Sedentary or Lightly Active? Someone help please.
terryt1992
Posts: 94 Member
I have lost 86lbs so far and it has been a choppy process. I have had my weight loss set to Sedentary and to lose 2 lbs per week but I have not been in complete control of my eating the whole time and I lost the weight mainly because I was extremely overweight starting my journey at 415lbs. So on to my original question I weigh 328.8 now and I work a desk job where I am sitting down most of the day however when I leave work I go home and am on my feet constantly because I have 2 children and I have to clean my house every day. I have a current goal of 2100 cal which is Sedentary and 2lbs per week. I also go to the gym about 3 times per week and do cardio and strength training. I am finding it hard to stay within the 2100 cal range and I overeat which then gives me the mindset " oh well I am over my calories anyways" then I eat more. Any opinions on whether I should keep the Sedentary or Change it to lightly active?
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Replies
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Why not keep it set to sedentary and eat back at least a portion of your exercise calories?
If you find yourself losing faster than you expect, then you can change it to lightly active. But generally, the best activity level to begin with is the one that reflects your activity on the job. Then you can change it if it is too low.9 -
MFP uses NEAT (non exercise activity thermogenesis).....that means you get a calorie goal BEFORE exercise. Then, if you choose to exercise you log that, and eat those calories also.
Based on desk job + children, change your status to lightly active. Then log workouts BUT only eat a portion of those calories back because calorie burns are guesstimates. Many people start by eating back 50% of exercise calories, then after a few weeks increase or decrease that % based on actual results.
Another method is TDEE less a cut for weight loss. This method includes exercise, so you would not log it here. This can be a good method if your exercise is consistent. http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
Speed of weight loss is not as important as staying the course. If you need to lose slower (1.5 pounds a week) to stay consistent....then that's what you should do. No need to make yourself miserable.8 -
Thank you both and my exercise is not consistent at all its depending on how the kids are that night whether I can go. I changed it to lightly active just to see how many calories it would give me and it was around 2450 which would be plenty in a day. I never eat back my exercise calories (officially) lol. I usually don't add my exercise unless it is walking or using a treadmill. I think lightly active would fit better. Usually If I take a whole week and eat within my calories I will lose 4-5 lbs. I am okay with that amount of weight loss because I am still quite heavy so I think lose 3-5 per week is not something that is unhealthy.5
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Nothing wrong with taking the higher setting and then not eating all those cals.
If that doesn't work, you don't have to pick one or the other, just override your calorie goal to something in between. Through trial and error I know that typically I am more than sedentary but not quite lightly active so I just set my daily goal to an exact calorie target that is in between the two. If I have overly active days I go ahead and log (some of ) the activity.0 -
@brznhabits I like this idea I think I am going to try the Lightly Active for a week or 2 and see what happens and during that time I will make sure when I am not at work and am being Lightly Active and I think this will work but if not I will make the adjustments you suggested.2
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@terryt1992, you say that you lose 4-5 lbs in a week when you adhere to your selected calories even though you're set to only lose 2lbs a week.
So the reality is that you're probably lightly active if not active and you should be eating as such AND eating back your true exercise calories to lose at the targeted 2lbs a week.
Now, I don't disagree with you that your weight is such that you can actually afford to lose more than 2lbs a week.
In general anything between 0.5% and 1% of your total body weight is optimal. While morbidly obese up to 1.5% of body weight per week may still not be too much! However a theoretical safe maximum is way less important than a person's real life maximum
And real life is that March 2016 to April 2017 = 86lbs = ~1.5lbs a week on average.
So, the plain facts are that you are trying to lose faster than you can actually sustain. The result is non compliance. And this does not leave you ahead of the game!
Give yourself enough calories that you're losing weight while fuelling your activity and are not tempting yourself to say "screw it".
Even if it means 2 or 2.5lbs a week instead of 5.
And use an app or web site such as trendweight or weightgrapher or libra for android or happy scale for iphone
You will end up ahead!
TL;Dr. Set to lightly active or active AND eat back a substantial portion of your exercise calories.7 -
I have read that sedentary is set with a cut off of 3500 steps outside of intentional exercise
For each activity level up you add a further 2500 which would make lightly active up to 6000 steps.
