Not sure about the activity level

irisponsible
irisponsible Posts: 13 Member
edited November 24 in Fitness and Exercise
i read MFP log and I'm confused. According to the blog from 2011, I'm suppose to mark sedentary as my activity level bc I have. Desk job and I don't burn a lot of cals at work. Plus, half the week I'm at school sitting.... However? Sometimes I do walk a lot instead of taking the bus AND I workout about 5 times a week. What then should me activity level be considered? I thought I should go by my workouts but according to the blog I'm definitely sedentary, which lowers my cals intake to 1200. I used to eat 1320 per day- 1200 seems like a very hard mission.

Thanks

Replies

  • vypressme
    vypressme Posts: 228 Member
    Activity level refers to what you are doing in your daily life, workouts not included. You can set your activity level to that and eat back some of your exercise calories. The reason this is preferred instead of going with "active" is that in the days when you are not working out, or walking much, you are definitely not burning many calories with having a desk job.
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
    irisponsible wrote: »
    i read MFP log and I'm confused. According to the blog from 2011, I'm suppose to mark sedentary as my activity level bc I have. Desk job and I don't burn a lot of cals at work. Plus, half the week I'm at school sitting.... However? Sometimes I do walk a lot instead of taking the bus AND I workout about 5 times a week. What then should me activity level be considered? I thought I should go by my workouts but according to the blog I'm definitely sedentary, which lowers my cals intake to 1200. I used to eat 1320 per day- 1200 seems like a very hard mission.

    Thanks

    Your activity level is sedentary, and then you log your exercise calories and eat them back. Read my post here
  • irisponsible
    irisponsible Posts: 13 Member
    Thanks a lot! U guys are great! I feel so stupid for eating 1300cals a day for so long. Well restarting them. Thanks again!!
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
    irisponsible wrote: »
    Thanks a lot! U guys are great! I feel so stupid for eating 1300cals a day for so long. Well restarting them. Thanks again!!

    If you've been eating at 1300 calories for a long time, what has been your rate of loss?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    with this particular tool, you log deliberate exercise after the fact...that's how you account for that activity. other calculators will include an estimate of your exercise in your overall activity level...but not MFP...which is why they make no mention of exercise in the activity level descriptions.
  • irisponsible
    irisponsible Posts: 13 Member
    blankiefinder wrote: »
    irisponsible wrote: »
    Thanks a lot! U guys are great! I feel so stupid for eating 1300cals a day for so long. Well restarting them. Thanks again!!

    If you've been eating at 1300 calories for a long time, what has been your rate of loss?


    Not very fast, and then I stopped losing.
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
    irisponsible wrote: »
    blankiefinder wrote: »
    irisponsible wrote: »
    Thanks a lot! U guys are great! I feel so stupid for eating 1300cals a day for so long. Well restarting them. Thanks again!!

    If you've been eating at 1300 calories for a long time, what has been your rate of loss?


    Not very fast, and then I stopped losing.

    OK, if you're not losing then you're not in a deficit. Are you using a food scale?
  • irisponsible
    irisponsible Posts: 13 Member
    I do. However I obviously over ate, beyond the 1300 cals. I ate more carbs and also added more food during long days at school/ days I workout. However I kinda got back in track in the last 3-4 days. I was never fully off track bc I always worked out and ate healthy (relatively) but in the last 2 months or so I ate like someone who maintains rather than tries to lose. I stick to those 1200 cals now and I also run faster, I hope to have good results. Since I already lost approximately 20lbs since I restarted on Dec 2014 so I think it's harder for my body to lose. In currently 140-141, I'm trying to lose about 15-20 lbs more and I honestly think it's really hard. I have a curvy body and my boobs alone weigh about 8lbs :) (sorry!) so I try not to look at the scale that much but still I need to lose a lot of belly fat.

    I do try to keep LCHF nutrition, it's just isn't easy. For instance yesterday I had this craving for something sweet. So I had like 10 raw dates and that means a lot of sugar/carbs. I don't think it was that awful considering chocolate/cake/ice cream are the alternative but at the end of the day it did make my carb % high. Relatively to the last I do eat less carbs though.
  • irisponsible
    irisponsible Posts: 13 Member
    *relatively to the past
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
    Would you mind sharing your height? That will help tailor replies to your needs.

    I can't help you with the LCHF, I eat in moderation, but certainly, if you are low carb and then eating carbs, you will quickly put on some water weight as your water levels and glycogen levels rise. If LCHF helps you stay in a deficit, then that will work for you. If it doesn't, consider just counting calories and staying in a deficit.
  • irisponsible
    irisponsible Posts: 13 Member
    Sure! I'm 5'4.
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