Activity Level By Steps? Advice Please!

Dalton1720
Dalton1720 Posts: 104
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello! Im walking 10k-15k steps as a dog walker! (Regular life+ 1-2 hours of daily walking) I do this everyday so I would rather add this exercise in as my activity level rather than add up the calories with each walk. Im looking to lose half a pound a week. Would It be accurate of me to set my activity level to active and not add in any exercise? Or is active to high? Thanks for any feedback! (:

Replies

  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    I *think* that is moderately active.

    Are you doing any more intense workouts (running, weights, fitness classes) in addition to the walking?
  • Dalton1720
    Dalton1720 Posts: 104
    I do 40 squats with a 45 pound bar bell and 30 sit up every other day, but thats about all.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Don't go by me because i'm brand new with exercise/steps. But i've been averaging between 20,000-25,000 steps a day. I've still got mfp set at sedentary, and just treat the exercise burns as a bonus. I'm trying not to eat them them all back.
  • erryereri
    erryereri Posts: 24 Member
    christinev297 wrote: »
    Don't go by me because i'm brand new with exercise/steps. But i've been averaging between 20,000-25,000 steps a day. I've still got mfp set at sedentary, and just treat the exercise burns as a bonus. I'm trying not to eat them them all back.

    20,000-25,000 steps a day is definitely not sedentary. I'm not entirely sure what that qualifies as, but I'd at least bump that up one. Give yourself more credit!
  • maidentl
    maidentl Posts: 3,203 Member
    According to livestrong.com: "Researchers at Arizona State University have established baseline activity levels based on the number of steps taken each day. People who take fewer than 5,000 steps are considered to be sedentary or inactive. Those who take 5,000 to 7,499 steps daily have a low active lifestyle. Somewhat active people usually take 7,500 to 9,999 steps per day. People considered to be active take 10,000 or more steps per day."
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Hmmmm maybe i should up it from sedentary. I'm so scared to gain the weight I've lost back. I am erring on the side of caution i guess..
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    christinev297 wrote: »
    Hmmmm maybe i should up it from sedentary. I'm so scared to gain the weight I've lost back. I am erring on the side of caution i guess..

    Doesn't matter if you use your fitbit and enable negative adjustments

    Mine is still at sedentary
  • healthybodyhealthylife
    healthybodyhealthylife Posts: 189 Member
    maidentl wrote: »
    According to livestrong.com: "Researchers at Arizona State University have established baseline activity levels based on the number of steps taken each day. People who take fewer than 5,000 steps are considered to be sedentary or inactive. Those who take 5,000 to 7,499 steps daily have a low active lifestyle. Somewhat active people usually take 7,500 to 9,999 steps per day. People considered to be active take 10,000 or more steps per day."
    Yup! I just wrote a thesis for my degree about physical activity and this is generally accepted as the division of activity levels. If anyone wants, I can post the link to the study that decided these numbers which was based on a meta-analysis of a huge number of studies
  • Keiko385
    Keiko385 Posts: 514 Member
    edited April 2015
    Just curious as I can make my 10K step goal before I leave for work as I use a treadmill.I sit on my butt at work for 8 hrs and only add in another 1K the rest of my working day. Would the activity level still be the same? I lose a lot of calories with the negative adjustment enabled
  • Nicolee_2014
    Nicolee_2014 Posts: 1,572 Member
    Wow Christine, you are a machine! Do you have an active job?
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Nicolee_2014 wrote: »
    Wow Christine, you are a machine! Do you have an active job?

    haha no. I work from home, so I have time to walk. It's 3,000 steps for 3 laps of the block and 960 steps for 10 laps around the outside of my house. It takes me all day to get there, but I enjoy it. It's early days yet, we'll see how much I'm enjoying it one or two months down the track :open_mouth:

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    I wear a jawbone and average 9800 steps a day without exercise. I am an office worker/mom/wife I have my activity level set as lightly active and don't use those calories as part of my deficit.

