the exam table, lifting dogs into the bathtub, restraining dogs, doing the cleanups and closing down the hospital like sweeping mopping etc! But now that I started school I only work 2-3 times a week for 5 hours a day. I'm in class from 11:30-2:30 and 4:30-6:30 so almost like 5-6 hours roughly I'm sitting now so I put it at sedentary last week when I started but man am I a little more hungry lol I got used to the 1800 calories I had on active setting! But my weight did slow down after that first month which is why I'm asking what y'all put. I'm gonna try to stick out sedentary for a while to see if that'll get the scale moving but we'll see. I'm just like I'm still active at work I just work less so maybe I could try lightly active soon after giving the sedentary a shot. Edit: I don't work out or exercise. It's possible I will soon but as of now I don't.

I seem to like the same amount of calories regardless of my activity level. So, when I'm inactive, I gain weight, and active I lose or maintain. It's really hard for me to stop at my base calories so I try very hard to get in some activity at lunch time and before or after work, depending on my sleep schedule.

If I had your schedule, I would definitely work in a walk between 2:30 and 4:30. This would make me more alert for the afternoon class and energized into the evening.

zjpq

I have mine on sedentary and eat back exercise cals and fitbit adjustments

boredloser

Sedentary, I work the graveyard shift at a desk job and the most exercise I get is walking the dog or to/from the local shop lately because I've become prone to napping after work and just not having energy...

Orphia

Sedentary, and I've let my Fitbit and Garmin add extra exercise calories for my health.

I ate 75% of the exercise calories back and lost 80 lbs in a year, and I've eaten 100% of them back and kept it off 17 months.

rawrrgenn

So sedentary-- I'm practically a rock on a seashore

Bluetail6

^^ !!