Daily Activities Level?

khall86790

So I set this to "Sedentary" because aside from my exercise, I spend a lot of time sitting down for my job. Most of the day I am sat down, apart from when I work out, weekends (when I walk for at least an hour a day) and I do 5-10 minutes of walking per day during the week.
I assumed because I log any long amounts of walking I do and all exercise, that it makes sense to set my activity level as this. But reading a few old posts of here, I'm wondering if that is inaccurate and I need to have a higher activity level?

I am curious because I have been given a 1200 calorie per day limit, I eat back the calories I burn through exercise but for a whole month I was at a stand still and even now I seem to be losing very slowly given the amount of exercise I do. As crazy as it sounds, I am beginning to wonder if I need to be eating more and need to look closer at my settings?

Shadowknight137

I'd put you on lightly active.

You walk a lot, work out and generally don't just sit around doing nothing all day. Lightly active.

khall86790

I'd put you on lightly active.

You walk a lot, work out and generally don't just sit around doing nothing all day. Lightly active.

"Most of the day I am sat down, apart from when I work out, weekends (when I walk for at least an hour a day) and I do 5-10 minutes of walking per day during the week. "

I would have thought that I do sit around most of the day. For example, week day evenings I am usually sat reading or watching a movie. When working (I am a nanny) I tend to spend a lot of time doing sit down activities with the children as it's too cold at the moment (in France) for the park, etc.

Shadowknight137

The word is "most of".

I sit around most of the day, too. I'm a gamer. It's what I do. However, sometimes I leave the house, walk somewhere, etc. Probably about the same amount you do - can't tell. Sedentary is for if you're pretty much... Sedentary. All the time. Plus, the fact that you're working out contributes to your activity level.
IMO, set it to lightly active and see how it goes. But really, ask yourself these questions: 1: Do you really think your sedentary? And 2: Do you really feel good on 1200kcal a day?l

khall86790

Ehhh, I am ok on 1200 cals a day but only because I eat more like 1500-1600 and then burn off 400-500 working out. So I guess I am not actually eating 1200 a day but that's more what my net is.
Will the same rules still apply if MFP puts up my calorie intake? Should I still eat back my exercise calories as I have been?

No I suppose I am not sedentary all the time, it's more the descriptions they gave in terms of occupation left very little in terms of guessing how you apply that to your own schedule!

Ah, I just changed it to Lightly Active and it's still got me on 1200 calories. I guess I will pursue!

lioness803

Hmmm, now I'm wondering if I should up mine...I'm on lightly active, bc thats what it gave for "salesman" but I actually move stuff around a lot at my job, and carry around boxes of clothes, and go up and down on a ladder to change displays, but its inconsistent as to how much of that I do every day at work. Anyone have any thoughts?

khall86790

Hmmm, now I'm wondering if I should up mine...I'm on lightly active, bc thats what it gave for "salesman" but I actually move stuff around a lot at my job, and carry around boxes of clothes, and go up and down on a ladder to change displays, but its inconsistent as to how much of that I do every day at work. Anyone have any thoughts?

I used to have a job like that, are you on your feet a lot also? I would say you maybe need to go one level up if I am being advised I'd be under Lightly Active.

Shadowknight137

Ah, I just changed it to Lightly Active and it's still got me on 1200 calories. I guess I will pursue!

What's your TDEE to maintain when set to Lightly Active?

I reckon you'd be better of taking 10-20% off that rather than following MFP's suggestions. 1200kcal is waaaaay too low.

alienrite

I keep mine on sedentary and eat back most of my exercise calories. It's been a good and successful system for me and keeps me active

mad00had00

Try the lightly active setting and see how that works out for you.

Mokey41

Sedentary doesn't mean comatose on the couch. It means someone with a desk job who does normal everyday activities like some housework, cooking, getting to and from work, personal care, etc. BMR is for when you do nothing at all. So a desk job person would be sedentary and then you would add your intentional exercise.

lioness803

Hmmm, now I'm wondering if I should up mine...I'm on lightly active, bc thats what it gave for "salesman" but I actually move stuff around a lot at my job, and carry around boxes of clothes, and go up and down on a ladder to change displays, but its inconsistent as to how much of that I do every day at work. Anyone have any thoughts?

I used to have a job like that, are you on your feet a lot also? I would say you maybe need to go one level up if I am being advised I'd be under Lightly Active.

Yes, I'm on my feet all day.

aplhabetacheesecake

I have a desk job, and I thought I was sedentary aside from my planned exercise-usually a run or some chalean extreme or turbofire dvd. I am a binger and thought that was my problem, I just have no self control and I binge- I even went thru my work's employee assistance counselling program for this issue.

THEN-

Hubby got me a fitbit!! This lil tracker thing has shown me I am not a binger!!!! I am not sedentary!! Basically I was starving myself and then binging cause 3 to 4 days of servere calorie restriction drove me to this.

my fitbit on average days with no planned workout gives me a burn of 2400-2700 calories. On days that I run or do a dvd my burn is around 3000-3200. So sedentary I am not, not even lightly active, to make mfp match my fitbit I had to choose "very active"

I know I read somewhere that most people underestimate their activity level, so if in doubt move it up! I NEVER ever ever would have considered myself "very active" but I guess I am! I have started to eat more just today, so I am hoping this works!

animemoon5

I have mine set to "Sedentary" Because I consider myself mostly comatose on the couch lol! I have some health issues, where I get dizzy and have balance and vision issues, and pain that can keep me in bed a lot..... Sometimes on my bad days I'll need help just moving around the house, needless to say I'm hardly moving at all...

