What should I set my activity at?

libby328
libby328 Posts: 287 Member
edited November 24 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there, this has always been something I'm not sure on. I do have a sit down job so while I'm at work 8 hours a day I'm mostly seated, but when I'm home I'm running around like crazy. House chores, kids, shopping (basic maintain in the house) and I'm working out 6 days a week currently. 3 days a week I'm heavy lifting, two days I do yoga and the 6th I focus on abs and go running. What should I be placing my activity level at? I'm concerned that I'm not eating enough as I haven't been losing weight but am noticing changes in my body composition. I'm not even 10% concerned with the number on the scale but from everything I've read I should be dropping some weight? Any help would be wonderful. Thank you. Also, I'm counting macros and my calories are stationed at 1280

Replies

  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    Sounds like sedentary. The rest is purposeful exercise and not part of the base activity level.
  • bluefish86
    bluefish86 Posts: 842 Member
    My activity level is similar... I have mine set to sedentary, but I eat back at least 50% of my exercise calories. How long have you been stalled?
  • libby328
    libby328 Posts: 287 Member
    3 1/2 weeks. But during that 3 1/2 weeks I've totally revamped my diet and started heavy lifting. So I'm wondering if maybe the lifting is adding the muscle which would explain the non weight loss. I'm not a professional at this so forgive me if I'm 100% incorrect on this. But a lot of what I've read has caused concern about making sure I'm feeding myself enough. Now, I do not feel like I'm starving by any means, but there are times when I am famished and can't eat without going over.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    No, the lifting isn't adding that much muscle. It might be adding water retention, though.
  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
    I have set my activity to sedentary because I have a full time desk job and I am sitting for 8 hours every day!
    I do have intense work-out's 4 hours a week but that's added as exercise :)

    I'm consistently losing with these settings.

    Hope that helps :)
  • cheralee22
    cheralee22 Posts: 5 Member
    I think you should be eating more, i would try up your calories by around 200
  • libby328
    libby328 Posts: 287 Member
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    No, the lifting isn't adding that much muscle. It might be adding water retention, though.

    I guess I'm confused by this. I can't drop my intake any less. I eat around 1200 a day and try to eat my calories back. Sometimes I can't. Water retention for 3 1/2 weeks? Is that normal? I'm not trying to be smart assy. I'm just confused.
  • bluefish86
    bluefish86 Posts: 842 Member
    Do you weigh everything you eat? If you're eating at a deficit, you should be losing... that said, weight loss isn't linear and a new lifting program might be causing you to hold on to more water than usual.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    edited September 2015
    libby328 wrote: »
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    No, the lifting isn't adding that much muscle. It might be adding water retention, though.

    I guess I'm confused by this. I can't drop my intake any less. I eat around 1200 a day and try to eat my calories back. Sometimes I can't. Water retention for 3 1/2 weeks? Is that normal? I'm not trying to be smart assy. I'm just confused.
    I'm not saying drop your intake. I'm saying that you're not remotely building muscle at a rate that would offset fat loss. Most likely, it's water retained due to the new lifting.

  • libby328
    libby328 Posts: 287 Member
    bluefish86 wrote: »
    Do you weigh everything you eat? If you're eating at a deficit, you should be losing... that said, weight loss isn't linear and a new lifting program might be causing you to hold on to more water than usual.

    I'm weighing everything obsessively. Again, I'm not extremely concerned with the number on the scale. I'm just not wanting to be stalling progress with my muscle growth. I'm eating a pretty clean diet, I've cut out almost all sugars, watch what carbs I'm taking in and eating enough protein.
  • ktekc
    ktekc Posts: 879 Member
    you wont get muscle growth eating at a deficit anyway.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    libby328 wrote: »
    bluefish86 wrote: »
    Do you weigh everything you eat? If you're eating at a deficit, you should be losing... that said, weight loss isn't linear and a new lifting program might be causing you to hold on to more water than usual.

    I'm weighing everything obsessively. Again, I'm not extremely concerned with the number on the scale. I'm just not wanting to be stalling progress with my muscle growth. I'm eating a pretty clean diet, I've cut out almost all sugars, watch what carbs I'm taking in and eating enough protein.
    It's unlikely you'll have much progress in muscle growth on 1280 a day, unless you are very, very tiny.

  • libby328
    libby328 Posts: 287 Member
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    libby328 wrote: »
    bluefish86 wrote: »
    Do you weigh everything you eat? If you're eating at a deficit, you should be losing... that said, weight loss isn't linear and a new lifting program might be causing you to hold on to more water than usual.

    I'm weighing everything obsessively. Again, I'm not extremely concerned with the number on the scale. I'm just not wanting to be stalling progress with my muscle growth. I'm eating a pretty clean diet, I've cut out almost all sugars, watch what carbs I'm taking in and eating enough protein.
    It's unlikely you'll have much progress in muscle growth on 1280 a day, unless you are very, very tiny.

    I'm not that tiny. 5'4 129. Healthy weight range. I am noticing my body composition changing. My legs, arms and stomach are showing definition. But nothing massive obviously.

  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    libby328 wrote: »
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    libby328 wrote: »
    bluefish86 wrote: »
    Do you weigh everything you eat? If you're eating at a deficit, you should be losing... that said, weight loss isn't linear and a new lifting program might be causing you to hold on to more water than usual.

    I'm weighing everything obsessively. Again, I'm not extremely concerned with the number on the scale. I'm just not wanting to be stalling progress with my muscle growth. I'm eating a pretty clean diet, I've cut out almost all sugars, watch what carbs I'm taking in and eating enough protein.
    It's unlikely you'll have much progress in muscle growth on 1280 a day, unless you are very, very tiny.

    I'm not that tiny. 5'4 129. Healthy weight range. I am noticing my body composition changing. My legs, arms and stomach are showing definition. But nothing massive obviously.
    That's almost certainly fat loss allowing you to see what was already there, not new muscle. Not that that's a bad thing, but at 5'4" 129, 1280 probably isn't a sufficient surplus for reasonable muscle growth.

  • libby328
    libby328 Posts: 287 Member
    That's my overall question, should I be eating more? I took the long way around it but that's basically what I was meaning to ask. Lol
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    libby328 wrote: »
    That's my overall question, should I be eating more? I took the long way around it but that's basically what I was meaning to ask. Lol
    If you want to add more muscle, bearing in mind that some amount of fat will come along with it, then you'll almost certainly need to eat more.

  • libby328
    libby328 Posts: 287 Member
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    libby328 wrote: »
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    libby328 wrote: »
    bluefish86 wrote: »
    Do you weigh everything you eat? If you're eating at a deficit, you should be losing... that said, weight loss isn't linear and a new lifting program might be causing you to hold on to more water than usual.

    I'm weighing everything obsessively. Again, I'm not extremely concerned with the number on the scale. I'm just not wanting to be stalling progress with my muscle growth. I'm eating a pretty clean diet, I've cut out almost all sugars, watch what carbs I'm taking in and eating enough protein.
    It's unlikely you'll have much progress in muscle growth on 1280 a day, unless you are very, very tiny.

    I'm not that tiny. 5'4 129. Healthy weight range. I am noticing my body composition changing. My legs, arms and stomach are showing definition. But nothing massive obviously.
    That's almost certainly fat loss allowing you to see what was already there, not new muscle. Not that that's a bad thing, but at 5'4" 129, 1280 probably isn't a sufficient surplus for reasonable muscle growth.

    Ok, so then how to I figure out what I should be taking in? I realize this is something that takes time, which I've got and am not trying to rush. But I want to be sure I'm feeding myself enough for my lifestyle without putting on fat.
  • bluefish86
    bluefish86 Posts: 842 Member
    libby328 wrote: »
    That's my overall question, should I be eating more? I took the long way around it but that's basically what I was meaning to ask. Lol

    Totally depends on what your goals are. Are you looking to lose fat, or gain muscle? It's very hard to do both at the same time....
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    edited September 2015
    libby328 wrote: »
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    libby328 wrote: »
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    libby328 wrote: »
    bluefish86 wrote: »
    Do you weigh everything you eat? If you're eating at a deficit, you should be losing... that said, weight loss isn't linear and a new lifting program might be causing you to hold on to more water than usual.

