Help Determining my Activity Level?
keyboardwench
Posts: 121 Member
Hey all, hope that I can get some help here.
I've been following the EM2WL philosophy for a month, I've been eating around 1800 calories and never netting below my BMR. I did not do the reset, I was eating normally for the last four or so months already, did a week or two of 1300 a day and was miserable so upped to 1600 then after two more weeks I went up to 1800 as per the Scooby calculator (20% cut). I lost 2lbs for the first two weeks of 1800 then nothing the next (which doesn't really bother me, I am losing inches and I've decided to do a scaleless month since the last weigh in).
Thing is, I still sort of feel like I need more food and want more during the day. 1800 is a lot, I know, but I think I need more? So maybe these signals my brain/stomach are sending me are right or wrong, and maybe I have my activity level wrong.
Thing is I'm having trouble picking which activity level is for me. I exercise six days a week as per the Jillian Michaels 90 Day Body Revolution for 30 minutes daily. [When I get back to school and have a gym membership again in September I'll be getting into heavy lifting but for the rest of the summer it looks like I'll just be doing video stuff.] About once a week I add another workout after the usual one of random things including kettlebell work, archery, swimming, and walking. That never goes over an hour. So that amounts to about 4 hours of exercise a week, right in the middle of the moderate category.
However the thing making me question my activity level is my job. I work the oh-so-glamourous job of a Tim Horton's employee. Tim's is a fast food coffee chain restaurant here in Canada, for those unfamiliar with it. Basically for my shifts I stand the whole time, serve coffee, make coffee, fill machines with their java mixes, lift some heavy stuff occasionally, run around making sure that the drive thru times are quick, etc. I usually work about 25-35 hours a week, some weeks more some less but usually in the middle of that range. So my job isn't a desk job, that's for sure, but I was wondering does it affect my activity level? I am tired after a shift, it does wear me down a bit, and when I started my feet were sore regularly.
TLDR; I work on my feet, does this affect my activity level? If I exercise 4 hours a week and also work for about 25-35 hours a week on my feet, where should I put my activity level.
Also for the record, I'm 19 years old (20 in two weeks), last weigh in (a week ago) was 143.8lbs, and 5"4'. BMR is 1486 according to the scooby calculator. I'd like to get down to about 130lbs or 20% body fat, where ever that is. Not in a rush though to get down, this isn't a race and I'm making health my priority.
Sorry for the length of this. Any help is appreciated!
I've been following the EM2WL philosophy for a month, I've been eating around 1800 calories and never netting below my BMR. I did not do the reset, I was eating normally for the last four or so months already, did a week or two of 1300 a day and was miserable so upped to 1600 then after two more weeks I went up to 1800 as per the Scooby calculator (20% cut). I lost 2lbs for the first two weeks of 1800 then nothing the next (which doesn't really bother me, I am losing inches and I've decided to do a scaleless month since the last weigh in).
Thing is, I still sort of feel like I need more food and want more during the day. 1800 is a lot, I know, but I think I need more? So maybe these signals my brain/stomach are sending me are right or wrong, and maybe I have my activity level wrong.
Thing is I'm having trouble picking which activity level is for me. I exercise six days a week as per the Jillian Michaels 90 Day Body Revolution for 30 minutes daily. [When I get back to school and have a gym membership again in September I'll be getting into heavy lifting but for the rest of the summer it looks like I'll just be doing video stuff.] About once a week I add another workout after the usual one of random things including kettlebell work, archery, swimming, and walking. That never goes over an hour. So that amounts to about 4 hours of exercise a week, right in the middle of the moderate category.
However the thing making me question my activity level is my job. I work the oh-so-glamourous job of a Tim Horton's employee. Tim's is a fast food coffee chain restaurant here in Canada, for those unfamiliar with it. Basically for my shifts I stand the whole time, serve coffee, make coffee, fill machines with their java mixes, lift some heavy stuff occasionally, run around making sure that the drive thru times are quick, etc. I usually work about 25-35 hours a week, some weeks more some less but usually in the middle of that range. So my job isn't a desk job, that's for sure, but I was wondering does it affect my activity level? I am tired after a shift, it does wear me down a bit, and when I started my feet were sore regularly.
TLDR; I work on my feet, does this affect my activity level? If I exercise 4 hours a week and also work for about 25-35 hours a week on my feet, where should I put my activity level.
Also for the record, I'm 19 years old (20 in two weeks), last weigh in (a week ago) was 143.8lbs, and 5"4'. BMR is 1486 according to the scooby calculator. I'd like to get down to about 130lbs or 20% body fat, where ever that is. Not in a rush though to get down, this isn't a race and I'm making health my priority.
Sorry for the length of this. Any help is appreciated!
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Replies
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It sounds to me like you can safely up your activity level to Very Active!
Your day job definitely puts you higher and the J M workouts are no joke.0 -
Yes, I agree... you are definitely not in the modrate category. Your job requires constant movement. If you were to wear a pedometer or a fitbit while at work, you would probably be shocked to see how much you burn/walk during that shift..
Jump a level. The fact that you arent satisfied at 1800 cals, tells me you need more.0 -
In addition to the other comments:
What % cut did you use on Scooby? If I use 15% based on your stats, I get 1958 on moderate (3-5 hours) and 2179 on active (5 - 6 hours).
Good luck!
Edit to add: I didn't read your post properly, I see now you did use the 20% cut
Also try using the 15% cut instead. 0 -
Thanks everyone for all your help! I'm upping the calorie goal on here as I speak. Just glad to have a little reassurance and not think that I'm incorrect in my thinking. If this isn't enough foodwise for me I'll probably bump to 15% but right now I think I'll keep with 20% and see how it goes this week.0
