Little to know exersise or 1-3 hours?

samfleming96155

Hi, sorry to ask the same question that every newb does, but I'm stuck!

I've been (trying) to eat at the 1600 cals MPF has me set at to lose 1lb a week, (majorly failing at the weekends but that's my fault and not what I'm asking for help with) but my hubby has noticed I've been more grumpy than usual, and was wondering if I'm not eating enough.

I decided to put my details into the famous scoobys workshop calculator, but I'm not sure if I should be no exercise or 1-3 hours light exercise.

I have 2 jobs, first one is 3 mornings a week and I help a disabled man maintain his household. Sometimes that can mean I'm helping him clean his house for 3 hours, or it could be sitting and helping him with his bills ect. The other job is every afternoon, and its a desk job with a little bit of movement when I'm running up the stairs to grab files ect.

I don't drive so I take public transport everywhere, meaning I probably walk about 20 mins a day, and when I get home, I cook for an hour and do at least an hours of light cleaning around the house.

Now I haven't really been logging any of this as exercise while going with the MPF calculations as my walking is 5 mins here and there rather than a 20 mins walk, and my housework and cooking isn't exactly exercise, however, obviously none of that is taken into account when working out my BMR, so should I be eating more?

I've been trying to find time to go to the gym, but things keep getting in the way and I've only managed to go once. I'm working on MAKING time rather than FINDING time, but that's a work in progress so for now I would like to add proper work outs as extra exercise as its so sporadic that I cant really take it into account for my TDEE.

So do you think I should be lightly active due to the bits and bobs I do each day, or completely sedentary?

If I pick sedentary I get 1613 cals and for light exercise I get 1848 cals. This is obviously a big difference so I don't want to be eating too much! But as my BMR is 1680, I don't want to be eating too little either....

Any help is much appreciated

samfleming96155

Eurgh wish I could edit the title! Silly error there, sorry!

martyqueen52

Sadly, no one can really truly help you.

No one knows how you work, what you do in your spare time, or how long you are on your feet. Be honest with those calculators and use common sense when picking your activity level.

Monitor your progress for a few weeks with the calories you were given. Weigh yourself 1st thing on a Friday morning, after you use the restroom and before you eat or drink anything. Do this for a few weeks and see what happens. If you go up a lb or two, drop your calories by 100. If you're losing to fast for your own liking or find yourself tired /weak /etc., up your calories by 100.

pinksmama

Marty's advice is great, just monitor your body in terms of how you feel, if you feel like you've eaten enough or need more sustenance. Your weight/inches lost or gained will also be an indicator.

I really don't factor in daily activity at all. If I worked a really hard, really active job it would be different but I live moderately active day to day so I let my exercise and eating do the talking, per se.

WBB55

Why not try 1700. Try that for a month. See what happens.

Come back in 6 weeks and tell us how you did.

Of_Monsters_and_Meat

If I was you, I would count that as sedentary. "light" activity would be a busy waitress for example.

Track the 20 min walk separate.

Start taking some running shoes with you to work. Use that walk to the bus and turn it into a run. (or progressively Couch 2 5k or something)

You seem like you want to make excuses to not go to the gym because you are getting a workout at work. Tough ca-ca. It doesn't work that way, this is hard. really, really hard.

samfleming96155

Start taking some running shoes with you to work. Use that walk to the bus and turn it into a run. (or progressively Couch 2 5k or something)

You seem like you want to make excuses to not go to the gym because you are getting a workout at work. Tough ca-ca. It doesn't work that way, this is hard. really, really hard.

I'd love to run after work, but I always so my food shopping before work and bring it home with me on the bus so not practical.

Regarding wanting to turn my work into exercise as an excuse not to go to the gym, I don't know what gave you that impression but its not like that at all! I know I don't do nearly enough moving at work to counter the gym, I was just worried that as MPF and Scooby had me eating below my BMR (not by much) that I would be eating too little. I really want to do more exercise, but find it hard to fit in inbetween working and cleaning my house. I live in a small flat with 2 men who do no house work (it was prearranged that I would do all the cleaning and pay slightly less rent) so cleaning takes up a lot of my time, as does cooking, so evenings are pretty much out. I've been trying to fit it in at weekends, but things keep cropping up, like me having to babysit my nephew last sunday (I managed to get to the gym Saturday) and this Saturday I have to wait in all day for a package, plus I have to go visit my husbands family. I have a few exercise DVDs but I'm far too embarrassed to do them when my flatmate is home, as he will definitely sit and watch me and laugh, and I don't have anywhere other than the living room to do them in as all the other rooms in the house are too small, even if I could transport the TV to them! Anyways, that's not what I was wanting help with, just what people would recommend me setting my goal to based on what I definitely do week to week.

