What settings to choose when starting MFP?

cherries12345

So I started on MFP towards the end of August, but more recently I've been wondering if my settings are right? When it asks about your activity level before it calculates the amount of calories you should eat to lose weight, should I choose lightly active or active if I play tennis each day. I know with another sport such as soccer or running, I should choose active but tennis isn't that demanding usually.

Airadet

I would go with lightly active and log your exercise.

sarah456s

Do you log your tennis as exercise or not? As far as I understand, the initial setting is what you do every day for work and just getting through your life. Then you log actual exercise on top.

If you've already counted the tennis, and set yourself as active, and then you also log the tennis as exercise, you're double counting it, as MFP assumes that you now have extra calories to eat because of the exercise.

CamillaHerold

I also thought that initial setting is about your lifestyle and work environment, not your exercise. Like a basal metabolic rate, its the minimum calories you burn just to get through your day. I have a desk job and sit all day at a computer, so my setting is sedentary. Then I add exercise and other activities like washing the car or the dog or heavy housework. So figure out what your typical workday is, and use that. Each day add what you do for exercise, which I would think will vary each day, and you'll have your total burn for the day.