Daily activity level

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mltierney
mltierney Posts: 23 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am wondering just how 'unactive' my desk job is. I have worn my pedometer to work for a few days and log about 7000 steps per day. This includes my walk to/from the bus stop to my building (which I never include in exercise since it is a daily routine and not extra work). By the time I get to work it is at 1600. So, if I do 3200 just getting to and from, then I am walking about a mile a day at my desk job. Does this make me sedentary or lightly active?
Thoughts?

Replies

  • bjshields
    bjshields Posts: 677 Member
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    Once you get to work, then what happens? And for how long?
  • Aeliyah
    Aeliyah Posts: 247
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    I would consider it a "light activity level" under the MFP guidelines. You certainly aren't sitting at home doing nothing! My job requires a lot of standing and walking, but like you mentioned... it's part of the daily routine so it's not counted as exercise. Try out the "light activity level" and see what the MFP database shows you for numbers (daily calorie intake, projected loss, etc.). You can always go back and change your settings if that doesn't work for you.
  • Nataliethin81
    Nataliethin81 Posts: 315
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    I have mine set to lightly active. I stay at home with my kids but I am rarely sitting and I workout 6 times a week for 45 mins or more. I would log as sedentary.
  • hjfischer
    hjfischer Posts: 250
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    I would love to see other people's comments. I feel that Light Activity is not what I am, but the way they explain it is too hard to decide. I do a lot of walking during the day, so I figure I am in the mid-level.
  • mltierney
    mltierney Posts: 23 Member
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    Once you get to work, then what happens? And for how long?

    I am up and down all day, 7 hours or so. To the copy room, other offices and so on. It was weird to see that it added up to a mile!
    I also go to the bathroom about 47 times thanks to all of the H2O I drink :tongue:
  • mltierney
    mltierney Posts: 23 Member
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    Oh, I should mention that the mile I do is at work, it does not include the walking to and from. That would total about 2 miles, one of walking to and from work and one at work
  • mltierney
    mltierney Posts: 23 Member
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    I have mine set to lightly active. I stay at home with my kids but I am rarely sitting and I workout 6 times a week for 45 mins or more. I would log as sedentary.

    I also work out 5 times a week for 45 min and do alot of extra walking on the week ends (no car)
  • becave8
    becave8 Posts: 2
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    lighty active...I say that I am lightly active as well as a mom...I have been on the go since 9am this morning...laundry, vacuuming, walking to the bank and grocery store, up on ladders reorganizing my kitchen, taking the stairs to and from the laundry room...I am going to guess that you are doing pretty much the same thing...so when they say "lightly active" I think we all know that we are not just sitting around eating bon bons...This however does not take the place of actually working out and working up a sweat with miss Michaels but every little bit helps!!!! I must say that my arms have way less of a chicken flap on them than they used to :)
  • mltierney
    mltierney Posts: 23 Member
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    wow! you want to come over and do my laundry and clean my kitchen?? :p

    Thanks everyone. The MFP description is vauge but I think lightly active (during the work day) is the one!
  • LarryPGH
    LarryPGH Posts: 349 Member
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    I had the same difficulty deciding at first, too. I ended up going with "sedentary". It seemed a bit of a toss-up between "sedentary" and "lightly active", but at "sedentary", I felt I wouldn't be over-estimating my caloric needs. This way, I wouldn't be giving myself more calories than I might need.

    It's worked for me!
  • mjp202
    mjp202 Posts: 50 Member
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    I listed sedentary (I sit at a computer almost all day) and then I track my walks to and from work, along with any other walks of at least ten minutes. Although I could have just listed lightly active given the amount of walking I generally do, I wanted to create an incentive to walk more than average, and so far it seems to be working.
  • QueenofCups
    QueenofCups Posts: 365 Member
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    I have mine set as Lightly Active as well - I am a stay at home Mom and rarely sit down during the day. But I log actual exercise as separate- I never log housework as exercise b/c its part of my normal routine.
    Unless I do something crazy strenuous - then I do log it! Like if I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed the kitchen (I normally use a mop), or hand-scrubbed all the baseboards - I am logging those suckers! LOL

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