Lightly active or active

Charlene_4723
Charlene_4723 Posts: 22 Member
edited November 15 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey everyone, when I first put my activity levels on here I set them at 'active', but the more I think about it the more I wonder if I'm kidding myself that I do more than I actually do.

Basically I work 4 days a week as hairdresser so I'm on my feet from when I start at 9 till I finish at 5. When I'm home I'm usually doing housework and running after my 3 year old until around 7/8 so I'm on my feet from 7 - 7 most days. On my days off I tend to be out and about and doing stuff around the house until evening time.
Would this be seen as active?
Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • Rusty740
    Rusty740 Posts: 749 Member
    I think 'active' is ok for you, but it depends. I'm pretty sure you're going to get "10,000 steps" on your work days. The thing you've got to expect is that you won't know for several weeks if what you're doing is working for you. What you could do is set your activity to "sedentary" and see what it is. Then manually set your goal to between 'sedentary' to 'active'

    It sounds like you are realistic, since you're questioning yourself, which is great. So shouldn't be doing any harm by waiting and seeing what happens.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited February 2017
    I'd personally start with lightly active and then if you're losing at a faster rate than you intend to, bump up the calories a bit.

    Beyond that, I'd say just pick one and roll with it for a few weeks and see what happens and make adjustments up or down as necessary.
  • Canehdn
    Canehdn Posts: 122 Member
    Personally, I wouldn't consider that "active." At least not in the sense of what the tracker considers it.
  • adammeynell86
    adammeynell86 Posts: 13 Member
    I had a similar situation, working nightshift I was on my feet all night running around, and I could easily rock out well over 10,000 steps (being in retail going into Christmas my pedometer was up around the 25k mark) - the answer is just listening to your tracker but also listening to your body, if your active you'll sharp realise your calories are off if your legs are always heavy and you seem to trudge a little more and life just takes a bit more effort than it should. Some days you may fall into the active category and some days you may fall into the lightly active category, as long as you are consistent, eating a little more on hectic days wont upset anything. You may also benefit from looking at your macros, unless your switching to full keto or the like then keep your carbs relatively high from clean food sources (wholemeal, low sugar)to keep your energy up whilst in a calorie deficit.
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    Canehdn wrote: »
    Personally, I wouldn't consider that "active." At least not in the sense of what the tracker considers it.

    MFP has incredibly conservative definitions of activity. I teach at a university, have two toddlers and average just under 20,000 steps/day. I work out twice a week for an hour each time. Apparently, that makes me even more than "very active" even without the workouts. (Took me a long time to figure that out since it sounds utterly ridiculous.)

    The hairdressing alone puts her at "lightly active". The toddler alone puts her at "lightly active" (particularly since she'll be chasing the toddler all day on weekends). The combination is very likely "active".

    Where she should start depends on what weight loss goal she picks, in my opinion. Either go with "lightly active" and a very conservative weight loss goal or go with "active" and a slightly more aggressive one. Adjust as needed based on actual weight loss.
  • Canehdn
    Canehdn Posts: 122 Member
    ogtmama wrote: »

    I think you've probably never chased after a toddler for a full day

    So quick to judge. Making assumptions about people isn't usually the best approach.

    I'm not devaluing parenting by any means. I said "personally." That means my interpretation of what active means does not include parenting. I would consider that lightly active.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    I would start at lightly active. I'm a teacher and live in the city and am lightly active. How many steps are you getting per day?

    I realize working/playing with kids is exhausting, but sometimes it's less "activity" than you think. I used to be an early childhood teacher.
  • Charlene_4723
    Charlene_4723 Posts: 22 Member
    Thanks everyone for replying.
    Ive not yet got a tracker so unfortunately I've no clue how many steps I'm getting per day! I'll need to buy one.