I gather from the responses that sedentary is what people thing I should stick to, so I think thats what I'll do. I was leaning that way but was worried about eating below my BMR. I've been struggling with weekends but I think I'm going to quit drinking for a few weeks as that's what was eating up my weekend calories, plus I have no willpower when hungover!

Thanks for your help guys.

samfleming96155

Wow that turned into a little essay! Lol sorry!

tigerblue

Check out the spreadsheet from the "in place of a roadmap" group. It allows you to put in non exercise activity like what you are talking about. Then it will help you set a calorie goal either using the TDEE deficit method, or the MFP net calories method.

I think you can search for the group, or just go to "groups" and scroll til you find it. It should be pinned in that group's posts.

I will attempt to attach the link. . .

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm

SLLRunner

You sound pretty active, so doing the TDEE method I would probably be tempted to put in exercise three days a week. You can try it out for a few weeks, maybe 30 days, and see what happens.

samfleming96155

Check out the spreadsheet from the "in place of a roadmap" group. It allows you to put in non exercise activity like what you are talking about. Then it will help you set a calorie goal either using the TDEE deficit method, or the MFP net calories method.

I think you can search for the group, or just go to "groups" and scroll til you find it. It should be pinned in that group's posts.

I will attempt to attach the link. . .

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/717858-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-and-deficit-calcs-macros-hrm

Wow thanks for the hint, I've just put my info into this spreadsheet and it is suggesting 1903 cals a day. That's a huge difference! It recommends upping it gradually for a few weeks if it is more than 200 cals over my normal goal, so I think I'll up to 1700 for a week, then 1800 the next week and see what happens.

Thank you

shadriel7

Not to be harsh but that essay does really sound like a lot of excuses - excuses can be valid, but only so much as you allow them to be. So your roommate will laugh at you - he's a jerk - so what? Is it more important to get into shape or to let a jerk have control of your life? (Make food he hates until he leaves you alone...) Do you really have to be home at that time? Who says you can't do those chores at a different time of day? Do these things REALLY need to be done daily, or is someone just being OCD?

Bottom line - few jobs give anyone enough exercise to where they could actually claim they wouldn't benefit from additional exercise. Obviously that doesn't mean working in time to go to the gym (or workout at home) will necessarily be easy, but then - nothing worth achieving is ever easy. Sure walking and running around is exercise, but its not exactly GREAT exercise, either, (I haven't spoken to a trainer yet that recommended using a treadmill), and it doesn't really sound like you get THAT much of it anyway. I've had several trainers tell me recently that the recommended amount of daily cardio is a minimum of 30 minutes, and it did seem implied that those 30 minutes were altogether - not spread out at random intervals of 3 minute periods thru-out the day - which probably doesn't really result in much of anything - (just guessing, I'm just a nub myself here).

If you are hungry all the time, then you are either (most likely) not eating properly, or, as you suspect, not eating enough - possibly even both. However, I would think that if your weight level is not changing, or is even increasing, already - that right there should tell you the answer to the question on calorie intake. Look at what you are eating and make sure it has enough of the "stick to your ribs" (but healthy) kinda stuff that will keep you feeling full longer and provide you with the energy you need for the day. Or follow some of the prior suggestions on increasing your calorie intake by a little to see what the results are. Also, you don't have to figure out how to make it to the gym (or workout in your living room) EVERY DAY - even just one day a week is an improvement, fit in what you can, but fit something in.

samfleming96155

Not to be harsh but that essay does really sound like a lot of excuses - excuses can be valid, but only so much as you allow them to be. So your roommate will laugh at you - he's a jerk - so what? Is it more important to get into shape or to let a jerk have control of your life? (Make food he hates until he leaves you alone...) Do you really have to be home at that time? Who says you can't do those chores at a different time of day? Do these things REALLY need to be done daily, or is someone just being OCD?

Bottom line - few jobs give anyone enough exercise to where they could actually claim they wouldn't benefit from additional exercise. Obviously that doesn't mean working in time to go to the gym (or workout at home) will necessarily be easy, but then - nothing worth achieving is ever easy. Sure walking and running around is exercise, but its not exactly GREAT exercise, either, (I haven't spoken to a trainer yet that recommended using a treadmill), and it doesn't really sound like you get THAT much of it anyway. I've had several trainers tell me recently that the recommended amount of daily cardio is a minimum of 30 minutes, and it did seem implied that those 30 minutes were altogether - not spread out at random intervals of 3 minute periods thru-out the day - which probably doesn't really result in much of anything - (just guessing, I'm just a nub myself here).

