what should I do??

sharonmac

Ok so here is my dilema now! LOL. Well I am trying to figure out how many calories a day I should really be eating. When I put it on sedentary for activity it tells me 1370 a day. When I put it on lightly active I have 1520 a day. Thats a pretty big difference. I do go to the gym 3 times a week so far and do 30 min of cardio. So I am not sure what I should do for calories. Any help would be great

RushinBruisette

What type of job do you have? I would pick whichever fits best on the lightly active, etc list. I don't work at all so I picked sedentary and I stick with it. Don't take in to consideration your exercise with this. Just your normal days, act as if you aren't exercising, what would you be at?

sharonmac

I am a stay at home Mom.

CarolHudson11

I sit at a desk all day long, so I picked sedentary. If you are up running around with the kids all day long, you might want to stick with lightly active. I know when I was a stay at home mom, I was never sedentary. lol

charityateet

I'd say lightly active, I'm sure you aren't sitting on your butt all day

bethann1976

Another desk/cubicle worker here -- I also picked sedentary, for the same reason, despite my workouts.

sharonmac

usually I am up with the kids or cleaning

RushinBruisette

Well, my friend, you answered yourself, lightly active it is. Besides, if you are exercising and burning quite a bit, you'll need a little extra fuel for your body anyway :flowerforyou:

dlaplume2

I would pick sedentary. It usually gives you your calories goals based on exercising 3 times a week. It will say that when you go to your profile and put it your height weight and activity level. I did increase my days exercising and it didn't give me more calories. (of course i add them back anyways)

You could just pick somewhere in the middle. IMHO I would do sedentary and reap the benefits of the added exercise when I wasn't sedentary.

Best of luck.

sharonmac

:flowerforyou: Thanks everyone!!

downtome

I say go with whatever feels right for you. I had set my calories to 1400 a day for the last 8 weeks and I did very little exercise, but going into week 9, I felt that I need to change my daily calories to 1600 as 1400 just wasn't enough! Also, I have been exercising a lot more which is going to make me even hungrier. You could also switch it up from day to day for confusion to your body but play with it a little bit and see where you are satisfied. If you set your calories too low, you will be hungry and have a hard time sticking with it. it's better to eat a little more and feel complete. I don't think it's going to make much of a difference from 1300 to 1500 calories as far as weighloss goes. Do what you can with exercise and if you find you are still hungry, eat back some of those calories because you are burning them off to begin with and your body needs the fuel. Hope this helps some.
Denise

sharonmac

I have also been trying to drink all my water. Do you think water really helps?

ajbeans

Ok so here is my dilema now! LOL. Well I am trying to figure out how many calories a day I should really be eating. When I put it on sedentary for activity it tells me 1370 a day. When I put it on lightly active I have 1520 a day. Thats a pretty big difference. I do go to the gym 3 times a week so far and do 30 min of cardio. So I am not sure what I should do for calories. Any help would be great

It's actually not that big of a difference. 150 calories is not much. I'm also a SAHM, and I'm a fairly lazy one, so I chose "sedentary." If you spend most of your day on your feet cleaning or whatever, you might want to choose "light." Just go with what feels right. My original goal was 1200 calories, and I was having a really hard time -- constantly hungry, not enough energy, just overall blah. So I upped it to 1300 and I feel better. Try one setting, and if it's not working for you, make adjustments until you feel good but are still able to see progress.

noltes2

I have also been trying to drink all my water. Do you think water really helps?

On days I would only have 2 or 3 glasses of water my weight would usually be higher the next day (most likely water weight/bloat). But on days I'd drink 10-12 glasses throughout the day, my weight will always drop the next day. It helps flush crap out of your system and the most - it helps counteract the sodium that sneaks into our diets!!!

EclaireP

I also read somewhere that when your body turns fat into energy it releases water, so fat is a form of water store. If we don't drink enough water during the day, our bodies are reluctant to metabolise the fat as it will deplete our water reserves. Could be a complete crock but I have found that now I am learning to listen to my body, I am starting to recognise when I am thirsty so I don't really worry too much. However, on the days where I drink a lot, my weight is down the next day or two as well.

Tricksy :-) Need a medico to reply to this one!

RushinBruisette

I have also been trying to drink all my water. Do you think water really helps?

Well of course silly goose!! Make sure you get in your 8 glasses daily and on days you eat more salt than normal, drink a little more. I often go with 12glasses a day. I have a 32oz jug that helps me.