i thought i was clear, but

rchambers2072

Now I am confused again. Lol, does not take much. I am on disability, and my lifestyle is pretty sedentary, so that is what I used in my setup. Then I log my exercise and TRY to eat back my exercise calories. I am doing at least 30 minutes of cardio a day, usually a little more. Should I adjust my lifestyle setting to lightly active? And if so do I still log my exercise and eat the calories? I am soo not clear on this anymore

dg09

Stay with sedentary and log your exercises like you have it now. What's making you second guess yourself?

RobinvdM

That's a great question, actually.. I will be listening in on the responses.

I spent most of my 'adult life' being sedentary, and have been keeping that setting too despite how much less sedentary I am now. Though, I suppose sedentary by definition is more about spending at least half your waking day not in motion? I still definitely do not spend most of my day moving around, but I think I'd consider my "new" self lightly active even if it has only been since the end of January

As per the calories and logging/eating them back. Yes by all means. I believe MFP has a "built in" calorie deficit so you should eat back whatever calories you expend so you don't drastically cut off your body's calorie intake. I am notoriously awful about abiding by that rule, however I TRY, tho!

Will be looking forward to knowledgeable responses, thanks for asking it!!

rides4sanity

Keep it where it is, lifestyle is talking about how active you are in general and is not ment to include planned "exercise". Log it all and just keep at it.

lizard053

I would leave well enough alone! LOL. Sounds like what you started with it the best bet. You need to be the majority of your "workday" on your feet to count for the next level up. I work in a research lab, but I still say I'm sedentary. I just note how long I was on my feet and try to adjust accordingly. Some days I'm on my feet 8-10 hours, others, I sit all day. Just easier to go with sedentary!

treetop57

Sounds exactly right to me. Give yourself a month or two with those settings, see what your results are, and adjust accordingly.

rchambers2072

something I read in another thread made me question what I was doing. This makes more sense to me though. So I guess y'all are right and I will stick to sedentary with my planned exercise. And I do TRY to eat my exercise calories, but I am having a hard time. For all my life I have thought that the only way to lose weight is to eat less and eat fat and sugar free stuff. I am learning this is not true, but it is a hard concept to wrap my brain around. I feel guilty eating peanut butter out of the jar. Its just a head thing though.

dlwyatt82

If you're logging your exercise, don't treat that as part of your "activity level". Otherwise you'd be getting those calories added to your BMR twice, and eat too many calories for the day.

rchambers2072

If you're logging your exercise, don't treat that as part of your "activity level". Otherwise you'd be getting those calories added to your BMR twice, and eat too many calories for the day.

This is what I was thinking. Someone somewhere on a thread said something about changing lifestyle settings and still logging exercise, and I thought exactly this.

niebbia

a couple of things that have helped me to lose weight more consistently is to exercise to lose weight, not to eat more. I have always had a problem with programs that give you points or exercise calories to eat because I don't thing we should exercise to eat rather to lose. I never eat the extra calories unless it is a very special occasion.

Another thing that has helped me to lose is not to eat imitation snacks. the goal is to change our lives and if we are replacing those things that we ate to get fat, with things that taste similar, we really will never overcome the desire to eat the real thing. I had to get them completely out of my life to be able to overcome the craving. Does that make sense?

I started at 270. I was at about 205 when I learned about MFP and have enjoyed the support from others. I am at about 165 right now and am 5 lbs away from my goal. My fear was if I couldn't get rid of the cravings for the food that made me fat, I wouldn't be able to keep the work off....Remember, we exercise to lose NOT to eat whatever we want! Keep it up you can do it!

KareninCanada

a couple of things that have helped me to lose weight more consistently is to exercise to lose weight, not to eat more. I have always had a problem with programs that give you points or exercise calories to eat because I don't thing we should exercise to eat rather to lose. I never eat the extra calories unless it is a very special occasion.

The trouble with this is, MFP is set up differently than most other programs. Other programs start you at a higher calorie level and expect you to exercise. MFP starts you at a really low calorie level and increases it only AFTER you log exercise. The net result is the same, it's just calculated differently.

Another thing that has helped me to lose is not to eat imitation snacks. the goal is to change our lives and if we are replacing those things that we ate to get fat, with things that taste similar, we really will never overcome the desire to eat the real thing. I had to get them completely out of my life to be able to overcome the craving. Does that make sense?

This is true. Although I read you wrong the first time, I agree with both what you said AND my interpretation of it. Replacing high-calorie junk food with low-calorie junk food is a stepping stone but not good for you in the long term because they just replace fat with sugar, sugar with chemicals, etc. BUT... what I also say is, if you really want that treat, then you need to have it. But make sure you are eating a reasonable portion of the best-quality treat. Don't try to hit a chocolate craving with a bag of mini chocolate bars - instead, really savor a bar of 70% cocoa fine chocolate, or a small slice of a really decadent chocolate cheesecake. Hit the craving HARD with something that is really, really good, and you'll find that you will start losing your taste for the junk that used to work for you. (Aero bars and Crispy Crunch currently turn me off completely)