What is your activity level set at?

SisepuedeLinda
SisepuedeLinda Posts: 132 Member
edited November 21 in Health and Weight Loss
And why did you choose that setting? I'm at a loss to set it between lightly active or active. I'm not too sure :/ I think I'm more lightly active?
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Replies

  • Jadedinosaur
    Jadedinosaur Posts: 41 Member
    Sedentary because I work a desk job - I log intentional exercise as exercise as that doesn't factor in to the MFP activity levels. My "normal living" is not active.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    sedentary ....one day i should just suck it up and put very active but seeing 1500+ exercise calories is motivating, Plus having the option to sit on my butt and not move a muscle after a hard day work and not have to recalc XD
  • gamerbabe14
    gamerbabe14 Posts: 876 Member
    Sedentary so I count every calorie burned via walking and other exercise I include. Also I chose this because I work from home and some days I don't exercise.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    Sedentary because unless I am purposefully walking for exercise I would get less than 3,000 steps. I'm not doing intensely physical things most of the time.

    I read that sedentary is 5,000 steps or less and active would be 10,000 steps or more.
    https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/questions/16736253-question-about-activity-levels

    Are you on your feet moving around all day or have a very physical job? Are you using an activity tracker?
  • kristen8000
    kristen8000 Posts: 747 Member
    Sedentary, because I have a desk job. I feel activity is bonus. And I find that it's pretty accurate according to my losses.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    edited September 2017
    scarlett_k wrote: »
    Pick one and try it for a few weeks, see what happens and adjust as required. Doesn't matter what everyone else is doing :)

    This. I started at sedentary due to my desk job and then adjusted upwards when I found that MFP was constantly projecting a lower weight loss than my actual numbers, which meant that I was maintaining a greater deficit than intended. I am set to active now in spite of my butt-in-seat job, which probably reflects that I've always been one of those "twitchy" people who had a hard time gaining weight (until I really put my mind to it a few years ago...), which is really difficult to measure or predict until you start watching your numbers as closely as I have for a pretty decent period of time.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I chose Sedentary and I let my Fitbit do all the necessary adjustments.
  • zorrocat
    zorrocat Posts: 153 Member
    I use lightly active because I have a standing desk and walk around the floor a lot at work. I only log intentional exercise and walks that are longer than 5 minutes.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,743 Member
    I spend most of the day sitting - either at a computer, watching TV, or reading - so I am mostly sedentary. OTOH, I do a couple of hours of intentional exercise. MFP is great for that because I can count and eat back my exercise calories. I actually burn a bit more than MFP says, but that's fine with me.
  • misnomer1
    misnomer1 Posts: 646 Member
    scarlett_k wrote: »
    Pick one and try it for a few weeks, see what happens and adjust as required. Doesn't matter what everyone else is doing :)

    This ^. I started with sedentary. After 40 days I realized I was losing weight too fast, so back calculated and found out I was 'active' as per mfp. Mfp standards of activity are low.
  • mmmpork
    mmmpork Posts: 133 Member
    Sedentary. Calories burned through physical activity is not well understood. Calories reported in food is also inaccurate. Use these as a heuristic. For activity beyond "normal" I estimate calories in increments of 50 by duration and heart rate. For 60 minutes of house cleaning I log 30 mins of low exertion and count it as 50 calories. I log 30 minutes of lap swimming as 150 calories or 100 depending on my average heart rate where high heart rate indicates higher exertion. I use calories as a heuristic for portions that I determine through weight or volume. I also categorize foods by a rounded calorie to portion rating (high and low, highly correlated to carb content) and by a satiation rating (high and low, highly correlated to fat and/or protein content). None of these are better or worse or to be avoided, it just helps when making food choice. By weighing myself daily at the same time, I can track how activity and food intake are impacting my weight trends. Only count on the things you *can* measure as being accurate and try to measure them as accurately as possible. Some people do well with a higher activity setting. I don't. The sedentary setting allows me to reproduce their equation so I clearly understand how they are modelling their estimate. It's easier to make adjustments when you know what variables are going into your equation. Increasing the activity level introduces an additional variable that you cannot verify. All of these values are guesses at best and need to be adjusted.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited September 2017
    Sedentary. I log all exercise activity individually, using my own calculated burns (bad MFP, *bad* *bad*). Including entries for "above normal" steps, in 4000-step increments.

