Activity level confusion

hopleyjana2049

Hi, please can someone advice as to what activity level should I be using on MFP. I am not sure if it's light active or active. Here are pictures of my step count for past 4 weeks. I also do 30min intense exercise 5-6 times a week. I am trying to get on top of my calories intake but not sure if my goals are set correctly. Any help would be great. Thank you all

Nony_Mouse

If your Fitbit is synced to MFP just set your activity level to sedentary. The data from your Fitbit will transfer over and increase your calorie allowance as you move and exercise throughout the day. Equally, you could set MFP to active, but then you need to be mindful of negative adjustments (MFP will take calories away until you get to the level you've set). It's personal preference really. The FAQ in the Fitbit group explains all this much better: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users

sijomial

If you are following the MFP eat back exercise calories method then your exercise ("I also do 30min intense exercise 5-6 times a week") is a total irrelevance to your activity setting.

Why not just set yourself as active based on your steps, follow your suggested goal for a month and adjust if required?
It's only to give you a reasonable start point - it's not set in stone forever.

Results over an extended period of time are the best guide as logging errors frequently make the best estimates useless.

jesspen91

What do you do during the day? Are you on your feet a lot or are these steps intentional exercise? MFP works so that you log your workouts and eat back the exercise calories (although these can be inflated so maybe start with just a proportion). Anything that is just part of your daily routine is factored into the activity level.

I have a desk job but I still often manage to get in around 12,000 steps walking to and from work and go to the gym 3-4 times per week. However, as this is something I am adding to my life rather than part of my normal day, I have my activity level set to sedentary and add in the extra exercise calories.

hopleyjana2049

I see, thank you, I wasn't sure about the negative calorie adjustment and how it actually work, I think I understand it better. Currently I have at set as active, and I allow myself to eat about 20 % - 30% of my exercise calories back. ( my fit bit is linked to MFP) However I was trying to loose about 4 pounds and for the last 6 weeks the scales hardly moved even though I am in deficit. ( I am 5'11" and 140lb) I ll set my activity level to sedentary for now, and that way I can eat my exercise calories back ? Am I understanding it right ? I am a stay at home mom, but I am on my feet from about 0730 till about 1930. I rarely sit down. I do things around the house and go out a lot, long walks with dog, grocery shopping ext. I never use the car and walk everywhere. Usually fast -er pace walk . Some of the steps come from my exercise, but only about 2000-3000. So I d say I am still averaging 10+k a day.

jesspen91

If you have your Fitbit linked to your account the negative adjustment will take your activity level into account so that may be the best strategy for you then there is less guesswork involved.

Doing it that way you should be able to eat back most of your exercise calories if your logging is tight. If you're still not losing after doing this for a bit you could try eating back a smaller proportion of your exercise calories but not less than 50% However you are already a good weight for your height and don't have much to loose so it will inevitably be slow.