Activity level confusion!

clairerobo1310
clairerobo1310 Posts: 3 Member
edited November 2024 in Getting Started
Hi, I’m looking for help with my activity level. I am 5ft 3in at 12st 4lb. I’m training for a half marathon so running 3/4 times a week. The distance is increasing each week and I found last few weeks my exercise calories were 800-1000 (I don’t eat into them) and steps are over 10k a day. I originally had my level at lightly active which gave me 1540kcal.... however nothing’s budging!!!
If I change the level to active, it gives me 1800kcal, it seems a lot but with the running, am I not eating enough?!?! Very confused! Please help!

Replies

  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Your activity level doesn’t include exercise. It’s based on what you do for a living. And you’re supposed to eat back you exercise calories. That said, if you aren’t losing without eating them back, you’re eating too much rather than not enough. How are you measuring your calorie intake?
  • KickassAmazon76
    KickassAmazon76 Posts: 4,679 Member
    If you're running that much, you need to ensure you are fueling your body. If you keep your level at lightly active, then also log your runs and eat back some or most of your exercise cals.

    Make sure you get adequate protein. Marathon running demands a lot from your body, so be sure to fuel it well.

    Like the other poster... What is your weight doing? Is it staying the same? What are your hunger levels like? Do you track your food and use measuring cups and a scale?
  • motivatedmartha
    motivatedmartha Posts: 1,108 Member
    Check the accuracy of your meal logging - if you are follwing mfp calorie suggestions for 'lightly active and you're weighing your food and logging accurately you should be losing weight - what did you set as your loss target? Eyeing your portions or using packet guides as to calories per portion is so inaccurate. A recent BBC programme showed people thinking that they were having one portion of breakfast cereal (and making the resulting assumptions about their calorie/sugar intake) only to find that it was actually over 3 portions when they weighed it out. So Plan,weigh, log and stick to the mfp suggested deficit. Good Luck - you can do this. Pocess is simple;following it less so - but it is very do-able. PS Eating back about half of your exercise calories is what works for a lot of people
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    OP, if you are not losing weight, then you are eating at maintenance. My guess is you are eating more than you think you are, as 1540 would not be enough for the amount of running it sounds like you are doing.

    Do you weigh all solid food you eat and measure liquids? If not, start there
  • clairerobo1310
    clairerobo1310 Posts: 3 Member
    Thanks for getting back to me. I didn’t realise I could eat back my exercise calories, kept seeing different information so that’s really helpful! My weights just remaining but last couple of weekends have had a takeaway but due to the bigger run & restricting what I’m eating that day, seems a big jump on scales, unless it’s water. I have measured myself last night as maybe I’m getting too fixated by the scales. Everything is logged & measured, with steps/exercise being logged by Fitbit and synced to MFP. I’ve set my activity level to lightly active and maybe need to give it time?
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Measured or weighed? There is a major difference between the two.
  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
    Seriously if you're training for a half you need to make sure you're eating enough to fuel the training and it's very possible that you won't lose atm. I've just completed marathon training and was under instructions to eat when I was hungry (eating as healthy as possible). I ended up eating almost 4000 Calories a day and put on some weight (muscle in my legs mostly) but not nearly as much as you'd have thought from the amount I was eating. Those long runs take a lot of energy and you won't get nearly enough from 1500 Calories (I burn that many running a half).
  • clairerobo1310
    clairerobo1310 Posts: 3 Member
    firef1y72 wrote: »
    Seriously if you're training for a half you need to make sure you're eating enough to fuel the training and it's very possible that you won't lose atm. I've just completed marathon training and was under instructions to eat when I was hungry (eating as healthy as possible). I ended up eating almost 4000 Calories a day and put on some weight (muscle in my legs mostly) but not nearly as much as you'd have thought from the amount I was eating. Those long runs take a lot of energy and you won't get nearly enough from 1500 Calories (I burn that many running a half).

    Thanks that really helps, although the scales aren’t giving me the best result, I don’t feel heavier/clothes tighter and can definitely feel my legs getting slimmer. I think I’ll try and go by my measurements but make sure I eat some of my exercise kcal back.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    clairerobo1310 wrote: »
    firef1y72 wrote: »
    Seriously if you're training for a half you need to make sure you're eating enough to fuel the training and it's very possible that you won't lose atm. I've just completed marathon training and was under instructions to eat when I was hungry (eating as healthy as possible). I ended up eating almost 4000 Calories a day and put on some weight (muscle in my legs mostly) but not nearly as much as you'd have thought from the amount I was eating. Those long runs take a lot of energy and you won't get nearly enough from 1500 Calories (I burn that many running a half).

    Thanks that really helps, although the scales aren’t giving me the best result, I don’t feel heavier/clothes tighter and can definitely feel my legs getting slimmer. I think I’ll try and go by my measurements but make sure I eat some of my exercise kcal back.

    i cant lose weight once my long runs get into double figures... the runger is too real!
  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    clairerobo1310 wrote: »
    firef1y72 wrote: »
    Seriously if you're training for a half you need to make sure you're eating enough to fuel the training and it's very possible that you won't lose atm. I've just completed marathon training and was under instructions to eat when I was hungry (eating as healthy as possible). I ended up eating almost 4000 Calories a day and put on some weight (muscle in my legs mostly) but not nearly as much as you'd have thought from the amount I was eating. Those long runs take a lot of energy and you won't get nearly enough from 1500 Calories (I burn that many running a half).

    Thanks that really helps, although the scales aren’t giving me the best result, I don’t feel heavier/clothes tighter and can definitely feel my legs getting slimmer. I think I’ll try and go by my measurements but make sure I eat some of my exercise kcal back.

    i cant lose weight once my long runs get into double figures... the runger is too real!

    I literally eat everything in sight once I'm doing above 14km. Strangely though I couldn't eat the night of my marathon, the next week though OMG I more than made up for it. But OP the good thing is that the weight I put on has come off again really quickly, pretty sure much of it was water weight but I've dropped 6.5lb in 10 days and during training, I knew the weight was going on (8lb in 4 months) but other people were still complementing me on having lost more weight and I was still losing inches.
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