What level is correct?

kmcosgrove115

Put this in the "roadmap" thread but it might be getting buried with all the posts so I am posting as new topic for anyone who might have some input:

Question - this roadmap is tremendously helpful. I readjusted to 1600 a day from 1200 a day. I think I am still spinning on defining level of activity - I read that unless you are absolutely not moving around during the day, to look at "light."

When I calc my TDEE I get:

1847 - desk job
2116 - light activity

Then less 20% to lose weight, I get:

1478 - desk
1693 - light

My job is desk but I am not STILL all day - huge corporation, I can log 5-7K steps a day on my pedometer plus shuffling kids and such every day.

I selected 1600 as I took the advice of not logging sedentary to heart unless you are just not moving all day - with the warmer weather I am now able to get out on weekends and do long bike rides or trail walks but that is the real extent to my working out.

I guess I am looking to clarify level of activity - mainly b/c if "desk" is more accurate then I am eating a bit above my 20% deduction at 1600...............

I take my #'s to be that in general, I should probably eat between 1478 (desk) and 1693 (light) to lose weight. Then once I hit my goal, if I go back to Fat 2 Fit and plug in that true goal weight #, I would eat between 1638 (desk) and 1877 (light) to maintain.........

So bottom line, do you consider that sedentary level for desk jobs or do I follow that statement in this original post of never logging that unless you truly are in bed all day and not moving??? I just want my readjusted #'s to be as close to accurate as possible and of course, plan to monitor over the next few weeks - thanks all!

kmcosgrove115

bump :happy:

Greenrun99

lightly active... if you add any exercise after you calculate numbers.. jogging, weight lifting, videos anything you need to readjust your numbers.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Average the 2. That's what I'd do.

BarbieAS

I'm going to share my personal experience, maybe it will help you a little bit.

I loosely follow IPOARM, and I also have a Fitbit (if you're not familiar, it's a fancy pedometer that tracks your steps during the day - but gets a little more detailed in that it will also factor in *when* you took them, so it "knows" if you, for example, ran a 5K vs walking one - and uses that info combined with your stats like weight, age, sex, height, etc to come up with what I believe is a pretty good estimate of total calories burned over the day). Instead of using the activity estimator factors, I've come up with a reasonable TDEE for myself based on several months of daily calorie burn data from my Fitbit.

I too have a desk job, and I have 2 small kids. On an average day without an official workout, I tend to log around 5000-6000 steps, and a little more on the weekends when I'm taking the kids to the park, running errands, etc. The TDEE that I've come up for myself based on actual Fitbit data falls just barely above the "lightly active" TDEE calculated via IPOARM (like 60 calories over).

(Edited to add: - Just to clarify, I workout really sporadically. It's something that I'm still working on with myself. So, for calorie goal purposes, I set my daily goal to what it would be if I never did an actual workout and then if I DO get to the gym I will eat back a portion of those calories. That, combined with my TDEE calculation method, is why I say I "loosely" follow IPOARM.)

So, I think our activity levels are pretty similar, and IMO you're probably good to go using lightly active.

kmcosgrove115

Thanks all! The average of the 2 #'s would be 1585 which is just about 1600 and where I am at now.

The other post which is SO identical to my steps, my kids and the little true workouts I do get was also SO helpful esp to know that when your fancy pedometer calculates for you, it gives something just slightly above the "light" level - so my 1693 might be low 1700's - again my 1600 choice is seeming accurate and if I do swing up a bit I don't stress as it seems from what you all wrote here, I have a little buffer - thanks everyone!

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

1600-1700...sounds perfect. Aim for 1600 and don't stress if you're up to 1700