Very active vs active

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kengrace10
kengrace10 Posts: 11 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I began MFP on Jan 2nd. Since then I have lost
10 lbs. This week my weight has become stagnant. I began MFP at 250 lbs and now I am down to 240 lbs. I work out 5x a week and sometimes on the weekends. I also coach high school football and baseball so I usually have 15,000-20,000 steps per day. I don't know if I should have my setting at active or very active? I have had it on active for the last couple of weeks and usually leave 500 calories. Left over... Can anyone give me the best advice on how to best judge active vs very active? My goal weight is 230 lbs. Thank you!!!

Replies

  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
    edited January 2016
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    A good way to judge activity level is to pick one setting then log accurately (weigh solids, measure liquids, pick accurate food database entries, be honest) for six weeks and determine your average weekly loss/gain from your weight measurements over that time period.

    The activity levels are based on a given percentage above your current BMR.

    Sedentary - Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job); or little or no exercise: BMR x 1.2

    Lightly Active - Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. teacher, salesperson); or light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week: BMR x 1.375

    Active - Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. food server, postal delivery worker); or moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week: BMR x 1.55

    Very Active - Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter); or hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week: BMR x 1.725
  • albania1
    albania1 Posts: 4 Member
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    If you have plateaued and you are doing 15000-20000 steps a day you have to look at what you are eating and when. When I was at Lindora (the weight loss program) they taught you how to trick your body out of plateau so u continue to loose weight. For three days straight you would eat half a grapefruit for all three meals combined with some really lean white fish or if u don't like fish then chicken (3-4oz) combined with greens and few veggies-watch your carbs too. Another thing to consider is are you over working your muscles without allowing them time to heal-after excercising I always boil 10 oz of water with a quarter lemon skin facing the water for no more than a minute. I would drink it after excercise and in the morning. The antioxidants in the lemon's skin helped my muscle recovery quite a bit. The difference in weight if I drank the lemon water as stated above and if i didn't was 1.5 lbs/day!!! I also start my day with a shot mixed in warm water of organic apple cider vinegar. I think your MFP setting is fine-try the above 1st and see if they make a difference. Good luck!!!
  • kengrace10
    kengrace10 Posts: 11 Member
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    Thank you for the quick response. I don't want to become discouraged. I have always been active but I do know my age (40) is a little scary. I want to meet my goal weight without plateauing and without getting discouraged. Thank you!
  • CyberTone
    CyberTone Posts: 7,337 Member
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    kengrace10 wrote: »
    Thank you for the quick response. I don't want to become discouraged. I have always been active but I do know my age (40) is a little scary. I want to meet my goal weight without plateauing and without getting discouraged. Thank you!

    Your initial losses include the loss of water bound to glucose and stored as glycogen; the bound water is roughly four times the weight of the glucose stored in the larger glycogen molecules. This is the initial "water weight" loss that usually accompanies fat loss at the beginning of caloric deficits. Your rate of loss will slow down; and the decrease in the rate is not likely a plateau. Stay in a moderate caloric deficit and you will continue to lose weight, just not at the same rate as the first few weeks.
  • HutchA12
    HutchA12 Posts: 279 Member
    edited January 2016
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    albania1 wrote: »
    If you have plateaued and you are doing 15000-20000 steps a day you have to look at what you are eating and when. When I was at Lindora (the weight loss program) they taught you how to trick your body out of plateau so u continue to loose weight. For three days straight you would eat half a grapefruit for all three meals combined with some really lean white fish or if u don't like fish then chicken (3-4oz) combined with greens and few veggies-watch your carbs too. Another thing to consider is are you over working your muscles without allowing them time to heal-after excercising I always boil 10 oz of water with a quarter lemon skin facing the water for no more than a minute. I would drink it after excercise and in the morning. The antioxidants in the lemon's skin helped my muscle recovery quite a bit. The difference in weight if I drank the lemon water as stated above and if i didn't was 1.5 lbs/day!!! I also start my day with a shot mixed in warm water of organic apple cider vinegar. I think your MFP setting is fine-try the above 1st and see if they make a difference. Good luck!!!

    None of this is really needed. Plateaus will pass as weightloss doesn't happen in a linear fashion. Just keep eating at a deficit. If you plateau for around 4 weeks then I'd say you arent logging your food as tight as you think. Try a food scale.

    It's also really helpful in these types of posts to list your stats I'll be looking at your diary in a min.

    Yeah it looks like you have some generic entries and you eat out a bit which while they are listed can have varying amounts at times. Was is the ios adjestments? Is that a pedometer or heart meter? I see you logging your workouts on top of it too.

    If you don't see and movement in a few weeks you can also do the cut 250 cal more for two weeks see if it drops if it doesn't repeat till it does.
  • kengrace10
    kengrace10 Posts: 11 Member
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    Thanks for the info. I eat out but not like before. I choose the lighter side of the menu now and many times stop when I'm full. So I'm just inserting the calories off the menu but not eating it all. I like the suggestion of cutting back 250! I hope all this info. Works and thanks again for your encouragement. I iOS adjustment on a daily basis is giving me back around 800 calories because I walk more than 15,000 steps per day.
  • denacook83
    denacook83 Posts: 14 Member
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    If you are using a Fitbit (guessing since you mentioned steps), from what I understand it doesn't matter what activity level you choose your Fitbit will adjust your calories up or down accordingly.
  • kengrace10
    kengrace10 Posts: 11 Member
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    I use the Fitbit zip but I think I get a better number from my iPhone. I used my iPhone when I began MFP and then I went to the zip. Now when I come are both at the end of the day I'm confused. I'm going to stick to my iPhone for now and use zip for back up. Thanks!

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