What is my activity level for INSANITY if I have a desk job?

chlowheee
chlowheee Posts: 9 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So I'm currently on Insanity, and there's that thing where you multiply your basal calories by the activity level (sedentary, lightly active, moderately active, etc), and Insanity recommends choosing the "Very Active" factor...

...but what if I have a desk job that requires sitting around 95% of the day? I heard that having a desk job cancels out any type of activity or exercise performed, and even slows metabolism down more. I try to get up and walk around a bit, but still, in general, i wanted to find out if I should choose "Sedentary" or "Lightly Active" instead... :(

This is important to me 'cause I wanna make sure I'm losing some weight/inches as opposed to maintaing what I have.

Also, any of you guys doing insanity and have desk jobs as well? What did you all choose? If you chose the VERY ACTIVE factor, are you seeing any weight or inches-loss?

Update:
Well I actually I tried multiplying my cals by the sedentary factor, which comes out to 1237 calories. When I ate that amount I was starving like crazy, even if I ate 5 meals a day and drank a lot of water (to make sure it wasn't just thirst), and got enough sleep (8 hours) and am not stressing out...

...so I decided to do the "Lightly active" factor, which bumped me up to 1448 calories. At that rate I'm also still starving. I try to drink at least 100 oz of water to keep my hunger at bay, but I still starve so bad that my stomach growls super loud.

I know this whole starving issue wasn't a problem before insanity, 'cause it only started when I started Insanity. So am I burning more than I think?

Replies

  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
    sedentary.
  • chlowheee
    chlowheee Posts: 9 Member
    sedentary.

    Oh okay thanks. (sorry forgot to include this in Original post).
    Well I actually I tried multiplying my cals by the sedentary factor, which comes out to 1237 calories. When I ate that amount I was starving like crazy, even if I ate 5 meals a day and drank a lot of water (to make sure it wasn't just thirst), and got enough sleep (8 hours) and am not stressing out...

    ...so I decided to do the "Lightly active" factor, which bumped me up to 1448 calories. At that rate I'm also still starving. I try to drink at least 100 oz of water to keep my hunger at bay, but I still starve so bad that my stomach growls super loud.

    I know this whole starving issue wasn't a problem before insanity, 'cause it only started when I started Insanity. So am I burning more than I think?
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
    MFP is set up that you set your activity level to take into account your day WITHOUT exercise. You then add the exercise in. You need to be careful that you don't inflate the exercise calories burned though. Use a HRM. Many people just eat back half their exercise calories to allow for this.
  • chlowheee
    chlowheee Posts: 9 Member
    MFP is set up that you set your activity level to take into account your day WITHOUT exercise. You then add the exercise in. You need to be careful that you don't inflate the exercise calories burned though. Use a HRM. Many people just eat back half their exercise calories to allow for this.

    Oh no I mean like I'm talking about the one on the Insanity guide, not me setting it up with MFP. Thanks though :)
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
    Ah.. My mistake, didnt read it properly.

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