Settings? Sedentary or light active?

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queenbea77
queenbea77 Posts: 404 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a desk job so other than getting up occasionally to do things in the office I sit most of the time but I do workout at the gym 5x week for 30-90 minutes depending if I have a class or what I decide to do. At the gym I do Body Pump 2x week for 45 min. Sometimes on those day's I also do the bike or TM. On the other day's I do a variety of things depending on what I feel like doing and my aches (lol). It might be the TM, stairmaster, elliptical or bike. I'm not sure if I should have my settings at sedentary because of my job or set it at light active? Any input? Thanks

Replies

  • Arkhos
    Arkhos Posts: 290 Member
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    with exercising, I would set it to light active. Sedentary to me means you don't hardly get any movement other than walking to/from things and sitting all day. Like I used to be :happy:
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
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    I used the lightly active under similar circumstnaces but now I am wondering if I really am moderately active...
  • rosy003
    rosy003 Posts: 251 Member
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    I'm no expert, but I set myself at sedentary and log all of my exercise and eat back my calories. I workout 6 days a week and I'm a stay at home mom. But even playing with my kids, cleaning and cooking I decided it was safest to underestimate and only log "real" exercise.
  • queenbea77
    queenbea77 Posts: 404 Member
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    See it's so confusing - I don't just sit and do nothing but considering I spend 6 hrs a day sitting at work and only 1/2 - 1 1/2 hours working out I'm stuck in the middle of which one to choose.
  • bethany41h
    bethany41h Posts: 218
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    I've never really know what the right thing to do here is. I set mine as sedentary so it give me less calories, but that's just me :)
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    It depends what you're talking about. Settings for MFP or for a TDEE calculator.

    MFP, you're sedentary because of your job, you add exercise separately. TDEE, you're probably lightly active but you can also use it as sedentary to get a base number and add your exercise yourself on a daily basis.
  • wildfirediva
    wildfirediva Posts: 212
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    Using the data from my body media fit link I was able to determine on my least active day (very lazy Sunday or office day with very little activity) I averaged about 2100 TDEE. I experimented with the settings in MFP as to which one gave me a number that was close. For me that choice was lightly active.

    My work day has me sitting at my desk a lot. Any activity I add/burn is what is adjusted to my meet my NET calories. I upload the data from my Body Media Fit link. On workout.very active days I get up to 1500 cal burned ABOVE my lazy day setting.

    I generally try to keep a 700- 1000 calorie deficit from my TDEE which also works out to be at least TDEE-20% (on average). Setting my NET to 1400-1500 has been pretty accurate for me and keeps me from over estimating my caloric need for the day and keeps the data consistent between MFP and my Fit Link.
  • GauchoMark
    GauchoMark Posts: 1,804 Member
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    I am in a similar situation as you. What has worked well for me is to set it up as sedentary, then log any intentional exercise that I do. I feel it is more accurate than trying to include exercise in the calories for all days.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    To me, sedentary means you don't move at all. You don't get up, go to work, walk to your vehicle, walk from the parking lot to your job, etc. If you are disabled then you might be sedentary, but from what you've posted, I'd put lightly active and then be conservative about your exercise burns.
  • jzammetti
    jzammetti Posts: 1,956 Member
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    Using the data from my body media fit link I was able to determine on my least active day (very lazy Sunday or office day with very little activity) I averaged about 2100 TDEE. I experimented with the settings in MFP as to which one gave me a number that was close. For me that choice was lightly active.

    My work day has me sitting at my desk a lot. Any activity I add/burn is what is adjusted to my meet my NET calories. I upload the data from my Body Media Fit link. On workout.very active days I get up to 1500 cal burned ABOVE my lazy day setting.

    I generally try to keep a 700- 1000 calorie deficit from my TDEE which also works out to be at least TDEE-20% (on average). Setting my NET to 1400-1500 has been pretty accurate for me and keeps me from over estimating my caloric need for the day and keeps the data consistent between MFP and my Fit Link.

    I did the same with my HRM - it averages me at 2500...putting me at a moderately active modifier (I thought I was sednetary or lightly active at most).
  • wildfirediva
    wildfirediva Posts: 212
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    I did the same with my HRM - it averages me at 2500...putting me at a moderately active modifier (I thought I was sedentary or lightly active at most).

    I know what you mean as my daily average is 2500. Maybe it is more of a visual and numbers thing for me (less red, made me feel more accomplished.etc) . Typical ego feeder....;)

    I would say try it at moderate for a few days and see what you may find more appealing
  • emtjmac
    emtjmac Posts: 1,320 Member
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    I believe that lightly active is for people who spend a good part of the day on their feet. Just being on your feet for hours and hours burns a lot of calories over time.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    I am in a similar situation as you. What has worked well for me is to set it up as sedentary, then log any intentional exercise that I do. I feel it is more accurate than trying to include exercise in the calories for all days.

    Ditto.
    My job is sedentary but I exercise a lot. However, that exercise varies enormously day to day and week to week.
    So my settings are sedentary and I log and eat back all my exercise calories.
  • contingencyplan
    contingencyplan Posts: 3,639 Member
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    Let me put it to you this way: For me the difference between sedentary and lightly active was only 180 calories. I found out when I wore my HRM that I burn that much just walking from my house to the bus stop for my morning commute to work (yes I commute by bus). This is only a 10 minute walk.
  • get_shred
    get_shred Posts: 3
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    That setting is for your daily activity ASIDE from any working out or exercise. Hence the examples on the bottom, under light active it has 'nurse, salesman' while under sedentary it has 'bank teller, desk job'. If you have a desk job I would choose sedentary 100%, and make sure I log in all my exercises under cardio to be most accurate.
  • Querian
    Querian Posts: 419 Member
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    Just pick one and see how it goes for a couple of weeks and then re-assess and change if needed. I don't use the MFP method of eating back my exercise calories so I use a higher setting (can't remember if it is lightly active or moderately active) and then shoot for a range of 1600-2000 calories a day and I also have a desk job but get some exercise almost every day.

    Jump in and figure out what works for you by experimenting. You don't need to figure out everything up front in order to get started. :flowerforyou:

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