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Lillymoo01 wrote: »I have read that sedentary is set with a cut off of 3500 steps outside of intentional exercise
For each activity level up you add a further 2500 which would make lightly active up to 6000 steps.
for most people sedentary starts getting exceeded at 3500 steps and tops out by 5000
lightly active starts getting exceeded at 6-7K and tops out by 8.5K or so
active starts getting exceeded at 10K and tops out by 12K or so
very active starts getting exceeded in some cases as low ~13.5K or so and tops out in most cases by 15.5K.
So I would say that if you add 3,500 steps per increment to your base 3,500 you would have a closer estimate.
However a slightly complicating factor, @Lillymoo01 is that when I am talking steps and topping out, I am looking at total activity regardless of source.
In other words I am looking at a level of activity that can be represented by the calories corresponding to each level and what SHOULD be added on top is whatever was not included in the base level chosen, regardless of whether what was not included was deliberate exercise, or not.4 -
I am on a modified keto diet and started very very sedentary (350 lbs.). As I lost weight, I had more energy and was able to be more active. Under a Dr care ad with their advice(due to health issues), I have lost over 75 lbs since Dec. Since I am lactose intolerant and diabetic all I basically eat is meat and greens with water to drink. Cutting carbs and sugar was tough, but necessary. I now am a diet and exercise controlled diabetic. I will not be able to gain the weight back, even when I lose enough weight to be able to eat a small amount of carbs. I eat mostly low fat due to having my gallbladder removed years ago and being aware greasy foods = bathroom time. My caloric intake is very low, even when I eat a lot of food(no sugar, low carbs, low fat= low calories). The only times I have been hungry is when I choose not to eat out of boredom with my food.1
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Okay so based on what you guys are saying I usually get between like 7000-15000 steps in a day not counting exercise that I add. During the week its between 6000 and 9000 then the weekends I am usually between 10000 and 15000 and that is without having my phone on me all the time to track the steps on the weekend0
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@PAV8888 I agreed with what you said 100% and its kind of disappointing knowing that I should be averaging a lot higher than that per week. Its actually less that that too because I started January 2016. I basically will lose 5-10 lbs then yo-yo for a few weeks then I will start to lose weight again but it is 100% my fault that I am not further a long because I am the one who has ate horrible throughout this journey.1
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terryt1992 wrote: »@PAV8888 I agreed with what you said 100% and its kind of disappointing knowing that I should be averaging a lot higher than that per week. Its actually less that that too because I started January 2016. I basically will lose 5-10 lbs then yo-yo for a few weeks then I will start to lose weight again but it is 100% my fault that I am not further a long because I am the one who has ate horrible throughout this journey.
It is all about consistency and sustainability. You have to find a way of eating that works for you. Once you find, just keep at it until it becomes habit. You can absolutely do this.
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terryt1992 wrote: »@PAV8888 I agreed with what you said 100% and its kind of disappointing knowing that I should be averaging a lot higher than that per week. Its actually less that that too because I started January 2016. I basically will lose 5-10 lbs then yo-yo for a few weeks then I will start to lose weight again but it is 100% my fault that I am not further a long because I am the one who has ate horrible throughout this journey.
You can chose to view it as disappointing, or you can chose to view it as a learning curve.
Because a theoretical maximum exists such that it is larger than what you have achieved does NOT mean that you have achieved little.
Guess what, I am ecstatic that during my period of RAPID weight loss I averaged 1.5lbs a week.
And it was still almost too fast with my mind taking considerable time to see what the scale was seeing.... I still remember the first time an idiot tried to collide with me in an automated entrance.... and looked at me quizzically as I stood there frozen while he brushed by. I used to own the doorways I was in!
The point being that you didn't get to over 300lbs in a year and your weight loss/weight control journey does not have an end.
If you are eating crapily enough (your words) that you are stalling your weight loss as an active to very active heavy person who exercises, you are still eating a considerable number of calories. More than you can sustain eating over the long term without regain.
Not knowing your way of eating I don't know where the calories come from, but hey, this is why you log!
Review your sources of calories and evaluate which ones are worth it and which ones aren't.
Look. Think of it this way.
As an inactive normal weight male you can probably eat about 2k calories without becoming overweight over time. A lightly active male maybe around 2300 to 2500. An average active normal weight male maybe 2500 to 2750, and a very active normal weight male probably hits the low 3Ks
The longest period of your life ahead will be at maintenance.