If you are hungry all the time, then you are either (most likely) not eating properly, or, as you suspect, not eating enough - possibly even both. However, I would think that if your weight level is not changing, or is even increasing, already - that right there should tell you the answer to the question on calorie intake. Look at what you are eating and make sure it has enough of the "stick to your ribs" (but healthy) kinda stuff that will keep you feeling full longer and provide you with the energy you need for the day. Or follow some of the prior suggestions on increasing your calorie intake by a little to see what the results are. Also, you don't have to figure out how to make it to the gym (or workout in your living room) EVERY DAY - even just one day a week is an improvement, fit in what you can, but fit something in.

I never said that I was trying to use my day to day activity as a replacement for actual exercise, I was just concerned that having me placed at sedentary would be too low. My flat mate is not a jerk, he is one of my best friends but his sense of humour is very harsh. I really don't like people watching me exercise (I'm pushing through that and going to the gym anyways, but I can only just about manage that because everyone is there to exercise, and they are all strangers anyway so I don't care if they laugh at me). I'm sure I'll get to the point where I'm comfortable with telling him where to go if he laughs at me, and working out in font of him anyway, but I'm not there yet. One step at a time I did state in my post that I was trying to get to the gym but had only managed once that week. That should have made it obvious that I am working out at least once a week.

And yes, I do have to do the chores daily. As I stated in my post, I have an arrangement where I pay less rent in exchange for basically being the cleaner, so if I slack and the flat is a mess, I am not upholding my end of the bargain and would end up having to pay more rent which I cant afford.

Anyway, my point is, I wasn't looking for any advise on how to get more exercise into my routine, as only I can know when I actually have time, I was just looking for advise on whether or not sedentary was an accurate description of my day to day lifestyle, as these options seem pretty open to interpretation. I was under the impression that the sedentary setting assumes you get up, drive to work, sit in an office all day, drive home and then sit watching TV all evening and nothing else, which is obviously not what I do.
I'm not upset by your comment though, thanks for trying to give advice, but I know its down to me to make sure I get enough exercise, and that no one can really help me fit it in, as only I can know where I can make the time

I have now used the spreadsheet that was suggested (thanks again to tigerblue) and upped my calories to 1700. Lost 1lb this week, and that was after upping my cals for the last 4 days of the week, so that's 4lb lost so far. I'm going to stick to 1700 this week and see how it goes. The spreadsheet actually put me at 1900, so if I lose more than 1lb this week I know I can up my cals a bit more to keep to a 1lb a week loss.

I've managed to fit the gym in twice this week which I'm pretty pleased with, and was going to do a DVD this morning, but I'm aching so badly from yesterdays gym session that I decided to give that a miss.

MB2MN

If you can afford to buy a fitbit I would suggest it. I wouldn't take it's calorie count to heart but it does a good job of letting you know how active you are in your daily routine. My mother in law doesn't work out but she uses one and it does a great job of letting her know how she is doing that day. She has lost 7lbs just by adjusting her consumption based on her steps that day...and she was thin to begin with.

wpwarrior88

Are you getting enough good fats in your diet? A diet without enough fat in it can cause depression.

nancyluckhurst3

House cleaning is considered cardio and you can log it as such. It is in the database here. Also climbing stairs on your job would be considered cardio. log everything and it will tell you what you need to know. You would be surprised how many calories you are burning if you just log it all. Grumpy can go with dieting. I haven't had the problem this time around because i am so geeked about the lbs lost but years ago it happened a whole lot. Do things to keep yourself positive. Just remain at a deficit every day and you are going to lose.

Hi, sorry to ask the same question that every newb does, but I'm stuck!

I've been (trying) to eat at the 1600 cals MPF has me set at to lose 1lb a week, (majorly failing at the weekends but that's my fault and not what I'm asking for help with) but my hubby has noticed I've been more grumpy than usual, and was wondering if I'm not eating enough.

I decided to put my details into the famous scoobys workshop calculator, but I'm not sure if I should be no exercise or 1-3 hours light exercise.

I have 2 jobs, first one is 3 mornings a week and I help a disabled man maintain his household. Sometimes that can mean I'm helping him clean his house for 3 hours, or it could be sitting and helping him with his bills ect. The other job is every afternoon, and its a desk job with a little bit of movement when I'm running up the stairs to grab files ect.

I don't drive so I take public transport everywhere, meaning I probably walk about 20 mins a day, and when I get home, I cook for an hour and do at least an hours of light cleaning around the house.

