Activity level descriptions

tracyspenst
tracyspenst Posts: 1 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Where can I find descriptions of the activity levels in mfp? How do I know if I am active or lightly active?
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Replies

  • tiptoethruthetulips
    tiptoethruthetulips Posts: 3,372 Member
    Lightly active example is an office worker who sits most of the day, but who gets up occasionally.

    Active example to be a shop assistant who is on their feet all day or someone who stays at home but is active with children and housework.


  • counting_kilojoules
    counting_kilojoules Posts: 170 Member
    In the Update Your Diet Profile it gives two job suggestions per activity level. If your job is similar to one of these or you think your activity level is similar choose that one. Then, after a month or so of logging, if you're not losing weight/your losing too much weight change your activity level.
  • bac0s
    bac0s Posts: 48 Member
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    Sedentary is 2500 steps-ish, then goes up by 2500 steps each activity level (if using steps as an easy gauge).

    Source?
  • misnomer1
    misnomer1 Posts: 646 Member
    edited October 2017
    bac0s wrote: »
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    Sedentary is 2500 steps-ish, then goes up by 2500 steps each activity level (if using steps as an easy gauge).

    Source?

    My personal anecdotal experience suggests that this is correct. I average 7500 steps a day and my weight loss has corresponded to activity level 'active'
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    If you describe your day to day activity people will offer their opinion.
    Remember it doesn't include purposeful exercise.
  • slaureto
    slaureto Posts: 1 Member
    Do you include your workouts? As in I workout 4 days a week (Weights, cardio and Sprints).
  • steveko89
    steveko89 Posts: 2,223 Member
    slaureto wrote: »
    Do you include your workouts? As in I workout 4 days a week (Weights, cardio and Sprints).

    No, the activity level is meant to compensate for activity that's not purposeful exercise/workouts, i.e. job activity, cleaning the house, walking your dog, etc.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    edited October 2017
    GrumpyHeadmistress wrote: »
    I get between 7500 and 10000 steps a day and I’d consider myself sedentary (for steps at least)

    Ehhhhh... that's a decent amount of walking. I think the average American comes in under 5k steps a day. Over this year I've gone from 5000 to 7500 to 10000 and it's definitely taken some effort. I wouldn't call myself the most active human on the planet, but not sedentary if we're going strictly by steps.

    ETA: I'd estimate that I spend at least an hour every day just walking places to get to that 10k average. To and from the car twice a day (I intentionally park 10 minutes away from my office), plus two walks with my dogs in the morning and over lunch.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    GrumpyHeadmistress wrote: »
    I get between 7500 and 10000 steps a day and I’d consider myself sedentary (for steps at least)

    Ehhhhh... that's a decent amount of walking. I think the average American comes in under 5k steps a day. Over this year I've gone from 5000 to 7500 to 10000 and it's definitely taken some effort. I wouldn't call myself the most active human on the planet, but not sedentary if we're going strictly by steps.

    ETA: I'd estimate that I spend at least an hour every day just walking places to get to that 10k average. To and from the car twice a day (I intentionally park 10 minutes away from my office), plus two walks with my dogs in the morning and over lunch.

    I work in an office (home office) and walk my dogs during lunch and after work and I am set to sedentary but log the dog walks as exercise. It likely adds up to be the same in the end, whether you assume that walks are included in the activity level vs setting the activity level lower and adding all exercise.
  • MrsPinterest34
    MrsPinterest34 Posts: 342 Member
    VintageFeline wrote: »
    Sedentary is 2500 steps-ish, then goes up by 2500 steps each activity level (if using steps as an easy gauge).

    Granted my weight loss has slowed since I still have 9 pounds to lose to reach my normal BMI. My current BMI is 26.5. I just realized this is probably why I'm still losing weight even when I reduced my daily step count from average 15,000/16,000 steps to 12,000/13,000 steps everyday. My activity level is set to lightly active which is average 5000 steps .

