Gahhh what to do? Exercise level...
HeidiHoMom
Posts: 1,393 Member
So when I first started this journey at the end of April I was scared out of my mind like most of us. I was too afraid to go to my cut right away so I used the sedentary level on scooby and have been eating back exercise calories, making sure to never net below BMR.
I lost 6 lbs right away and have not lost anything in the month of june save a couple cm on my waist (which is great but I have 50 lbs to lose).
Basically the scale has been going up and down the same 2 lbs. So I decided to take the full plunge and go to my real cut number instead of sedentary plus exercise calories.
My problem is that I am really unsure of my exercise level for whether to put light or moderate. My total hours work out to more than 3 but a lot of it is really light exercise like walking.
So here is what I do
3 days NROLW (30-45 mins)
walking 2-3 days 30-35 mins
swimming, leisurely 2 times per week....at my mom's pool, splashing around with the kids, treading water...I'm usually in the pool for 2 hours but I count about 45 mins of actual treading water and swimming.
So it works out to be just inside the moderate level but like I said, a lot of it is light exercise.
I do a lot of sitting during the day because I have a 7 month old that I'm still nursing, but I also have a 3 year old so I am often outside just sitting while she is playing. I also have the regular life stuff like cooking, cleaning (light like dishes and vacuuming) and grocery shopping.
So what do you guys think? Light or moderate?
I lost 6 lbs right away and have not lost anything in the month of june save a couple cm on my waist (which is great but I have 50 lbs to lose).
Basically the scale has been going up and down the same 2 lbs. So I decided to take the full plunge and go to my real cut number instead of sedentary plus exercise calories.
My problem is that I am really unsure of my exercise level for whether to put light or moderate. My total hours work out to more than 3 but a lot of it is really light exercise like walking.
So here is what I do
3 days NROLW (30-45 mins)
walking 2-3 days 30-35 mins
swimming, leisurely 2 times per week....at my mom's pool, splashing around with the kids, treading water...I'm usually in the pool for 2 hours but I count about 45 mins of actual treading water and swimming.
So it works out to be just inside the moderate level but like I said, a lot of it is light exercise.
I do a lot of sitting during the day because I have a 7 month old that I'm still nursing, but I also have a 3 year old so I am often outside just sitting while she is playing. I also have the regular life stuff like cooking, cleaning (light like dishes and vacuuming) and grocery shopping.
So what do you guys think? Light or moderate?
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Replies
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If you are worried about automatically jumping up to moderate, can you do a number in the middle? Sounds to me like you would be more than lightly active but less than moderate. Just an idea
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interesting scenario.. but I will give my suggestion
While doing NROLW are you feeling the burn on the last set? are you going to failure on some of the lifting? Are you covered in sweat when your done?
Also are your walks brisk and again do you break a sweat when walking or is it more leisurely? (I know you said light but not sure if you mean its not a big exercise like running)
If yes to all the above I would say just at moderate or slightly below, if no then light. Numbers don't have to be exact you can do an inbetween light/moderate number as well, but this is just my guess.0 -
If you are worried about automatically jumping up to moderate, can you do a number in the middle? Sounds to me like you would be more than lightly active but less than moderate. Just an idea
That's kind of what I was thinking too but wanted some other opinions before I did that, so you're validating what I was thinking.
I am still afraid to go up that high but I guess I just need to take the plunge!
Right now it's set for 1900 which is my cut for light activity, moderate would be just over 2100, so maybe I should go to 2000.0 -
interesting scenario.. but I will give my suggestion
While doing NROLW are you feeling the burn on the last set? are you going to failure on some of the lifting? Are you covered in sweat when your done?
Also are your walks brisk and again do you break a sweat when walking or is it more leisurely? (I know you said light but not sure if you mean its not a big exercise like running)
If yes to all the above I would say just at moderate or slightly below, if no then light. Numbers don't have to be exact you can do an inbetween light/moderate number as well, but this is just my guess.
I do go to failure on my weights and I am sweating up a storm by the end.
My walks are not slow but not super fast, though I am pushing a stroller with 2 kids in it (so that weighs about 80 lbs).0 -
interesting scenario.. but I will give my suggestion
While doing NROLW are you feeling the burn on the last set? are you going to failure on some of the lifting? Are you covered in sweat when your done?
