For the millionth time - activity levels?

cncrafton

Hey, folks!

I know this topic gets posted a lot. Sorry! I am just struggling a bit with what I should put for my activity level when I am not actively exercising. This week has been a hard one for me with other obligations and I haven't been able to get as much dedicated exercise in as I would like.

My walk to and from the bus stop for work only comes out to about three miles in a week. I walk up probably 35-40 flights of stairs a week, as a conservative estimate (I live on the second floor). I'm a college student and have an office job part time, so I do spend several hours a week sitting, unfortunately. But I also don't want to discount the walking I do between classes and such.

When I do work out, it's 30 minutes of cardio 3 days a week, and a push-ups, sit-ups, and sometimes squats 3 days a week, so I know I'm at least lightly active then. But weeks like this when I can't find the time, what do I say? I want to say sedentary, but I see it said a lot that very few people are truly sedentary, so I don't know. I'm afraid I'm one of them.

SpazzyMal

You're not sedentary unless you're bedridden.

With the walking that's a part of your daily routine, do you "push" yourself through it? If it's just normal, meandering kind of walking, I would probably say that alone puts you in the "lightly active" category as your baseline, if you do no more exercise for the week. After that add the minutes you spend actively exercising on purpose to your time to see whether you should go up a level or not. So if you're just doing your daily walking (which is your routine, and your body is fairly adapted to it and your heart rate isn't elevated) then you're lightly active. But if you do your walking, plus, I dunno, 3 extra hours of working out some week, then bump up to moderate. If you're below 3 hours, I'd probably just stay as lightly active.

holleysings

I agree with Spazzy. Don't discount your walking! No one is truly sedentary. I thought I was sedentary because I have three desk jobs, but I rarely sit down for more than half an hour at a time. According to my fitbit, I'm extremely active. If you can afford to invest in a fitbit or BMF, I would highly recommend that. It's the easiest way to accurately determine your activity level. My guess is you're nearer to moderately active than lightly. What you could do is set your calories to lightly active and add some in if you're more active that day. That's kinda what I do since my days vary so much.

SweatpantsRebellion

I agree with Spazzy. Don't discount your walking! No one is truly sedentary. I thought I was sedentary because I have three desk jobs, but I rarely sit down for more than half an hour at a time. According to my fitbit, I'm extremely active. If you can afford to invest in a fitbit or BMF, I would highly recommend that. It's the easiest way to accurately determine your activity level. My guess is you're nearer to moderately active than lightly. What you could do is set your calories to lightly active and add some in if you're more active that day. That's kinda what I do since my days vary so much.

I agree with hollysings. If you're exercise is inconsistent it might be best to go with lightly active as a baseline and then add in your extra calories when you get your workouts in. Just make sure that you don't forget to add them in though or you'll end up undereating.