1350 calories a day...how do you do it?
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ETA: I just tried it. With my current real bodyweight and height and gender stats I told MFP I was sedentary and wanted to lose 2 pounds a week. It told me to eat 1200 calories a day which is INSANE. It isn't intelligent, you have to know what is reasonable to ask.
That's not right. Something is wrong with the calculator. Go over to IIFYM.com and plug in your numbers in their calculator. Leave exercise at 0, sedimentary, with light intensity exercise and it'll give you around 1600 calories a day and that's with a 25% reckless deficit.
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I never ate less than 1650 calories. And I make an effort to be more active so I can eat more.. and I eat at least 100g of protein a day (and try to reach 60g of fat and 25g of fiber).0
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I'm just curious. What do people think when they think they are sedentary?
To me sedentary means basically bed-ridden. You are on the couch or in a chair 16 hours and you are in bed 8.
Lightly active is you have a desk job but you do occasionally get out of your chair and walk to go get something.
Moderatly active is you have a desk job, get out of your chair occassionaly but also intentionally go for long walks in the mornings and evenings.
Active is the above plus doing some intensive cardio or having a more active job.
I think people mark sedentary WAY to often. Sedentary should be an unusal set of circumstances, not the norm. Lightly active is probably what most people are. If you are in an office job where you walk down the hall to talk to Bob, then you walk to the printer, then walk to your office do some work then get up and walk to the lunch room then walk down the stairs to get a coffee you aren't sedentary.2 -
Spliner1969 wrote: »ETA: I just tried it. With my current real bodyweight and height and gender stats I told MFP I was sedentary and wanted to lose 2 pounds a week. It told me to eat 1200 calories a day which is INSANE. It isn't intelligent, you have to know what is reasonable to ask.
That's not right. Something is wrong with the calculator. Go over to IIFYM.com and plug in your numbers in their calculator. Leave exercise at 0, sedimentary, with light intensity exercise and it'll give you around 1600 calories a day and that's with a 25% reckless deficit.
Nothing is wrong with the calculator, I am just intentionally misusing the calculator. I'm telling it I don't do any activity so it is setting my TDEE as slightly above my BMR (my BMR is 1750 so it probably sets my TDEE at 1950) and then I tell it I want to lose 2 pounds a week which is a 1000 calorie deficit per day so it thinks I should eat 950 calories a day because math but it refuses to go below 1200 so it says 1200.
Its not wrong...its just I would be foolish to try to diet that way. I only have 18 pounds to lose so I should at most be losing 1 pound a week and I should try to increase my activity level to get a healthier amount of food in. But I have to KNOW that...MFP isn't going to tell me that, MFP is just going to spit back whatever I put in.
The problem is (and please I mean no offense to them) many people don't seem to recognize that that is a very low amount to eat and so they put in that they are sedentary, they put in that they want to lose 2 pounds or 1.5 pounds a week and MFP tells them 1200 and they think "sounds good to me" and then proceed to try to do that. Its a mistake.1 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »I'm just curious. What do people think when they think they are sedentary?
To me sedentary means basically bed-ridden. You are on the couch or in a chair 16 hours and you are in bed 8.
Lightly active is you have a desk job but you do occasionally get out of your chair and walk to go get something.
Moderatly active is you have a desk job, get out of your chair occassionaly but also intentionally go for long walks in the mornings and evenings.
Active is the above plus doing some intensive cardio or having a more active job.
I think people mark sedentary WAY to often. Sedentary should be an unusual set of circumstances, not the norm. Lightly active is probably what most people are. If you are in an office job where you walk down the hall to talk to Bob, then you walk to the printer, then walk to your office do some work then get up and walk to the lunch room then walk down the stairs to get a coffee you aren't sedentary.
For me, sedimentary means desk job, which is what I have. I sit all day, occasionally get up to go speak to someone or fix something, go to lunch, but otherwise sit behind a PC all day. When I get home, I'll cook/grill and then finish my evening in my recliner and go to bed. To me, that's sedimentary if I don't include the 60-90 minutes of exercise I do first thing in the morning. Since I track exercise by allowing apps to post it to MFP for me for the extra calories, that's what I set myself at on any calculator I use. I've used IIFYM's calcs for the last 6-8 months and find them to be pretty accurate (for me).
