Sedentary or lightly active?

DRetel

I can't decide which profile I fit for day to day. I have a desk job, however, as part of my job, I'm up and down the stairs, going to the warehouse 20 times a day, easy! There are about 20 stairs, and the warehouse is pretty big to walk across. Sometimes I do the trip back and forth 3 times before I sit back at my desk, and about 15 minutes later I probably have to make the trip down and back again...
So, it's an active desk job. Should I put myself as sedentary still, or move to lightly active?

veggiepug

I would put sedentary to be safe.

B_L_A_Z_I_A_N

lol you are way more active than I am. But it is always better to underestimate exercise than overestimate

You can always put sedentary and then log steps or get a HRM to help you calculate calories

Heatherbelle_87

Sedentary and get an HRM or pedometer to help log steps

brittany33107

I would totally disagree with everyone else, and say lightly active. a desk job would be defined as sitting for the entire work day other than just a few breaks.

MarySunshine70

I agree... "sedentary." I thought that I was at least "active" because of chasing my 6 kids & doing all that house work.... but the numbers didn't agree after months of following that calorie recommendation.
I think it seriously comes down to sustained heart rate increased for more than 20 minutes every day...

brittany33107

also.. if you underestimate and follow the calorie guidlines for the sedentary setting, you may be taking in too little calories.

Jason944

Personally I would put sedentary and see how that goes. If you put lightly active and it allows to have a few too many calories, you will probably get discouraged quickly from the lack of weight loss. If, however, you put sedentary and it allows too few calories, you will lose a little quicker (which is good in my book!) but probably not drastic enough to make it unhealthy. If on sedentary and you are hungry all the time, I would consider changing it though.

Givinya

I'm not so sure. If it was me and I'd put sedentary when my days were active, MFP would set my calorie goal low enough to guarantee I would always be really hungry. I'd be tempted to blowout on food. I would probably do a mock-up food plan using both sedentary and lightly active. How many calories does MFP recommend on each? Is the difference significant? And if so, how would you feel about averaging those numbs and setting your calorie intake at that point manually?

DRetel

I've been working out and eating within my sedentary calories for almost 2 weeks now, and I haven't lost a single pound.
I do plan on picking up a HRM later this month, but until then it's hard to decide what kind of desk job I have.
As for getting frustrated with lack of weight loss, I'm about a week away from that point... lol... If I don't see some change by next Thursday, I'm going to have to reevaluate!

Oh, and today is my full rest day, and I am "allowed" 1310 calories.. I'm HUNGRY, and I've cruised the kitchen a few times, but I've been good, and walked out empty handed... *pours more water*

brittany33107

I've been working out and eating within my sedentary calories for almost 2 weeks now, and I haven't lost a single pound.
I do plan on picking up a HRM later this month, but until then it's hard to decide what kind of desk job I have.
As for getting frustrated with lack of weight loss, I'm about a week away from that point... lol... If I don't see some change by next Thursday, I'm going to have to reevaluate!

Oh, and today is my full rest day, and I am "allowed" 1310 calories.. I'm HUNGRY, and I've cruised the kitchen a few times, but I've been good, and walked out empty handed... *pours more water*

that could be a very good sign that you're not taking in enough calories. Try using the lightly active for a week or two and i bet you will start loosing.