  • dwilliamca
    dwilliamca Posts: 325 Member
    I too set mine for sedentary because I'm retired and usually not that active, and then add back activities such as house cleaning, yard work, grocery shopping, and regular exercise up to 200-300 calories per day (difference between sedentary and lightly active for me). So far I haven't been eating back these calories because my N.E.A.T. burn is so low it puts me at 1200 calories intake and 600 deficit so I add the 250 to deficit and so far it works for 2 lbs a week loss.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    GrumpyHeadmistress wrote: »
    I get between 7500 and 10000 steps a day and I’d consider myself sedentary (for steps at least)

    http://www.fitnessforweightloss.com/rate-your-activity-level-based-on-steps-per-day/
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    Research studies that use the terms "sedentary," "lightly active" etc -- generally set "sedentary" at below 5,000 steps.

    To give you an idea: I have a mostly-desk job, and I get up and run around the office to check in with coworkers, get stuff from the printer, go down to the mailroom, walk to lunch, etc. I also walk to and from my bus stop in the morning. And without making an extra effort to get MORE steps, my workday, including walking to and from the bus, is almost always under 4,000 steps.

    If you sit at a desk to work and don't get up multiple times an hour and walk down a fairly long hall -- you are most likely sedentary unless you add lifestyle activity.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    toxikon wrote: »
    tiptoethruthetulips wrote: »
    Lightly active example is an office worker who sits most of the day, but who gets up occasionally.

    Active example to be a shop assistant who is on their feet all day or someone who stays at home but is active with children and housework.

    I always figured your first example would be considered Sedentary and your second example would be considered Lightly Active, humm.

    Ditto. Office worker who sits most of the day and only gets up occasionally = sedentary.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    toxikon wrote: »
    tiptoethruthetulips wrote: »
    Lightly active example is an office worker who sits most of the day, but who gets up occasionally.

    Active example to be a shop assistant who is on their feet all day or someone who stays at home but is active with children and housework.

    I always figured your first example would be considered Sedentary and your second example would be considered Lightly Active, humm.

    Ditto. Office worker who sits most of the day and only gets up occasionally = sedentary.

    Agreed. Not much activity (usually) in general office work.
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,460 Member
    GrumpyHeadmistress wrote: »
    I get between 7500 and 10000 steps a day and I’d consider myself sedentary (for steps at least)

    Where does that leave me? Lots of days I log 2000 steps.
  • misnomer1
    misnomer1 Posts: 646 Member
    Google fit logs 7500steps for me on average (daily living, grocery shopping, etc. No intentional exercise).
    I lose weight commensurate with MFP setting 'active'.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    Yeah, 2000 is totally sedentary.
    Agree with the people above who say that a desk job is sedentary, retail job may well be lightly active. You can change your overall setting by walking to work, but wearing a pedometer really revealed to me HOW sedentary your average office job is.
  • connorflewitt
    connorflewitt Posts: 1 Member
    Exercise twice a day, but spend the rest of the day sitting down. I exercise for 20 minutes in the morning and do weights for an hour later on in the day ? anyone got any idea which one i would be ?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    connorflewitt wrote: »
    Exercise twice a day, but spend the rest of the day sitting down. I exercise for 20 minutes in the morning and do weights for an hour later on in the day ? anyone got any idea which one i would be ?

    @connorflewitt

    If you read the entire thread you will see that your exercise is absolutely nothing to do with your activity setting.
  • DomesticKat
    DomesticKat Posts: 565 Member
    I'm a SAHM (I know this is often tricky for stay at home parents because we don't have a job description to base this off of). I get 10,000+ steps a day easily. My account is set to active and that works for me.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    I have always told people 3500 steps is sedentary.
    That is the point that MFP starts adding extra cals for steps for me.

    (I don't use a step tracker, or rely on steps, but my phone sends a count to MFP of how many steps I have taken while I have had it with me. It is usually a low count so I get the odd 20 if I carry it when shopping and around 4000 steps.)

    Cheers, h.
  • Sassafras106
    Sassafras106 Posts: 73 Member
    Job examples aren’t always accurate. I’m a teacher and I’m nowhere near lightly active
  • Dani9585
    Dani9585 Posts: 215 Member
    Based on step counts, I'm probably "lightly active." However, I have it set to sedentary and I eat back my "step calories" provided by MFP (I don't use fitbits step calories because I think they are inflated). I've only been at this for just over a month, so I'm not ready to reassess my process yet, but I think it's working well for me. I'm waiting to be 2 months in before I look at my data.
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