Goal Setting

utes09

I've been on MFP for almost two years. Within that first year and half I lost almost 20 lbs and felt good about myself.

In May I got put on an antidepressant and ended up gaining about 25lbs back. Overall I'm still 10lbs down from where I was in high school and in a lot better shape then I was when I did weigh that amount

Now I'm very committed to working out and eating well. My question is what I should have my lifestyle set at in my goals. I work nights from 3 PM-9PM so I workout in the mornings. I usually get between an hour to two hours of working out in a day (Mon-Fri, the weekends are based on time available). Right now I have my setting at lightly active even though I have a desk job. That has my calories at 1280. Does that sound too low for me?? Since I've noticed my weight gain and committed myself I haven't seen any movement on the scale. Guess that's good since that means I'm not gaining, but I'm not losing anymore either.

Any input would be appreciated.

cinditree

If you are working out 5-7 times a week you should be at moderate activity

utes09

I went back to look at how the Goal Setting is set up and where I was looking to change my activity level it was for normal daily activity. I have that set to light and put that I work out 5 days a week for 90 minutes. That put that I should burn about 2300 calories a week with exercise and the rest with diet. I will work on having my net be 1200. That's what has been tough for me.

deekaydee

How many pounds per week did you input as your goal loss? With roughly 20 pound to lose, I would think 1 lb per week, or maybe even 1/2 lb. if you have it set to 2 lbs, that's probably too much.

Also, keep in mind that even though you tell MFP that you are going to workout a certain number of time per week, it doesn't calculate that into your daily calories until/unless you actually do it. You may have told MFP you would work out 5 times per week, but your calorie goal would be the same even if you said you wouldn't work out at all, as long as your activity level was set the same (activity level = sedentary/lightly active/etc.). Once you enter your exercise into your diary, your calorie allotment for the day will go up.

I would recommend that you set your activity level to your normal daily activity without exercise, and then enter your exercise into your diary when you actually do it. If you set your activity level based upon your expected exercise, then you're calorie goal will assume you are working out that way, and you can't log your exercise as activity because then you would be 'double-counting' it. I work out 5-6 times a week, but my activity level is set to sedentary because I have a desk job. I log all of my exercise, which increases my calorie allotment for the day -- but then on days when I don't work out, or work out less vigorously, I still can stay at an appropriate calorie level because my 'starting point' each day is assuming no exercise.