Activity level

kristenlsharkey
kristenlsharkey Posts: 2 Member
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hello everyone,
I am having an issue deciding what activity level to set for my food diary. I put lightly active and it gives me about 1850 calories for maintaining my weight (I'm 5'7" and appx. 117 lbs). What I am trying to figure out is if I include my exercise habits in my activity level or if I do that all separately in the exercise section. For exercise, I walk 5 to 7 miles per day and do the elliptical for about an hour 3 times per week and do floor exercises (crunches, squats, etc) daily.
Thanks for your feedback!! :)

Replies

  • jacquifrench304
    jacquifrench304 Posts: 131 Member
    Separate in exercise section, or if your exercise is very consistent you can manually set your calorie goal that incorporates your exercise calories .. Just remember to adjust if you take a few weeks brake from your exercise pattern
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Set your activity to your everyday life activities excluding exercise. I sometimes walk 10 miles a day, but I still have my activity level set to sedentary, because other than exercise, that's what I am.
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
    kristenlsharkey wrote: »
    Hello everyone,
    I am having an issue deciding what activity level to set for my food diary. I put lightly active and it gives me about 1850 calories for maintaining my weight (I'm 5'7" and appx. 117 lbs). What I am trying to figure out is if I include my exercise habits in my activity level or if I do that all separately in the exercise section. For exercise, I walk 5 to 7 miles per day and do the elliptical for about an hour 3 times per week and do floor exercises (crunches, squats, etc) daily.
    Thanks for your feedback!! :)

    I set mine to sedentary and add exercise and that seems to work. So if you work a desk job, set to sedentary and add the exercise, or put to lightly active and don't record your exercise - or if you have to walk around a lot at work, set it at lightly active AND add the exercise, or put it at moderately active.

    Or if you've been maintaining without logging for a long time, maybe try logging your food for a couple of weeks and see what your average calorie intake is and just set that as your goal, since you know that's working.
  • BikeTourer
    BikeTourer Posts: 191 Member
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    Set your activity to your everyday life activities excluding exercise. I sometimes walk 10 miles a day, but I still have my activity level set to sedentary, because other than exercise, that's what I am.

    +1
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I should have added that my exercise does get included, just separately. This is why having a fitbit is a great tool, it adds all my exercise for me, with no mental arithmetic or guess work on my end :+1:
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
    If you are maintaining without adding in the extra exercise then you don't need to. My exercise varies a lot so I used to set to sedentary and then log walks. Then I used a fitbit and now an apple watch.
  • kristenlsharkey
    kristenlsharkey Posts: 2 Member
    Thanks for the replies, everyone!
  • bspringer544
    bspringer544 Posts: 155 Member
    If you prefer guaranteed numbers rather working with estimates it might benefit you to invest in a Charge HR Fitbit and set your level to sedentary. I've found that the calories given to me by the monitor/pedometer are far more accurate than MFP's exercise estimates. Since purchasing my Fitbit, even if I eat back 100% of the calorie burn estimates I'm dead on for desired weight loss and MFP's 5 week prediction. It's taken the stress out of counting. :)

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