How to decide activity level?

rgugs13

Hey all!

I was wondering how people decide their activity level and when to upgrade or downgrade? I set mine at sedentary when I joined MFP because I really wasn't doing much activity other than 30 minutes of exercise a day. I'm back at work now, and tend to be more active, but I don't want to overestimate my BMR.

I use a Fitbit. Is there a number of steps that is considered the threshold between activity levels? I'm also getting a hrm soon. Has anybody worn one all day to estimate BMR? Would that be accurate at all?

Thanks!

jwdieter

If you've been tracking accurately for a while, you can determine if your weight loss is consistent with your settings.

fishgutzy

I just err on the side of caution and set my base at sedentary. I have a combo sit/stand desk so I spend about half my day standing.
But someone whose job has them walking or otherwise moving for 8 hours a day might be moderate.
Start with sedentary and work from there. If you are setting up to lose 1 pound a week but end up losing 2 for a few weeks in a row then it may be time to adjust it upward. That is easier that adjusting down. :bigsmile:

taunto

VERY few people are sedenatory. You know those unemployed potheads who live in their parents basement and have their moms feed them and not really go outside much and play video games all day. THEY are sedenatory.

If you're out shopping, cleaning home, working a desk job, going out to restaurant, maybe once a week outside to movies or family/friends. That would be lightly active. The 30 minutes of exercise is on TOP of lightly active so I would start logging the 30 minutes of exercise (if you aren't already).

rgugs13

I haven't because I was using my fitbit. When I get my hrm I'll switch to using that for workouts. I have been on mfp for just over a month, but only started logging food this week. I am perfectly happy losing 1-1.5 pounds a week, so I plan to eat back my workout calories.

I was truly sedentary when I started. I was house sitting for my parents and most days struggled to get more than 5000 steps in a day. There wasnt much motivation to leave the house when it was 95 degrees and 80% humidity! Then it started raining and we had a lot of rivets flooding, so had even less reason to go out!

Now that I am back at work I can swing between all the levels depending on what is going in. When I work on the boats, I can be on my feet working and lifting heavy baskets of fish for 12+ hours a day. When I'm on land I sometimes go hiking and get some activity in, but if it is snowy or raining, I might chill out all day in my hotel room. I have gained weight with this job, so the highs are not balancing the lows! Unfortunately I don't have access to a scale to track weight most of the time up there. I do take a tape measure.

Francl27

Well with a fitbit, you can just adjust really. If your average at the end of the day is 2300, just eat 20-25% under that. It's what I do, it's just much easier that way (I factor in the workouts that don't really register on fitbit though), no having to record individual workouts etc... it makes things easier.

To answer your question though, most of my activity is walks, so it works well with fitbit. I compared my fitbit results with http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/. To sum up, 10,000-11000 steps/5 miles a day is basically to lightly active, sometimes a bit over, but honestly the results are a bit all over the place and don't always make much sense, that's why I go with the total average.

But I disagree with everyone, it's VERY easy to be sedentary. On days I only do 5000 steps or something, my TDEE is barely above sedentary level. I have to walk for an hour a day to go over lightly active.

Mokey41

VERY few people are sedenatory. You know those unemployed potheads who live in their parents basement and have their moms feed them and not really go outside much and play video games all day. THEY are sedenatory.

If you're out shopping, cleaning home, working a desk job, going out to restaurant, maybe once a week outside to movies or family/friends. That would be lightly active. The 30 minutes of exercise is on TOP of lightly active so I would start logging the 30 minutes of exercise (if you aren't already).

Actually a large majority of the population is sedentary. Sedentary doesn't mean lays around like a sloth, it's exactly what you described above as lightly active.

If this is your life, you are sedentary.
Sleeping - 8 hours
Personal care (dressing, showering) - 1 hour
Eating - 1 hour
Cooking - 1 hour
Sitting (office work, selling produce, tending shop) - 8 hours
Driving car to/from work - 1 hour
General household work - 1 hour
Light leisure activities (watching TV, chatting) - 3 hours

Mokey41

I'm also getting a hrm soon. Has anybody worn one all day to estimate BMR? Would that be accurate at all?

Thanks!

No, it wouldn't. A HRM is only accurate during steady state cardio where your HR is significantly elevated for a period of time. For ordinary life it would give hugely inflated numbers.

shadowharuka

I have a job where I am on my feet, walking, cleaning and lifting things for 5-6 hours a day 3-4 days a week and I set mine at lightly active, I've been eating at my calorie goals for the most part and my projected weight loss has been pretty much spot on so I think I have mine set right. But I could be wrong, I've never really been super sure about activity level.

lcfairbairn74

I have seen several posters use this as a rule of thumb to determine your activity level:

1) Under 5000 steps/day may be used as a "sedentary lifestyle index"
2) 5,000-7,499 steps/day is typical of daily activity excluding sports/exercise and might be considered "low active."
3) 7,500-9,999 likely includes some exercise or walking (and/or a job that requires more walking) and might be considered "somewhat active."
4) 10,000 steps/day indicates the point that should be used to classify individuals as "active".
5) Individuals who take more than 12,500 steps/day are likely to be classified as "highly active".

It looks about right to me as a starting point!