Am I sedentary, lightly active, or moderately active?

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I'm still a student and during the school year I would spend most of my day sitting and doing my work, but 4-6 days out of the week, I would either do workout videos, go on hour long power walks, or go to the gym and lift weights, do a half an hour of cardio, and finish with strength training. Now that summer is here I have the chance to be more active. I'd say I spend about 3 hours a day on my computer, sometimes less, sometimes more. But it's generally in that range. Most of my days are like this: Wake up, shower, do my hair, get dressed, clean up my room, walk down stairs for breakfast, clean up breakfast mess, check my email etc for about 30-60 minutes, go outside and play tetherball with the family, cook some lunch, another hour on the computer, walk to the mailbox and get the mail, watch a movie or some videos for a couple hours, play with the dog for a few minutes, help my mom cook dinner, and do a workout video (usually cardio or HIIT) for 15-30 minutes, or go to the gym and do my cardio-weight-strength routine for 30-60 minutes, or go on an hour long power walk (it varies day to day but I do one of these things 4-6 days a week).

I do tend to sit sometimes at home but I get bored of it and often find myself getting up and trying to find something else to do. The definitions for each activity level are very vague so I'm really not sure what I classify as. :ohwell: Can anyone tell me?

Replies

  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    Are you using it for MFP's setup or are you using an outside formula?

    I ask because MFP does not include your exercise when you select an activity modifier. It expects you to lo exercise after the fact.
    Other formulas do include exercise. So it affects the response.
  • MzManiak
    MzManiak Posts: 1,361 Member
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    I'd say you are lightly active...
  • xxghost
    xxghost Posts: 4,697 Member
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    I'm a college student in a similar situation. I walk to class, and to and from my apartment, but the rest of the day is spent on my butt in class or on the computer doing homework (except, of course, when I'm working out). I call myself lightly active, and I think you probably are too.
  • jaz100_nz
    jaz100_nz Posts: 21 Member
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    I would say sedentary but count all that exercise as exercise.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    I use the MFP method, and I am set to sedentary, since I'm not that active when I'm not exercising. I'm mostly sitting around. Anything higher than sedentary was giving me too many calories on my couch potato days. On days when I exercise, I track the extra activity and eat back the calories I earned through exercise. I can't use the TDEE method, because my exercise is not consistent enough - it changes so much from day to day that my TDEE is different every day. For example, one day I could be running a half-marathon and the next I'm sitting around reading the forums on MFP, the next I'm lifting heavy things at the gym, etc... It's easier just to track exercise separately when it happens.

    OP, you sound lightly active to me. Try it for awhile and if it doesn't work well, adjust your settings until you find the one that works best. :drinker:
  • hiyomi
    hiyomi Posts: 906 Member
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    I have the same problem. Right now I would be sedentary though since its summer, but most of the year, I put moderately active. My campus is pretty big and its extremely hot where I live so we sweat a bit lol and then after that, I usually go to the gym. When there is no school I'm sitting on my butt playing online games all day/night, but I still do my exercise. ^^
  • volume77
    volume77 Posts: 670 Member
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    id say lightly active/ modereatly active if your workouts are everyday
  • mrsriisky
    mrsriisky Posts: 129 Member
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    If I were in your shoes, I would probably select lightly active and log exercise.
  • jessicafunkyy
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    Thanks everyone :smile: