What should my activity level be?

wilsonunc

Hi folks. I’m a 23 y/o female, and I’m trying to lose 15 pounds or so. I currently weigh 135 and I’m 5 foot 4. I want to lose weight slowly, so no more than a pound per week. What should my activity level be? I work 3 12s at the hospital, and get 12k steps on a slow day. On days I’m off, I run 6 miles on easy days, 10 on long runs, though I am trying to up my distance by .5 miles a week. I also cross train a little, doing some lower impact cardio and yoga, sometimes after work or after my run. I currently have myself listed as the third option? for activity, which gives me 1900 cals and some change to eat everyday. I don’t eat back calories I get from running or calories I get from steps at my job. What do you guys think? Am I eating too much or too little? I admit that I feel hungry eating 1900 calories. Haha. I am no stranger to the dieting world —I lost 80ish pounds a couple years ago. I measure everything that goes into my body. I stopped calorie counting and have been maintaining on whatever amount of calories I have been eating since then.

I’m just trying to lose some vanity pounds, plus some.

1BlueAurora

I think you're eating too little. MFP calculates your net calories, assuming you eat back the calories you've earned through deliberate exercise (your after-work running, cross training, cardio). I usually didn't count regular on-the-job steps, since that was taken into account when I chose whether I was sedentary, lightly active, or active. So, if you've burned 300 calories exercising, you'd add that to your 1900 allowance for 2200 calories. That should help address your hunger issue.