Q about 'double exercise cals'.

phinners

I saw in another thread about setting your lifestyle to active, or even slightly active so that you get extra cals to eat, and then logging your exercise and eating back the cals. The post also said you could end up eating double the calories if you're logging the activity, but you're already claiming to MFP to be 'active'.




Does this mean we shouldnt be adding in our activity if we claim to have an active lifestyle? Did the poster really mean you'll end up eating twice the calories? What do you all think to this idea?

I'm right confused now. (I did ask in the other thread, but didnt receive any reply so thought I'd ask here). Thanks all.

CassieLEO

Well MFP will count activity as active if its something that you do every day as a regular part of your life. SO, If you go work out on top of it and its not a usual part of every day life, (like hitting the gym) I would add it. I think the person who said that is confused....

Its more like Above and beyond your daily normal routine....

sophieshaped

MFP allows you extra calories if you're 'active', as you'll burn more each day than someone with a sedentary lifestyle.

If you set your profile to 'active' and then start adding your daily activites separately in your exercise diary, you'll 'earn' more calories to eat – hence you'll have entered it twice and potentially be eating too many calories. Make sense?

If in doubt, maybe set it to sedentary and include all of your daily activities in your exercise diary.

corieueber

I'm working on that my daily calories allowance takes into account general activity and l don't count extra points for running around the playground with my boys but if l go to the gym (or a walk without children) then l wear my heart rate monitor and l count the 600 or so calories l've earnt from a workout as extra calories and l actually will eat some but l try not to eat all of them but that's just what's working for me,

beccarockslife

I am a WAHM, I am on my feet a lot of the day with an active child but I still count my life style as sedentary because getting the laundery done doesn't really get my heart racing. THere are so few jobs nowadays that would count as active because you need to get your heart rate up.

I think people get confused about what the things mean and consider if they cycle to work then walk around the office a bit that they are active but then they log their cycle on top of that activity. If you consider yourself in the active lifestyle because you cycle to work then you can't really add that cycle on top of that lifestyle choice. However if your job is sedentary & you chose this as your lifestyle but then you add cycling to it then it is fine because you aren't duplicating.

I've rambled but it makes sense to me lol

fteale

If I set my lifestyle to slightly active or whatever it is, I only get an extra 140 cals added, which is neither here nor there, really. I don't, as I'd rather slightly undereat than slightly overeat.

BerryH

Some diet sites and plans include exercise activity in your general activity level. MFP doesn't as it allows you to record exercise at quite a detailed level.

For example, I've set my activity level as sedentary as I sit on my bum all day at work, and I don't include add my mile and a half walk that is part of my commute as it's part of my general lifestyle.

However, if I lace up my trainers and go for a 40-minute power walk at lunchtime and work up a sweat, you bet your booty that's going to be recorded and eaten back!

Hope that helps.

Fattack

I hit the gym pretty much every day and burn at least 500 calories, I also walk home (mile and a half). I log all of these as exercise. However, my job is a desk job, so I have a "sedentary" lifestyle in settings.

phinners

MFP allows you extra calories if you're 'active', as you'll burn more each day than someone with a sedentary lifestyle.

If you set your profile to 'active' and then start adding your daily activites separately in your exercise diary, you'll 'earn' more calories to eat – hence you'll have entered it twice and potentially be eating too many calories. Make sense?

If in doubt, maybe set it to sedentary and include all of your daily activities in your exercise diary.

Yeah this makes sense.

I had set mine to lightly active becuase I work out almost everyday, bit not always. So enjoyed the extra cals but was adding in my exercise and eating those4 cals back.

I'm going to change it back to sedentary.


Thanks all your your replies.

phinners

Yup you are all making perfect sense! Thanks all.

marianne_s

I've set mine to active - because from the readings I got on my KiFit, my total daily (24 hours) calorie burn was quite high.



I walk a mile to the office from the train station and back during the week, but wasn't logging it as exercise. - now it is included.

RubyA2011

I am a WAHM, I am on my feet a lot of the day with an active child but I still count my life style as sedentary because getting the laundery done doesn't really get my heart racing. THere are so few jobs nowadays that would count as active because you need to get your heart rate up.

I think people get confused about what the things mean and consider if they cycle to work then walk around the office a bit that they are active but then they log their cycle on top of that activity. If you consider yourself in the active lifestyle because you cycle to work then you can't really add that cycle on top of that lifestyle choice. However if your job is sedentary & you chose this as your lifestyle but then you add cycling to it then it is fine because you aren't duplicating.

I've rambled but it makes sense to me lol

I agree with this im a SAHM and i dont add my chores or the walk i do as the school run, or running up and down the stairs 50 time sin a morning because the girls have forgotten something..again! etc to my "exercise" as it is stuff i do everyday and have always done.

I do add if walk into town without the children during the week as i walk fast...if i take the kids i dont add as its walking at a snails pace!

Ive seen people adding "Cleaning" to their exercise which Yes burns cals but i would imagine is included in your normal daily usage. I did add gardening once but i was diging over my veg patch for 2 hours, mowed the lawn and weeded all the boarders & painted the fence...i was out there for about 6 hours and only added 2 as exercise because i hadnt had time to do anything else and i knew i burnt more cals than i would have done in a "normal" day.

Sezmo83

If I were still at my job as security where I was rushing around from 8am until 6:30pm I would have described my lifestyle as active. But I wouldn't have logged the 4-5 hours of running out to the barrier to ID and sign in people in cars as exercise. Nor would I have logged patrols or the 2 mile walk to and from work or any of the other working day activities I did. They'd already have been accounted for by me saying I had an active lifestyle.

However,if I went swimming or to the gym or for a long walk with the dog (as opposed to just going to the field I lived next door to) I would have logged those as they were things beyond what I'd normally do.

When I did weight watchers I logged about half my daily exercise from work and ate the extra points it gave me but there was no option to choose a different activity level as far as I can remember so all exercise counted.

littlemissanguissette

I have my lifestyle as active, mainly because I work with horses and I feed, water, and clean up after 18 of them, then ride. So that is my normal activity, I don't count that...but I do count going to the gym, doing the 30DS, etc.

phinners

Brill thanks all