I've recently started doing a lot more exercise, I have a cane with me, and most of my exercise is very little... like 10 minute walks at a time... oh and I do log "Shopping" as exercise... (Though I do occassionally have good days where I can do an all-out workout, but they aren't "Normal" for me...)

A lightly active person, I think things like shopping and mild house cleaning, doing dishes etc... would be included... but I log these because it's above and beyond my normal activities, and being able to set myself as sedentary and track these, encourage me to move whenever I can....

Alisonsapp

Two things:
1. Your daily activities level should be based on how you spend the majority of the day - for example, I work on a computer all day, and have mine set to Sedentary, even though outside of work, I dont sit down much (having 2 kids to look after in the evenings, and the usual housework etc aswell on the weekends....).
This setting is not meant to include the time/effort of specifically exercising, as when you put in the exercise component, it increases your daily calorie allowance.

2. If you are consistently eating all your EXTRA calories that you just earned through exercise, you will not loose weight very quickly at all. For example, my general calorie intake is 1200, PLUS any calories earned through exercise (today I earned 835 extra calories for bootcamp and walking).
Now if I eat my 1200 calories PLUS my 835 calories, then I wont loose weight, but if I still just have my standard daily 1200 allowance, then I have a deficit which helps the weight loss. Also you dont end up wanting more than you can have on a no-exercise day.

If you're unsure how much you should be eating, watch what the comment says at the bottom of your screen when you click 'Complete entry' when you've finished entering all the food/drink for the day.
It will give you a 5 week projection of your weight, based on what you ate today, and also tell you if you're not eating enough.

khall86790

Two things:
1. Your daily activities level should be based on how you spend the majority of the day - for example, I work on a computer all day, and have mine set to Sedentary, even though outside of work, I dont sit down much (having 2 kids to look after in the evenings, and the usual housework etc aswell on the weekends....).
This setting is not meant to include the time/effort of specifically exercising, as when you put in the exercise component, it increases your daily calorie allowance.

2. If you are consistently eating all your EXTRA calories that you just earned through exercise, you will not loose weight very quickly at all. For example, my general calorie intake is 1200, PLUS any calories earned through exercise (today I earned 835 extra calories for bootcamp and walking).
Now if I eat my 1200 calories PLUS my 835 calories, then I wont loose weight, but if I still just have my standard daily 1200 allowance, then I have a deficit which helps the weight loss. Also you dont end up wanting more than you can have on a no-exercise day.

If you're unsure how much you should be eating, watch what the comment says at the bottom of your screen when you click 'Complete entry' when you've finished entering all the food/drink for the day.
It will give you a 5 week projection of your weight, based on what you ate today, and also tell you if you're not eating enough.

But hasn't eating 1200 calories a day already created a deficit? And if you eat 1200 calories a day then burn off 800 calories you only have a net of 400 calories a day?

khall86790

Ah, I just changed it to Lightly Active and it's still got me on 1200 calories. I guess I will pursue!

What's your TDEE to maintain when set to Lightly Active?

I reckon you'd be better of taking 10-20% off that rather than following MFP's suggestions. 1200kcal is waaaaay too low.

What is TDEE? I have seen this term thrown around but I am not sure what it's for!

jenilla1

I'm on sedentary and have been for 2 years of problem free maintenance. I train for and run marathons, but it doesn't make me an active person in general. If I'm not running or lifting I'm sitting around on my butt, and since I don't always do the same routine and sometimes I skip, I don't think it would be wise to consider high activity as part of my daily activity. I log and eat my exercise calories, so sedentary (the way I live while not working out) is appropriate for me.

Alisonsapp

Khall -

But hasn't eating 1200 calories a day already created a deficit? And if you eat 1200 calories a day then burn off 800 calories you only have a net of 400 calories a day?

No - 1200 calories per day is what MFP works out you need, on a sedentary lifestyle.
So if you want to lose weight, then you have to expend MORE calories than you take in. If you Take in (Eat) 1200 calories, and you USE 1200 calories (eg on a normal day), then your weight will stay the same.
But if you 'EARN' extra calories for exercise, you have a choice to eat all those calories back in, or to not eat them.
Personally, I try not to, but if I'm extra hungry (like on a day when I've done 1 hour of boot camp, and 1 hour of karate training), then I might eat into them a bit, but definately not all of them.


The way I check is at the end of the day when you click the 'complete your entry' bit, MFP will make a comment if youre not eating enough, which it doesnt do if I eat my 1200 calories, and not my exercise calories, so I figure thats eating enough

:-)

Maybe someone else has a different take on this, but thats how I read it, and doing just that, I've lost 2kgs so far.

sarawhite25

Yes,1200 calories a day has already created a deficit.

If you have your settings on 'lose 1 lb a week' and you have a target of 1200 per day that means if you eat 1200 a day, you will lose a pound a week. If you eat 1200 and burn off 800 in exercise, you can eat those 800 back and still lose a lb a week. If you choose not to eat those calories back you may lose faster, or you may plateau from lack of adequate calories.

Example- my TDEE (total daily energy expenditure- you can google this and calculate it) is 1761 at 5'5" and 145 and little to no exercise. so to lose 1 lb a week i subtract 500 a day-- so my goal is 1260 calories a day. If i exercise more than that, i can choose to eat it back and still lose 1 lb a week, or I can choose not to and lose faster or risk plateuing.

And I vote for choosing Lightly Active unless you literally don't do much at all during the day (front row parking, straight to desk, straight home to the couch). That's my opinion though!