Am I sedentary?

mommakmfp
mommakmfp Posts: 4 Member
in Getting Started
Hello! I am questioning if I am sedentary vs lightly active :) I am currently 200lb, 5ft2, 28yr old female. I would say I have a "desk job" but I run a large facility and am walking around to other meetings and such. My Fitbit says I am averaging 6000 to 11000 steps at day.

I just joined a gym and haven't began an exercise program yet. But plan to mostly eat back those calories from what I am gathering here...

At sedentary, MFP gives me 1250, and lightly active I am given 1460, a pretty nice chunk of more calories...

Advice?

Replies

  • Cassandraw3
    Cassandraw3 Posts: 1,214 Member
    I would suggest going with the lightly active. With a goal of 1460, it will be easier to adjust to the change in eating habits and you are more likely to stick with it. The difference between the 2 goals would be about a .5 lb a week. If you find that you are not seeing the results you want, you can always change it later.
  • taco_inspector
    taco_inspector Posts: 7,223 Member
    edited May 2018
    My thinking is that if you'll be syncing your fit-bit to MFP, you should select sedentary... Activity (your walking to meetings and such) will sync from your device and reflect in your caloric balance.

    If you set other than sedentary in MFP (and are syncing from your fit-bit), then you will want to enable negative calorie adjustment, which will allow MFP to lower your caloric requirements when your fit-bit activity level is below whatever (non-sedentary) activity level you've selected in MFP.

    If you're not syncing, then it's all up to you, but I'd go with lightly active (one above sedentary) --
  • __TMac__
    __TMac__ Posts: 1,669 Member
    I think I've seen step counts from 3,000 to 5,000 as the threshold for "not active", so I think you can feel comfortable with "lightly active". I agree that you could apply that setting for a few weeks, and then adjust if you're not meeting the weight loss goal.
  • Go_Deskercise
    Go_Deskercise Posts: 1,630 Member
    edited May 2018
    My suggestion: Lightly active. Make sure you account for overestimating of burned calories by not eating all of them back. Most people eat 50-70% back. Log food as accurately as possible.

    Just curious... What rate of a loss did you put? 1lb/week?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    6,000 - 11,000 steps isn't sedentary.

    Very sedentary is 3,000 or less; sedentary is 5,000 or less.

    I think most people, even if they have desk jobs aren't really sedentary. I have one, but I also have a home and a family and there's always things to cook and clean and fix, etc...I don't usually sit down until about 8:30 at night.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    mommakmfp wrote: »
    Hello! I am questioning if I am sedentary vs lightly active :) I am currently 200lb, 5ft2, 28yr old female. I would say I have a "desk job" but I run a large facility and am walking around to other meetings and such. My Fitbit says I am averaging 6000 to 11000 steps at day.

    I just joined a gym and haven't began an exercise program yet. But plan to mostly eat back those calories from what I am gathering here...

    At sedentary, MFP gives me 1250, and lightly active I am given 1460, a pretty nice chunk of more calories...

    Advice?

    if you are getting more than 10,000 steps per day then no you arent sedentary. I would go with lightly active and do that for awhile and then if you have to adjust calories/exercise calories(when you start exercise) if you are losing too fast or too slow.
  • __TMac__
    __TMac__ Posts: 1,669 Member
    It really helped me to hook the activity tracker up to MFP, choose "not active", and then just let the chips fall where they may. I see negative adjustments most weekdays, but then gain a few extra calories on weekends when I'm more active.

    I work at home and my commute is literally 4 steps, from bed to desk. Unfortunately, using my standing desk doesn't seem to cause any additional steps. And today I actually worked IN the bed. I take the dog out a few times a day. Later, after I make dinner, I'll probably keep working from the sofa. On weekdays, I usually clock in at about 2,000 steps. I do run most days, so I get up to 7,000 to 10,000 steps, but those are purposeful exercise and logged as such, so they don't count toward the activity setting. Weekends are a bit higher -- more like 3,500 steps.

    Just some details to help you figure out how you'd like to handle it for yourself.
  • colors_fade
    colors_fade Posts: 464 Member
    At your stats, your TDEE for a single day (at sedentary) is 1900.

    https://tdeecalculator.net/result.php?s=imperial&g=female&age=28&lbs=200&in=62&act=1.2&f=1

    At your height, if you are walking 11,000 steps in a day then you are walking approximately 4.5 miles per day.

