Should I be entering Sedentary or Lightly Active?

karenrich77
karenrich77 Posts: 292 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,

I have been for the last few weeks been doing 60-120 mins of walking a day and just in the last few days been a bit hungrier throughout the day.

Considering I do this every day (7 days a week) should I be entering myself now as lightly active?

I am currently not working due to illness but am as active as I can be around the house and most days clock up around 12,000 - 13,000 steps.

Any advice welcome.

Thanks

Replies

  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Probably qualifies you for lightly active. Or alternatively you can say you are sedentary and just manually add your walks as exercise and eat those calories back. Probably easier to just say you are lightly active.

    One thing I would suggest is try to estimate your calorie burn from your walks. Then note what calories MFP tells you to eat when you say sedentary and then note what calories MFP says if you say lightly active. Hopefully the difference between the two is close to your estimated burn and then you have your answer.

    Cheers
  • karenrich77
    karenrich77 Posts: 292 Member
    Probably qualifies you for lightly active. Or alternatively you can say you are sedentary and just manually add your walks as exercise and eat those calories back. Probably easier to just say you are lightly active.

    One thing I would suggest is try to estimate your calorie burn from your walks. Then note what calories MFP tells you to eat when you say sedentary and then note what calories MFP says if you say lightly active. Hopefully the difference between the two is close to your estimated burn and then you have your answer.

    Cheers

    I use my Fitbit and HRM to work out my workouts, I don't ever use the MFP exercise thing on it's own as I find it overestimates by a LOT

    Thanks heaps
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Well you could I suppose just use your HRM calculated burn and add that manually as exercise on top of a sedentary base MFP. Or, as I mentioned, you can check to see what happens if you switch to lightly active and if the added calories are close to your estimated burn then it might just be easier to set it to lightly active and just always go for that walk.

    It depends on how much motifvation you need and if the act of having to log your exercise would make you feel more accountable to do it.
  • karenrich77
    karenrich77 Posts: 292 Member
    Well you could I suppose just use your HRM calculated burn and add that manually as exercise on top of a sedentary base MFP. Or, as I mentioned, you can check to see what happens if you switch to lightly active and if the added calories are close to your estimated burn then it might just be easier to set it to lightly active and just always go for that walk.

    It depends on how much motifvation you need and if the act of having to log your exercise would make you feel more accountable to do it.

    When I swapped to Lightly Active it was 300 calories short of my regular HRM burn, so I think I will stick to logging the exercise, thanks so much for the advice :)
  • TimTomakin
    TimTomakin Posts: 23 Member
    Try eating at a Sedentary level and if you find yourself hungry for most of the day increase your calories to the Lightly Active level. Then adjust accordingly down the road.

    Those calorie calculators are a good starting point, but they should not be the final say in how many calories you eat. Every person is different and the numbers spit out by calculators are too general. Experiment with your calorie goal and macronutrient ratio to find what's best for YOU.

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