Sedentary vs Lightly Active adds only 20 cal?

lushlillies
lushlillies Posts: 3 Member
edited November 24 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone, just wondering why the difference between my sedentary calories and lightly active calories are so low.

On a different guidelines website, it says that lightly active should typically add around 100 calories if not more, yet mine only adds 20 extra? For sedentary, I'd assume you'd burn only 100-200 extra calories from movement, but since I am a student, I am walking a good 1.5 miles or more on campus just getting to classes, meaning that I am not really sedentary.

Should I put myself on sedentary setting and log my distances, or is the lightly active setting right for me? Does myfitnesspal not let you eat under 1200 calories? (that's my sedentary calories for 1 lb a week weight loss. Keep in mind that I am quite short at 5'2).

Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Right, MFP will not give you less than 1200 calories, hence the mere 20 cal difference for you. I'm almost 5'7" and it's about a 200 calorie difference for me.
  • jaqcan
    jaqcan Posts: 498 Member
    No, it won't recommend less that 1200 calories. You still have the same organs and brain that need calories to function. How much do you have to lose? Maybe 1 lb a week is still too aggressive?
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    When you use the guided goal setup in MFP, the minimum daily caloric goal for women is 1200 Calories (and for men is 1500 Calories).

    ​Please see this article, and search for other helpful articles, on the MFP Help pages...
    https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/en/portal/articles/410332-how-does-myfitnesspal-calculate-my-initial-goals-
  • lushlillies
    lushlillies Posts: 3 Member
    Oh okay; thanks everyone! I have 3.5 pounds to lose before I start maintenance; previous lightly active calories were 1240...I usually don't hit 1200 simply because of lots of exercise as I am also a runner so I don't think I would want to increase calories until my running season is over; definitely don't want to force feed!
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