not sure about my activity level

hazelbutton

After reading several posts about activity level and how MFP calculates your calories, I am slightly freaking out. I have only been on MFP for 7 days, but I want to start out on the right foot. I need advice please! What should I put as my activity level?? I am an elementary music teacher (grades 3-5) who is on my feet most of the day and does sing and dance( if you want to call it that) with classes. I put my activity level as "light". What do you think?

JDMPWR

Sounds about right. I did the same. I spend 4 hours a day sitting the rest standing, walking or sleeping so.

Aeriel

That is what I put down too....I think the lowest level is for someone who sits at a desk all day, and the 3rd level is for delivery people etc who are on their feet really moving all day.

rayfromtx

I set mine at lightly active and I'm maintaining my calorie goals and am losing the two lbs per week that I'm supposed to so I guess I got the activity level right. I am a construction manager so I'm active all day but spend about half the time sitting at a desk and half the time walking and moving around the site. At home, I sit about half the time and the rest I'm cooking, gardening or working on projects.

With time you will be able to judge if your settings are right and make adjustments. I did have a plateau a while back and I just spent a week eating 300 calories less per day and knocked off four lbs. Probably a water thing or something. I don't think I really lost four lbs of fat in a few days, but it did change something. Now I'm back to two a week I think.

potluck965

I'd go with "light". I find it most helpful to underestimate my excercise and overestimate my calories. If you find you are losing weight faster than you should, you can always adjust.

StacySkinny

I really wish this site had more then just 3 settings and that they explained the differences a bit better. What is considered "lightly active" to one person might be "sedentary" to another. I really like the way this site does it: http://www.healthyweightforum.org/eng/calculators/calories-required/ It has four different settings from "very light" to "heavy" activity levels and it explains the different settings very well. This site should totally do that. I love MFP but I have to use that other site I linked when calculating my daily calorie goals because it seems to be a bit more accurate as far as the calorie goal calculations go.

MisdemeanorM

Leave it at light for a few weeks and see how you do. I work a desk job, but it's at home with a toddler, 2 dogs, and the housework, and after being on sedentary for a while I was too tired and felt I needed more calories. I upped it to light which was 1500 cals instead of 1200 and it made a big difference in my energy levels. So try it and see how you feel in like a month.