If you want to maintain your weight loss, sooner or later you will have to figure out how to live within these kinds of caloric budgets and still go out with friends , celebrate holidays, go out for work lunches, birthdays, vacations, what have you!
Incidentally, all these allowances, including the 3k calorie one, should (off the top of my head) represent substantial weight loss at your current combination of weight and activity level.
Yes, you have to start evaluating what and how much of the things you eat or drink make sense for you long term and in what quantity and combinations.
You are already substantially healthier than before and well on your way to success.
The disappointment and desire to do too much too fast is what is counterproductive here.
It sounds to me that your activity level is closer to active as an average than anything else.
If you're not using a connected app and you do not log step based exercise or activity separately, I would be tempted to set myself up as active on MFP based on the activity you described.
Then set to 2lbs. Then do your stuff and eat ~65% of your exercise calories back using mfp. About ~85 to 90% if using a connected app because that is not just exercise that you get as an adjustment. And if using something like pacer on your phone I would go with 100% as pacer has always underestimated me (and so does Google Fit...by a criminal lot!). The phone captures less of your activity than a tracker does.
And stick to it while sorting out your way of eating. Stick to it with a target to average ~2lbs a week.
Use a trending weight app. A lot of times people think they're doing worse than they are when in fact they're doing just fine and the app or web site helps with that.
Now is the time to experiment.
All that it means if you don't lose as fast is that you have one more week to sort things out.
How exactly does one more week matter? It is not like you will be able to stop managing your diet and exercise once.you hit your goal.
So spend the time to figure out what makes you eat too many calories. Exercise, lack of exercise, types.of food, emotions, what have you.
It is a WIN to have the luxury of time to sort these things out.
Eventually you want to slide into maintenance.. without changing anything (or anything much) and with some solid experience as to how you will have to balance eating, moving, and exercising over the next several years.
So yeah. 80lbs with more to come is pretty darn good.
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Thanks man you put a lot of effort into that I really appreciate it. I am actually more proud about where I am than I am disappointed about being in a slump. Currently trying lightly active at 2 lbs per week so I think that will help me stop late night splurges. Also just started coaching my sons soccer team (they are 4 years old) it's not too serious but it will help get a little activity that won't be logged as exercise. Well thanks again I'll keep you updated on how this is working. I'm actually about to head to soccer now4
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Just want to say you have been doing awesome so far man. My vote is to keep it at sedentary, and like others have said, eat back some of your exercise calories. I'm also going to come bring grave news... as you lose more weight those calories are going to drop more. So if you're having trouble staying in calorie range now is a good time to start looking for new foods to eat that are a little more filling but lower calorie.
I am a HUGE FAN of fiberous vegetables. You can get a steamer bag of string beans that you put in the microwave for like 2 bucks, and almost a pound of string beans is only like 90-120 calories. Paired with a piece of lean meat you will fill your belly, get tons of vitamins, and get a good dosage of protein. But really, you can eat whatever you find that YOU like and what works for you!
And always mind over matter. We are all responsible for our own actions, and that includes having the strength to control our appetities. I will be the first one to tell you that losing weight doesn't always feel nice. I'm down ~130 and there are days I just want run onto a beef ranch with a sword, a fork, and a blow torch.2 -
terryt1992 wrote: »Okay so based on what you guys are saying I usually get between like 7000-15000 steps in a day not counting exercise that I add. During the week its between 6000 and 9000 then the weekends I am usually between 10000 and 15000 and that is without having my phone on me all the time to track the steps on the weekend
Yeah, that's "active" as long as you're not logging the steps for "exercise credit".1 -
terryt1992 wrote: »Any opinions on whether I should keep the Sedentary or Change it to lightly active?
The purpose of setting an "activity level" is just to adjust the TDEE (or NEAT) calculation in order to calculate a recommended daily calorie level to achieve a specific weight goal.
If you increase your activity level, it will raise your TDEE and increase your daily calorie allotment but, if the adjustment is not an accurate reflection of your actual activity level, then you'll just eat more and gain weight (again). You'd only be lying to yourself.
From what you've described, you are basically sedentary. Calling it "light active" won't help.
