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Advice on Activity Level Please :)

tameejean
tameejean Posts: 197 Member
in Social Groups
I'm a bit confused on what my activity level should be. I do a bootcamp for an hour 4 times per week...two days are more heavily focused on strength (dumbells, TRX, kettlebells, medicine balls, heavy ropes, sandbags, bodyweight, etc..), yet we still get a little cardio in. The other two days are more focused on endurance/cardio, but we still use some of the equipment. I am also a runner, so I sneak in a run 3-4 times a week...usually 3 or 4 miles twice a week and then a longer run (6-10+ miles) on Saturdays. I also do yoga at least once a week. I have my activity level on the Scooby calculator set at Moderate. Does this sound right?

My other question is do I eat the same calories on rest days? Right now I have my MFP calories set to my BMR (rounded up to 1400 from 1394) and I just enter my exercise based on my HRM. Scooby says at a 15% cut with moderate exercise I should eat 1836. I just don't know if this is everyday or just the days that I workout. Help :)

Replies

  • HeidiHoMom
    HeidiHoMom Posts: 1,393 Member
    What are the total hours you are working out for? It sounds like you are more strenuous.
  • tameejean
    tameejean Posts: 197 Member
    Well, bootcamp takes up 4 hours a week and running depends on my weekend run, but at least 2-3 hours per week. I thought about strenuous, I guess I just have hard time putting myself in that category ;) Do you eat the same calories on off days too?
  • HeidiHoMom
    HeidiHoMom Posts: 1,393 Member
    Well, bootcamp takes up 4 hours a week and running depends on my weekend run, but at least 2-3 hours per week. I thought about strenuous, I guess I just have hard time putting myself in that category ;) Do you eat the same calories on off days too?

    I know what you're saying. I put myself as sedentary at first and ate back my exercise calories because I was too afraid to go all the way. Then I went to light activity and finally upped it to moderate. I didn't see any changes until I upped it to moderate.

    Yes I pretty much eat the same on off days. I never go below my moderate TDEE cut level, sometimes I go over though if I found that I burned extra calories that day (according to my fitbit).
  • rjlkat
    rjlkat Posts: 82 Member
    You definitely sound well above Moderate; I'd say mark yourself Very Active for your activity level. Yes, you are supposed to eat your cut (or TDEE if you're doing maintenance) every day, regardless if you work out that day. Then on the days you do work out that day, you may want to keep track of the calories burned to ensure you don't net below BMR.

    For me, it's easiest to set my goal at my cut, then log my exercise as well. I check my home page to see where I am net-wise toward the end of the day so I'll know if I need to eat a bit more back.
  • slammy1079
    slammy1079 Posts: 97
    I'd say you are in the 5-6 hour "very active" camp! I had a hard time believing I was (even though Lucia told me I was from the get-go! :) - I play roller derby 2-3x a week, run a couple of times, and strength train a couple of times. And then do biking/hiking/paddling/fun stuff on top of that. I have a desk job.

    It wasn't until I got a Bodymedia Fit that I accepted it - my Scooby-calculated TDEE at "very active" and my BMF average are very close to each other, around 2500 calories a day on average.
  • tameejean
    tameejean Posts: 197 Member
    Thank you! I think I am going to go with the "Strenuous 5-7hours" at a 20% cut, instead of 15%, so that gives me a happy medium between the two and see how that works :)
  • slammy1079
    slammy1079 Posts: 97
    Thank you! I think I am going to go with the "Strenuous 5-7hours" at a 20% cut, instead of 15%, so that gives me a happy medium between the two and see how that works :)

    Sounds like a good plan! I sort of did the same thing before I got a BMF - I averaged the 15% cut of moderate and very active activity levels!

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