Confused about my activity level

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I am just confused on how I should log my activity level. I do a fitness boot camp 5 days in a week and as per my HRM I burn around an average of 400cals with every workout. Some weeks when I do get a chance, I do half an hr of elliptical, not very high intensity and burn around 150 cals during my lunch break at the office gym. But I am not at all regular at this. Some weeks I'll do a workout at the office gym every weekday and some weeks none.But I never miss my boot camp sessions. I eat by TDEE-20% accounting the exercise to be moderate. On the days, when I do my office gym workouts, should I eat back those exercise calories or just stick to TDEE-20% with moderate activity level?

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  • RoseAmongThorns91
    RoseAmongThorns91 Posts: 215 Member
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    In terms of logging your activity, just log each thing individually. There are several people who do multiple cardio one day, one thing the next, and so on and so forth.

    In terms of eating back calories - that is up to you. I will not sway you one way or another. I personally need to eat a small handful of almonds or something right after working out but if I'm not hungry, I don't eat.
  • queenbea77
    queenbea77 Posts: 404 Member
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    I had the same question - I wasn't sure which one to go with so I figured out the moderate rate and the light rate. The numbers were quite similar - I think only about 250 difference so I added the two numbers together and divided it by two to get an average and that is what I'm using right now. I haven't been doing it for too long to see if it's going to work for me. Check your rates and see what you get - you might want to try that too. I figure out my TDEE - 20% and I don't eat back my calories.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    I am just confused on how I should log my activity level. I do a fitness boot camp 5 days in a week and as per my HRM I burn around an average of 400cals with every workout. Some weeks when I do get a chance, I do half an hr of elliptical, not very high intensity and burn around 150 cals during my lunch break at the office gym. But I am not at all regular at this. Some weeks I'll do a workout at the office gym every weekday and some weeks none.But I never miss my boot camp sessions. I eat by TDEE-20% accounting the exercise to be moderate. On the days, when I do my office gym workouts, should I eat back those exercise calories or just stick to TDEE-20% with moderate activity level?

    Moderate is fine for your bootcamp. If you find yourself adding more exercise on top, just eat back some of those calories 50-80% of them. In all reality, an extra 150 calories isn't huge.
  • CM9178
    CM9178 Posts: 1,265 Member
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    I am just confused on how I should log my activity level. I do a fitness boot camp 5 days in a week and as per my HRM I burn around an average of 400cals with every workout. Some weeks when I do get a chance, I do half an hr of elliptical, not very high intensity and burn around 150 cals during my lunch break at the office gym. But I am not at all regular at this. Some weeks I'll do a workout at the office gym every weekday and some weeks none.But I never miss my boot camp sessions. I eat by TDEE-20% accounting the exercise to be moderate. On the days, when I do my office gym workouts, should I eat back those exercise calories or just stick to TDEE-20% with moderate activity level?
    double post
  • CM9178
    CM9178 Posts: 1,265 Member
    Options
    I am just confused on how I should log my activity level. I do a fitness boot camp 5 days in a week and as per my HRM I burn around an average of 400cals with every workout. Some weeks when I do get a chance, I do half an hr of elliptical, not very high intensity and burn around 150 cals during my lunch break at the office gym. But I am not at all regular at this. Some weeks I'll do a workout at the office gym every weekday and some weeks none.But I never miss my boot camp sessions. I eat by TDEE-20% accounting the exercise to be moderate. On the days, when I do my office gym workouts, should I eat back those exercise calories or just stick to TDEE-20% with moderate activity level?
    5 days per week would be considered moderate, so use that level when calculating TDEE - 20% and eat at that number (don't eat any of those calories back). If you exercise beyond the 5 days/boot camp, then enter those workouts and eat back those calories burned.