If you can't lose weight based on the "sedentary" calorie estimates, you may be cheating and/or logging your food intake inaccurately. If those aren't the problems, then the calculation is simply inaccurate (it's just an estimate and individuals vary), so you may simply need to reduce the calorie estimate further regardless of the calculation.
Your body image in the mirror (and the scale) do not lie. You just have to be ready to accept the truth and deal with it, which admittedly is easier said than done.
Good luck!
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terryt1992 wrote: »Any opinions on whether I should keep the Sedentary or Change it to lightly active?
The purpose of setting an "activity level" is just to adjust the TDEE (or NEAT) calculation in order to calculate a recommended daily calorie level to achieve a specific weight goal.
If you increase your activity level, it will raise your TDEE and increase your daily calorie allotment but, if the adjustment is not an accurate reflection of your actual activity level, then you'll just eat more and gain weight (again). You'd only be lying to yourself.
From what you've described, you are basically sedentary. Calling it "light active" won't help.
If you can't lose weight based on the "sedentary" calorie estimates, you may be cheating and/or logging your food intake inaccurately. If those aren't the problems, then the calculation is simply inaccurate (it's just an estimate and individuals vary), so you may simply need to reduce the calorie estimate further regardless of the calculation.
Your body image in the mirror (and the scale) do not lie. You just have to be ready to accept the truth and deal with it, which admittedly is easier said than done.
Good luck!
Did you miss the part where he said he loses 4-5 pounds per week if he eats the recommended calories for "sedentary"?
The issue is lack of compliance due to the calorie recommendation being too low. So, no, in this particular case, "sedentary" isn't the correct answer.4 -
terryt1992 wrote: »Any opinions on whether I should keep the Sedentary or Change it to lightly active?
The purpose of setting an "activity level" is just to adjust the TDEE (or NEAT) calculation in order to calculate a recommended daily calorie level to achieve a specific weight goal.
If you increase your activity level, it will raise your TDEE and increase your daily calorie allotment but, if the adjustment is not an accurate reflection of your actual activity level, then you'll just eat more and gain weight (again). You'd only be lying to yourself.
From what you've described, you are basically sedentary. Calling it "light active" won't help.
If you can't lose weight based on the "sedentary" calorie estimates, you may be cheating and/or logging your food intake inaccurately. If those aren't the problems, then the calculation is simply inaccurate (it's just an estimate and individuals vary), so you may simply need to reduce the calorie estimate further regardless of the calculation.
Your body image in the mirror (and the scale) do not lie. You just have to be ready to accept the truth and deal with it, which admittedly is easier said than done.
Good luck!
issue is lack of compliance when losing @ 4-5lb a week rate which is achieved when sticking to sedentary calories.
How would continuing to attempt 4-5lbs a week help?
a) obviously sedentary is an undershoot for tdee else OP would lose at 2lbs not 4-5lbs when complying.
b) obviously 4-5lbs is too big of a deficit even for his size as it exceeds 1% and even 1.5% of bodyweight.
c) obviously 4-5lbs is a big enough deficit that it triggers non compliance
a more realistic loss rate where compliance is more consistently achieved and looking into dietary choices with a view of finding long term sustainable options may be good.
It sounds to me like the op is having more of a "balancing" than a calories out issue.
