Am I sedentary or lightly active?

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SKINNYsupermodel
SKINNYsupermodel Posts: 61
in Health and Weight Loss
Having trouble determining whether I am lightly active or sedentary. I am a student, I sit on my butt from 8 40am-12am, with 3 morning classes. I have 5 minutes in between each class and I walk as much as I can in those breaks. Then I have lunch at 12am, and I walk/stand for 35minutes. Then 2 more classes in the afternoon, until 3 30. I get home at 4pm, and then I am pretty much on my feet for the rest of the night until 9pm. I also do a 35 minute workout (dvd), or I go for a walk, or I go for a swim. Some nights I also work at my part time job, where I am on my feet for 4hrs or so. So am I sedentary... or lightly active? I can't decide what an appropriate calorie goal would be. I'm 6ft tall and a female. Looking to lose a pound a week or so. I don't want to be on a diet for 5 months lol.

Replies

  • SKINNYsupermodel
    SKINNYsupermodel Posts: 61
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    bump
  • deadyankee
    deadyankee Posts: 74
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    These definitions are not absolutes, they are just broad guidance which should be combined with common sense. Your description is of someone who has a degree of activity beyond that of sedentary
  • SKINNYsupermodel
    SKINNYsupermodel Posts: 61
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    So...sedentary?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Sedentary means seated or mostly sitting down - as you are on your feet for a considerable part of the day you are not sedentary.

    By the way your dedicated exercise is not part of this setting, that is why you are supposed to log it separately (and eat back those calories).

    So go for lightly active and after four weeks you can adjust your calorie setting depending on results.
  • SKINNYsupermodel
    SKINNYsupermodel Posts: 61
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    Sounds good :) Thanks.
  • vanguardfitness
    vanguardfitness Posts: 720 Member
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    I like this guy and his site: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    A bit of an old-school BB guy but solid info on his site.

    From the bottom of that page:
    You might have had questions about what “Activity Level” to set, you are not alone. The problem is that these activity factors are very fuzzy and difficult to apply. Here is a chart that shows my interpretation of the activity levels and an alternative description to help you choose the proper level:
    Multiplier My Description Alternative Description
    1.2 Desk job with little exercise Little to no exercise
    1.375 1-3 hrs/wk of light exercise Light exercise (1–3 days per week)
    1.55 3-5 hrs/wk of moderate exercise Moderate exercise (3–5 days per week)
    1.725 5-6 hrs/wk of strenuous exercise Heavy exercise (6–7 days per week)
    1.9 7-21 hrs/wk of strenuous exercise/work Very heavy exercise (twice per day, extra heavy workouts)

    Regardless, these formulas aren't an exact science but more ball park figures. It might take you a few weeks to figure out if you're losing, gaining or maintaining.

    If you choose sedentary you might be restricting yourself too much. Likewise, eating too much if you pick too high of an activity level.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Lightly active because of your part time job, but add your exercise calories.

    Or go with scooby and lightly active (maybe add 50 calories or something depending on how often you work out and how often you work).
    I don't want to be on a diet for 5 months lol.

    Sorry to burst your bubble, but it's a lifestyle change. I don't know how much you're trying to lose, but you will at best be able to eat 300 more calories than your goal now once you're at your goal weight.
  • smilyus
    smilyus Posts: 9 Member
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    I marked myself as "lightly active" because I live in an urban area and use walking/biking as a form of transportation to get from point A to point B. I have a desk job too that requires sitting for at least 6 hours, but i also know that I'm regularly moving 3-5 miles most days ontop of any exercise I do.

    oh and I'm also a tall female looking to lose 1 pound a week and it seems to be working with this calorie range.
  • Eleonora91
    Eleonora91 Posts: 688 Member
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    I'd say lightly active, and I'd also log my exercises and walks separately.
    I put sedentary because even if I'm a student I spend most of my days at home getting ready for my exams. When I went at the university it was completely different, now I kind of do nothing unless I go out with some friends or to pick some grocery shopping or unless I workout - and I log everything in so apart from that I just cook, have showers and lie in front of the computer. (And study).
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    I like this guy and his site: http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/
    A bit of an old-school BB guy but solid info on his site.

    From the bottom of that page:
    You might have had questions about what “Activity Level” to set, you are not alone. The problem is that these activity factors are very fuzzy and difficult to apply. Here is a chart that shows my interpretation of the activity levels and an alternative description to help you choose the proper level:
    Multiplier My Description Alternative Description
    1.2 Desk job with little exercise Little to no exercise
    1.375 1-3 hrs/wk of light exercise Light exercise (1–3 days per week)
    1.55 3-5 hrs/wk of moderate exercise Moderate exercise (3–5 days per week)
    1.725 5-6 hrs/wk of strenuous exercise Heavy exercise (6–7 days per week)
    1.9 7-21 hrs/wk of strenuous exercise/work Very heavy exercise (twice per day, extra heavy workouts)

    Regardless, these formulas aren't an exact science but more ball park figures. It might take you a few weeks to figure out if you're losing, gaining or maintaining.

    If you choose sedentary you might be restricting yourself too much. Likewise, eating too much if you pick too high of an activity level.

    Just to note that this is not the guideline MFP uses when you select activity level. THe MFP activity level does not include exercise. This causes a lot of confusion on this site.

    If you are you are using the TDEE method, use this.
    IF you are following MFP, activity level is without exercise and you log the exercise seperate.

    I agree that you are not sedentary. MFP tends to run low, I hardly recommend anyone at all use sedentary.
  • SKINNYsupermodel
    SKINNYsupermodel Posts: 61
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    Thank you for all your help :)
    I realize this is a lifestyle change, and I eat well most of the time, its just with the crappy weather and holidays that I've gained about 5lbs, and now am 10lbs away from my goal weight. I will try lightly active and see how that works out for me!
  • amandakev88
    amandakev88 Posts: 328 Member
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    even if im up on feet for parts of the day i put sedentary, as i imagine all my couch potatoing and bus riding and stuff negates the times i am up. i go to the gym 4x a week and i work part time. i have mine set to sedentary. i figured if more than 50% of the day im sitting, then i'll go with the majority.
  • deksgrl
    deksgrl Posts: 7,237 Member
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    Thank you for all your help :)
    I realize this is a lifestyle change, and I eat well most of the time, its just with the crappy weather and holidays that I've gained about 5lbs, and now am 10lbs away from my goal weight. I will try lightly active and see how that works out for me!

    Since you only have a little bit of weight to lose, set yourself to lose half a pound a week. I know you want it off like yesterday, but if you choose too aggressive a goal, it will be too large of a calorie cut which isn't healthy or sustainable.
  • SephiraRose
    SephiraRose Posts: 775 Member
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    Lightly active.
  • Swiftdogs
    Swiftdogs Posts: 328 Member
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    You are at least lightly active. MFP's sedentary setting is for very low activity, less than around 4,000-5,000 steps per day. That was a real eye-opener to me when I started wearing a Fitbit. And as others have said, record your added exercise separately and eat back at least some of those calories.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    You are NOT sedentary.
  • jillyrobb
    jillyrobb Posts: 36 Member
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    I'd guess you're at least lightly active most days, but if you're not totally sure, you could always try getting a tracker like a FitBit--one that syncs with MFP to account for your daily activity. The bracelet ones like the Flex are great, but there are clip-on versions that are much friendlier to a student budget.

    I have a desk job, but whenever weather and schedule permit, I run my errands and such on foot, walk to pick up my daughter from school, or take family walks after dinner. So I set my activity level to sedentary and allow FitBit to track my daily activity and give me calorie "credits" on the days I'm more active. I enter my formal exercise sessions into MFP manually, or, in the case of my longer/faster walks, log it automatically using Map My Walk synced to MFP, then eat at least half of those back.

    I'm at maintenance level now, and so far this method has kept me quite steady--occasionally even a bit under my goal--through a pretty nasty winter.

    But realistically, you're young, active, and you don't have much to lose. Even the simple act of tracking what you eat is likely to help you shed those few pounds. Log honestly for a while, and you'll soon get in the habit of choosing fruit over a muffin, black coffee over a double mocha with whip, packing healthy snacks for your long days so you're not tempted to grab something junky from the campus store, and planning meals ahead of time so you're not grazing on whatever is lying around because you're too tired to cook by the time you get home.

    Good luck!

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