Active or Lightly Active? Confused!

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andresconejo
andresconejo Posts: 264
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi!
It's time to update my goals in here but it asks me if i am active or lightly active, i actually want to know how many cals i should consume to MAINTAIN my weight but idk about my physical activity.

I workout 3 times a week for like 2 1/2 hours
Occupation: Student
My current weight: 130lbs
Height: 6ft 1inch
Age: 17
Goal: Maintain

Thanks!

Replies

  • Pearsquared
    Pearsquared Posts: 1,656 Member
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    I think it's easiest to think of activity level as what you do as your occupation, and not anything else. In this case, you're a student, so you likely sit on a daily basis. If I were in your position, I would set my daily activity as sedentary, and log your exercise for the additional calories burned from it.
  • andresconejo
    andresconejo Posts: 264
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    Ohh ok that sucks!
    SOmeone else?
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
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    Pick lightly active. Stop jerking your body around at 17 with an obscenely-low intake. You will gain weight, because 6'1 130 is a no-muscle scenario.
  • Raynne413
    Raynne413 Posts: 1,527 Member
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    I read that unless you are bed-ridden, you should at least choose lightly active.
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
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    All you need to do is Google TDEE and you'll find lots of explanations of how to choose your level. Hopefully your goal in being here is to gain not to lose.
  • nvpixie
    nvpixie Posts: 483 Member
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    Okay. Check out this TDEE calculator.
    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    If you click on "Enter Activity Level" you can actually put in how many minutes you are active at each level (Light, Very Light, etc.).

    This will give you your Total Daily Energy Expenditure. Subtract about 10% from the calorie number it calculates and you have the amount of calories you should eat each day to lose weight. Some people only subtract 5%, others subtract 15-20%.
    Put that calorie number in MFP as a "custom" goal.

    The MFP calculator was harder for me to use because it considered me way less active than I actually am. MFP had me at 1200 calories a day, which was ridiculously low for me.

    I got down to my goal weight using the above method.

    I hope this helps.
  • nvpixie
    nvpixie Posts: 483 Member
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    I just saw in your post that you want to maintain.

    In that case, you wouldn't subtract anything from the number the calculator gives you. Try it for a few weeks and see how it works for you. You can always add or subtract 100-200 calories to find the right balance.
  • MercenaryNoetic26
    MercenaryNoetic26 Posts: 2,747 Member
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    I used to have "active" selected, but once I received my FitBit, I realized I was in between. I went back and selected "lightly active", this way, I'm not over or under eating.

    Also, on another thread I learned that MFP "doesn't" account for exercise like other sites do for tdee.

    ETA: to add that I'm maintaining my weight but working on body recomp.
  • latoyasmith1985
    latoyasmith1985 Posts: 71 Member
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    Okay help me as well. Ironically I had the same question.
    Trying to lose at least 2 pds a week.
    I am doing insanity where I am working out at least 45 min 5 days a week.
    So my question is should I put very active or active..
  • andresconejo
    andresconejo Posts: 264
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    Okay. Check out this TDEE calculator.
    http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

    If you click on "Enter Activity Level" you can actually put in how many minutes you are active at each level (Light, Very Light, etc.).

    This will give you your Total Daily Energy Expenditure. Subtract about 10% from the calorie number it calculates and you have the amount of calories you should eat each day to lose weight. Some people only subtract 5%, others subtract 15-20%.
    Put that calorie number in MFP as a "custom" goal.

    The MFP calculator was harder for me to use because it considered me way less active than I actually am. MFP had me at 1200 calories a day, which was ridiculously low for me.

    I got down to my goal weight using the above method.

    I hope this helps.

    It's weird cause it tells me i need 5000 cals!
  • andresconejo
    andresconejo Posts: 264
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    Bump! can someone tell me if this calculator is accurate? http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ I'm using the Harris-Benedict method
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
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    Bump! can someone tell me if this calculator is accurate? http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ I'm using the Harris-Benedict method

    You should be showing around 23-2400. If you got 5000, you probably entered 430 lbs for weight by mistake.

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