Lightly Active? Or Active?

KisforKriss

I have myself set to lightly active, but i would like to know what others would say if they had my day.. so i made a slight schedule of my life. lol

Typical work day:

5:50am - 6:15am -- Walk to work (25 min)
6:30am - 7:30am -- Get breakfast started, set tables, wash and put away dishes used from the night, make sandwiches, tea and coffee, Etc.
7:30am - 10:00am -- Serve breakfast, I spend this time walking back and forth between the kitchen and dining room, taking orders from residents, going back to make their order, bringing the order to their table, i also go around and collect dishes, bring them back to the kitchen to be washed, and put away for the next meal.
10:30am - 11:00am - Finish clean up from residents that came out while i was on break and clean the kitchen to have it ready for lunch.
11:00am - 11:45am - Set tables again, pour drinks
11:45am - 1:30pm - Serve lunch, distribute desserts, collect dirty dishes and bring them back to the kitchen, wash and clean them for the next meal, sweep floors, mop floors, wipe down tables, Etc.
2:00pm - 3:30pm -- Go down to the basement and pick up food cart for tomorrow, bring it back up, put it away, walk to each residents room (25 rooms ) and give out juices and snacks, do afternoon cleaning and organizing, set tables for supper.
4:00pm - 7:00pm -- Repeat the same process as lunch meal service.
7:00pm - 7:25pm -- Walk home (25 Min)

Typical Non work day:
15 min on the elliptical
30 Min of Cardio ( Usually Dance Dance revolution or Youtube Cardio Video)
If i need to go out anywhere, i will walk there and back unless i have groceries and they're heavy.

ecw3780

It all depends on what is normal for you. Personally, I set myself to sedentary and then log exercise. I would probably err on the side of caution and go with lightly active.

KisforKriss

It all depends on what is normal for you. Personally, I set myself to sedentary and then log exercise. I would probably err on the side of caution and go with lightly active.

Caution is what i was using when i set myself up lol..
but when you read the desciptions of the two things and they list different "jobs" that would be classed under each one, i felt stuck in the middle.

Renegade706

Any workday that starts at 5:50 am and ends at 7:25 pm sounds like a VERY active day to me! Especially when your on your feet almost the entire time.

kathleenjoyful

Would be helpful to get a pedometer or a fitness tracker (like a Fitbit or an UP) that also counts the number of steps you do in a day. You seem to be on your feet most of the day (rather than a sedentary desk job) so you're probably a lot more "active" than you realise, even without workouts at the gym. I walk as much as possible too, and my Jawbone UP syncs with MyFitnessPal for a (conservative) calorie adjustment for the day based on my steps. Definitely log your exercise. I do the same amount of walking as you do but I'd say you do more than just "light" activity, factoring in your job. Do log your workouts, do you use a heart rate monitor for your cardio?

KisforKriss

Any workday that starts at 5:50 am and ends at 7:25 pm sounds like a VERY active day to me! Especially when your on your feet almost the entire time.

I didn't really include everything in my work day but thats pretty much the basics, If we are short staffed ( There is 8 neighborhoods with a kitchen on each ) we have to walk to the short kitchen and put in 30 min of work there, twice a day, and its even busier if we are down 2,3 sometimes 4 kitchens at a time.

KisforKriss

Would be helpful to get a pedometer or a fitness tracker (like a Fitbit or an UP) that also counts the number of steps you do in a day. You seem to be on your feet most of the day (rather than a sedentary desk job) so you're probably a lot more "active" than you realise, even without workouts at the gym. I walk as much as possible too, and my Jawbone UP syncs with MyFitnessPal for a (conservative) calorie adjustment for the day based on my steps. Definitely log your exercise. I do the same amount of walking as you do but I'd say you do more than just "light" activity, factoring in your job. Do log your workouts, do you use a heart rate monitor for your cardio?

I had a fitbit and sent it back, i didn't like how it messed with my numbers, and slowly went down as the evening went on, but i can tell you for the month i had it, my days were between 13,000 and 15,000 steps.
Yes i HRM my cardio, and i count the walk to work and walk home as excersize, but not the rest of my day

mmjensen2010

It all depends on what is normal for you. Personally, I set myself to sedentary and then log exercise. I would probably err on the side of caution and go with lightly active.

Agreed, I do the same thing

KisforKriss

It all depends on what is normal for you. Personally, I set myself to sedentary and then log exercise. I would probably err on the side of caution and go with lightly active.

Agreed, I do the same thing

The only excersize i log is the DDR, Walking and Elliptical, if i was set to sedentary, what else would i log on top of those?

KisforKriss

bump

dlbaron

You could definitely set yourself to lightly active and continue logging only the intentional exercise. I have a Ftibit Flex, I move around at work (but not as much as you do), and consistently burn more than the 70 extra calories the lightly active setting gives you.

KisforKriss

You could definitely set yourself to lightly active and continue logging only the intentional exercise. I have a Ftibit Flex, I move around at work (but not as much as you do), and consistently burn more than the 70 extra calories the lightly active setting gives you.

Well that is actually reassuring to me

MelissaBoydston82

i would set myself as active, but then only log the exercise that i did that was really intense. like jogging, dancing, brisk walk/cardio. stuff that gets you out of breath and makes you sweat at least a little.