What activity level am i?

ginaward1990 · February 2014

I've done a load of reading on activity levels but I'm still struggling to figure out which level I am.
I am a visual merchandiser so my job involves a lot of walking around, lifting mannequins and shelves, climbing up and down ladders, painting walls etc and i do that from 7-3.30 with an hours break (i sit down for my whole break haha).
I will walk to work pretty much everyday (5 days a week), which takes me 25 mins.....sometimes I will walk home too...I'd say half the time I walk home.
And then I go to the gym 3 times a week without fail and do 30 mins of cardio on either the treadmill, climb mill, bike or cross trainer then 30 mins of weights. I have a heart rate monitor and usually burn between 400-500 calories in each session.
At the weekends I am much less active. I will sit down a lot more, do some housework and maybe walk around the shops.

I have set my activity level at lightly active and I record every walk to work and every work out but not sure if thats right. Different websites tell me different things! If someone could shed some light on to this I would be forever grateful!

Thanks

RachelRuns9 · February 2014

If you really don't feel comfortable selecting one, you could consider yourself "lightly active" or "sedentary" and then add each of those things each day as exercise cals. All that time on your feet doing labor at work, the bike ride, the workouts, etc, you can all enter separately.

Even then after a few weeks you can look back and see the trend and get a better idea?

Sarahliquid · February 2014

I'd go one above lightly active. You do a lot.

ginaward1990 · February 2014

Thanks

my have to trial and error it until and see which one works better!

AMNimlos · February 2014

I believe with MFP exercise should be counted separately, not in your activity level. You can be sedentary and exercise often and you can be lightly active and exercise often, so they are separated. I would say you are lightly active because you are not sitting at a desk all day, but you're also not a construction worker.

ginaward1990 · February 2014

I believe with MFP exercise should be counted separately, not in your activity level. You can be sedentary and exercise often and you can be lightly active and exercise often, so they are separated. I would say you are lightly active because you are not sitting at a desk all day, but you're also not a construction worker.

yeah that was my thinking....my calories go up to 1920 a day when i set it to moderately active so if i burnt off 700 through walking and the gym in that day then id be eating so much to hit my goal

mitch16 · February 2014

I think there is no right or wrong answer, and it's really a matter of trial and error based on your expectations. I have mine set to sedentary because I have a desk job; however, I am far from sedentary--running to meetings all of the time, walking across our work campus to meet clients... and my time at home is spent on the run as well. I'm still conservative when it comes to tracking exercise (only things done under the guise of 'working out' are tracked--I don't track housekeeping, I don't track gardening, I don't track walking the dog). The weight was coming off pretty steadily, so I guess what I have going on works for me. This way, too, if I happen to underestimate my calories or overestimate my calories burned from exercise, I have some buffer that keeps me on track.

I would start with lightly active and see how that works. I don't really see too many people around here complaining that the weight comes off too fast, rather the opposite, which is a symptom of overestimating calories out or underestimating calories in.

What activity level am i?

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