Am I Sedentary or Lightly Active?

c_summer
c_summer Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
Read a bunch on the forums here and elsewhere, still can't decide. I'm afraid of eating too few calories if I'm supposed to be Lightly Active, or too few if I'm Sedentary.

Here is what I do:

- Work a desk job, 9-5.
- Walk at least 1 mile/day at moderate/fast pace (public transport to and from work with lots of stairs - I get tired during this).
- Ballet 3 times/week (not a "barre" class, but actual ballet) for 90 mins. On these days I bike (2 miles, leisurely) or take public transit (lots of walking).
- At home, clean the house or do computer stuff.

The desk job stuff makes sense for being Sedentary, but the commuting/ballet make me think Lightly Active.

Thoughts? Thanks for your help! :)

Replies

  • climbing_trees
    climbing_trees Posts: 726 Member
    Lightly Active
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
    I agree...lightly active.
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
    My lifestyle is pretty similar (have a 30 minute walk to work, exercise 3x week except I run, office job) and I've set myself to sedentary, then I log exercise separately. I log my runs or anything else I do for the purpose of exercising, but not my hour of walking per day (because really, that's not a lot in a day spent on my butt in front of the computer.) It worked for me to lose and now to maintain.
  • kiekokay
    kiekokay Posts: 101 Member
    I also sit at a desk for the majority of my 40hr week. I consider myself sedentary and then log exercise separately. Things like walking the dogs, yoga, etc. I always log. Things like walking to go to lunch, walking around the mall, etc. I don't generally log. Occasionally I do if I did a ton of it or if I really felt like it was active. Its really up to how you feel. Not sure if that helps...
  • thomaszabel
    thomaszabel Posts: 203 Member
    I had the same quandary, but then I realized how MFP works.

    I'd say sedentary, since your job is a desk job. MFP will calculate your net calories goal based on that. Then you enter your 1-mile walk as exercise, and enter your ballet as exercise, and MFP subtracts those exercise calories from the food you ate, so it factors that in.

    If MFP says you should have 1200 net calories, and you burn 200 with ballet and your walk today, MFP knows that your food goal for that specific day is 1400 calories.

    If you had a job like my wife does at Macy's where she is standing and walking around all day, I'd say lightly active. If you worked in construction or something, then go a step up.

    But I'd say sedentary, and just make sure I log in all of the walks and ballet. I think you can even log in housework or "house cleaning" as exercise.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    I would say lightly active, but if you calculate from sedentary I bet you will see better results if you do the same defecit. Always error on the side of caution and set yourself up for success.
  • TKhamvongsa
    TKhamvongsa Posts: 287
    I set myself on sedentary - I am sitting on my butt for 8 hours a day/5 times per week. I take public transportation and walk approx 30 mins daily. I go to the gym 5-6 days per week and all my work outs are medium to intense.

    ... I'm not sure where I lie either.
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
    Lightly active. There are very few people who are truly sedentary.
  • thavoice
    thavoice Posts: 1,326 Member
    I set myself on sedentary - I am sitting on my butt for 8 hours a day/5 times per week. I take public transportation and walk approx 30 mins daily. I go to the gym 5-6 days per week and all my work outs are medium to intense.

    ... I'm not sure where I lie either.
    LIghtly active, but like I said before error on the side of caution and set yourself up for success.
    If you "officially" have yourself at sedentary and do a % caloric deficiency and stick to it you will do better than the % deficiency to the lightly active.
    You can call it cheating or whatever, but it is similiar to overstimating calories in the food you eat. Again, setting yourself up for success.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Sedentary but log the ballet as exercise.
  • c_summer
    c_summer Posts: 2
    Thanks for all the quick and helpful responses :) I'm going to keep it at Sedentary right now and see how things go in the next month or so.
  • washingtonred
    washingtonred Posts: 25
    If you can lose weight by having it set at "lightly active" then I would go with that.

    I start my day at 4:20am and at work I'm on my feet all day even at my desk (I have a standing workstation). I help set windshields, stock boxes, do paperwork, and what ever else that needs to be done. When I get home at 6:15pm I cook dinner, clean, and what ever chores that need to be done. So some times I don't get to bed until after 9pm or later. So for me I definitely prefer eating at a higher calorie count as long as I'm losing.

    YMMV, so you just have to figure out what works for you.

    Good luck,
    Red

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