To me anyway, Lightly would be a job where I stand around a lot not necessarily sit. Moderate would be a job where I not only stand but do a fair amount of walking. Active would be a physically demanding job. But those are just my opinions.1 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Nothing is wrong with the calculator, I am just intentionally misusing the calculator. I'm telling it I don't do any activity so it is setting my TDEE as slightly above my BMR (my BMR is 1750 so it probably sets my TDEE at 1950) and then I tell it I want to lose 2 pounds a week which is a 1000 calorie deficit per day so it thinks I should eat 950 calories a day because math but it refuses to go below 1200 so it says 1200.
Its not wrong...its just I would be foolish to try to diet that way. I only have 18 pounds to lose so I should at most be losing 1 pound a week and I should try to increase my activity level to get a healthier amount of food in. But I have to KNOW that...MFP isn't going to tell me that, MFP is just going to spit back whatever I put in.
I see. I have not used MFP's calc in a long time.0 -
I stick to 1200 a day but I use intermittent fasting. I have a 4 hour feeding window so 1200 in 4 hours is very satisfying!1
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Spliner1969 wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »I'm just curious. What do people think when they think they are sedentary?
To me sedentary means basically bed-ridden. You are on the couch or in a chair 16 hours and you are in bed 8.
Lightly active is you have a desk job but you do occasionally get out of your chair and walk to go get something.
Moderatly active is you have a desk job, get out of your chair occassionaly but also intentionally go for long walks in the mornings and evenings.
Active is the above plus doing some intensive cardio or having a more active job.
I think people mark sedentary WAY to often. Sedentary should be an unusual set of circumstances, not the norm. Lightly active is probably what most people are. If you are in an office job where you walk down the hall to talk to Bob, then you walk to the printer, then walk to your office do some work then get up and walk to the lunch room then walk down the stairs to get a coffee you aren't sedentary.
For me, sedimentary means desk job, which is what I have. I sit all day, occasionally get up to go speak to someone or fix something, go to lunch, but otherwise sit behind a PC all day. When I get home, I'll cook/grill and then finish my evening in my recliner and go to bed. To me, that's sedimentary if I don't include the 60-90 minutes of exercise I do first thing in the morning. Since I track exercise by allowing apps to post it to MFP for me for the extra calories, that's what I set myself at on any calculator I use. I've used IIFYM's calcs for the last 6-8 months and find them to be pretty accurate (for me).
To me anyway, Lightly would be a job where I stand around a lot not necessarily sit. Moderate would be a job where I not only stand but do a fair amount of walking. Active would be a physically demanding job. But those are just my opinions.
I have that job too. I have a desk job. If I do nothing but my desk job, take the bus home, and sit in front of the TV I STILL get 5000 steps which if you have an activity tracker MFP will set you to lightly active or you will start accruing extra calories if you set to sedentary.
I know people think MFP sedentary means desk job but I'm telling you it doesn't act like that. Since people are using MFP it doesn't matter what they think sedentary means it matters what MFP sets your TDEE to if you select sedentary and what it does is barely budge it off your BMR which is like what you would be if you were bedridden, not walking around on occassion with a desk job.
I encourage everyone who doubts me on this to try it themselves. Play with the MFP calculator, figure out what your BMR is and set yourself to sedentary and see that it considers your TDEE to be close to your BMR. Set to lightly active and see that it only bumps up from BMR not that much which is probably much more accurate for what most people consider to be sedentary.0 -
As a woman at 5'2 with a sedentary office job where I sit on my butt all day long, MFP gives me 1200 calories a day. I hit this target without being hungry. I eat LCHF as that keeps ME feeling full. I don't feel like I am on a diet.2
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Aaron_K123 wrote: »I'm just curious. What do people think when they think they are sedentary?
To me sedentary means basically bed-ridden. You are on the couch or in a chair 16 hours and you are in bed 8.
Lightly active is you have a desk job but you do occasionally get out of your chair and walk to go get something.
