Activity Level Question

agalassie
agalassie Posts: 48 Member
in Getting Started
I have been on this website for awhile, with decent success. However, I was reviewing my goals and saw that I had been considering myself to be sedentary, and I'm not entirely sure that is the case. A little about me: I am a graduate student studying chemistry, but working in an immunology lab. I do bench work some of the time, which is standing, but there are days and hours where I am just sitting at my computer doing other work while my experiments finish. After work, I try to exercise about 30 - 60 minutes a day (with 1 rest day). Weekends tend to have a little longer workouts. But, then I tend to sit on my couch for the remainder of the evening and work/read. Weekends might have some errands and cleaning, but a lot of work too. Would this be better to say I'm lightly active then?

Replies

  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Sedentary. Sedentary doesn't mean you never move. It just means you spend most of your day sitting/standing in one place, working at a desk/bench/cash register, etc.

    Grocery store is the best way I can put it to a visual. A cashier at a grocery store spends the majority of their shift just standing at their register. That's basically sedentary. Meanwhile a stocker in a grocery store spends the majority of their shift walking from the back room to the front shelves, stocking product and constantly moving. That's lightly active.
  • ahmurphy
    ahmurphy Posts: 6 Member
    That definitely counts as active. Sedentary people dont't workout 6x a week. Are you having trouble finding the right balance of food and exercise?
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    It depends upon which method you're using.

    If using the TDEE-x% method, you're probably lightly active.

    If using the standard MFP method, sedentary.
  • agalassie
    agalassie Posts: 48 Member
    Yep, MFP had set me calories to 1200 when I said sedentary and I am very sure that that is not enough. So, that made me question if I really was sedentary or not.
  • sjp_511
    sjp_511 Posts: 476 Member
    I was wondering how close my daily calorie burn is to what MFP says it is. I work a desk job, but when not at work I keep on my feet - cleaning house, grocery shopping, cooking, etc. At sedentary, MFP says I burn 2080 calories/day, not counting exercise. Starting Wednesday night I wore my HRM for 24 hours straight to see what my daily burn is. I did not exercise during that time (it was a rest day after doubling up on Wednesday). My HRM says that I burned 1979 calories over those 24 hours. I kept an eye on my watch during the day. While I was doing dishes and cleaning the kitchen (light cleaning - think wiping counters, putting stuff away), I was burning about 110-120/hour. While sleeping I burned about 70-75 calories/hour and about 80-85 calories/hour at work (desk job).

    So my advice for you - leave it at sedentary and track your exercise calories.
  • donfogarty
    donfogarty Posts: 3
    The easiest way to address this question is to wear a heart rate monitor when you exercise. I use this one: http://www.wahoofitness.com/devices/hr.html

    I set my profile to "Sedentary" and then automatically sync my calories burned using the Digifit app. This way, when I exercise I get to eat back the calories that I burn.

    I'm 50 years old and have a desk job, but workout 5 to 6 days a week. My base calories is set to 1900, but if I workout and burn 500 calories, then my total intake goes up to 2400 for that day.

    By using these tools, I have been able to reach my fitness goals and lower my body fat to 8%.
  • mhopp71
    mhopp71 Posts: 46 Member
    my rule is to always cheat against your own favor. If you are at question whether you are light or sedentary then go with sedentary. If you aren't sure whether you ate 4 or 6 oz of some food, log 6 oz. In the end what really matters is what works for you. there is only one constant for everyone - you have to eat but at a deficit for the "week" in order to lose weight. And by the way, 8% body fat is awesome! great work!!!
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    Using the MFP method, I think you would be considered sedentary on an average day. I see that when you work out, you log the calories and going by the last few days, you eat back most of them, which is perfect.

    The other part of the equation is your weight loss goal - perhaps that's too high? At first, you would've been fine with a 2 or 1.5 pound per week goal but with 22 pounds left to lose, you'd be better off at 1/2 to 1 pound max per week. Setting a more realistic goal should give you more daily calories (unles you're very short).

    FYI, this is how sedentary has been described to me:
    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
  • E_Brault
    E_Brault Posts: 362 Member
    Maybe you could have a Resting Energy Expenditure Test performed by your university (free). Check with the Kinesiology Department. This test will tell you how many calories burned while resting as the name suggests. You can find more info on Google.

    Hope this is helpful
  • agalassie
    agalassie Posts: 48 Member
    Thanks everyone! I do have my goal set to lose 1 pound a week as well, so maybe I should lower that to 0.5 pounds/week. I am relatively short, so I guess it won't change it that much. I also haven't lost anything in about 2 months, so that's why I was looking through all of this stuff.

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