Activity setting re-thinking

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TheFrostyCanuck
TheFrostyCanuck Posts: 28 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've plateaued for awhile and couldn't figure out why. I realized today it's bc I upped my setting from sedentary to lightly active because - you see - now that I do cardio 30m day I considered myself lightly active. But reading the stickies for a refresher it seems like your activity setting should be based on your everyday lifestyle OUTSIDE of deliberate exercise, correct?

I work from home and without deliberate exercise I only get about 5000-6000 steps a day. With treadmill and walks outside if I can, I aim for 10,000 but mostly come in around 8000.

So. I think I need to move back to sedentary for my calorie estimate. (Boo! But I think it will get things moving on the scale again...)

Replies

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,930 Member
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    Yes, set yourself as Sedentary. But log your cardio.

    MFP uses the NEAT method, and as such this system is designed for exercise calories to be eaten back. However, many consider the burns given by MFP to be inflated and only eat a percentage, such as 50%, back.

    My FitBit One is far less generous with calories than the MFP database and I comfortably eat 100% of the calories I earn from it back.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf/p1
  • TheFrostyCanuck
    TheFrostyCanuck Posts: 28 Member
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    Agreed - I use my Fitbit calorie burn rather than what my treadmill displays and typically only eat 50/% back. Sedentary (sloth!) it is!
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    Purposeful exercise should indeed be logged separately but I would think comes out about the same as lightly active given your exercise is walking and treadmill. How long since you last saw a loss on the scale, how do you have to lose and do you weigh solids and measure liquids? This chart may be helpful.

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  • khhregister
    khhregister Posts: 229 Member
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    I decided to go with sedentary as well - I don't feel sedentary, but that just goes to show how much I've adjusted to working at a desk.

    I just consider exercise a health bonus now and I pretty much ignore how many calories MFP tells me I've burned, because I *know* it's an overestimate. I might eat an extra 100 calories on the days I exercise, but I try not to think of it as a given.
  • TheFrostyCanuck
    TheFrostyCanuck Posts: 28 Member
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    Thanks, I feel like I'm back on the right path now!
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
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    I ate 50-75% of my Fitbit Charge HR exercise calories back. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have lasted the 12 months it took me to lose 80 lbs and reach my goal weight.

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