Sedentary or Lightly Active?

cheninmatthews21
cheninmatthews21 Posts: 33 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey Guys!
This is my 3rd time around on MFP, and i'm trying to make it stick this time by making my settings and goals as realistic as possible!
Looking to lose about 65 - 70 lbs over the course of a year and a half, currently 20 years old, 5'9 at 234 lbs, goal weight is in the range of 165 - 170.

I'm trying to decide which fits me more: Sedentary or Lightly Active.
Activity wise, i'm a college student without a car, so I walk everywhere I need to go, including to and from school every day. I also work 4 hour shifts at a hospital 5 days a week, on my feet. I'm a food service worker and my job basically requires me to be constantly walking around to & from the kitchen, as I deliver food to patient's rooms. My job is about a mile away from my house, so I walk 2 miles a day going there and back. Additionally, I work out twice a week for an hour and 15 minutes at my weight training class at school.

However, in between all of that I spend most of my time sitting down, typically studying, reading, gaming, etc. Plus i'm obviously sitting or standing during lectures and labs.

I want to pick the best fit for myself because it makes a moderate difference in the calories MFP sets for me to consume, and I have a tendency to fall off the wagon if my goals aren't realistically set, as i'm a bit of a perfectionist.

What do you guys think? Sedentary, or Lightly Active? :)

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Light active at minimum. There's really not even a huge calorie difference between the two.

    Let's put it this way...I have a desk job and sit here for eight hours per day and I'm light active because I spend a good 2-3 hours cooking, cleaning, etc at home. Very few people are actually sedentary...sedentary is literally crawl out of bed and go sit on the couch...get up to go the the bathroom and then back to the couch...then off to bed for a nap before evening couch time...

    Also, your actual exercise will be "extra" activity with MFP, you don't include it in your activity level. You get credit for it when you log it and eat those calories adjusted for estimation error.
  • CallMeCupcakeDammit
    CallMeCupcakeDammit Posts: 9,377 Member
    I would say lightly active, since you're not sitting at a desk all day.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    1) very few people are actually sedentary. Most of us run errands, clean house, etc.

    2) it's an estimate. that you can change later if need be. Pick 1, try it for a month, then if your expected results don't line up with your actual results you can tweak things. If they do line up, then you're all set.
  • TX_Rhon
    TX_Rhon Posts: 1,549 Member
    1) very few people are actually sedentary. Most of us run errands, clean house, etc.

    2) it's an estimate. that you can change later if need be. Pick 1, try it for a month, then if your expected results don't line up with your actual results you can tweak things. If they do line up, then you're all set.

    ^^This!

    End of Thread!! :flowerforyou:
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Actually most people are sedentary. It does not mean crawl out of bed and lay on the couch.

    Sedentary
    Sleeping - 8 hours
    Personal care (dressing, showering) - 1 hour
    Eating - 1 hour
    Cooking - 1 hour
    Sitting (office work, selling produce, tending shop) - 8 hours
    Driving car to/from work - 1 hour
    General household work - 1 hour
    Light leisure activities (watching TV, chatting) - 3 hours


    Covers a large majority of the people I know. You can log intentional exercise separately.
  • cheninmatthews21
    cheninmatthews21 Posts: 33 Member
    Thanks guys! :D
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Actually most people are sedentary. It does not mean crawl out of bed and lay on the couch.

    Sedentary
    Sleeping - 8 hours
    Personal care (dressing, showering) - 1 hour
    Eating - 1 hour
    Cooking - 1 hour
    Sitting (office work, selling produce, tending shop) - 8 hours
    Driving car to/from work - 1 hour
    General household work - 1 hour
    Light leisure activities (watching TV, chatting) - 3 hours


    Covers a large majority of the people I know. You can log intentional exercise separately.

    Maybe. I guess most of the people I know are parents and even a quiet day isn't that quiet.

    On a side note... where did you find that info? I've never seen it spelled out like that before.

    .
  • Chain_Ring
    Chain_Ring Posts: 753 Member
    Do whatever works best for you.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Actually most people are sedentary. It does not mean crawl out of bed and lay on the couch.

    Sedentary
    Sleeping - 8 hours
    Personal care (dressing, showering) - 1 hour
    Eating - 1 hour
    Cooking - 1 hour
    Sitting (office work, selling produce, tending shop) - 8 hours
    Driving car to/from work - 1 hour
    General household work - 1 hour
    Light leisure activities (watching TV, chatting) - 3 hours


    Covers a large majority of the people I know. You can log intentional exercise separately.

    Maybe. I guess most of the people I know are parents and even a quiet day isn't that quiet.

    Yeah, that would be me...despite the "desk job" that everyone insists automatically makes you sedentary, I've been light active forever here and have lost weight at just about right on the clip I told MFP I wanted to lose weight.

    Also Mokey...the OP, a student with no car is hardly sedentary...I used to be one of those and I walked and biked pretty much everywhere I went...definitely not sedentary.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    Actually most people are sedentary. It does not mean crawl out of bed and lay on the couch.

    Sedentary
    Sleeping - 8 hours
    Personal care (dressing, showering) - 1 hour
    Eating - 1 hour
    Cooking - 1 hour
    Sitting (office work, selling produce, tending shop) - 8 hours
    Driving car to/from work - 1 hour
    General household work - 1 hour
    Light leisure activities (watching TV, chatting) - 3 hours


    Covers a large majority of the people I know. You can log intentional exercise separately.

    Maybe. I guess most of the people I know are parents and even a quiet day isn't that quiet.

    Yeah, that would be me...despite the "desk job" that everyone insists automatically makes you sedentary, I've been light active forever here and have lost weight at just about right on the clip I told MFP I wanted to lose weight.

    Same for me. MFP's numbers have been pretty much dead on for me since the beginning as lightly active.

    .
  • lilacinfinity
    lilacinfinity Posts: 283 Member
    The "sedentary" activity factor on here is 1.2.
    That is, basically, couch potato.
    Or, for someone with a BMR of 1500, for their 16 hours awake only an extra 18.75 calories per hour to cover all their activity that isn't lying down.
    Very few people here fall into that category.

    In fact, I pretty much fill this description
    Sedentary
    Sleeping - 8 hours
    Personal care (dressing, showering) - 1 hour
    Eating - 1 hour
    Cooking - 1 hour
    Sitting (office work, selling produce, tending shop) - 8 hours
    Driving car to/from work - 1 hour
    General household work - 1 hour
    Light leisure activities (watching TV, chatting) - 3 hours
    except for being on my feet for 6 of those 8 work hours and my 'activity factor' is proving to be around 1.75

    OP: go with lightly active, at least.

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