    This almost always keeps me within 5% ish of actual TDEE, as determined by long term consistent logging, and the "error" is to the good side.
  • SisepuedeLinda
    SisepuedeLinda Posts: 132 Member
    edited September 2017
    I had it set at active in the beginning and lost 10 pounds in a month. That was before I started school and was working 4-5 days a week at a veterinary office so I was constantly running around (sometimes literally when I walk the dogs) lifting dog food, lifting big dogs on the exam table, lifting dogs into the bathtub, restraining dogs, doing the cleanups and closing down the hospital like sweeping mopping etc! But now that I started school I only work 2-3 times a week for 5 hours a day. I'm in class from 11:30-2:30 and 4:30-6:30 so almost like 5-6 hours roughly I'm sitting now so I put it at sedentary last week when I started but man am I a little more hungry lol I got used to the 1800 calories I had on active setting! But my weight did slow down after that first month which is why I'm asking what y'all put. I'm gonna try to stick out sedentary for a while to see if that'll get the scale moving but we'll see. I'm just like I'm still active at work I just work less so maybe I could try lightly active soon after giving the sedentary a shot. Edit: I don't work out or exercise. It's possible I will soon but as of now I don't.
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
    Lightly active - I get between 6k and 11k steps per day. I log my intentional workouts separately.
  • katnadreau
    katnadreau Posts: 149 Member
    I'm set at sedentary, and am currently using the Pacer app to track my activity. Even though I'm a SAHM, and clean my house every day, I still barely get 5000 steps in. When I workout my average day is 11,000 steps (I love my cardio), but I like knowing if I miss my workout, or spend my entire day snuggling a sick kid on the couch, orhen Sunday rolls around and I do jack squat, I don't have to worry about eating too much, or recalculating my day.
  • pookey26
    pookey26 Posts: 42 Member
    Graelwyn75 wrote: »
    Lightly active - I get between 6k and 11k steps per day. I log my intentional workouts separately.

    This is me too , but like others have said try one and see what works.
  • IsabeausRose
    IsabeausRose Posts: 129 Member
    Sedentary. Then log my 6 miles of walking in each day.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    scarlett_k wrote: »
    Pick one and try it for a few weeks, see what happens and adjust as required. Doesn't matter what everyone else is doing :)

    ^^^ This. Don't agonize about it up front, just try one and adjust.

    I'm set on 'active'. In real life, I'm sedentary, outside of intentional exercise (and I eat all my exercise calories) - I'm retired, have sedentary hobbies. But I lost too fast on sedentary, so I kept bumping the activity level upward until my actual loss rate was close to my target loss rate. Even now, in maintenance, that's what I'm doing.

    So, pick one, try it, adjust. It's all estimates anyway, but as long as you fine-tune based on results, you'll reach your goals.
  • lucerorojo
    lucerorojo Posts: 790 Member
    I put "lightly active". I don't have a desk job but my career isn't that active anymore either.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    Active. I have a desk job, but get at least 10,000 steps outside of purposeful exercise each day. I find the higher calorie amount due to the setting is less than what I get from the "steps" exercise adjustment leaving less guesswork for me.
  • Heather4448
    Heather4448 Posts: 908 Member
    Sedentary. I let my Fitbit make adjustments because I am lazy.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    SisepuedeLinda wrote: »
    I had it set at active in the beginning and lost 10 pounds in a month. That was before I started school and was working 4-5 days a week at a veterinary office so I was constantly running around (sometimes literally when I walk the dogs) lifting dog food, lifting big dogs on the exam table, lifting dogs into the bathtub, restraining dogs, doing the cleanups and closing down the hospital like sweeping mopping etc! But now that I started school I only work 2-3 times a week for 5 hours a day. I'm in class from 11:30-2:30 and 4:30-6:30 so almost like 5-6 hours roughly I'm sitting now so I put it at sedentary last week when I started but man am I a little more hungry lol I got used to the 1800 calories I had on active setting! But my weight did slow down after that first month which is why I'm asking what y'all put. I'm gonna try to stick out sedentary for a while to see if that'll get the scale moving but we'll see. I'm just like I'm still active at work I just work less so maybe I could try lightly active soon after giving the sedentary a shot. Edit: I don't work out or exercise. It's possible I will soon but as of now I don't.

    I seem to like the same amount of calories regardless of my activity level. So, when I'm inactive, I gain weight, and active I lose or maintain. It's really hard for me to stop at my base calories so I try very hard to get in some activity at lunch time and before or after work, depending on my sleep schedule.

    If I had your schedule, I would definitely work in a walk between 2:30 and 4:30. This would make me more alert for the afternoon class and energized into the evening.
  • zjpq
    zjpq Posts: 198 Member
    I have mine on sedentary and eat back exercise cals and fitbit adjustments
  • boredloser
    boredloser Posts: 119 Member
    Sedentary, I work the graveyard shift at a desk job and the most exercise I get is walking the dog or to/from the local shop lately because I've become prone to napping after work and just not having energy...
  • Orphia
    Orphia Posts: 7,097 Member
    Sedentary, and I've let my Fitbit and Garmin add extra exercise calories for my health.

    I ate 75% of the exercise calories back and lost 80 lbs in a year, and I've eaten 100% of them back and kept it off 17 months.
  • rawrrgenn
    rawrrgenn Posts: 118 Member
    So sedentary-- I'm practically a rock on a seashore :smiley:
  • Bluetail6
    Bluetail6 Posts: 2,985 Member
    ^^ :D !!
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