Figuring out activity level and exercising less
Takes2long
Posts: 367 Member
Hi! I just joined EM, but I have seen the YouTube videos. I'm also reading New Rules for Women, and Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. I'm familiar with Scooby's workouts and F2F. I can figure out my BMR, TDEE and according to the calipers I have, my BF is between 28-32%. I enter 32% to be on the safe side. I'm 42, 5'6", weigh 164 as of yesterday, BMR~1464, TDEE 2269-2525(depending on activity level)
I'm not sure where to set my activity level. I kickbox 2x/wk, for 1 hour. Karate 1x/wk-1 hour. Muay Thai 1x/wk-1 hr. The past 3 weeks, I've also been running 3-4 miles 1x/wk. At home, daily, there's the cleaning and cooking, laundry, grocery shopping, etc. that I don't count as exercise. There is also usually 2-3 hours of yard work on the weekends. (This past Saturday, according to my HRM, the burn was over 850.) That might be over what I usually do, hard to say. But, we live on a small farm, so weekends are yardwork!! This past weekend, there was also a bike ride thrown in. It wasn't a hard ride, but I did burn ~450 calories.
I take classes 4x/wk, for an hour each. Then there is the running. That will end in a few weeks once school is out. And then, the general daily things and weekend yardwork.
I've been averaging the numbers from 3-5 and 6-7 days of activity. Is that OK? I don't want to over estimate, or under estimate, either. I feel like I'm always doing something, but maybe that's just me. I know it may sound silly to worry about maybe 100-200 calories/day, but I do. So where should I set my activity level?
The second question/concern I have is this: I have read enough to really understand the benefit to eating more and having less cardio. I've noticed my burns in kickboxing/karate used to be up near 600+. Lately, they're 450ish. So, I'm not getting the bigger burns. My body is used to that activity level. It's really hard for me not to exercise. It's my way to release stress. I get cranky, achy and depressed when I don't exercise. I'm not helping myself by doing so much cardio, I can see that. But I can't seem to figure out how to slow down without feeling a HUGE amount of guilt. Can you offer any suggestiions? I know I need to lift more, get more lean muscle. But, wow, not getting in cardio seems wrong in some twisted way. I can admit that I am probably addicted to exercise, at least a little. But I also know I feel like total poo when I don't. Should I eat even more until I can get over my fear of doing less cardio??
Thanks for any help!
Deidre
I'm not sure where to set my activity level. I kickbox 2x/wk, for 1 hour. Karate 1x/wk-1 hour. Muay Thai 1x/wk-1 hr. The past 3 weeks, I've also been running 3-4 miles 1x/wk. At home, daily, there's the cleaning and cooking, laundry, grocery shopping, etc. that I don't count as exercise. There is also usually 2-3 hours of yard work on the weekends. (This past Saturday, according to my HRM, the burn was over 850.) That might be over what I usually do, hard to say. But, we live on a small farm, so weekends are yardwork!! This past weekend, there was also a bike ride thrown in. It wasn't a hard ride, but I did burn ~450 calories.
I take classes 4x/wk, for an hour each. Then there is the running. That will end in a few weeks once school is out. And then, the general daily things and weekend yardwork.
I've been averaging the numbers from 3-5 and 6-7 days of activity. Is that OK? I don't want to over estimate, or under estimate, either. I feel like I'm always doing something, but maybe that's just me. I know it may sound silly to worry about maybe 100-200 calories/day, but I do. So where should I set my activity level?
The second question/concern I have is this: I have read enough to really understand the benefit to eating more and having less cardio. I've noticed my burns in kickboxing/karate used to be up near 600+. Lately, they're 450ish. So, I'm not getting the bigger burns. My body is used to that activity level. It's really hard for me not to exercise. It's my way to release stress. I get cranky, achy and depressed when I don't exercise. I'm not helping myself by doing so much cardio, I can see that. But I can't seem to figure out how to slow down without feeling a HUGE amount of guilt. Can you offer any suggestiions? I know I need to lift more, get more lean muscle. But, wow, not getting in cardio seems wrong in some twisted way. I can admit that I am probably addicted to exercise, at least a little. But I also know I feel like total poo when I don't. Should I eat even more until I can get over my fear of doing less cardio??
Thanks for any help!
Deidre
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Replies
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If you use the TDEE calculator on Scooby's website instead, it goes by number of hours per week that you exercise instead of numbers per day. That may help you narrow down the range.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/0 -
That's where I'm not sure. I have 'formal' class for 4 hours/wk. but, I'm sure I'm active more than that. Do I count everyday tasks such as cleaning, cooking, laundry? If so, then it's easily over 6 hours/week. Same for yardwork. Not everyday, but usually 2 hours over the weekend. Sometimes more. I guess I'm unsure as to WHAT I should count as exercise.0
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If you do yard work every week (not everyday, but every week), I would count that in your hours, since it is "hours per week" the calculator is looking for. I don't count my cooking/cleaning/laundry toward my TDEE, so if I have an unusually big cleaning spurt/burn, I may eat a little extra to compensate.0
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Thanks! I guess i will up my level! Yikes! That puts me at TDEE 2525 and my cut is 2146. Ok, I CAN do this!!! Now, if only slowing down my cardio was as simple :laugh:0
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