Moderatly active is you have a desk job, get out of your chair occassionaly but also intentionally go for long walks in the mornings and evenings.
Active is the above plus doing some intensive cardio or having a more active job.
I think people mark sedentary WAY to often. Sedentary should be an unusal set of circumstances, not the norm. Lightly active is probably what most people are. If you are in an office job where you walk down the hall to talk to Bob, then you walk to the printer, then walk to your office do some work then get up and walk to the lunch room then walk down the stairs to get a coffee you aren't sedentary.
Picking sedentary is insurance for me. I can't be sure I'm going to be active. Especially given the fact that I have 2 very brokendown knees that act up on a moment's notice.
I used to teach and was on my feet all day. That meant 6000 steps a day if I didn't add in a deliberate walk for exercise. I consider that lightly active. Although I was on my feet for hours and hours, I was only walking back and forth across a classroom - not covering miles. At that level of activity, I kept a stable weight of 140 for over 10 years.
I'm now doing a desk job, and I get 3000 steps a day, again, before adding in deliberate exercise. I get up, go to a filing cabinet, go to the printer, go to the restroom, etc. Pretty sure 3000 steps a day qualifies as sedentary. It's sedentary enough that I was putting on 10lbs a year since starting this job.
I'm 5'8", 180 lbs, and aim for 1500 calories a day (~ 280 below my TDEE). Not hungry on that except for some weird days when I can't get full no matter what I eat. I'm definitely not breaking any records for my rate of weight loss. My strategy is very small breakfast (bulletproof coffee), very large salad for lunch (a whole head of romaine + ~ 200g lean protein + some other veggies), and then meat + 2 veg for dinner.
I don't generally eat back my exercise calories, so I can bank them for one big meal out a week.
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Aaron_K123 wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »
Another short woman here. I'm 5'4" weigh 172. MFP recommends I eat 1260 calories per day.
Okay got to stop you there. MFP doesn't have a brain, it isn't a doctor...it isn't "recommending" anything. It is a calculator. You put in numbers, it spits a number back out. The number it spits out is based on what you put in and nothing else. It refuses to go below 1200, that is the only "thinking" it does.
I could also have MFP "tell me" to eat 1260 a day, but that doesn't make it good.
People tend to way underestimate their activity level and put in sedentary when actually they get at least 5000 steps every day from just walking to and from things and they also tend to put in they want to lose 2 pounds a week even though that is for the extremely obese. If you do that MFP will then "recommend" a diet that isn't particularly sustainable, enjoyable or good for your health. It isn't intelligent, its a calculator.
ETA: I just tried it. With my current real bodyweight and height and gender stats I told MFP I was sedentary and wanted to lose 2 pounds a week. It told me to eat 1200 calories a day which is INSANE. It isn't intelligent, you have to know what is reasonable to ask.
I would suggest taking a screen shot of that and send it to customer support so they know there is an issue since it shouldn't go below 1500 for men. I know that you know better than to eat that low but it makes me wonder how many men are eating 1200 because that's the goal they were given. It happened before when there was a glitch that was giving women well below 1200 to eat.
Here are the screen caps:
I swear the recommended I screen capped is based of those stats I also screen capped. MFP will just spit out a number, 1200 it won't go below but that is it. You have to be able to recognize when its being unreasonable...it isn't a doctor, you shouldn't just blindly follow whatever it tells you and MFP the website and company aren't resposible for that anymore than a calculator manufacturer is responsible if you do it yourself with a calculator.
So unless you think it would be actually reasonable for me, a 6' tall man with 15 pounds to lose, to eat 1200 calories a day you have to at least admit that you can get an inappropriate diet from MFP if you set it to sedentary and 2lb loss per week.
Keep in mind I am losing 1 pound a week eating 2300 a day so this is a ridiculous suggestion.
MFP is just a calculator, you have to know what to type into it to get a reasonable answer...its a dumb tool, not a dietician advising you.
Now i have to go back and fix my goals so its not being nuts.
