Activity Level?

MarshmallowMuffinTop

Hi, I’m 25F, 5’2.5”, 130.4 lbs, and looking to lose weight while I get stronger. Lemme narrate my day to day life so you can tell me what activity level I am.

I wake up and have coffee, sometimes I have something to eat as well. Then, I drive half an hour to my first home health client, A. A is a 330-lb, bedridden man. I get A his breakfast and then I put him on the bedpan. Luckily, he still has enough upper body strength that he can assist in lifting himself up by his bed rails. After I take him off the bedpan, I give him a sponge bath and change his incontinence pads. Then, I help him get dressed and brush his teeth. This whole process only takes about 2 hours, but entails some lifting.

Then, I drive another half hour to B. I get B her breakfast and remind her to take her meds. For the next five hours, we’ll sit together at the table and talk, do crosswords, watch TV, etc. At the end of the day, I make dinner for B and remind her to take her evening meds before I go.

Once I get home, I’ll do chores around the house, maybe go for a walk and/or out dancing. Some nights, I just watch TV while I eat dinner.

Based on the description above, what am I? On days where I get B to go out and run errands with me, is that enough to bump my activity level up a notch?

TavistockToad

Light active probably

MarshmallowMuffinTop

I’m lightly active even on days with five hours straight of sitting around?

shadow2soul

MarshmallowMuffinTop wrote: »

I’m lightly active even on days with five hours straight of sitting around?

It sounds like you have some days that are actually closer to Active, but if you average it out with sedentary periods Lightly active sounds about right.

If you want a little more confidence in your selection, why not download a free pedometer app on your phone and carry it around for a few days. Then you can look at your step count and get a general idea of your activity level.

Sedentary on MFP is about 3k or fewer steps a day (some people report it going up to 5k) based on the fact I start seeing and adjustment from my tracker after 3k steps i I am set to Sedentary.

Active is about 10k steps or more.

Lightly active falls in between those 2.

If say you end up looking at closer to 20k steps than you might actually be Very Active.

TavistockToad

MarshmallowMuffinTop wrote: »

I’m lightly active even on days with five hours straight of sitting around?

i have a desk job and do at least 6000 steps per day before intentional exercise, so yes.

MarshmallowMuffinTop

I already have a step counter on my phone and keep track of it. My average step count this past week was 10,621, with 2,697 on my lowest day, 6,652 on the next lowest day, and 21,217 on my highest day. At one point, I was averaging 20K+ steps a day, with some days going up to the 30Ks, but no more 😞.

TavistockToad

MarshmallowMuffinTop wrote: »

I already have a step counter on my phone and keep track of it. My average step count this past week was 10,621, with 2,697 on my lowest day, 6,652 on the next lowest day, and 21,217 on my highest day. At one point, I was averaging 20K+ steps a day, with some days going up to the 30Ks, but no more 😞.

the thing is though, it really doesn't matter which you choose. just pick one, stick to that number of calories for 4-6 weeks and then tweak as necessary.

middlehaitch

Were any of those high step days purposeful walking as exercise days, or were they all covering your work/daily activity?

Personally I would go with light activity and have a goal of 0.5lbs a week loss, as your weight is within a normal BMI weight range.
Log and adjust after 4-6 weeks if you are losing too fast or too slow.

If a portion of those steps are exercise log them seperately and eat back those calories, adjust as needed.

The calories given are estimates, adjustments are often needed as more data is gathered.

Cheers, h.

777Gemma888

Am in agreement with lightly active.

MarshmallowMuffinTop

middlehaitch wrote: »

Were any of those high step days purposeful walking as exercise days, or were they all covering your work/daily activity?

Only the 21K day had purposeful walking AND cycling as exercise and transportation. All the others covered my now-normal daily activities. On a weekly basis, my average step count is usually a little over 10K/day. What’s the minimum to be considered lightly active? 3K, 5K, 6K?

middlehaitch wrote: »

Personally I would go with light activity and have a goal of 0.5lbs a week loss, as your weight is within a normal BMI weight range.
Log and adjust after 4-6 weeks if you are losing too fast or too slow.

Ok, I’ll change my activity level from sedentary to lightly active. For right now, I have it set to maintenance tech-wise, with a personal goal to consistently come in at a deficit each day I don’t have a party.

middlehaitch wrote: »

If a portion of those steps are exercise log them seperately and eat back those calories, adjust as needed.

Sooo, log my bike rides and runs ON TOP OF the extra calories I get for the extra steps?

middlehaitch wrote: »

The calories given are estimates, adjustments are often needed as more data is gathered.

Cheers, h.

Duly noted. I’ll use my waist measurement as my “number” to go by, both because that’s a more reliable way to gauge my fat loss and because I’m too much of a Scrooge to get a scale. I will, however, post my weights when I get opportunities to weigh in!

HoneyBadger302

I've started actively tracking my steps, while adding a fair bit of "extra" purposeful walking (because my initial tracking via my phone was pathetic), and not counting workouts, it seemed the general consensus is:

Up to 5K/steps/day=Sedentary
5K-10K=Lightly Active
10K-(around) 13K=Active
~13K+=Highly Active

Mind you, this would be average per day.

So, with most of your days being in the 5-10K range, I would put yourself as lightly active and add your intentional exercise separately. See how that goes for a few weeks and adjust as needed.