Sedentary or Active?

Li_Willi

How do you know if you should set your level to sedentary or active? Aside from the basic guideline ascribed to each one, if you're working out everyday (for @ 1hr, let's say 6 days out of the week) & you're burning at least 2000-2400 cals a week, should your lifestyle then be considered "Active"? It's a bit confusing because I thought it was assumed that you'd be working out during the week, but I guess my question is at what point are you no longer considered sedentary?

pelleld

I work out 5 days per week, sometimes 6. I set my activity level to sedentary and then log the workouts.

kaned_ferret

I think it's supposed to be how you see your "lifestyle" minus any working out you do. When I joined I was off sick from work so put myself to sedentary, though I did get out and walk the dogs for an hour or so most days. These I logged as exercise cals. This week I have gone back to work, and as I work in a kennels have put it to the next one up (on my feet for 8+ hours). Though to be honest I'm considering sticking myself back to sedentary just so my calorie goal is lower.

I think if you're figuring your workouts into your lifestyle activity level, you shouldn't also add them under exercise in case you're actually getting 2x the calorie allowance for the same thing, does that make sense?

GemmaRowlands

I tend to keep my settings at sedentary, as I have a desk job and my days are varied with regards to activity. If you have your settings on sed and then do more activity then it'll underestimate your weight loss, however if you have it as active when you're not it'll overestimate, which will be disappointing on weigh in day. So I much prefer it the other way round.

fatty_to_fitty

The activity level is against the unavoidable parts of your day. Like a farmer vs an office worker.

Exercise is a choice and can easily be missed. However it's your choice to change your levels if it's not working for you. I decreased my allowance to eat only 1200 per day because I exercise every day and I found I was eating too much.

missfluffyuk

If you are counting the calories you burn during your workouts and planning on logging them, then I'd go for the lower activity level. I only include incidental activity in my activity level. That's why I have a custom calorie goal -- I averaged between the days I work and the days I don't.

TeresaC79

Here you go. This linked cleared it all up for me.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/291071-activity-level-and-logging-exercise

And for those not likely to click the link and read the entire thing....a synopsis:

Sedentary: Adds about 250-500 cals/day for most people. Appropriate for: Those who work at a desk job AND are sedentary at home, with light or no exercise and low LBM; Usually NOT appropriate for stay-at-home moms/dads with young children.

Lightly Active: Adds 450-700. Appropriate for: Most people with young children, who are otherwise sedentary; Many who have a desk job but exercise moderately and have a moderate LBM%; Those who stand a lot at work, but don’t really walk around a lot or lift heavy items, etc.

Active: Adds 700-1000. Appropriate for those who have an active job (some nurses, waitresses, laborers, etc) and exercise moderately-frequently, and especially those who have a high LBM%.

Very Active: Adds 950-1400. Appropriate for those who have a very active job (trainers, some laborers, some athletes, some warehouse workers), and exercise frequently and have a high or very high LBM%.

TeresaC79

Side note: The link actually goes through explaining what you should log as exercise as well, such as cleaning.

Li_Willi

Interesting....I was curious because I saw on another post where someone suggested that they should change theirs to active based on how often & how hard they were working out so I wasn't sure if that was something to be considered.

I'm in agreement with you (all)...sticking to my original setting. Thanks for the feedback, have a great day everyone! :flowerforyou:

Di3012

How do you know if you should set your level to sedentary or active? Aside from the basic guideline ascribed to each one, if you're working out everyday (for @ 1hr, let's say 6 days out of the week) & you're burning at least 2000-2400 cals a week, should your lifestyle then be considered "Active"? It's a bit confusing because I thought it was assumed that you'd be working out during the week, but I guess my question is at what point are you no longer considered sedentary?

Stick it as sedentary and input the exercise daily.

Radcliffe83

sedentary, I am an estate agent, so at times I could be walking around houses all day and others I can be sitting at desk all day.

Thought it best to log as sedentary and then log work outs on top. If I deliver leaflets for 3 hours I log. If I do viewings all day then I don't log all of this as exercise because I don't know how much I am moving and how much i am not. Days like this I might just have a protein shake to top up for moving so much and then don't log it. Takes time to know your body.

alienblonde1

I did what my job is since I work 40 hrs a week at a call center so I am stuck at a desk 8 hrs a day only to get up for breaks so I am sedentary.

kyle4jem

If you're pre-MFP lifestyle was basically going to work and sitting at a desk in front of a PC all day then even with a walk to and from work and/or bus stop/station etc. then that is sedentary.

Now you're exercising, you have a choice:

♦ Select sedentary and log all your exercise and eat-back 50-70% of those exercise calories

or

♦ Select moderately active and while you might still want to log your exercises, you shouldn't necessarily be counting all the calories burnt.

The reason for this is that MFP uses the following formulas to set the calorie goals.
Weight should be in kg (take your weight in lbs and divide by 2.2) and your height in cm (take inches and multiply by 2.54)

Male: BMR = 10×weight + 6.25×height - 5×age + 5
Female: BMR = 10×weight + 6.25×height - 5×age - 161

This is your BMR (basal metabolic rate) i.e. the calories you consume in a rested state (sitting, sleeping etc)

To work out your AMR (actual metabolic rate) you need to multiply your BMR with one of the following factors based on your normal activity level

Sedentary (e.g., you do no exercising and have a desk job) = 1.2
Lightly active (e.g., you participate in light exercise or sports 1 to 3 times per week) = 1.375
Moderately active (e.g., you participate in moderate exercise or sports 3 to 5 times per week) = 1.55
Very active (e.g., you train hard 6 to 7 per week in exercise and/or sports) = 1.725
Extremely Active (e.g., you exercise or play sports hard everyday & have physical job or  2X day training, i.e. marathon, contest etc.) = 1.9

Thereafter there is your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expiry) which is about another 5-10% extra.

MFP then deducts between 500 and 1000 calories from your total to give you a calorie goal with a built-in deficit as a guide to help you lose weight.

But if you select active and then add your exercise calories, you will effectively be adding back on the calories MFP has already deducted, so in all likeliness you won't lose any weight.

If you have a heart-rate monitor like a Polar with a chest strap, you can wear it for an hour or so while relaxing (sitting in the train during your daily commute or while resting) and that will let you see more accurately than the maths what your BMR is. You can then use this as a guide to know what to deduct from your exercise workout to give you a more accurate idea of calories burnt.
I would still then allow at least a 20% margin of error, because it's only working out calories based on your pulse/heart rate so it's not exceptionally scientific in its calculation.

The easiest is to set your level to sedentary and then log any additional exercise above and beyond what you would have done pre-MFP. Then you can easily see how many calories you have to play with on a daily basis.

Of course, weightloss is not something that is based ona 24-hour cycle and you weight fluctuates throughout the day/week, so you can bank some of those exercise calories if you need them for the weekend (when you might be socialising more and might go over a wee bit :drinker:)

Hope this helps! :happy: