Have I chosen my activity level correctly?

NotALizard
NotALizard Posts: 8
in Health and Weight Loss
I chose sedentary because other than the hour that I work out, I'm on my butt.

I'm 6'1, weigh 174, and a male. It currently has my calories set to 1290 a day.

Is this low or normal considering my activity level?

EDIT: It appears that my goal was set to two pounds per week. Even with it bumped down to one, it only puts me at 1500.

So it appears that I will be taking the advice to set it to 0.5 pounds per week. Thanks everyone.

Replies

  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    You'll be burning muscles and very unhappy with that intake.
  • EvanKeel
    EvanKeel Posts: 1,903 Member
    6'1"
    25 years old
    174 lbs
    Male

    and

    1290. Yes, to me, that seems quite low.

    For whatever a comparison is worth, I'm 35, male, 5'9" 200lbs with a desk job, and I workout for 1 hour everyday +1 hour of lifting 3 days/week. I eat 2250 to lose.

    I would feel terrible and have monumentally poor gym performance if I ate that little, but that's me.
  • NotALizard
    NotALizard Posts: 8
    Hm. Well I wonder why it is set so low. I'll have to go through my goal settings.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Double check all your settings? What is your goal? Just for comparison my Hubby is 5'9" and his goal weight is 170-175. Are you trying to lose weight or just tone?
  • DrJenO
    DrJenO Posts: 404 Member
    You must have it set to 2lbs/week. With your current weight, there is no way you have more than 20 pounds to lose. I would recommend setting it to 0.5lbs/week, do some weight lifting, and develop patience.
  • NotALizard
    NotALizard Posts: 8
    I'm just trying to get my body fat down. It's around 13% percent. Once I get to 165, I'm going on maintenance.
  • DrJenO
    DrJenO Posts: 404 Member
    Even better.

    Since you have only 10 pounds to lose, don't try to do it faster than 0.5lbs per week.

    In fact, since you are currently at a normal BMI, I would consider throwing out the scale and going by BF% alone.
  • NotALizard
    NotALizard Posts: 8
    Thanks for the suggestion.

    To my knowledge it is set to the recommended 1 pound a week. Very possible I could have messed about the settings though. So, eh, not really about patience. Trying to get my body fat percentage to around 10%. In no rush though.
  • NotALizard
    NotALizard Posts: 8
    I just might do that. Thank you.
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    I'm just trying to get my body fat down. It's around 13% percent. Once I get to 165, I'm going on maintenance.

    The problem with trying to lose fast at this point is your body will eat both muscle and fat. Need to slow the loss (plus protein and resistance training) to keep the muscle. Otherwise you'll have a sub-optimal physique result.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Are you trying to lose weight? at your weight and height I would either suggest bulking or body recomp (maintain weight or gain weight)

    No way as a male you should be eating less than 1600 Net...

    What are your goals, and why?

    I would consider bulking now to add muscle, then cut later once you put on a noticeable amount of muscle.
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
    Your TDEE-15% is over 2200 calories so, yes, 1290 is dangerously low.
  • NotALizard
    NotALizard Posts: 8
    Just want to get my BMI down and get fit. 165 was just a weight recommended by a BMI calculator.

    And yeah, my intake is up. My settings were a bit screwed.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Just want to get my BMI down and get fit. 165 was just a weight recommended by a BMI calculator.

    And yeah, my intake is up. My settings were a bit screwed.

    Why do you want your BMI at a certain number, there are many fit men your height with low BF% in the 180-190lb range
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Just want to get my BMI down and get fit. 165 was just a weight recommended by a BMI calculator.

    And yeah, my intake is up. My settings were a bit screwed.

    Sounds like you were using the goofball calculator for girls. 165 is a BMI of 21.8. At 6'1, you can be 185 and still BMI "normal". Whether you value BMI or not, there's no reason at all to aim for 165 based on BMI.

Categories