Confused about which activity level to set?

thankyou4thevenom

I know I have been, until I found this.

The activity factor lightly active corresponds to walking 2 hours per day, moderately active corresponds to walking 3 hours per day, very active corresponds to walking 4 hours per day, and extra active corresponds to walking 5 hours per day (20 miles). Sedentary would include those sitting at a desk all day with no other activity or those confined to a wheelchair or mobility scooters who are not able to exercise.

It came from here
http://www.scientificpsychic.com/health/cron1.html

If those are correct I've been wildly underestimating my level of activity. It would be nice to have this better explanation of activity levels on here.

getsveltEagain

That is interesting... I have a bodybugg and it says that you are "fairly" active if you have a sedentary job but work out < 1 hr 3 - 5 times a week. Or you can be "lightly" active if you have a sedentary job and work out half hour 3 times a week

BeccaB1981

I have a desk job so I have my activity level set a sedentary but I also have a one year old so when I am home I am very active... Plus I exercise over an hour a day but I log that so I don't think that would change my activity level.

amysj303

Somebody tell me if this is wrong- is it true if you enter "fairly active" because you workout three times per week, and then you log your exercise, you are actually being credited twice for the exercise and your weekly deficits will be smaller than you think?

evselc

If you go to your diet profile it has descriptions of how to set your activity level in regards to your lifestyle (not exercise). Below that you would enter how much you exercise. That is how your calorie level will be set based on both of those entries. So while your lifestyle (job, activities of daily living) may be lightly active or even sedentary, if you go the the gym 5 or more days a week and exercise vigouroulsy that will alter your overall caloric requirements.

ElizabethRoad

Somebody tell me if this is wrong- is it true if you enter "fairly active" because you workout three times per week, and then you log your exercise, you are actually being credited twice for the exercise and your weekly deficits will be smaller than you think?

You are correct. For MFP purposes, exercise that you log does not count towards activity level.

ElizabethRoad

If you go to your diet profile it has descriptions of how to set your activity level in regards to your lifestyle (not exercise). Below that you would enter how much you exercise. That is how your calorie level will be set based on both of those entries. So while your lifestyle (job, activities of daily living) may be lightly active or even sedentary, if you go the the gym 5 or more days a week and exercise vigouroulsy that will alter your overall caloric requirements.

Not true. Your net calorie goal is not affected by how much you say you will exercise. You get extra calories after you log the exercise.

thankyou4thevenom

If you go to your diet profile it has descriptions of how to set your activity level in regards to your lifestyle (not exercise). Below that you would enter how much you exercise. That is how your calorie level will be set based on both of those entries. So while your lifestyle (job, activities of daily living) may be lightly active or even sedentary, if you go the the gym 5 or more days a week and exercise vigouroulsy that will alter your overall caloric requirements.

Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)

Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. nurse, salesman)

Active: Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. waitress, mailman)

Very Active: Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger,

That's what MFP tells you to use as a guide for your settings but for me it's as clear as mud when you have a strange work rota and job that doesn't really fall under those definitions. Nor do I know what activity/exercise a bank teller. nurse or waitress do as I've never been any of those. I can give you a random guess but it's still totally inaccurate.

If I use the other definitions for active, sedentary or lightly active I can then work out where I need to be. The definitions MFP provide give me no such clue.

And as the above poster says, the amount you want to exercise does not affect the calorie total given to you by MFP.

evselc

If you go to your diet profile it has descriptions of how to set your activity level in regards to your lifestyle (not exercise). Below that you would enter how much you exercise. That is how your calorie level will be set based on both of those entries. So while your lifestyle (job, activities of daily living) may be lightly active or even sedentary, if you go the the gym 5 or more days a week and exercise vigouroulsy that will alter your overall caloric requirements.

Not true. Your net calorie goal is not affected by how much you say you will exercise. You get extra calories after you log the exercise.

evselc

My mistake, that is a flaw in the system in my opinion. It should guide you to the correct caloric intake based on your exercise. I have read about many people hitting plateaus and if you are eating 1200 cals and exercising at a high intensity 5-6 days a week for 60 min or more you need more calories.

thankyou4thevenom

My mistake, that is a flaw in the system in my opinion. It should guide you to the correct caloric intake based on your exercise. I have read about many people hitting plateaus and if you are eating 1200 cals and exercising at a high intensity 5-6 days a week for 60 min or more you need more calories.

Not a flaw actually, when you log exercise you get given those calories to eat. You don't get them until you actually log them as done.

evselc

Well, you don't want to eat back your exercise calories to lose weight. There are definitely alot of varying opinions and approaches and none of these systems are perfect. Its great to see people all with the same goal in mind though, health : )