Okay.. I really need some Clarity.

Krisstah
Krisstah Posts: 136 Member
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I hear a lot of talk about how weight loss can be affected if you're not eating the right amount of calories for your lifestyle.

I have been watching what i eat for 3 weeks, and this very could be water weight but i have dropped 17lbs in this time.

I am a dietary aid, i work 12 hour shifts and i guess this is where i'm not sure where i should set myself for my "activity" level.
I used to have myself set up on active, comparative to a waitress, because as a dietary aid, i am setting tables, serving meals, doing dishes, cleaning and scrubbing floors Etc, and i work in a nursing home that is forever short staffed so a lot of days i am also going from floor to floor to do extra work on top of my usual. However, 12 hour shifts means that in a two week period, i am only there for 7 days, and on the other 7 days, im at home.. my lifestyle is a completely different routine. I wake up whenever, i will work out for 50 min and then generally, i will just do whatever for the rest of the day, maybe some light cleaning, i spend a lot of time online and i just kind of felt like this resembled more of a "desk job" lifestyle and that id be defeating the purpose of having myself set as "active"

Id love to know what the better option would be for me calorie wise. I want to maintain my weight loss, but i dont want to be under eating and causing my body to adjust to that and then plateau. Help?

Replies

  • Krisstah
    Krisstah Posts: 136 Member
    Bump =)
  • hubkal
    hubkal Posts: 125 Member
    at first I dropped weight fast too. But there probably will be a time that you platau, dont worry! It seems like you're doing fine. Dont worry about things too much, especially since they have not happened yet. Congratulations on you loss!
  • katrinkap
    katrinkap Posts: 443 Member
    i would think active would be appropreiate for your days... i work for the boys and girls club and community education so i am at the computer a lot then i'm active for a few hours... active meaning on my feet walking around go go go... not like running 5 miles.. does that help?
  • butterflylover527
    butterflylover527 Posts: 940 Member
    Sorry, didn't read the whole thing lol. When you start out losing weight the first 4 ish weeks most people lose a lot. My friend lost 20 lbs in 3 weeks. It's water weight plus weight from eating less calories and having your body adjust. As long as you're eating at least 1200 so your bosy is nurished, don't worry too much about it unless you keep losing weight that rapidly for a long time.
  • GaidenJade
    GaidenJade Posts: 171
    I would think Active is your best bet. With your work schedule it doesn't matter that on your days off you wake up whenever or even relax the entire time. Though as you've said you do exercise on your days off. So I would say you already picked your activity level just right.:drinker: :drinker:
  • loumaag
    loumaag Posts: 118
    I don't have a definitive answer for your question; however, I know that MFP is actually set up for things on a more or less weekly basis. So, take your normal routine for an entire week into consideration when addressing the setup. Only you can decide if you are "active" or "lightly active"; I would say that one of those is the correct one for you.
  • love22step
    love22step Posts: 1,103 Member
    Can't you change it for an active week and a sedentary week? If you're counting the exercise calories on your active weeks, you'll be duplicating calories burned. I know, that muddies things. Just a thought.
  • amnsetie
    amnsetie Posts: 666 Member
    I really wish we could set a weekly of 4 weekly cycle on this but it's a free site so guess we can't

    2 ideas for you
    1 average it out at lightly active
    or
    2 check the difference they give you between sedentary and active and add these calories each work day under a self made exercise called "work"

    if you do number 2 check it occasionally as you lose weight so you don't overcount. the figure will decrease over weightloss
  • Krisstah
    Krisstah Posts: 136 Member
    I would be changing it a lot, since i do not have a set schedule. I work 1-3 days in a row sometimes... or even sometimes more then that. then i could have 1-5 days off its scattered.
  • Krisstah
    Krisstah Posts: 136 Member
    perhaps it would be best to go in the middle. and set it as lightly active.
  • alexis831
    alexis831 Posts: 469 Member
    I would look into getting a fitbit. Set your calories to "desk job" on MFP at lets say a 1200 calorie goal and then the fitbit will tell you where you are at for the day so you can adjust. It even links right to MFP so you don’t really have to make the adjustments the fitbit does. I have 5 kids so somedays I don't ever get to sit and I coach 2 of them but other days I am at my desk job and I don’t move around alot. This helps me know kinda where I am calories wise for the day and if its okay to eat more that day or I might need to eat less depending. I was guessing all the time and I finally found out I was under and over estimating everything! I was so overestimating my elliptical workouts and underestimating my walking/running too!
  • Amryfal
    Amryfal Posts: 225
    i have my activity level set to sedentary, even though i'm not sedentary all the time. i log my workouts but not everyday stuff like cleaning or walking unless it's way outside the norm. as long as you aren't starving, keep to what you're doing until the initial weight loss slows - you will drop fast at first, but it's ok. if you notice that after a month and half or two months that it's *still* dropping at a high rate, higher than MFP estimates, then probably you're at a different level of activity than sedentary. once you've gotten comfortable with weighing/measuring/logging and estimating your workout burns, you'll feel more comfortable messing with the numbers a bit and experimenting to find what works and is healthy.
  • Krisstah
    Krisstah Posts: 136 Member
    ill check out the fitbit on my payday, thank you
  • skonly
    skonly Posts: 371
    Sorry, didn't read the whole thing lol. When you start out losing weight the first 4 ish weeks most people lose a lot. My friend lost 20 lbs in 3 weeks. It's water weight plus weight from eating less calories and having your body adjust. As long as you're eating at least 1200 so your bosy is nurished, don't worry too much about it unless you keep losing weight that rapidly for a long time.

    I love your pic!!!! Can't wait for the new season to start. lol. Sorry, had to say it.
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