What would my activity level be considered as?

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Karissa_Clohan
Karissa_Clohan Posts: 126 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
This may sound silly, but I honestly have no idea what to label my lifestyle as. MFP gives the options "sedentary, lightly active, active, and very active".

I work in a factory, but I'm relatively stationary - as in I don't walk around much. I lift auto parts for quality checks over, and over, and over. The parts weigh anywhere from about one pound to six pounds - it varies. I'm standing for the larger part of my 8 to 12 hour shifts while doing a fair amount of bending, lifting, and occasional pushing. I wouldn't go as far as to say my work is physically taxing, I feel like I've been doing it long enough now that my body is well accustomed to the motions.

MFP defines lightly active as spending a good part of the day on your feet, which I do, but I don't take nearly as many steps as a teacher (I don't think, anyway) or a salesman. I also don't feel like I'm sedentary, either.

What would you set your activity level as?

Replies

  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
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    I'm a receptionist. I don't stay sat down all day though. I'm set at lightly active and still losing weight faster than it is telling me I should. So don't underestimate how active you are. I've found with my fitbit that if I walk more than 6000 steps, I start to earn more exercise calories. So putting me in the active catagory really.

    Try setting it at active for a while, if you don't lose you know that lightly active is probably more accurate. You certainly aren't sedentary lol
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    I would set it to sedentary and judge my weight loss over 6- 8 weeks, if it's more than my goal I would consider adjusting to lightly active in order to gain more calories to eat
  • Karissa_Clohan
    Karissa_Clohan Posts: 126 Member
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    Thanks ladies!

    Do you think a fitness watch of some sort would help? I feel like if I could monitor how many calories I burn while working, it would probably make this more simplified.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,739 Member
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    Uh no. The question is whether you're active or lightly active. Sedentary you're not.

    Would an average person walking in to do your job be really tired at the end of the day? If yes, you're probably "Active".

    Assuming you are not morbidly obese, desired weight loss setting such that you lose no more than 1% of your bodyweight per week.

    if you have less than 20lbs to lose, set yourself as "active" and re-evaluate after a few weeks.
    if you have more than 20lbs to lose, set yourself as "lightly active" and re-evaluate after a few weeks.
  • lisafrancis888
    lisafrancis888 Posts: 119 Member
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    I would guess active... You're on your feet all day. Yes you don't walk but the lifting bending etc must count..
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Uh no. The question is whether you're active or lightly active. Sedentary you're not.

    Would an average person walking in to do your job be really tired at the end of the day? If yes, you're probably "Active".

    Assuming you are not morbidly obese, desired weight loss setting such that you lose no more than 1% of your bodyweight per week.

    if you have less than 20lbs to lose, set yourself as "active" and re-evaluate after a few weeks.
    if you have more than 20lbs to lose, set yourself as "lightly active" and re-evaluate after a few weeks.

    meh it doesn't really matter - judge by weight loss over time and adjust accordingly

    sedentary = 1.2 x BMR
    active = 1.6 x BMR
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    I would set it to sedentary and judge my weight loss over 6- 8 weeks, if it's more than my goal I would consider adjusting to lightly active in order to gain more calories to eat

    that....
  • ArkMom35
    ArkMom35 Posts: 225 Member
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    I'm all about the calories so I'd set it at lightly active and see how it goes.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
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    What rabbit said. What you should realise and relax about is that your body gets the benefit of the activity you are doing 100%, but MFP is just estimating. I would err on the side of caution and adopt the approach rabbit suggested because then you dont over compensate. Adjust as needed.
  • Meganthedogmom
    Meganthedogmom Posts: 1,639 Member
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    From what MFP describes, I think that would be at least lightly active. Sedentary is sitting most of the day.
    I'm a receptionist, but yes I do get up and move around throughout the day. Am I on my feet most of that 8 hour shift? No. So I'm sedentary.
  • angielisa75
    angielisa75 Posts: 46 Member
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    If your goal for using my fitness pal is to loose weight I would set it at lightly active.
  • NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner
    NobodyPutsAmyInTheCorner Posts: 1,018 Member
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    meganridenour wrote: »
    From what MFP describes, I think that would be at least lightly active. Sedentary is sitting most of the day.
    I'm a receptionist, but yes I do get up and move around throughout the day. Am I on my feet most of that 8 hour shift? No. So I'm sedentary.

    I wish I was a sedentary receptionist :( I walk on average 10 - 15k steps a day!
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    Since you are just standing in one place, I would say it sounds like you are sedentary. While standing burns more calories than sitting, it really isn't that significant of a difference. If you are walking around while performing the task, you would be lightly active. The active category if more for someone like a farmer or someone else who is moving around a lot, but is using machines for most of the heavy work.

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