Sendentary, lightly active?

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shortntall1
shortntall1 Posts: 333 Member
in Getting Started
I do not work outside the home. I walk almost every day and I do housework and sometimes sit to go on the computer/watch tv. I do laundry, vacuum, dishes.do groceries etc. I basically putter around. What activity level should I choose?
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  • shortntall1
    shortntall1 Posts: 333 Member
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    I ask because my scale hasnt moved since the 18th and I weigh/log everything and I had it set to lightly active.
  • 5stringjeff
    5stringjeff Posts: 790 Member
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    I have my settings on sedentary. I work a desk job, and at home I don't do much outside of typical housework. I've lost at about the recommended pace. So you might try using sedentary and see if that gets you at the right caloric deficit.
  • Vig83
    Vig83 Posts: 10
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    I have a desk job as well and by the time my day is over the last thing I want to do is workout for an hour or two. Maybe I should start, but I have sedentary life style, watch my calories and am losing. It recommends me to eat 2,230 cals a day. I typically stick to 2,000 or less, but it's nice to know I have some wiggle room in case I want that little extra snack or alcoholic beverage once or twice a week.
  • stacysjourney
    stacysjourney Posts: 52 Member
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    I am a stay at home mom and had the same activity level as yours for a long time. 6 weeks ago I changed EVERYTHING. From what I hate and how I ate it to my activity level. I started out on the treadmill for 5 minutes and worked my way up to 30 in a few weeks. I kept my speed slow, around 2.0 and pushed hard to get to my 30 minute mark. You can adjust that to what ever works. 6 weeks later I am down 30 pounds, and I am walking 5 miles a day on the treadmill with my speed at 4.2 and my incline is between 5 and 10%. I am not sure if this helps answer your question but If I can make this kind of change anyone can. Trust me :)
  • alisidewinder06
    alisidewinder06 Posts: 14 Member
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    I have a desk job as well, I'm a banker, so I put mine at sendentary since I am sitting most of the day. When I come home I still do chores like cooking, cleaning, laundry, mopping, vacuuming, light dusting, etc. I don't however consider this when I log things in, I know it is work and can be quite tiring, I just don't consider this as activity.
  • gidget_05
    gidget_05 Posts: 21 Member
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    I do not work outside the home. I walk almost every day and I do housework and sometimes sit to go on the computer/watch tv. I do laundry, vacuum, dishes.do groceries etc. I basically putter around. What activity level should I choose?
    I am just starting myself, I do house chores really not on computer much until I started MFP. I started walking yesterday there is a track in front of my house. I am not very active. Okay I am rambling sorry
  • accelerashawn
    accelerashawn Posts: 470 Member
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    I would choose sedentary given your description.

    The way I understood it was:
    Sedentary: Stationary and easy movements throughout the day.
    Lightly active: Spend most of the time standing or moving about.
    Active: Constantly moving about and carrying or moving items, playing sports.
  • MityMax96
    MityMax96 Posts: 5,778 Member
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    start with sedentary
    track progress over 4 weeks.
    Tweak numbers as needed.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Well, I wouldn't be concerned over 9 days.

    Sedentary is everything up to 5000 steps per day. When I stayed home and did chores I was lightly active. Now I work at a desk so I'm sedentary unless I make an effort. The important thing is to adjust based on your results so if you're not losing then going to sedentary might be the right move. But again, 9 days does not a plateau make.
  • rachelrb85
    rachelrb85 Posts: 579 Member
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    Lookin at your diary, your goal is set to 1300, I definitely wouldn't go lower than that. Based on your activities, I would say you are lightly active. If you set it to that, I wouldn't eat back your exercise calories unless you do a really active gym workout.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
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    I'd call it lightly active. I assume you've had it set to that since the get-go and were losing?

    Looking at your diary for the last couple of weeks, I see a number of "over" days and at least one "quick add calories". Not sure what your weight loss goals are, but if you're shooting for a slow loss it doesn't take much overage to swing from "slow loss" to "no loss". You might want to go to "reports" and look at your net calories for the last couple of weeks -- you might find you're a bit over where you think you were.