Also are your walks brisk and again do you break a sweat when walking or is it more leisurely? (I know you said light but not sure if you mean its not a big exercise like running)
If yes to all the above I would say just at moderate or slightly below, if no then light. Numbers don't have to be exact you can do an inbetween light/moderate number as well, but this is just my guess.
I do go to failure on my weights and I am sweating up a storm by the end.
My walks are not slow but not super fast, though I am pushing a stroller with 2 kids in it (so that weighs about 80 lbs).
I would think you are in the moderate level.. it does not have to be "moderate" exercise to be there.. its moderate in terms of time. If you are doing over 3 hours activity, then you are in the moderate category. I would go right to your 2100.. However nursing a 7 month old, this still seems to be on the low side.. are you adding in an extra 300-500 cals for nursing?0 -
I think you should give 2000 a try for a couple of weeks and see how it goes. You know the deal- if you are consistently gaining then drop back down to 1900. It's all about trial and error.
Just FYI- I am set at Lightly Active and I do WAY less than you (sad, I know) and I still get a Fitbit adjustment pretty regularly. (I eat 1800).0 -
I do go to failure on my weights and I am sweating up a storm by the end.
My walks are not slow but not super fast, though I am pushing a stroller with 2 kids in it (so that weighs about 80 lbs).
I would say do the inbetween number, the 2000 you mentioned before for a good start and see if anything starts happening.
But here is a tip since you push a stroller with 2 kids in it.. find a hill that has a nice incline and run up it with your kids in the stroller.. it will be fun for them cause it will be a faster pace and you will get an awesome thigh, calf, glut workout. Win Win (you might be dead tired afterwards though)0 -
I calculate you out at the lightest of working out/week according to what you've put down there as 3.25 hrs. That puts you in the moderate level even without the extra day of walk (you said 2-3) or extra minutes for NROLFW, etc. I think you'd be in the moderate level. One thing we often do in this group is underestimate our activity level and it tends to backfire on us. (I'm a prime example of that if you've been watching my history through this). I think you'd find that if you put the moderate level up against a BMF, you'd find that it would be the right level for you.
If you find that you aren't doing even the minimum of what you listed though, then you would need to drop down a notch. But for now, stick with moderate (3-5hrs) activity level.0 -
interesting scenario.. but I will give my suggestion
While doing NROLW are you feeling the burn on the last set? are you going to failure on some of the lifting? Are you covered in sweat when your done?
Also are your walks brisk and again do you break a sweat when walking or is it more leisurely? (I know you said light but not sure if you mean its not a big exercise like running)
If yes to all the above I would say just at moderate or slightly below, if no then light. Numbers don't have to be exact you can do an inbetween light/moderate number as well, but this is just my guess.
I do go to failure on my weights and I am sweating up a storm by the end.
My walks are not slow but not super fast, though I am pushing a stroller with 2 kids in it (so that weighs about 80 lbs).
I would think you are in the moderate level.. it does not have to be "moderate" exercise to be there.. its moderate in terms of time. If you are doing over 3 hours activity, then you are in the moderate category. I would go right to your 2100.. However nursing a 7 month old, this still seems to be on the low side.. are you adding in an extra 300-500 cals for nursing?
I add in an extra 300 for nursing on top of regular calories consumed.0 -
I calculate you out at the lightest of working out/week according to what you've put down there as 3.25 hrs. That puts you in the moderate level even without the extra day of walk (you said 2-3) or extra minutes for NROLFW, etc. I think you'd be in the moderate level. One thing we often do in this group is underestimate our activity level and it tends to backfire on us. (I'm a prime example of that if you've been watching my history through this). I think you'd find that if you put the moderate level up against a BMF, you'd find that it would be the right level for you.
If you find that you aren't doing even the minimum of what you listed though, then you would need to drop down a notch. But for now, stick with moderate (3-5hrs) activity level.
I do remember that you were having some trouble losing...did you end up upping your calories and starting to lose?
I wish I had a BMF, I was so close to buying one but I am on mat leave right now so can't really afford it. But when I go back to work in November I was thinking about getting one since I'm not sure how working will change what I am burning in a day.0 -
Sounds like moderate to me. How does 2000 compare to what you've been eating to date?
