Activity Level Question

uwdawg07
uwdawg07 Posts: 372 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm messing around with trying to figure out my TDEE and how much I should be eating, yadda yadda.

I have no idea what to use as my activity level.

I am fairly sedentary during the day - a lot of sitting and working on the computer.

Six days a week I go for a 60-80 minute walk, at a brisk pace. And six nights a week I do 70-80 minutes of exercise, either straight cardio, or cardio/plyo/HIIT intervals with weight lifting.

So total exercise is about 130 - 160 minutes, six days a week. My heart rate monitor tells me I burn about 800-950 calories a day through exercise.


Thanks in advance!! :)

Replies

  • kinrsa
    kinrsa Posts: 111 Member
    Sedentary & then log the exercises. If the MFP calories burned don't match up to what your heart rate calculator says you can just use quick add calories burned.
  • minizebu
    minizebu Posts: 2,716 Member
    If you are calculating your TDEE from BMR, then you should use the moderate physical activity factor, in my opinion.

    Try it and if it doesn't seem right you can always either adjust it up (to very active) or down (to lightly active). (Or you could calculate your own average activity factor, if you think you are between two activity factors).

    Good luck!
  • NewAngel35
    NewAngel35 Posts: 182 Member
    This is a question I need to know too. I also dont do much at all.but work out everyday with at least 40mins of cardio.
  • htmlgirl
    htmlgirl Posts: 314 Member
    I would do sedentary and then log the exercises individually and eat those cals if you want (that's a whole nother debate lol). This is what I did anyway before I had a job where I was on my feet all day and moving around.
  • minizebu
    minizebu Posts: 2,716 Member
    @Angel759

    In your case, a lightly active activity factor is more appropriate. (40 min/day vs. the original poster's >120 min/day).
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    Set it for sedentary
  • uwdawg07
    uwdawg07 Posts: 372 Member
    I'm sorry - I should have included that I'm asking about for other calculators, like Scooby, Fat2Fit, etc. not MFP.

    Should I still enter sedentary for those?
  • ElizaDnl
    ElizaDnl Posts: 46
    I'm sorry - I should have included that I'm asking about for other calculators, like Scooby, Fat2Fit, etc. not MFP.

    Should I still enter sedentary for those?

    No, afaik they all take exercise into account, and rightly so, since they are calculating your daily total. With the amount of exercise you do, I'd go for strenuous, maybe moderate.

    Since you exercise so regularly, it'll make your life much easier taking your deficit of your TDEE and then not worry about exercise calories and eating them back.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    how old are you?
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    Do nothing=sedentary
    1-2x light
    3-5x moderate
    5+ Active

    Also consider your occupation.
    I'm moderate but because of my occupation I use Active.
  • uwdawg07
    uwdawg07 Posts: 372 Member
    how old are you?

    I'm 27, female, 5'3" and 120-121 pounds.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    well , first you aren't sedentary. Sedentary means you don't do any exercise at all. Especially at 27. So estimating your activity level is almost an art form, there's a lot of educated guessing going on unless you have your TDEE measured in a lab.

    So, what people fail to understand is that even if you don't count your exercise calories, exercising still raises your average daily metabolic rate even during non-exercising periods. Because of the additional fuel burn, muscle activity and about a million other little changes exercise spawns in the human body, your metabolism will be higher if you exercise daily. So no, you don't actually need to factor in THE exercise to your activity level if you don't want to, but you need to account for the fact that you DO exercise.

    The amount of exercise, type of exercise, intensity of exercise, and the times per week you exercise are all factors in activity level. In your case, you do about 2 hours of activity with 1+ hours of that being harder exercise, that means a lot. Even if you count your exercise separately (that's up to you) you should account for it. In other words I would classify you probably as somewhere between lightly and moderately active even if you count your exercise calories separately. If you want to include the exercise (it would have to be very very regular for you to do this) I would have you at active or even above. Meaning at first guess I would put your TDEE anywhere from 1800+ calories a day (if you don't add your exercise) to about 2400 calories (if you include your exercise in your TDEE).

    And then, for the first 6 weeks or so, monitor your deficit very closely to see how well it's working.
  • uwdawg07
    uwdawg07 Posts: 372 Member
    Thanks for that really helpful answer!

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