Activity Level... HELP!

Tabitha_Faye
Tabitha_Faye Posts: 131
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey there,

This is my -- well, this is my millionth time attempting myfitnesspal and I continuously struggle to determine my activity level. I'm well aware that the calculator used for myfitnesspal is an estimate and that the best way to determine my caloric intake is to determine my TDEE. My problem, though, is I feel as if I may underestimate/overestimate my activity level. I'm a full-time student, I workout 5-6 days per week for approximately 30 minutes or more, and I work part-time as a nurse tech at the hospital. As for my job, I work only one day a week, 12-hour shift, and I'm on my feet for almost the whole day (I sit down for my 30-minute lunch, but that's about it). Besides being at school, I do keep pretty active (housework, cleaning, etc.), and I'm not known to be much of a couch potato. For my exercises, I am taking a step/circuit combo class three days a week for 45-minutes and on the other days, I do circuit training at home for about 30-minutes.

So, right now, I have my activity level set as lightly active, but I am not sure if this is set too high or too low for my activity level requirements.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks! :)

Replies

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    When I used MFP method I used sedentary even though I worked out 7x a week (30DS) because most of the time I was sitting on my butt in front of a computer.

    When using MFP method I would go with what you "know" you will be doing. You can't guarantee you will do the exercise...

    Lightly active for a student who works 1 12 hour shift seems reasonable to me as you know for sure that you will do that every week.
  • zentha1384
    zentha1384 Posts: 323 Member
    I also set myself at sedentary and then track all of my exercise (using a HRM). If you put yourself at light moderate etc than you can only track the activities you go over and above that. If you do both than you will put yourself in a higher calorie allowance than you will actually be allowed to eat and lose weight.

    If you don't want to track your exercise than I would recommend estimating yourself at the low end. This way you will not put yourself at risk for eating more calories than you should be.
  • Tabitha_Faye
    Tabitha_Faye Posts: 131
    When I used MFP method I used sedentary even though I worked out 7x a week (30DS) because most of the time I was sitting on my butt in front of a computer.

    When using MFP method I would go with what you "know" you will be doing. You can't guarantee you will do the exercise...

    Lightly active for a student who works 1 12 hour shift seems reasonable to me as you know for sure that you will do that every week.

    Good point. Thank you! I am just indecisive and I have the perfectionist mentality, so I'm always feeling as if I'm doing this whole thing wrong -- thus, why I probably have given up so many times before.
  • Tabitha_Faye
    Tabitha_Faye Posts: 131
    I also set myself at sedentary and then track all of my exercise (using a HRM). If you put yourself at light moderate etc than you can only track the activities you go over and above that. If you do both than you will put yourself in a higher calorie allowance than you will actually be allowed to eat and lose weight.

    If you don't want to track your exercise than I would recommend estimating yourself at the low end. This way you will not put yourself at risk for eating more calories than you should be.

    I own a Fit Bit and I have thought about using it as a tool to get an estimate of what I usually burn and then creating a deficit from that. I was using it daily at one point and I was burning a good amount of calories per day. I guess that's also why I sometimes feel weary of what my activity level should be.
  • zentha1384
    zentha1384 Posts: 323 Member
    I own a Fit Bit and I have thought about using it as a tool to get an estimate of what I usually burn and then creating a deficit from that. I was using it daily at one point and I was burning a good amount of calories per day. I guess that's also why I sometimes feel weary of what my activity level should be.

    Keep in mind Fitbits (although better than nothing) is a fancy pedometer. It will not take into account how fit you are, or the effort you are exerting. It will also change where on your body you put it.

    Ex. Walking vs jogging vs running. these will change your heart rate, but it will also change your stride length. This means that if your fitbit is estimating distance based on walking then it will underestimate your distance traveled.

    If you are in great shape your heart rate will not raise as much than a person who is completely out of shape. Two people with the same weight and height can be in vastly different shape depending on a number of factors such as body fat, health problems (such as asthma) etc.

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