Seems like it's a little more than you've been eating. Nothing glaring in your diary, looks pretty good! Except are you drinking more water than you're logging? If not, you may want to try increasing it. Shoot for a gallon a day!0 -
I calculate you out at the lightest of working out/week according to what you've put down there as 3.25 hrs. That puts you in the moderate level even without the extra day of walk (you said 2-3) or extra minutes for NROLFW, etc. I think you'd be in the moderate level. One thing we often do in this group is underestimate our activity level and it tends to backfire on us. (I'm a prime example of that if you've been watching my history through this). I think you'd find that if you put the moderate level up against a BMF, you'd find that it would be the right level for you.
If you find that you aren't doing even the minimum of what you listed though, then you would need to drop down a notch. But for now, stick with moderate (3-5hrs) activity level.
I do remember that you were having some trouble losing...did you end up upping your calories and starting to lose?
I wish I had a BMF, I was so close to buying one but I am on mat leave right now so can't really afford it. But when I go back to work in November I was thinking about getting one since I'm not sure how working will change what I am burning in a day.
I actually decided to reduce exercise to match my calorie intake. I thought about what I wanted to maintain for an exercise schedule so that I knew where I wanted my TDEE to be set at for my life. I didn't want to maintain as much exercise as I was doing and I was happy with the cal intake so I just decreased exercise to match cal intake. I found that I did lose a little in inches (not a lot), but shortly after that change I started my reset and of course gained a couple of pounds from that.
However, I did notice that I was no longer tired all the time, no weird, naggy injuries and other symptoms of too much exercise/not enough food disappeared so I knew I had done the right thing. Once I got my BMF, I found that my new schedule and cal intake were pretty much on target.0 -
Of course everyone is different, but as you see more and more people's numbers you start to see a trend. For an average woman, average size who does 3x a week exercise of about one hour her cals will be about 2000 - 2500 to maintain. So if you are 1. doing more than that and 2. nursing and 3. above average size I am validating you that you probably need to eat more!!0
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Sounds like moderate to me. How does 2000 compare to what you've been eating to date?
Seems like it's a little more than you've been eating. Nothing glaring in your diary, looks pretty good! Except are you drinking more water than you're logging? If not, you may want to try increasing it. Shoot for a gallon a day!
Oh yah I totally drink more water than that, I always forget to add it in there.0 -
Thanks guys, I think I just needed to hear other people say what I already knew in my head. I have upped it a bit more now so I'll see how that goes for a few more weeks and will reevaluate then to see if I need to up it again.
I'm also thinking that I'm not losing so much because I'm nursing and my body is hanging on to fluids and what not.
I have 7 pregnancy pounds left that I really want gone and then another 43 on top of that.0 -
Sounds like moderate to me. How does 2000 compare to what you've been eating to date?
Seems like it's a little more than you've been eating. Nothing glaring in your diary, looks pretty good! Except are you drinking more water than you're logging? If not, you may want to try increasing it. Shoot for a gallon a day!
Oh yah I totally drink more water than that, I always forget to add it in there.
Just make sure your drinking to thirst and your not over-hydrating (pushing water just because you think you need to drink more) as this can reduce your milk supply (Can provide technical info if you want but has to do with osmosis etc)
And again.....BREASTFEEDING MOMS ROCK!0 -
Sounds like moderate to me. How does 2000 compare to what you've been eating to date?
Seems like it's a little more than you've been eating. Nothing glaring in your diary, looks pretty good! Except are you drinking more water than you're logging? If not, you may want to try increasing it. Shoot for a gallon a day!
Oh yah I totally drink more water than that, I always forget to add it in there.
Just make sure your drinking to thirst and your not over-hydrating (pushing water just because you think you need to drink more) as this can reduce your milk supply (Can provide technical info if you want but has to do with osmosis etc)
And again.....BREASTFEEDING MOMS ROCK!
I definitely don't over do it, I've always just drank when I was thirsty. I don't believe in chugging water for the sake of it. And I know you don't need a ton of extra water to produce enough milk.
Thanks for the tip though 0