I never said 1200 was a reasonable goal for you or any other man. What I said was that there may be a glitch in the calculator that needs to be addressed to MFP so that they are aware of it and can fix it.2 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »I'm just curious. What do people think when they think they are sedentary?
To me sedentary means basically bed-ridden. You are on the couch or in a chair 16 hours and you are in bed 8.
Lightly active is you have a desk job but you do occasionally get out of your chair and walk to go get something.
Moderatly active is you have a desk job, get out of your chair occassionaly but also intentionally go for long walks in the mornings and evenings.
Active is the above plus doing some intensive cardio or having a more active job.
I think people mark sedentary WAY to often. Sedentary should be an unusal set of circumstances, not the norm. Lightly active is probably what most people are. If you are in an office job where you walk down the hall to talk to Bob, then you walk to the printer, then walk to your office do some work then get up and walk to the lunch room then walk down the stairs to get a coffee you aren't sedentary.
That's not how MFP defines "sedentary" though. To this website, "sedentary" is your definition of "lightly active." The very screen shot that you posted above includes the definition.6 -
It's not foolish or a mistake to find a way to lose weight that you'll actually do.Aaron_K123 wrote: »Its not wrong...its just I would be foolish to try to diet that way. I only have 18 pounds to lose so I should at most be losing 1 pound a week and I should try to increase my activity level to get a healthier amount of food in. But I have to KNOW that...MFP isn't going to tell me that, MFP is just going to spit back whatever I put in.
The problem is (and please I mean no offense to them) many people don't seem to recognize that that is a very low amount to eat and so they put in that they are sedentary, they put in that they want to lose 2 pounds or 1.5 pounds a week and MFP tells them 1200 and they think "sounds good to me" and then proceed to try to do that. Its a mistake.
I don't exercise. I'm not going to exercise. In order to lose weight, I need to eat less than someone who will exercise.
I have to do what works for me that I'm willing to do for the rest of my life. If I had to exercise, I wouldn't have lost weight and I'd certainly have no hope of keeping it off.
I never tried to lose 2 pounds per week. I found a calorie level that I could tolerate without hunger (1250-1350 per day using a food scale) and stayed at that. Even at 280 pounds, I lost barely over one pound per week.
You can't put your template over everyone else and try to make them fit. Many on MFP are actually, truly sedentary, just as many in general society are.9 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »SuzySunshine99 wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »Correct me if I am wrong but BMR is a function of lean mass which is basically a function of your muscle mass. Men do have an advantage in this (but a small advantage not a huge advantage) and size does add to this of course.
My lean mass is about 136 pounds and I weigh 173. I'm 6' tall so my BMR is around 1700. So if you are a 5'6'' woman you probably have a lean mass of around 100 (although it varies). So in theory your BMR is probably around 1400.
So the difference between a man and a woman on average is about 300 calories from BMR. Now if I go for a mile run I probably burn 20% more than that example woman but again, not a ton more...just some more.
It isn't that hard for an average sized woman to lose weight at 1900 calories a day (i lose weight at 2400 a day). So again it baffles me how many are on this site (from the forums) eating 1200 or 1300 a day.
Here is a TDEE calculator, can try it yourself.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
With my stats my TDEE from this calculator is 2800 which is pretty spot on because I lose about a pound a week eating 2300 calories a day. A 5'6'' woman at 155 pounds doing moderate exercise would lose 1 pound a week at 1900 calories a day.
Playing with this, thinking about a slightly overweight woman who wants to lose at a quick 1 pound per week I tried to figure out what size of woman that would be where 1350 would be the target. In otherwords were 1350 would be 500 calories a day under their maintenance.
Assumed 3-5 hours a week of light to moderate activity (because you can go for a walk now and again), 36 years old. Looked for what height and weight that person would have to be for 1350 calories to be their diet.
So 1350 calories for 1 pound a week loss (aggressive diet) is the diet of a 4'4'' tall 110 pound woman.
So yeah, do you really need to be eating 1350 calories a day?
Well, just as an example, and using the Scooby calculator...I am a 40 year old, 5'4", 127 lb female. I have a desk job that keeps me sedentary 6 days a week for up to 14 hours a day. My TDEE is 1576, which is where I stay to maintain, so 1200-1300 to lose was where I needed to be.
