What is sedentary exactly

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chloeealicee
chloeealicee Posts: 204 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm trying to figure out all my BMR and TDEE figures but i'm having trouble distinguishing my activity level and get serious about maintaining my weight.

I walk about 1.5 miles each way to get to college each day but once i get there i sit all day. I also jog 3-4 morning a week, i'm doing C25K as of now and i do various Jillian Michaels DVDs about twice a week and spinning occasionally. Other than the jogging i can be quite inconsistent with my exercise sometimes. I went way of track last year for months and i'm getting back on track in baby steps.

Would i be sedentary or lightly active?

Replies

  • Teeladog
    Teeladog Posts: 157 Member
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    I would say sedentary and then just log your exercise so you get those calories back on the days you work out. I would even log in your walk to and from work.
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
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    Sedentary is for people who don't do any exercise at all. Most people are at least "Lightly Active". With that much exercise, you are "Active". Try one of the above and set your weight loss goal to 0.5 lb. a week because you only have a small amount to lose.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
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    Would i be sedentary or lightly active?

    Neither. I'd say active. There are very few people who are truly sedentary
  • FIT_Goat
    FIT_Goat Posts: 4,224 Member
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    It is all a prediction anyway. I originally used sedentary, but found that it was way too low for me. Now, I calculate mine with moderately active. I don't "feel" like I am really that active, but it is the multiplier that actually gives me the right calories for the amount I eat and the rate I am losing weight.

    Pick one and stick to it for a while. If you're losing weight faster/slower than it seems like you should, maybe change it up or down at that point.
  • tiggerhammon
    tiggerhammon Posts: 2,211 Member
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    I questioned the same thing when starting because in my life every day is different. There are days that I really am truly sedentary and then there are days, at work, where I am on my feet all day doing heavy lifting/pushing/pulling and more.

    I went with lightly active at first because I figured it was a balance between active and sedentary and would even out between my days.

    Then, after getting pregnant and not being allowed to do the heavy work at work anymore, I changed it to sedentary and logged any physical activity.

    Nobody is going to know what works better for you than you.

    My two cents though, go sedentary and log all activity.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Go off of what the descriptors say...that's what they're for. With MFP, the descriptors are just for your day to day kind of stuff EXCLUDING exercise...that's why it only asks you about what kind of job you do, etc. Then you log your exercise after the fact and get those calories to eat back. That said, most people in my experience really aren't sedentary even if they have a desk job...I'm light active with MFP and I have a desk job...but I also have to little boys at home as well as daily house hold chores, cooking, cleaning, fixing stuff, etc. In my experience, very few people are sedentary.

    If you want to include your exercise activity in your activity level you would be best served to use a TDEE calculator. Just keep in mind that if you do that method, your formula becomes null and void should you decrease or increase your exercise activity...so if you're inconsistent in your fitness you are better off using the MFP method.

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