Now I haven't really been logging any of this as exercise while going with the MPF calculations as my walking is 5 mins here and there rather than a 20 mins walk, and my housework and cooking isn't exactly exercise, however, obviously none of that is taken into account when working out my BMR, so should I be eating more?

I've been trying to find time to go to the gym, but things keep getting in the way and I've only managed to go once. I'm working on MAKING time rather than FINDING time, but that's a work in progress so for now I would like to add proper work outs as extra exercise as its so sporadic that I cant really take it into account for my TDEE.

So do you think I should be lightly active due to the bits and bobs I do each day, or completely sedentary?

If I pick sedentary I get 1613 cals and for light exercise I get 1848 cals. This is obviously a big difference so I don't want to be eating too much! But as my BMR is 1680, I don't want to be eating too little either....

Any help is much appreciated

sweetpea03b

Sadly, no one can really truly help you.

No one knows how you work, what you do in your spare time, or how long you are on your feet. Be honest with those calculators and use common sense when picking your activity level.

Monitor your progress for a few weeks with the calories you were given. Weigh yourself 1st thing on a Friday morning, after you use the restroom and before you eat or drink anything. Do this for a few weeks and see what happens. If you go up a lb or two, drop your calories by 100. If you're losing to fast for your own liking or find yourself tired /weak /etc., up your calories by 100.

This. Each body is different. Personally, I set my goal to my BMR (1500) and never go below it... but I'll eat a little bit higher here and there depending on my workouts that day, if I'm still hungry, etc. It's really trial and error... It has taken me a LONG TIME to figure out what works for me... and even then it only works a short time and I have to re-evaluate and adjust. It's been almost a year and I've lost 9#... but I've lost 7"... and I only have 32 more lbs to go so it goes slower once you get closer to the finish line. Good luck!

GothyFaery

While I like the Scooby TDEE calculator, there are others out there that let you account for the time your moving rather than just a lump sum of activity for the week. You can try this one:

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

For the formula, set it to "Enter Activity Level". There are several sites out there that will calculate your BMR and TDEE this way if you're not a fan of this one.

Quasita

I got tired of trying to use other people's tools to figure out what worked for ME so I instead invested in a BodyMedia Fit Link and started wearing it as instructed. It was really eye opening. All the calculators that were suggested to me were off significantly from what my actual, personal needs were. Even FitBit doesn't monitor your resting burns in the same way, but it's better than guessing with a spreadsheet.

The general rule of thumb is that you don't count things that are part of your regular routine, because they are not going to cause you to exert as much energy and calories as new activities. I wouldn't even count the walk to the bus if you do that every day.

I did read a lot of excuses but that's not the point here. The point is accuracy, and the only way you'll really get that is getting professional grade testing and monitoring equipment. All TDEE calculators are guesses at best because you cannot fine tune the results. If you're not ready for that kind of investment, then I'll tell you that taking the guess and adjusting it yourself is what you're going to have to get comfortable doing.

samfleming96155

I got tired of trying to use other people's tools to figure out what worked for ME so I instead invested in a BodyMedia Fit Link and started wearing it as instructed. It was really eye opening. All the calculators that were suggested to me were off significantly from what my actual, personal needs were. Even FitBit doesn't monitor your resting burns in the same way, but it's better than guessing with a spreadsheet.

The general rule of thumb is that you don't count things that are part of your regular routine, because they are not going to cause you to exert as much energy and calories as new activities. I wouldn't even count the walk to the bus if you do that every day.

I did read a lot of excuses but that's not the point here. The point is accuracy, and the only way you'll really get that is getting professional grade testing and monitoring equipment. All TDEE calculators are guesses at best because you cannot fine tune the results. If you're not ready for that kind of investment, then I'll tell you that taking the guess and adjusting it yourself is what you're going to have to get comfortable doing.

Hi thanks, I will definitely look into a BodyMedia Fit Link, but I definitely can't afford one right away. Will have to start putting a bit of money away each week earmarked for health and fitness purchases. I've recently quit smoking so I'm sure I can squirrel away some of the money I was spending on that for fitness stuff.

I totally agree with what you say about TDEE calculators, the fact that I have tried a few and they have varied by as much as 400 cals a day makes that clear! I'm definitely going to be adjusting it myself until I reach a nice level of weight loss. I've lost 4lb so far and only started on 2nd Feb so something must be going right Just trying to find the maximum I can eat while still losing weight, as I know from past efforts that if I restrict myself too much I end up giving up, and I really want to get healthy for good!

Francl27

If you're going to fail on the week ends, I'd keep your 1600 a day and definitely not eat more until you get the week ends under control. And if you really get hungry during the week and are out of calories, have a light snack.