Activity level

Fitsheppy wrote: »

Hi I am a RN who works 12 hour shifts on a very busy surgical unit. I am constantly moving and sit only briefly during my shifts, some days hardly at all. My job also requires some heavy lifting and moving equipment and beds with patients in them. What should I set my activity level to? Thanks

Personally, I would set it at "active".

If you're asking in reference to setting your calorie level, I never worry about it. I set my calorie goal by how I'm progressing towards my fitness goal (i.e. losing or gaining weight). What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to make good progress towards your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, eat so you drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts and life in general. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1600 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for 2 weeks. If you lose 1-2 lbs/week, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few cycles, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

Does that make sense?

12 hour shifts, 3 days per week?

Most people are Sedentary or Lightly Active. You are probably Lightly or Moderately Active.

It all comes down to the scale though... Are you losing weight with your current calories and activity level? If not then you are either overestimating your activity level or underestimating the amount of calories you consume.