    OTOH, a nine-day stall isn't uncommon, especially if you're having bloating from your period or excessive salt intake.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    I ask because my scale hasnt moved since the 18th and I weigh/log everything and I had it set to lightly active.

    Then you have your answer...reduce your calorie goal and activity level. These calculators are just estimates to get you started...you have to analyze what's going on, say over the course of 3-4 weeks or so, and make adjustments as necessary. If you're not losing weight then you're eating too much....it's that simple.
  • shortntall1
    shortntall1 Posts: 333 Member
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    Thank you!!! The quick add day was the day I had chinese and I had no clue how to log that because we ate in the restaurant LOL..
  • cherrilovee
    cherrilovee Posts: 194 Member
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    I would try doing sedentary just to see if that would get you at the right calori deficit in order to lose some of that weight. But don't worry about it too much because like I always say, "You didn't gain all the weight in a day, so you're not going to lose it all in a day." Be patient and it'll burn off :)
  • shortntall1
    shortntall1 Posts: 333 Member
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    TY! I just switched it over to sedentary today so that may be why I look like Ive been over a lot :) Appreciate everything!
  • shortntall1
    shortntall1 Posts: 333 Member
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    Left is sedentary..right is lightly active..heres the comparison. I see room for improvement. Weekends are hard for me because my husband comes home and we are good all week and we cut ourselves some slack..but I see, Ill have to reel in the slack LOL

    062513f4-af1f-47c9-848d-33e282e4cd2b.jpg
  • SnuggleSmacks
    SnuggleSmacks Posts: 3,732 Member
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    I had the same question when I started because I have a very sedentary job, and sometimes my entertainment at home is the computer or Netflix rather than anything active. So I took the guesswork out of it by getting a fitness tracker. I have a Bodymedia, and I set MFP to sedentary and just let the Bodymedia make adjustments based on how active I am on a particular day. It's quite motivating, as I like seeing all the checkmarks when I reach my goals on the Bodymedia app, but also, if I want a little something extra to eat, I can just take a walk or jog or go for a bike ride and still stay within my limit. Knowing how much you actually burn on a daily basis is extremely helpful.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
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    Left is sedentary..right is lightly active..heres the comparison. I see room for improvement. Weekends are hard for me because my husband comes home and we are good all week and we cut ourselves some slack..but I see, Ill have to reel in the slack LOL

    Agreed. Letting things go a bit on the slack days.

    I compared a couple of two-week periods -- one starting July 8 (when I assume you were still losing OK) and one starting August 12. In the first period, you averaged 85 a day calories under goal (and that was with a very questionable "over" on July 19th -- I can't see how it would be humanly possible to eat that much in a meal), which in the second period, you averaged only 20 calories a day under goal (and probably less than that, since I assume you're logging gross calories for your exercise, and not net calories). Yeah, it's not a *huge* difference, but if you are only targeting maybe a half pound to a pound of loss a week, that loss of margin can be significant.
  • shortntall1
    shortntall1 Posts: 333 Member
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    Left is sedentary..right is lightly active..heres the comparison. I see room for improvement. Weekends are hard for me because my husband comes home and we are good all week and we cut ourselves some slack..but I see, Ill have to reel in the slack LOL

    Agreed. Letting things go a bit on the slack days.

    I compared a couple of two-week periods -- one starting July 8 (when I assume you were still losing OK) and one starting August 12. In the first period, you averaged 85 a day calories under goal (and that was with a very questionable "over" on July 19th -- I can't see how it would be humanly possible to eat that much in a meal), which in the second period, you averaged only 20 calories a day under goal (and probably less than that, since I assume you're logging gross calories for your exercise, and not net calories). Yeah, it's not a *huge* difference, but if you are only targeting maybe a half pound to a pound of loss a week, that loss of margin can be significant.
    That was a day we were up to our family camp (19th) at the lake..boston baked beans are high in calories (pork,molasses,brown sugar) and 2 johnsonville brats arent good either, calorie wise, plus I drank a bit. I dont know the dif between gross calories and net calories..off to google!
  • shortntall1
    shortntall1 Posts: 333 Member
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    ok ye..those are gross calories..I hadnt started exercising yet

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