Have I set my activity level too low?

jennmodugno

Hey there! I'm a mother of one, but I find most of my day I'm sitting down. Sure, we get up and dance and go outside and SHE surely rarely ever sits still, but I find *I* am often on the floor, or sitting in a chair with a book, or gosh knows at my computer on here. :P As such, I set my activity level to "sedentary" but now I wonder if that might be too low. I mean, I DO get up and play with her - dance, or follow her from room to room, or fill her pool with a few pitchers of water, or do chores... but most of the day I'm sitting.

Twice a week I do two hours of karate, but I figured I'd just eat those calories back. Honestly, my reasoning was that I'd log all the extra exercise I did and just eat it back. However I find that most days, I really am only eating the 1200 calories.

Thoughts? Ought I to up my intake? The thing is, most days 1200 seems RIGHT. Like, if I ate any more I'd be eating almost exactly as I was before I joined MFP, calorie-wise. And gosh knows I was at that weight for two years.

dls06

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9433-expectations

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

psuLemon

You are surely more active then me. I have a desk job. Most SAHM are lightly active even if you don't feel it. Also, with only 11 lbs to lose, you should be aiming for .5lbs a week. So I highly doubt 1200 calories is enough for you. The higher the calorie deficit, the greater the chances you will have at losing muscle. Muscle is what makes your body tight and lean. So eat more calories, lose a bit slower and if you have time, start weight training as they will increase the fat loss.

StarryEyed500

I can relate. I thought I should be a 1200er but then I got a fitbit. Turns out, when I'm not at work, I can burn around 2000 calories! On MFP, that makes me Moderately active. Never in a million years would I put myself as that. I sit down most of the day, but there are times when I'm running round after my 2 boys. If you stick at sedentary, you definitely need to eat your Karate calories.

jennmodugno

Oh, I do eat my exercise calories. I suppose I should have been clearer - on days I don't "officially" exercise, I tend to eat 1200 calorioes - meaning I don't wind up logging all the little playing I do with my daughter, or running errands or whatever. But I suspect you're right, and I need to be eating more. Hmm.

psuLemon

Oh, I do eat my exercise calories. I suppose I should have been clearer - on days I don't "officially" exercise, I tend to eat 1200 calorioes - meaning I don't wind up logging all the little playing I do with my daughter, or running errands or whatever. But I suspect you're right, and I need to be eating more. Hmm.

this is even more reason why you should set yourself at lightly active and probably 1/2 lb per week weight loss goal.

rainwalkerSK

I almost guarantee you that you are more active than you think. I had pegged myself as sedentary, but got a fitbit for my birthday back in July and I was truly surprised at how much time I spend moving-- whether it's chasing after my kids at home, going up and down the stairs while doing laundry, or just the inordinate amount of time I spend walking around harassing my coworkers. I upped my calories to the fitbit recommendations (1800-1900 on non-workout days and up to 2300 on workout days: I'm 5'11 and my BMR is 1686, so I get quite a few calories to play with) and my weight loss actually accelerated slightly (average of 0.94 lbs per week from 4/18 to 7/21, then an average of 1.25 lbs per week from 7/22 to the present). I love my fitbit, but if you don't want to spend the money on it, just a simple pedometer will give you an idea of how active you actually are.

Also, listen to your body: how do you feel? How is your energy level? Your mood? The mind is a tricky thing: when I'm PMSing, or bored, or stressed, I can feel ravenously hungry, but if I distract myself with something, it goes away. So it can be hard for me to identify whether or not I'm actually hungry (although I'm getting better), but if you feel like you need to eat more, you probably do.

jennmodugno

Usually I listen to my body, but I just changed thyroid meds and went on antidepressants, and both make me incredibly hungry, so it's really hard to tell if it's ME or the meds. On a side note, the antidepressants got me back to a point where I can avoid cravings - yay! But anyway, so I was actually really glad to have a number to aim for, because right now I don't trust my appetite or energy levels. :P But I did set my activity to light, and we'll see where that takes me. The caloric increase wasn't nearly as much as I expected, so I hopefully won't be struggling to eat enough, and it gives me wiggle room for a "fun" drink, which makes me happy. Yay! Haha.