    A woman will net approximately 40-45 calories burned by walking a mile. So on the low end, you're burning an additional 180 calories per day with your walking. On the high end, 202 calories. The difference between 1250 and 1460 is 210. So MFP is getting lucky in your specific case, when you bump it up a level from Sedentary, at how many exercise calories you're burning (net) each day over just being Sedentary.

    Question is: do you walk that much every single day, or is it just work days?

    This is why, when calculating my own caloric deficit, I choose Sedentary: it is the most accurate baseline. And from there I can do accurate math: subtract ~500 calories per day, and any exercise on top of it is a nice bonus to the caloric deficit.

    Most people overestimate their exercise calories because they don't consider the net calories (what you burned vs. what you would have burned had you just sat in a chair during the same time frame).

    Long story short (for you): 1900 - 500 calories per day = 1400 calories. That's a nice deficit. If you walk or exercise a bit that day, you're going to add 180+ calories to that deficit.



  • mommakmfp
    mommakmfp Posts: 4 Member
    Thanks for all the awesome responses! My goal is to keep it at sedentary and get my Fitbit connected but I just haven't done it yet.

    I do think on weekends I'm more active because of toddler life.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    It seems that you're hoping to lose more than 1lb per week. It is very difficult and uncomfortable to do that consistently (oh, the hunger). Besides, what's the hurry? You have the rest of your life to enjoy being lighter and in better shape!

    Your sedentary number should be ~1400kcals/day for a 1lb/week loss according to the standard formula.

    Steps don't translate easily to a particular calorie burn, but you can experiment with adding 100-200kcals more on days where you get 10000 steps or more. In the end, your weight will guide you.

    And: Seek professional advice (not just here), consider personal training, and experiment with adjusting your macros (low carb can help with appetite).

    Best resolve to you!
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    mommakmfp wrote: »
    Thanks for all the awesome responses! My goal is to keep it at sedentary and get my Fitbit connected but I just haven't done it yet.

    I don't recommend linking the fitbit to MFP. The link is unreliable and the fitbit calorie estimates can mislead you. Better to select a fixed daily goal and stick to it (adjusting as necessary, adding when you do significant workouts).
  • Jadub729
    Jadub729 Posts: 135 Member
    I have mine linked, I have a desk job but track about 12-15k steps per day, plus weight lifting 2 days a week. I set mine at sedentary and eat back about half of the exercise calories it allows me so I'm eating about 1500-1700 a day.
  • RAinWA
    RAinWA Posts: 1,980 Member
    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    mommakmfp wrote: »
    Thanks for all the awesome responses! My goal is to keep it at sedentary and get my Fitbit connected but I just haven't done it yet.

    I don't recommend linking the fitbit to MFP. The link is unreliable and the fitbit calorie estimates can mislead you. Better to select a fixed daily goal and stick to it (adjusting as necessary, adding when you do significant workouts).

    I have had my Fitbit linked to MFP for years and have lost, gained and maintained pretty much spot on with using those calculations and eating back the adjustments.

    If you are consistent with your activity and exercise using a TDEE calculator might be better if you'd rather just have a set amount of calories each day. My activity level varies a lot and keeping myself set at sedentary and letting Fitbit and MFP adjust my calories works better for me.
  • tirowow12385
    tirowow12385 Posts: 697 Member
    Every 300 caloric burn is an activity level above "comatose", look at your Fitbit

    300 minimum is sedentary, 600 lightly and so on ( 900 active, 1200 athlete).

    Look at your tracker calories and not the steps itself, it's a no brainer.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    RAinWA wrote: »
    I have had my Fitbit linked to MFP for years and have lost, gained and maintained pretty much spot on with using those calculations and eating back the adjustments.

    It must depend on what you do. The simple Fitbits can't track swimming or cycling. And mowing the lawn caused it to record many extra steps from the vibration. It was inaccurate for serious hiking, giving fairly low estimates. I even felt that the incidental step estimates were too variable day to day. I think it pretty much works best for basic walking and running.

    And the link to MFP is downright flaky. Just search for "fitbit sync problem," and you will find 100s of posts. I gave up and un-linked the programs. Then my Fitbit broke, anyway.

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