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for the people who have commented I have not changed my calories. I am still at sedentary and still having the same problem. I know I should have made a change already I am just afraid that I will up the calorie in take and start to gain weight. Part of my problem is that it is hard to eat back my exercise calories because I go to the gym at night. So I have already eaten everything for the day and when I get home from the gym it is around 1 am0
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I think a part of my problem to is I am thinking to much about muscle gains and I have really been busting my *kitten* with weight lifting so I try to focus on getting protein and sometimes I choose protein over staying within my calorie goal. I know most of this is just things I need to change myself. I have to make the conscious decision that right now losing weight is more important to me than gaining muscle because even if I gain muscle if I do not lose the fat I will not be happy with where I am.0
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terryt1992 wrote: »for the people who have commented I have not changed my calories. I am still at sedentary and still having the same problem. I know I should have made a change already I am just afraid that I will up the calorie in take and start to gain weight. Part of my problem is that it is hard to eat back my exercise calories because I go to the gym at night. So I have already eaten everything for the day and when I get home from the gym it is around 1 am
Then don't. Eat them the next day. Your body doesn't actually care *when* you eat the calories.2 -
Well first off congrats on the weight loss! That is great! I have a desk job too and my *kitten* actually hurts by the end of the day because of so much sitting. We do have 15 min breaks, so we do go out and walk twice a day while at work. It helps me greatly. Maybe you could try that if possible? Gets you up and moving a tiny bit at least. Or if you have the option to eat at your desk you could walk on your lunch break and get 30 mins of activity. I did take a peak at your diary and it's good in a lot of spots, but if i had one suggestion it would be to maybe take the few hundred calories you are eating after dinner for snack, candy treats, suckers and using them with dinner in the form of veggies or proteins to get yourself more full and then maybe no snacking after dinner. Good luck on the rest of your journey!0
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danigirl1011 wrote: »Well first off congrats on the weight loss! That is great! I have a desk job too and my *kitten* actually hurts by the end of the day because of so much sitting. We do have 15 min breaks, so we do go out and walk twice a day while at work. It helps me greatly. Maybe you could try that if possible? Gets you up and moving a tiny bit at least. Or if you have the option to eat at your desk you could walk on your lunch break and get 30 mins of activity. I did take a peak at your diary and it's good in a lot of spots, but if i had one suggestion it would be to maybe take the few hundred calories you are eating after dinner for snack, candy treats, suckers and using them with dinner in the form of veggies or proteins to get yourself more full and then maybe no snacking after dinner. Good luck on the rest of your journey!
he already walks 7-15k steps a day2 -
Why not just simply manually set your calorie goal to a sensible, and importantly, sustainable level?
A level that results in an appropriate rate of loss but also allows you to adhere to it long term.
Really IMHO overcomplicating the whole process by twiddling about with activity settings when you have a track record of actual results and compliance already.3 -
Thank you for the feedback. I agreed I eat a lot of empty calories and I should replace that with nutritious foods that would allow me to feel full longer. I would be down to set my own personal goal instead of trying to debate between these 2 but I am not even sure what I would set that as I guess I need to mess around with it some maybe go in between and see what happens then make adjustments. Most of my problem seems to just be willpower which is weird because I do really good throughout the day then get home and feel hungry then eat the wrong things. I do not want to over complicate it because I have came this far just by keeping it simple. Ever since I got a gym membership I have been having these problems.0
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Do the math yourself. Then set a calorie limit to achieve what you want.
Since you have lost a bunch of weight already (WAY TO GO!!) you can just simplify everything and do your math. Keep in mind it changes as you loose weight or gain muscle. So you have to keep track of it, and update it as you go.
For example lets say you lost 8 pounds in 30 days and eat 1400 calories per day.
8 x 3500 = 28000 (total cal's lost)
28000 / 30 = 933 (cals lost per day average)
933 + 1400 = 2333 (cal's burned per day at current activity level)
With that information you can figure out what your activity level should be set at, and get a good idea of the number of calories you should eat per day to maintain the weight loss you wish to achieve.
10-15 days I find is a good enough time period to test my numbers. But 30 day average is better.1 -
I really don't like the inconsistency of eating back exercise cals so I use a TDEE calculator to estimate my TDEE and I cut from that figure to determine what I eat daily. So for example I put in "3-5 hours of exercise a week" since I walk 12-15K steps a day as well as lift 3/week that spits out a TDEE value (always a guess so be ware) and I cut from that figure. To create a 1lb/week deficit you need to cut 500 cals a day and so on.
After a month or so I can see my weight trend and can see if it was a good starting place and adjust from there, that way my calories are consistent. I use this one, but there are tons:
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/1 -
Good point sounds like I need to simplify it and just figure it out for myself that way it is something I can stick with.0
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So here is something new I tried the TDEE thing and it tells me to eat 2533 calories to lose 1.7 lbs per week. I set it to 25% calorie reduction which it told me is dangerous. What I do not understand is that I look at myfitnesspal and it is telling me to eat 2090 which I understand does not include exercise and the TDEE does but that is like almost 35% calorie reduction I just did that math on it. I am definitely going to raise my calories because exercising late at night makes in complicated and I do not usually add my exercise into the myfitnesspal app.0
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