    Most days I'm eating under at around 1000 calories per day, which I know is not enough either way but I'm finding it hard to fit in the extra calories. I've always been a massive eater but it was always horrible junk food so I'm finding it difficult to hit my calorie target eating better food. And as I'm always on the go in work and at home, i sometimes go hours without getting a chance to snack so I'm working on that and slowly managing to add extra calories in here and there

  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    MFP's definitions of activity level are based on commonly used definitions in research, so if they're "conservative" that means the research is "conservative," ... but its based on real findings about energy burn based on activity level.

    On your feet all day is automatically at *least* lightly active and probably moderately active. It kind of depends on how much movement there is - and hairdressers are standing still a lot, as opposed to waitresses, stockers, etc who are walking around. A pedometer would help give a count as to how much she's moving, to see how her days line up with the definitions.
  • ogtmama
    ogtmama Posts: 1,403 Member
    Canehdn wrote: »
    ogtmama wrote: »

    I think you've probably never chased after a toddler for a full day

    So quick to judge. Making assumptions about people isn't usually the best approach.

    I'm not devaluing parenting by any means. I said "personally." That means my interpretation of what active means does not include parenting. I would consider that lightly active.

    The winky face I put at the end didn't appear...maybe because I used the emoji on my phone instead of the app's option? I don't know, while my comment was meant to be lighthearted, my point stands. Had you ever chased a toddler around all day you wouldn't feel that way, personally.
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    edited February 2017
    savithny wrote: »
    MFP's definitions of activity level are based on commonly used definitions in research, so if they're "conservative" that means the research is "conservative," ... but its based on real findings about energy burn based on activity level.

    On your feet all day is automatically at *least* lightly active and probably moderately active. It kind of depends on how much movement there is - and hairdressers are standing still a lot, as opposed to waitresses, stockers, etc who are walking around. A pedometer would help give a count as to how much she's moving, to see how her days line up with the definitions.

    It's not the calories-to-activity-level relationships I find conservative; those are very accurate once you translate the activity settings to a step count (which, I believe is how the research is usually done). It's the job-based descriptors MFP associates with them. e.g. mail carrier (admittedly a job that's being phased out these days) is "active" - which corresponds to about 8,000-12,000 steps per day. Somebody who walks all day delivering mail gets a heck of a lot more steps than 12,000.

  • Jules_farmgirl
    Jules_farmgirl Posts: 225 Member
    Charlene_4723 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone for replying.
    Ive not yet got a tracker so unfortunately I've no clue how many steps I'm getting per day! I'll need to buy one.

    Most days I'm eating under at around 1000 calories per day, which I know is not enough either way but I'm finding it hard to fit in the extra calories. I've always been a massive eater but it was always horrible junk food so I'm finding it difficult to hit my calorie target eating better food. And as I'm always on the go in work and at home, i sometimes go hours without getting a chance to snack so I'm working on that and slowly managing to add extra calories in here and there

    Im not sure on your stats OP, but I am 5'1", 164lbs and 29yrs old. I have a desk job so I set myself at sedentary and I chase 3 kids in the evenings, mornings and weekends. I set myself to 1400cals/day and I eat back half my exercise calories (I workout 6x/week for 60mins). I am losing at a rate of 2lbs/week right now. You should definitely eat more. If you link a tracker to MFP when you get one, it wont matter what you set yourself too, just enable negative calorie adjustments and it will show if you are more or less active than you told MFP you were. This helped me a lot before I started trusting my Fitbit.
  • Charlene_4723
    Charlene_4723 Posts: 22 Member
    Thanks everyone again for the comments! It definately looks like I need to invest in buying a tracker then!
    I know I'm eating way too low just now but trying to change my habits after a lifetime of being told basically 'eat less, lose more' is proving difficult lol! I've managed to top meals with a bit of cheese or use butter in more things in the past week and not feel so guilty so I'm getting there.

    Are the app store pedometers any decent? At least until I can buy one and I could keep my phone on me from when I wake up tomorrow
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    Google Fit is free. It's accurate enough as long as you're a person who carries their phone with them any time they're walking.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
    S health is a free step tracking app on your phone.
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