My husband is a 6'0", 190 lb male. He has a very physical, active job 6 days a week. His TDEE is 2764. So, it really depends on the person and the lifestyle. You can't paint everyone with such a broad stroke.
I agree you can't paint everyone with a broad stroke. But if you struggle to eat that little (not saying you do) another option would be to increase your activity level and eat more. That is what I am saying. My shock comes from how many people seem to choose to eat so little by default...and yes, it is a choice.
I am saying most people CAN eat 1900 a day and still lose weight, I stand by that.
I also have a desk job by the way. I am currently sat at a desk.
I don't really think you can say that bolded part for most people. You are comparing apples to oranges. You really can't compare the minimum calories for males and females. Most women because they are smaller than men need to eat less than men. Lots of short women cannot lose weight at 1900. They can lose weight at 1500, but would maintain at 1900. I'm another older (48) year old lady, just under 5'5. According to scooby my TDEE is 1800. I use mfp and eat back most of my fitbit adjustment which is 1549 plus however active I am. I usually eat about 1800-1900 calories per day. But I do have a sedentary job and some days I'm not able to be that active so I eat less. My husband has a TDEE of 2750 on scooby. He needs to eat about 900 calories less than me and if he tried to eat what I eat he would be starving. And I'm at maintenance not at a deficit. If I was still trying to lose and was at a 250 deficit that would be 1550. I think the fact that you are a young male in good physical shape has made it hard for you to see how anyone could possibly eat that little and be satisfied. If you were a little old lady (and there are lots of us on mfp) or if you were a young, short petite woman it would be different. There are probably a lot of people who come on here and immediately set them selves up to lose the maximum possible so they get the minimum goal. Most of the time they are discouraged from doing that. I think that you should eat as much as possible while losing weight. But for some of us as much as possible to lose is a lot lower than for others. I lost most of my weight with my goal set at 1300. Most of the time I ate more than my goal because I ate back exercise calories. My advice to the OP would be to make sure you are eating back at least a portion of your exercise calories. You want to net your goal so if you are more active then you can eat more. (This is assuming she got her goal from mfp, not a TDEE calculator). Also, make sure you eat plenty of protien. Or really whatever works for you to keep you full. I find higher protien helps, for some it is fiber or fats. I am rarely hungry unless it is almost time for a meal and I was rarely hungry while losing. A big huge salad is not going to keep me full for long, but if I add some grilled chicken, boiled egg and avocado then it will. Just find the foods that are most satiating for you.5 -
I do 1300 with no problem. I keep everything simple. Simple proteins, simple veg. Baked salmon filets, deli meat, frozen pre-cut mixed veg, yogurt. Some frozen meals but not too much. If I want something high-calorie, I log it first and build the rest of the day around it with small meals and snacks so I don't get hangry. Once I have my meals logged, if there's room, I work in some sweets. If I wasn't ill I'd be walking for extra calories if needed. .1
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geneticsteacher wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »Honestly troubles me how many people on this site seem to be trying to eat 1200-1400 calories a day, that just seems ludicrously low to me. That is like a sandwich, a glass of milk, a salad and a bowl of cereal for your entire day. You look at people who claim to be full on that and they are just eating a ton of fibery plant matter to I guess make them feel full in the physical sense...but that can't be satisfying.
I think that the number of women that you find doing that might be because
a) it might be harder to eat so low in calories
b) the error margin for such a small allowance is also much smaller, so they might need more troubleshooting regarding their diet.
At 24, 171 cm (like 5'6" or 5'7" I believe?) and 66.5 kgs (around 146 lbs), I maintain around 2300 cals a day with exercise. I try to cycle calories throughout the week to account for dinners out/parties etc.
Having a much higher calorie allowance allows me enough food to fill full and have a larger deficit more easily, making reaching your goals easier, hence no need to post about your cals in the forum.
So they might not be the majority, they just post more often.
edit: not sure how or why but I quoted myself, didn't even know that was an option...0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »
Another short woman here. I'm 5'4" weigh 172. MFP recommends I eat 1260 calories per day.
Okay got to stop you there. MFP doesn't have a brain, it isn't a doctor...it isn't "recommending" anything. It is a calculator. You put in numbers, it spits a number back out. The number it spits out is based on what you put in and nothing else. It refuses to go below 1200, that is the only "thinking" it does.
I could also have MFP "tell me" to eat 1260 a day, but that doesn't make it good.
People tend to way underestimate their activity level and put in sedentary when actually they get at least 5000 steps every day from just walking to and from things and they also tend to put in they want to lose 2 pounds a week even though that is for the extremely obese. If you do that MFP will then "recommend" a diet that isn't particularly sustainable, enjoyable or good for your health. It isn't intelligent, its a calculator.
ETA: I just tried it. With my current real bodyweight and height and gender stats I told MFP I was sedentary and wanted to lose 2 pounds a week. It told me to eat 1200 calories a day which is INSANE. It isn't intelligent, you have to know what is reasonable to ask.
I would suggest taking a screen shot of that and send it to customer support so they know there is an issue since it shouldn't go below 1500 for men. I know that you know better than to eat that low but it makes me wonder how many men are eating 1200 because that's the goal they were given. It happened before when there was a glitch that was giving women well below 1200 to eat.
Here are the screen caps:
I swear the recommended I screen capped is based of those stats I also screen capped. MFP will just spit out a number, 1200 it won't go below but that is it. You have to be able to recognize when its being unreasonable...it isn't a doctor, you shouldn't just blindly follow whatever it tells you and MFP the website and company aren't resposible for that anymore than a calculator manufacturer is responsible if you do it yourself with a calculator.
So unless you think it would be actually reasonable for me, a 6' tall man with 15 pounds to lose, to eat 1200 calories a day you have to at least admit that you can get an inappropriate diet from MFP if you set it to sedentary and 2lb loss per week.
Keep in mind I am losing 1 pound a week eating 2300 a day so this is a ridiculous suggestion.
MFP is just a calculator, you have to know what to type into it to get a reasonable answer...its a dumb tool, not a dietician advising you.
Now i have to go back and fix my goals so its not being nuts.
I never said 1200 was a reasonable goal for you or any other man. What I said was that there may be a glitch in the calculator that needs to be addressed to MFP so that they are aware of it and can fix it.
No, the math is correct. Its just not a reasonable goal.
If I am sedentary according to MFP I am just something like 10% above my BMR. My BMR is 1750 so it sets me to something like 1900 a day TDEE. I then tell it I want to lose 2 pounds a week which is a 1000 calorie deficit per day which would require I eat 900 calories a day. MFP won't go below 1200 so it instead tells me to eat 1200.
The calculator is correct, it is user error.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »I'm just curious. What do people think when they think they are sedentary?
To me sedentary means basically bed-ridden. You are on the couch or in a chair 16 hours and you are in bed 8.
Lightly active is you have a desk job but you do occasionally get out of your chair and walk to go get something.
Moderatly active is you have a desk job, get out of your chair occassionaly but also intentionally go for long walks in the mornings and evenings.
Active is the above plus doing some intensive cardio or having a more active job.
I think people mark sedentary WAY to often. Sedentary should be an unusal set of circumstances, not the norm. Lightly active is probably what most people are. If you are in an office job where you walk down the hall to talk to Bob, then you walk to the printer, then walk to your office do some work then get up and walk to the lunch room then walk down the stairs to get a coffee you aren't sedentary.
That's not how MFP defines "sedentary" though. To this website, "sedentary" is your definition of "lightly active." The very screen shot that you posted above includes the definition.
Doesn't matter how they define it, it matters what the calculator does when you put that term in and what the calculator does appears to be BMR + 10% which is not what 5000 steps a day (what I get with no activity and a desk job) is. BMR + 10% is extremely low activity, like obese so its difficult to move at all activity.0 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Spliner1969 wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »I'm just curious. What do people think when they think they are sedentary?
To me sedentary means basically bed-ridden. You are on the couch or in a chair 16 hours and you are in bed 8.
