Looking for some guidance

tammycolbert
tammycolbert Posts: 236 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
ok so I changed my dietary settings from sedentary to lightly active because I am walking the hospital 4 or so hours a day and this is from a total 8hr sit down job I used to have. However that put my calories up to 2060 for the day. I just logged all my food and I still have 1064 calories left. There is no way I am going to eat another 1064 calories. So my question is should I just leave it on sedentary and not change to lightly active to put my calories back to where they were?

Replies

  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    You've only eaten 996 calories. How much more do you think you can eat? You should at least try to get up to the minimum of 1200 today.
    I wouldn't change your goal yet but try to eat more calorie dense foods to meet your goal easier than what you ate today. Stick with it for a few weeks and see how you do. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10142490/a-list-of-calorie-dense-foods/p1
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    996 cals isn't enough, aim for 1200 plus eat back some of the calories MFP has given you on account of being more active.
    You'll know by your weight loss and by how much you lose if you are eating enough and can adjust your intake up or down accordingly.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    tammyturcotte wrote: »
    ok so I changed my dietary settings from sedentary to lightly active because I am walking the hospital 4 or so hours a day and this is from a total 8hr sit down job I used to have. However that put my calories up to 2060 for the day. I just logged all my food and I still have 1064 calories left. There is no way I am going to eat another 1064 calories. So my question is should I just leave it on sedentary and not change to lightly active to put my calories back to where they were?

    996 calories is very little food, especially for someone on their feet four hours of the day. Make sure you are tracking correctly (weighing everything in grams on a digital scale and double checking entries (label for packaged foods and USDA database for produce)), before you consider changing anything.
  • DonaldBlinks
    DonaldBlinks Posts: 55 Member
    How fast were you losing with it set to sedentary and why did you change it? And how much do you have to lose? As long as you were losing at a safe rate and feeling good (not overly tired, grumpy or hungry) than I don't think you need to change it to lightly active. Keep in mind though that when you reach maintenance, you'll have to up your calories. It might be easier to up them a little bit at a time and slow your weight loss so that you're not in a position to suddenly have to eat 1000 more calories each day.
  • tammycolbert
    tammycolbert Posts: 236 Member
    I wasn't losing anything while at my sit down job, I was actually gaining, but I also had more access to food, junk in the employee café. Now that I am walking around more and not having the access to any extra food I have actually lost 2lbs since last week.
  • tammycolbert
    tammycolbert Posts: 236 Member
    I definitely make sure I am tracking it right, counting out exact amounts according to packaging. I also have a scale so I do weigh my foods too.
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    If something is working (in this case MFP set to sedentary and you having this new job which involves more walking) stick with it until it doesn't work anymore.

    Reset back to sedentary and eat up to that allowance.

    Note: to be honest I think that the activity setting is too blunt a tool - it's a decent starting point but no more than that.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    StealthHealth wrote: »
    If something is working (in this case MFP set to sedentary and you having this new job which involves more walking) stick with it until it doesn't work anymore.

    I agree with this. If you find you are losing more than projected regularly, then you might want to start adding back calories or go ahead and up the activity.

    And do try to eat to the goal when it's at sedentary. Less than 1000 is way too little.
  • tammycolbert
    tammycolbert Posts: 236 Member
    Thank you all. I think I will set it back to sedentary and work it from there. Thank you.

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