    I'm weighing everything obsessively. Again, I'm not extremely concerned with the number on the scale. I'm just not wanting to be stalling progress with my muscle growth. I'm eating a pretty clean diet, I've cut out almost all sugars, watch what carbs I'm taking in and eating enough protein.
    It's unlikely you'll have much progress in muscle growth on 1280 a day, unless you are very, very tiny.

    I'm not that tiny. 5'4 129. Healthy weight range. I am noticing my body composition changing. My legs, arms and stomach are showing definition. But nothing massive obviously.
    That's almost certainly fat loss allowing you to see what was already there, not new muscle. Not that that's a bad thing, but at 5'4" 129, 1280 probably isn't a sufficient surplus for reasonable muscle growth.

    Ok, so then how to I figure out what I should be taking in? I realize this is something that takes time, which I've got and am not trying to rush. But I want to be sure I'm feeding myself enough for my lifestyle without putting on fat.
    If you're adding muscle, you'll be adding some amount of fat. It's almost inevitable.

    You can try doing a recomp -- which very, very, very slowly tends to increase muscle while decreasing fat -- by eating at or slightly below maintenance and lifting.

    The weight gain forum has a lot of good posts.

  • libby328
    libby328 Posts: 287 Member
    bluefish86 wrote: »
    libby328 wrote: »
    That's my overall question, should I be eating more? I took the long way around it but that's basically what I was meaning to ask. Lol

    Totally depends on what your goals are. Are you looking to lose fat, or gain muscle? It's very hard to do both at the same time....

    I'm having my bfp checked tomorrow to find out where I'm at. Last time I checked I was in 22% range. I'd like to get down to 17% ultimately. So would you suggest focusing on fat loss or muscle gain?
  • libby328
    libby328 Posts: 287 Member
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    libby328 wrote: »
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    libby328 wrote: »
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    libby328 wrote: »
    bluefish86 wrote: »
    Do you weigh everything you eat? If you're eating at a deficit, you should be losing... that said, weight loss isn't linear and a new lifting program might be causing you to hold on to more water than usual.

    I'm weighing everything obsessively. Again, I'm not extremely concerned with the number on the scale. I'm just not wanting to be stalling progress with my muscle growth. I'm eating a pretty clean diet, I've cut out almost all sugars, watch what carbs I'm taking in and eating enough protein.
    It's unlikely you'll have much progress in muscle growth on 1280 a day, unless you are very, very tiny.

    I'm not that tiny. 5'4 129. Healthy weight range. I am noticing my body composition changing. My legs, arms and stomach are showing definition. But nothing massive obviously.
    That's almost certainly fat loss allowing you to see what was already there, not new muscle. Not that that's a bad thing, but at 5'4" 129, 1280 probably isn't a sufficient surplus for reasonable muscle growth.

    Ok, so then how to I figure out what I should be taking in? I realize this is something that takes time, which I've got and am not trying to rush. But I want to be sure I'm feeding myself enough for my lifestyle without putting on fat.
    If you're adding muscle, you'll be adding some amount of fat. It's almost inevitable.

    You can try doing a recomp -- which very, very, very slowly tends to increase muscle while decreasing fat -- by eating at or slightly below maintenance and lifting.

    The weight gain forum has a lot of good posts.

    Ok, I'll take a peek. Thanks!

  • XavierNusum
    XavierNusum Posts: 720 Member
    It sounds like you're really in this for the long haul. You also seem to be in the last few pounds. In that case you should be trying more for recomp than "weight loss". You just don't have that much to lose. Given what stats I could pull from your post you should probably be eating upwards of 2200 calories. This is your basic intake + all the activity exercise you do with a very small deficit (5%). If your activity level is fairly consistent week on week, you could just eat this much everyday. That's after slowely increasing to get there.

    It helps to make your diary public and give stats.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories