Sedentary

Vicxie86
Vicxie86 Posts: 181 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Posted this question in the fitness section but seeing as there isnt a reply, thought i'd try here

I have a question on Sedentary. I'm logged down on MFP as sedentary. Any walking i do to work and from work counts as extra calorie or it doesn't? A month ago, i was eating under 1500kcal and my weight loss hardly shifted for 3weeks. Then within 2 week of going back up to 1700, i lost 5lbs and the weight loss was steady after that. So, i'm struggling to find the perfect balance of calories to help me loss weight without my body feeling deprived e.g. Yesterday's calories 1850, exercise 567, net 1283. I'm not sure if i should be eating more or just leave things as it is.

I'm 6'2, 212.6lbs, goal 189. To lose a pound a week, i need to be eating 1600 according to scooby doo but i'm starting to think i need to eat more on my exercise days e.g if i burn 300kcals at the gym, then i should be eating roughly 1800kcals?

Every little advice helps

Replies

  • HappyStack
    HappyStack Posts: 802 Member
    Sedentary can mean actually being sedentary or just being pretty inactive, so the number it spits out would be close to your BMR. In this case, yes... a lot of "incidental exercise" would be something you have to "eat back" calories for, as well as intended exercise calories. You not only have to fuel your workouts but you have to fuel your recovery from it.

    My mode of thinking is, I want to be able to eat as much as possible and still lose weight... so I take the smallest deficit I can make that will yield 1lb per week as a loss. It takes a few weeks of trial and error, but it's the most accurate DIY method for an individual.
    If you find that 1200 or so NET is too little, increase it by a few hundred over a few weeks and stop increasing when you experience losing less than 1lb a week. There's no reason at all for a person to go hungry in order to get the body they want.
  • Vicxie86
    Vicxie86 Posts: 181 Member
    I just started incorporating exercise this week and after my workout, which is after work, i find my usual dinner is enough but because my net calories are low, i'm baffled as to whether to eat more or leave well alone. My BMR is actually 1802 but on workout days, i'm getting less than 1500, and when i don't exercise 1700.
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    I've been assuming 'sedentary' meant you log every exercise you do including walking to the shops, cleaning the toilet etc, whereas if you set your activity level higher it makes an allowance in your maintenance calories, so you can't log everything.

    Does anyone know this for sure? Does it clarify anywhere what the allowances are? I suppose you could play with your own settings and see how much it changes.

    Personally I'm keeping my activity at 'sedentary' even though I'm much more active now than when I started, as I know where I stand with respect to logging. It's less confusing, I think.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Use scooby numbers but include your exercise activity in there, then you don't have to worry about eating exercise calories back... it's included.
  • witmer1
    witmer1 Posts: 128 Member
    I know I'm going to be unpopular for this answer, but here goes:

    Stick to your calorie goal minus exercise. Ignore the net goal. Generally, exercise calories are overestimated. If you're eating those calories back, you very well may be eating more calories than your calorie goal. I believe this is what causes so much frustration among those who plateau or see no loss.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    I know I'm going to be unpopular for this answer, but here goes:

    Stick to your calorie goal minus exercise. Ignore the net goal. Generally, exercise calories are overestimated. If you're eating those calories back, you very well may be eating more calories than your calorie goal. I believe this is what causes so much frustration among those who plateau or see no loss.

    Really depends how much you work out, IMO. For someone who just walks 30 minutes a day, not a big deal not to eat exercise calories, for someone doing Insanity... huge deal. Plus if you don't eat exercise calories, your deficit is bigger, and you end up losing muscle faster too... which is counter-productive.

    People plateau because they don't weigh their food and eat too much, and/or overestimate their exercise calories.

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