    I do other exercise such as heavy lifting as well.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,336 Member
    20K AVERAGE is definitely hitting the VERY active category.

    In my own case I am estimating that 12000 is equal to MFP's "active" (so I would suspect that 10K to 15K = MFP active+ a bit)

    If you've got a few months of data you can look back at your figures and compare what you've eaten to what you've lost.

    Christine: not sure what your MFP deficit is; but 20K steps probably amounts to an extra lb a week.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I'm curious to see what the scales say next week. .. I've been on a bit of of a standstill for the past couple of months. I think I was eating at maintenance most days and only averaging 2,000 steps a day.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Oh and I have my calories set at 1650, which is my goal weight maintenance cals
  • Dalton1720
    Dalton1720 Posts: 104
    Thanks for all your feedback guys! I suppose for now Ill change my activity level to active. I have a pedometer app on my phone so If 10,000k steps plus is considered "almost active" I usually walk a bit more than that anyhow. If I skip a walk Ill just eat 100 less calories that day. Hopefully that keeps it simple enough.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    I'd go with lightly active.

    I use a Fitbit, set to lightly active, and I normally 'earn' additional calories when I hit 10k-11k steps per day. Not sure how many more I'd need to burn to earn extra calories if I were set at active.

    If you're aiming for .5 pounds per week, its a small deficit of 250 calories a day. So you do not want to overestimate your activity level. You might be active at 15k, you might not.
    Dalton1720 wrote: »
    Hello! Im walking 10k-15k steps as a dog walker! (Regular life+ 1-2 hours of daily walking) I do this everyday so I would rather add this exercise in as my activity level rather than add up the calories with each walk. Im looking to lose half a pound a week. Would It be accurate of me to set my activity level to active and not add in any exercise? Or is active to high? Thanks for any feedback! (:

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    We don't know how this study correlates to the activity level settings at MFP. So relying on that may be comparing apples to oranges.
    maidentl wrote: »
    According to livestrong.com: "Researchers at Arizona State University have established baseline activity levels based on the number of steps taken each day. People who take fewer than 5,000 steps are considered to be sedentary or inactive. Those who take 5,000 to 7,499 steps daily have a low active lifestyle. Somewhat active people usually take 7,500 to 9,999 steps per day. People considered to be active take 10,000 or more steps per day."

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited April 2015
    The actual burn will vary based on your day. Normally Mon-Fri I'm at a desk, and get my steps in during a cardio burst at lunch time & in the evening. Sundays I'm on my feet for a part time job, with a little cardio burst to 'finish' out my step goal. Usually similar 10k-12k step totals. But I burn more calories on Sunday.
    Keiko385 wrote: »
    Just curious as I can make my 10K step goal before I leave for work as I use a treadmill.I sit on my butt at work for 8 hrs and only add in another 1K the rest of my working day. Would the activity level still be the same? I lose a lot of calories with the negative adjustment enabled

    If you're using a tracker, its ok to rely on it. Just watch results and adjust accordingly. Meaning if you're set to 1 pound a week, compare actual to expected. But also understand results will be linked to how accurate your food logging is. :)
  • Keiko385
    Keiko385 Posts: 514 Member
    The weight loss is fairly steady at .5-1lbs a week and I'm good with that. It's just frustrating to watch all those exercise calories get whittled away day after day :(
  • Dalton1720
    Dalton1720 Posts: 104
    I suppose Ill just set it to lightly active then and if I lose more weight than 0.5 pounds thats fine too! I already reached my goal, but after a few months of eating more junk food than normal I gained about 3 pounds and want to get them off and get rid of these bad habits.
  • Abby2205
    Abby2205 Posts: 253 Member
    My experience is that sedentary in MFP is about 4,000 steps and active is about 12,000 steps--it varies because Fitbit's calories burned algorithm appears to be more sophisticated than just "x steps = y calories", pace (and changes in elevation? not sure) also affect it.
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