Sedentary or moderately active?

QAPmom
QAPmom Posts: 458 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hoping someone could give me some insight on this because I am not sure where to put myself at when MFP or TDEE asks this. I have a desk job, however I am up and walking around a lot of the day, at home I either do zumba or walk a mile and a 1/2 everyday, do house chores, etc. and do not sit really until 8ish or so. Weekends I usually do an hour of Zumba Sat and Sun and go for 2 walks each day besides that. I was doing the 1200 diet, didn't work for me and I was still hungry. Now I am at 1500. I am trying to figure it out, but haven't lost anything for awhile now...just want to re-evaluate it. Thanks for you help!

I am 5'4"
CW: 174
GW: 130 / 140

Replies

  • rileyleigh
    rileyleigh Posts: 106 Member
    Yea you are definitely not "sedentary". I would probably bump to up to lightly active, or moderately active. Then if you ever do additional exercise (such as your zumba class, or an extra walk/run) i would log that seperately in the exercise diary, and then eat around 50% of those calories back as well.

    Bumping your activity level up to its appropriate level in MFP with allow you to eat more calories so you are not always starving.


    ETA: clarification.
  • RachelSteeners
    RachelSteeners Posts: 249 Member
    I think moderately active seems reasonable
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    It depends on the method.

    with MFP you're only supposed to include your day to day stuff...which sounds like you would be light active. You log exercise after the fact to account for that activity, you don't include it in your activity level. You log it and get credit for it which is why you get calories to "eat back"

    With a TDEE calculator you include all activities, including exercise in your estimate...and i would say moderately active on a TDEE calculator.

    In either case, you're not sedentary...I have a desk job and even without deliberate exercise I'm light active with just the necessities of taking care of the family and home before and after work.
  • caracrawford1
    caracrawford1 Posts: 657 Member
    I workout for an hour a day-- a combo of 39 min stepmill (level 13) and elliptical or a six mile run, THEN a 3-4 mile walk with my dogs plus a 13-20 mile run on wkends, and STILL put down sedentary. I'd rather have the extra cushion. I have gone down a little more than a size but I'm pretty sure if I listed myself as active, I'd be tempted to just have a grand old time with my calorie allotment and wouldn't have lost as much. The calorie goal is already 2148 with my exercise included in at sedentaryfor crying out loud--and I'm only 5'2!. I do not eat exercise back, so I gross 1400-1500 a day. I am not hungry at all.
  • chilly1470
    chilly1470 Posts: 178 Member
    Yea you are definitely not "sedentary". I would probably bump to up to lightly active, or moderately active. Then if you ever do additional exercise (such as your zumba class, or an extra walk/run) i would log that seperately in the exercise diary, and then eat around 50% of those calories back as well.

    Bumping your activity level up to its appropriate level in MFP with allow you to eat more calories so you are not always starving.


    ETA: clarification.

    Yeah, what they said.

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