Please help me understand Diet Profile numbers

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Mely
Mely Posts: 166 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm trying to get my head around these numbers. My figures show:

1620 calories a day from normal daily activity
1200 Net calories consumed
420 Daily deficit

How do they get to the number 1620 for normal daily activity? My BMI is 1290 which I understand is what I'd burn if I was in bed all day. I sit in front of a PC all day working at home. I've been counting housework as excercise but maybe that should be considered my normal daily activity and I should count it??

Please advise.

Replies

  • Mely
    Mely Posts: 166 Member
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    I'm trying to get my head around these numbers. My figures show:

    1620 calories a day from normal daily activity
    1200 Net calories consumed
    420 Daily deficit

    How do they get to the number 1620 for normal daily activity? My BMI is 1290 which I understand is what I'd burn if I was in bed all day. I sit in front of a PC all day working at home. I've been counting housework as excercise but maybe that should be considered my normal daily activity and I should count it??

    Please advise.
  • sewtoday123
    sewtoday123 Posts: 33
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    I don't get it either. So if someone explains this then great!
  • tall_t
    tall_t Posts: 251
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    I'm trying to get my head around these numbers. My figures show:

    1620 calories a day from normal daily activity
    1200 Net calories consumed
    420 Daily deficit

    How do they get to the number 1620 for normal daily activity? My BMI is 1290 which I understand is what I'd burn if I was in bed all day. I sit in front of a PC all day working at home. I've been counting housework as excercise but maybe that should be considered my normal daily activity and I should count it??

    Please advise.

    I think what they are saying is that based on your height, weight and activity of your lifestyle that you burn 1620 calories a day. They want you to eat only 1200 calories a day which would mean you are eating 420 calories less than what your using which should result in weight loss.

    If you are just sitting at a PC all day, you may want to mark yourself as living a sedentary lifestyle.
  • Nich0le
    Nich0le Posts: 2,906 Member
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    If you spend the majority of time at a desk you need to use sedentary as your lifestyle, and house cleaning can be counted as exercise, but if you do it everyday as part of your normal routine I would not.

    I work at home on the computer and do a bit of house cleaning each day and my base calories are 1340 and then exercise gives me some "bonus" calories for the day. I never count house cleaning because it isn't long and I'm not usually working up a sweat.
  • heartshapdworld
    heartshapdworld Posts: 323 Member
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    I've been counting housework as excercise but maybe that should be considered my normal daily activity and I should count it??

    Please advise.

    Some people on this site count normal, every day activity. I do not. The way I think about it is this: if normal, every day activity was really helping with weight loss or even maintaining, would I still be here? Probably not; therefore, I count walking to the store, the bank, the cinema, dancing, ect...any palce I want to go with the expcetion of work is within a mile from where I live, so I wallk, always, but I never would count it toward daily exercise.

    That's just me
  • Mely
    Mely Posts: 166 Member
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    I checked my settings and I did choose sedentary as my lifestyle choice.

    Can anyone explain this?
  • tall_t
    tall_t Posts: 251
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    I am not sure what you need explaining.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,051 Member
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    I checked my settings and I did choose sedentary as my lifestyle choice.

    Can anyone explain this?

    Hi! Welcome.

    Choose "Sedentary". Don't count light housework in your "exercise" category. We all have that as part of our lives. The Sedentary category will allow for that, for the most part. Since you have only 6 pounds to lose, though, it is gong to take you a while, since the site does not let you lower your calorie intake below 1200 - and DON'T do it thinking you will have faster results.

    These threads are excellent and will answer your question.

    Good luck!

    Cheryl

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/8977-your-body-s-thoughts-on-calories

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9433-expectations

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions
  • shorerider
    shorerider Posts: 3,817 Member
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    I'm trying to get my head around these numbers. My figures show:

    1620 calories a day from normal daily activity
    1200 Net calories consumed
    420 Daily deficit

    How do they get to the number 1620 for normal daily activity? My BMI is 1290 which I understand is what I'd burn if I was in bed all day. I sit in front of a PC all day working at home. I've been counting housework as excercise but maybe that should be considered my normal daily activity and I should count it??

    Please advise.

    Not sure what you want explained either--it shows your required caloric intake to be 1620. Your BMR (not BMI--that's something completely different) is 1290. That is means it would take 1290 calories to maintain your current weight if all you did was breathe. Of course, you do more than that, right? So, it takes 1620 calories a day to keep your current weight based upon a sedentary lifestyle.

    What else do you wish to know?
  • Mely
    Mely Posts: 166 Member
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    I'm trying to figure out how they calculate my "calories burned from normal daily activities" as 1600 if I marked my lifestyle as sedentary and my BMI is 1290.

    I found an activity calculator that tells you calories burned from normal daily tasks and after calculating things like tidying up the houses, doing dishes, unpacking groceries etc. I do think that I must burn another 300 calories a day so I guess that's the answer.

    I've been counting as excercise walking to the store, walking the dog and heavy house work like cleaning windows which I guess is OK.
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    Anything that requires you to hold yourself up, even if you're stationary, burns more calories than lying down. Thinking burns calories, sitting burns calories, getting up and going to the bathroom burns calories. You burn more calories being sedentary than you would in a coma, which is technically what your BMR would support.
  • Mely
    Mely Posts: 166 Member
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    Found the calculations MFP must use:

    Harris Benedict Formula
    To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows:


    If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
    If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
    If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
    If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
    If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

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