How sedentary is sedentary? vs lightly active?

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towardaminime
towardaminime Posts: 27 Member
in Getting Started
Trying to figure out if I did my set up correctly. I don't work a regular job but watch my 4 yo niece several times a week for the better part of the day each day during the summer and M-F during the school year. So I keep up with the house for the most part and do a fair amount of sewing (up and down between the machine and ironing board.) I just put a pedometer on my phone to try to see how many steps I usually take. It is just after 4pm and I have a bit over 3000 steps. It will probably hit 4000 before bed tonight. This is a typical day.

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    towardaminime wrote: »
    Trying to figure out if I did my set up correctly. I don't work a regular job but watch my 4 yo niece several times a week for the better part of the day each day during the summer and M-F during the school year. So I keep up with the house for the most part and do a fair amount of sewing (up and down between the machine and ironing board.) I just put a pedometer on my phone to try to see how many steps I usually take. It is just after 4pm and I have a bit over 3000 steps. It will probably hit 4000 before bed tonight. This is a typical day.

    Sedentary...As I recall, sedentary accounts for up to about 5,000 steps.
  • Rincewind_1965
    Rincewind_1965 Posts: 639 Member
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    If you want to lose weight and are in doubt about your activity level: Take the lower
    Else: pick the higher:

    Observe the result for (about 3 weeks) and make required adjustments.

    Observe, adjust, refine ... that about covers your routine for the time to come.
  • amysteri
    amysteri Posts: 197 Member
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    Hmmmm... this is going to be subjective

    For me...
    -Sedentary is someone who just sits on the couch and watches tv all day or someone who just sits at an office desk all day and work on the computer and comes home prepares something to eat, wash dishes after eating, and get ready to sleep
    -Lightly active is someone who does house chores that aren't too hard like maybe vacuuming the floors, doing laundry, cooking, watching some tv, going to the grocery store, etc
    But this is just my opinion

    When I go out to workout at the park I walk 2 miles and I log around 4200-5000 steps - these steps are just from the park and not my not total steps for the day, but I consider myself moderately active (for now)

    Hope that gives you an idea of how you can classify your activity level

    So the question is, how active do you really feel?
    (sometimes it is hard to figure out)
  • Slimpossible007
    Slimpossible007 Posts: 16,280 Member
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    Id say try out lightly active (because you are moving about, especially with a 4 year old) and see how it goes .. and then adjust as you see fit with the results you get or don't get :)

    I started at sedentary and I was losing weight very fast .. so I upped to lightly active .. I am still losing faster than I intended (but then I don't eat back my exercise cals, and I work out every day) maybe I need to eat some back or opt for moderately active, Ill see what happens over the next month before making a decision thou.


  • towardaminime
    towardaminime Posts: 27 Member
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    Amysteri you hit the nail on the head. Somedays I am one, some days the other. Tomorrow, I will have my niece. We will go to the art museum for an art project then to the park with friends for a picnic. Tomorrow will be more active than today. I would love to have extra calories as I am short so with a 2 lb a week loss, I am just above 1200 calories plus any exercise ones I earn. I have about 125 lbs to lose but have already lost 10. Tomorrow is official weigh day for me for the end of week 3. I guess I will see what the scale says tomorrow.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
    edited June 2017
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    https://www.verywell.com/how-many-pedometer-steps-per-day-are-enough-3432827
    Sedentary Lifestyle Index: Under 5,000 steps per day is an indicator of being inactive and sitting too much, which raises health risks.

    Low Active: 5,000 to 7,499 steps per day is typical of daily activity excluding sports and exercise and might be considered low active. The average American walks 5,900 to 6,900 steps per day, putting the majority in the low active category.

    By this, if the OP is maxing out on 4,000 steps, OP would be sedentary regardless of doing chores around the house, etc.

    It is possible that the OP is more active with other things that aren't step based that would offset the steps...but I'd probably start at sedentary and increase if I was losing too fast.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 9,994 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    https://www.verywell.com/how-many-pedometer-steps-per-day-are-enough-3432827
    Sedentary Lifestyle Index: Under 5,000 steps per day is an indicator of being inactive and sitting too much, which raises health risks.

    Low Active: 5,000 to 7,499 steps per day is typical of daily activity excluding sports and exercise and might be considered low active. The average American walks 5,900 to 6,900 steps per day, putting the majority in the low active category.

    By this, if the OP is maxing out on 4,000 steps, OP would be sedentary regardless of doing chores around the house, etc.

    It is possible that the OP is more active with other things that aren't step based that would offset the steps...but I'd probably start at sedentary and increase if I was losing too fast.

    And this is really a specific version of the general answer for all these types of questions. Take your best guess. Observe results. Adjust as necessary. Your choice of activity setting is not set in stone. Your own data, once you've accumulated it by logging intake/exercise and tracking results, are better than a prediction from an algorithm.
  • sllm1
    sllm1 Posts: 2,114 Member
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    Set it to sedentary and add the extra steps over 3,000.

    2,000 steps = 100 calories (roughly)
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    I would definitely say sedentary based on given info.
  • xXGearheadXx
    xXGearheadXx Posts: 56 Member
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    You could always go with a fitbit linked to MFP with negative adjustments turned on...that will get you a bit closer to actual. It will also help account for vast swings in activity (i.e. desk job during the week, 8 mile hike on the weekend). As long as i do my part with logging the scale seems to confirm what the fitbit gives to me through step based exercise.
  • clicketykeys
    clicketykeys Posts: 6,568 Member
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    sllm1 wrote: »
    Set it to sedentary and add the extra steps over 3,000.

    2,000 steps = 100 calories (roughly)

    Thank you! I may have to try this myself.

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