Activity Level Help

arshness

I am wondering...
Since MFP lets you set your activity level to as low as Sedentary, and as I understand it, that changes your calorie level accounting for minor exercise...

If I mark Sedentary, is it counting me as 0 activity?
If not, what numbers are used for each activity level?
Does anyone know?

I'm asking because I want to know what activities to log as exercise and what not to.
I'd honestly rather log all of my activities and have it count nothing than to avoid logging "daily" activities.
I know most people prefer against logging things you do daily, but I am motivated more by being able to look at the active things I do as positive instead of just ignoring them.

And I've seen so many different views on what to log... I have no idea.
Some people say don't log it if you do it most days.
Some people say don't log it if you don't break a sweat.
But don't you burn some calories if you break a sweat or not?

I honestly do better logging EVERYTHING, so knowing how smaller activities affect my day also helps me to motivate to add in more of those small activities. They may not be much but they add up, right?

StarryEyed500

I honestly do better logging EVERYTHING

Why change then - just because someone else does it differently doesn't mean you're wrong.

toque88

It's hard to say. You just gotta try it and see what works for you. I am using Sedetary since I sit at a desk all day. I will log my workouts, walking upstairs, and calories burned cleaning. I underestimate my time spent, so if I did 2 hours of cooking and cleaning, I will only log 90 minutes. Then, I only eat back no more then a third of my calories. If I eat more then that, I will gain weight.

Good luck!

arshness

I feel I'm struggling. I need to see some more losses to help me know if I'm doing right or not.
If I'm doing it wrong, I don't want to gain weight back or fail to lose... so I'm just checking around to see what the opinion is so I can help adjust my thinking on it.

jsapninz

Sedentary - desk job and little to no exercise
Lightly Active - light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk
Moderately Active - moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk
Very Active - hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk
Extremely Active - hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or training

Once you have determined where you fit in on the TDEE activity rate scale, this activity rate is used to weight your BMR giving you a more accurate assessment of how many calories you really need throughout the course of the day. Since BMR only accounts for your bodies basic functioning needs and not your daily activity, TDEE provides standard multipliers for accurately determining a TDEE. Those multipliers are as follows:

Sedentary - 1.2
Lightly Active - 1.375
Moderately Active - 1.55
Very Active - 1.725
Extremely Active - 1.9

You shouldn't log anything that accounts for "normal daily activity" that is included in your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). For example, if you work out light exercise 2 times a week, and you pick the 1.375 multiplier, you shouldn't be logging that exercise until you do something above and beyond that (like work out 4 times a week, you would log the fourth time).

If you like to log things, I suggest you pick the sedentary option and log all EXERCISE (only what you put a sportbra on for, not climbing a flight of stairs to get to work ). Daily activities are included in your TDEE (that is the whole point of a TDEE), that is why you use a TDEE instead of your BMR.

Especially if you are prone to log "EVERYTHING" and are using MFP or other average estimators, you are probably over estimating your burns and in effect lying to yourself. Your best bet is to get a Heart Rate Monitor so you know (accurately) what you are burning, especially if you are going to eat cals back.

runwithitwerewinning

I don't ever put on a sportsbra, but I've got a similar view to jsapininz. I work in an office, so I put down sedentary. That way, I log all of the extras. I work out 4-6 days a week so that gets put in there. If I go on a walk with my wife or something similar I'll count that, but not the walk from my car to my desk.

twinmomtwice4

I usually only log workouts but have logged stuff like gardening and jumping on the trampoline with my kids since I did definitely break a sweat and it felt like a good workout.

I wore my HRM duing gardening and was surprised how many calories I burned. I was sweating with all the bending, squatting and lifting and pulling. Plus, it's not something I do on a daily basis so I figured I should count it!

4daluvof_candice

Exactly, the walk from my car to my desk can be approximately 7-8 min leisurely or 5min if i spend walk(running late). I work on a hospital campus. But I dont log that in.

On my 15 min breaks (twice a day) i do a 15 min mile and I log this in or if I rake leaves in the yard for about an hour (sweating). I log in about 30min for that.

arshness

Well I'm not logging a walk from desk to car, but I do log something like our big grocery trips in which we walk for 2 hours pushing an increasingly heavy cart. I usually cut that 2 hours to about 1.5 hours when I log because we spend some time pausing to look at things and such. But that whole time is on my feet, moving, hard work that is not easy for me at all and often breaks a sweat.

I know that sounds pathetic, but I'm 319 pounds and it has not been kind to my joints. I have a bad shoulder problem right now so all of the work I do involving my arms is that much harder too...

We only do that big shopping trip once every week or two so it's not a constant I can add to my daily expectations.

I log going on a walk with my family.
I log swimming and any other intentional exercise.
I have logged cleaning once when I did some big time cleaning and got my breath going and worked up a sweat.

I don't think I'm unrealistic with my logging. I usually cut it a little shy of the time I spent just to help be sure I'm not lying to myself.

Knowing the sedentary rate is 1.2 really helps me. Thanks for that.

jsapninz

Well I'm not logging a walk from desk to car, but I do log something like our big grocery trips in which we walk for 2 hours pushing an increasingly heavy cart. I usually cut that 2 hours to about 1.5 hours when I log because we spend some time pausing to look at things and such. But that whole time is on my feet, moving, hard work that is not easy for me at all and often breaks a sweat.

I know that sounds pathetic, but I'm 319 pounds and it has not been kind to my joints. I have a bad shoulder problem right now so all of the work I do involving my arms is that much harder too...

We only do that big shopping trip once every week or two so it's not a constant I can add to my daily expectations.

I log going on a walk with my family.
I log swimming and any other intentional exercise.
I have logged cleaning once when I did some big time cleaning and got my breath going and worked up a sweat.

I don't think I'm unrealistic with my logging. I usually cut it a little shy of the time I spent just to help be sure I'm not lying to myself.

Knowing the sedentary rate is 1.2 really helps me. Thanks for that.

I think you are correct; you should be logging what you are logging. It doesn't "sound pathetic" if you are logging something that makes you break into a sweat, no matter how much you weigh!!! :flowerforyou: Exercise is relative, and if you are working hard, you are working hard!

However, like I said be careful using average guestimates of your exercise, very very often they are wrong on calories burned. It's good that you are being conservative, but then again since you are heavy perhaps they are actually underestimating your burn :ohwell: Tough to tell. Like I said, your best bet would be using a HRM, but otherwise erring on the side of conservative is the best you can do.

Welcome, glad to help!

Good luck!