Activity Level?

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KatieBaack
KatieBaack Posts: 97 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all, I've been on here for a couple months now and I'm struggling with my calorie allotments. I'm currently set at sedentary and 1lb a week. I want to lose about 50lbs. Here's the thing though, I have a desk job (generally sedentary), but I have a sit and stand work station that is in the standing position about 90% of the time. Would this put me into the lightly active category? I'm not generally standing still while I'm standing and my Apple Watch doesn't generally register the activity. So I'm not totally sure on where I should be at... Any one have any ideas?

Replies

  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    I'd probably stay at sedentary, personally.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    I didn't notice a significant difference in the calories I burned each day once I began using my standing workstation, so I would stick with sedentary. I can't remember the source, but I saw something estimating that it's only about 50 extra calories a day for the average stander.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,658 Member
    edited March 2017
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    Are you losing faster, slower, or about the same as your logging indicates you should?

    You have two months of your own data... if you're losing faster than expected a bump should be considered.

    Are your goals appropriate?

    Sedentary or lightly active people often have tdees that does not exceed 2500 Cal... so pretty much 500Cal deficit (if not 250) would be the maximum appropriate for them.

    750Cal deficits start being appropriate when your TDEE hits 3K...

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    KatieBaack wrote: »
    Hi all, I've been on here for a couple months now and I'm struggling with my calorie allotments. I'm currently set at sedentary and 1lb a week. I want to lose about 50lbs. Here's the thing though, I have a desk job (generally sedentary), but I have a sit and stand work station that is in the standing position about 90% of the time. Would this put me into the lightly active category? I'm not generally standing still while I'm standing and my Apple Watch doesn't generally register the activity. So I'm not totally sure on where I should be at... Any one have any ideas?

    I'd keep it at sedentary...that said, I have a desk job and sit, but I had to set mine to light active...I was losing too fast with a sedentary setting. I have two young kids at home to chase around and I'm pretty much on my feet doing this or that once I get home from the office...I don't really sit down until dinner which is at 8:30.

    If you're having issues with your calorie targets, I'd also suggest adding in some regular, deliberate exercise to get more calories.
  • KatieBaack
    KatieBaack Posts: 97 Member
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    I was losing faster than expected the first 6 weeks or so (~2lbs/week). The last couple weeks I've just been exhausted so I haven't been doing as well with the tracking and staying under calories. I do get intentional walks in everyday at work (1-2miles in at about 3mph) and I've been trying to work out at home. That's why I'm wondering if I should really be at lightly active.
  • DamieBird
    DamieBird Posts: 651 Member
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    I have my activity level set to sedentary, and just count any exercise as extra. I get in at least 10k steps most days, and try to jog 1-3 miles a few times a week, as long as my knee is up for it. I manually adjust my calorie goals, though - I looked up the TDEE for a sedentary person at my goal weight and use that as my base, which ended up being more than what MFP allows. I try not to eat back any exercise calories, because I have mine synced to my Misfit, and I just don't trust them to be that high, but I don't stress if I have a day here or there when I'm over. I'm still losing ~1.5/wk if I stick to my calories, but it's only been about a month.

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