If I Set My Level to Lightly Active...

tigersgrowl1093

I am a cashier/sales associate at a drug store. When I am not ringing somebody up, I am stocking, cleaning, reorganizing, etc. I am on my feet 100% of my shifts, which run anywhere from 6 - 9 hours. I work 5 days/week. So, I figured that would be lightly active.

However, if I add in intentional exercise 3 - 4x/week, should I eat those calories back, or include that in my activity level?

Thanks!

bajoyba

You want to eat back any exercise calories that you haven't already accounted for in your activity level.

You can either account for all of your activity (workouts included) and eat the same calorie goal every day, or you can add in exercise as you do it and eat those burned calories back. Either way is fine, it just depends on which works best for you.

shadow2soul

Depends on what is easier for you.

If you workout about the same amount every week and like to have the same calorie goal every day, then the TDEE method might be a better fit for you. This method takes into account your normal activity level and the amount of weekly exercise to give you a set number of calories to aim for everyday.

If you like logging exercise and don't mind (or like to) eat more calories on days you workout, then use MFP's default method. Select Lightly Active and log exercise calories so that you can eat more on those days. If you go about it this way, depending on how you determine your workout calorie burn, you may only want to eat 50-75% of them back.

Generally, they average out to be the same. So it's really just a personal preference .

tigersgrowl1093

Due to my own food issues, I would like to have the same amount every day.

I just wonder if my daily lifestyle plus added workouts would still be lightly active, or if that would now be active. The definitions for each aren't all that helpful.

susannamarie

I'd pick one and adjust depending on rate of loss. Which one I'd pick would depend on how severe of a cut you're going with.

If you're going with a rapid loss rate I'd err on the side of caution and pick active to make sure I wasn't undereating too much.

If you're going with a more moderate deficit I'd pick lightly active to make sure I wasn't overeating too much.

Whichever way, go with it for a month, then adjust based on rate of loss.

MyChocolateDiet

I almost thought you were active just before your workouts. With the workouts I'm pretty sure you have to bump up from lightly active to at least active.

MBrothers22

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

Go to that website and get your calories and then just enter them into MFP.
But you're definitely active and not lightly active.
I only work ~15 hours a week on my feet and I'm lightly active (trial and error).

shadow2soul

Due to my own food issues, I would like to have the same amount every day.

I just wonder if my daily lifestyle plus added workouts would still be lightly active, or if that would now be active. The definitions for each aren't all that helpful.

If your looking at the definitions here, that is because the site is set up for you not to include exercise. You would definitely qualify as more than lightly active when your exercise is included.

Here are a few sites for you to get numbers from (maybe average out what you get):
http://iifym.com/iifym-calculator/
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html
http://www.fat2fittools.com/tools/bmr/
**Some of the sites give you just your TDEE (maintenance calories) and you will have to subtract anywhere from 5-20% to come up with your weight loss calories.

smithed812

For what it's worth, I also work a similar full-time job on my feet, and I also wear a bodymedia armband. Even MFP's very active setting underestimates my daily calorie burn. To maintain, MFP would have me eat 2100 calories before exercise, but my average daily burn is typically around 2700 (and that is just on a day I work without exercising). So I would at least set yours to active if not very active.

tigersgrowl1093

I really appreciate the help everyone!

I am 5' 4'', 191 lbs. My TDEE falls between 2,230 and 2,350 when I have it set to exercise 3x/week (or lightly active).

I am trying to keep my loss rate at an achievable and maintainable one, but at the same time, I have about 60 - 70 lbs to lose. I think I will try 1 lb/week for now and see how I feel with that deficit.

I will go play with the TDEE calcs some more to see which number I am comfortable with.

tigersgrowl1093

I figure even if I don't lose much while experimenting with activity levels and caloric intake, I should at the very least be maintaining.

I might stick with active (to include both my job as well as intentional exercise) and a 500 calorie deficit daily to see where that ends up in 1 month's time.

smithed812

Sounds good, especially the plan to reevaluate in a month's time. A lot of this is trial and error. Good luck!

WBB55

I really appreciate the help everyone!

I am 5' 4'', 191 lbs. My TDEE falls between 2,230 and 2,350 when I have it set to exercise 3x/week (or lightly active).

I am trying to keep my loss rate at an achievable and maintainable one, but at the same time, I have about 60 - 70 lbs to lose. I think I will try 1 lb/week for now and see how I feel with that deficit.

I will go play with the TDEE calcs some more to see which number I am comfortable with.

With this, my suggestion would be to just pick something and run with it for a couple months. Like, let's estimate your TDEE to be 2300. So if you ate 1800 every day, that *should* average about 1 lb per week of weight loss. Just try to be as accurate as possible with the "intake" side of the equation, and after a couple months, if you look at your weight loss vs. your "expected" weightloss, you can better gauge your true TDEE.

Like if in 8 weeks you lose 12 lbs instead of 8 lbs., then that means your TDEE was probably 2550 or so, and not 2300. But your TDEE will keep going down as you lose weight, so keep that in mind, too.