Please help with calorie/activity question

juliaky84
juliaky84 Posts: 72 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all!

I exercise 3 times a week (2 hour -long pilates sessions and one long walk at a brisk pace).

When I chose "sedentary" my calorie level per day was at 1500 cals. I was pretty hungry on this amount, with or without exercise added (exercise gave me 150-200 extra calories to eat).

I decided to choose the "lightly active" choice when figuring my calorie needs. It gave me 1700 cals to eat each day. I will NOT enter my daily exercise because I will not be eating exercise calories back, since I chose lightly active to reflect my lifestyle. Is this correct and is 3 exercise sessions a week enough to justify a "lightly active" lifestyle?

Thanks!

Replies

  • michikade
    michikade Posts: 313 Member
    I'd call 3ish hours / week as lightly active, yeah. Most people aren't actually sedentary, really, so the sedentary setting tends to lowball for most people.
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    While MFP is set up so that you are supposed to eat back exercise cals, if you want to use the activity settings they offer to be reflective of your exercise as well as daily life, that's totally fine. I set my activity level to reflect my activity levels with exercise and the number is pretty close to what TDEE calculators give me.

    I agree with michikade that sedentary is too low for most people, and that your activity level sounds lightly active. Unless you are like.. REALLY pushing yourself during pilates and your walks to the point where your heart rate is quite elevated.

    So if you set yours up as lightly active and select 1lb/week (much more sustainable than any higher fat loss rate), the number it gives you should be a good starting point for daily consumption without logging exercise. Give it a go for a month, lower or raise as necessary.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Sounds pretty good. You want to set yourself up for success long term and being hungry isn't going to be the way to do that. Best of luck!
  • juliaky84
    juliaky84 Posts: 72 Member
    Thanks all!

    Is there a in which I can log my workouts but NOT have MFP add calories to eat from them?
  • FitOldMomma
    FitOldMomma Posts: 790 Member
    Thanks all!

    Is there a in which I can log my workouts but NOT have MFP add calories to eat from them?

    Yes....you can check the box for your particular exercise, add the minutes- but you can change the calories burned to whatever you wish. Maybe you could just put in the number 1 instead of what is listed.
  • juliaky84
    juliaky84 Posts: 72 Member
    Thanks again guys!

    @ ana3067 - I actually do sweat quite a bit during pilates - but for now, I will keep at "lightly active" and monitor how things go.

    @ Liftng4Lis - I totally agree...would never be able to sustain an eating plan if I was hungry every day! I'd be so miserable, ha....hangry, if you will.
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
    it's all just estimations anyway. Keep doing it your way and then reassess the situation in 6 weeks. If you've lost, then you're doing it right.

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