Lightly active is you have a desk job but you do occasionally get out of your chair and walk to go get something.
Moderatly active is you have a desk job, get out of your chair occassionaly but also intentionally go for long walks in the mornings and evenings.
Active is the above plus doing some intensive cardio or having a more active job.
I think people mark sedentary WAY to often. Sedentary should be an unusual set of circumstances, not the norm. Lightly active is probably what most people are. If you are in an office job where you walk down the hall to talk to Bob, then you walk to the printer, then walk to your office do some work then get up and walk to the lunch room then walk down the stairs to get a coffee you aren't sedentary.
For me, sedimentary means desk job, which is what I have. I sit all day, occasionally get up to go speak to someone or fix something, go to lunch, but otherwise sit behind a PC all day. When I get home, I'll cook/grill and then finish my evening in my recliner and go to bed. To me, that's sedimentary if I don't include the 60-90 minutes of exercise I do first thing in the morning. Since I track exercise by allowing apps to post it to MFP for me for the extra calories, that's what I set myself at on any calculator I use. I've used IIFYM's calcs for the last 6-8 months and find them to be pretty accurate (for me).
To me anyway, Lightly would be a job where I stand around a lot not necessarily sit. Moderate would be a job where I not only stand but do a fair amount of walking. Active would be a physically demanding job. But those are just my opinions.
I have that job too. I have a desk job. If I do nothing but my desk job, take the bus home, and sit in front of the TV I STILL get 5000 steps which if you have an activity tracker MFP will set you to lightly active or you will start accruing extra calories if you set to sedentary.
I know people think MFP sedentary means desk job but I'm telling you it doesn't act like that. Since people are using MFP it doesn't matter what they think sedentary means it matters what MFP sets your TDEE to if you select sedentary and what it does is barely budge it off your BMR which is like what you would be if you were bedridden, not walking around on occassion with a desk job.
I encourage everyone who doubts me on this to try it themselves. Play with the MFP calculator, figure out what your BMR is and set yourself to sedentary and see that it considers your TDEE to be close to your BMR. Set to lightly active and see that it only bumps up from BMR not that much which is probably much more accurate for what most people consider to be sedentary.
I have a desk job. If I don't do anything intentional to get more steps I usually get about 1400 by the time I get off work. If I do nothing but go to work and go home and watch tv I won't get 5000 steps.5 -
It's not foolish or a mistake to find a way to lose weight that you'll actually do.Aaron_K123 wrote: »Its not wrong...its just I would be foolish to try to diet that way. I only have 18 pounds to lose so I should at most be losing 1 pound a week and I should try to increase my activity level to get a healthier amount of food in. But I have to KNOW that...MFP isn't going to tell me that, MFP is just going to spit back whatever I put in.
The problem is (and please I mean no offense to them) many people don't seem to recognize that that is a very low amount to eat and so they put in that they are sedentary, they put in that they want to lose 2 pounds or 1.5 pounds a week and MFP tells them 1200 and they think "sounds good to me" and then proceed to try to do that. Its a mistake.
I don't exercise. I'm not going to exercise. In order to lose weight, I need to eat less than someone who will exercise.
I have to do what works for me that I'm willing to do for the rest of my life. If I had to exercise, I wouldn't have lost weight and I'd certainly have no hope of keeping it off.
I never tried to lose 2 pounds per week. I found a calorie level that I could tolerate without hunger (1250-1350 per day using a food scale) and stayed at that. Even at 280 pounds, I lost barely over one pound per week.
You can't put your template over everyone else and try to make them fit. Many on MFP are actually, truly sedentary, just as many in general society are.
I am not saying nor have I ever said once in this thread that EVERYONE can do what I am saying. Or that NOONE can eat 1350 calories and be comfortable.
If you notice, however, the original poster is saying that they are uncomfortable eating only 1350 a day. My suggestion, to them, was it might not be necessary to eat that little because for many or even most people that isn't required...they can increase their activity slightly and still lose weight eating considerably more than that. Might not.
That is what I said, please do not misconstrue what I am saying to somehow be claiming everyone in the world should eat 2000 calories a day to lose weight, I did not say that.2
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