What's the right activity level to select?
corysmithsmail
Posts: 166 Member
I think I should readjust my calorie limit on here. It's been at 1200 and I keep hearing that only sedentary short females should be at that intake level.
So if I'm 5'5, 188lbs, walk 10k steps a day and exercise every other day....would that be lightly active or active? I have a desk job so that's got me thinking lightly active.
So if I'm 5'5, 188lbs, walk 10k steps a day and exercise every other day....would that be lightly active or active? I have a desk job so that's got me thinking lightly active.
1
Replies
-
I’m wondering the same thing. I don’t know if I should be lightly active or active. I walk every day but sit at a desk most of the day.0
-
Exercise should not be considered when selecting an activity level on MFP.
It sounds like you should be set to at least lightly active (or active) and eating eating exercise calories burned (start with 50% and adjust up or down as needed after 4 weeks).
If you carry your phone on you at all times, you can use apps like Pacer to adjust your calories on MFP.
I personally have a Fitbit and while I am set to Sedentary, it will add extra calories for any activity that is beyond what a Sedentary person would do.1 -
lorilynn22 wrote: »I’m wondering the same thing. I don’t know if I should be lightly active or active. I walk every day but sit at a desk most of the day.
If the walk is your exercise for the day, then you would log it.
If you are just active outside of work, then bump your activity level up to lightly active.
After 4 weeks or so you should be able to tell if you need to adjust your calories up (losing faster than planned or more than 2 lbs per week avg or more than 1% bodyweight per week loss if wanting mostly fat loss) or if you need to adjust down.
You can also look into a device that tracks activity to adjust your calories based on activity (MFP syncs with some free apps that will do this as well as several brands of wrist worn trackers).0 -
I've wear a smartwatch but I don't eat back calories burned during exercise. I have been losing 2lb a week on average.1
-
corysmithsmail wrote: »I've wear a smartwatch but I don't eat back calories burned during exercise. I have been losing 2lb a week on average.
This site is trying to teach you a valuable life lesson - you do more your can eat more, you do less you need to eat less.
If you aren't going to log and eat back exercise calories the way this site is desgined to be used then set your calorie goal from a TDEE calculator and not from MyFitnessPal.5 -
The following pedometer indices have been developed to provide a guideline on steps and activity levels:
Sedentary is less than 5,000 steps per day.
Low active is 5,000 to 7,499 steps per day.
Somewhat active is 7,500 to 9,999 steps per day.
Active is more than 10,000 steps per day.
Highly active is more than 12,500
On MFP this is for ONLY your normal activities, not dedicated workouts.2 -
Pick the one which is closest to what you feel is right. These numbers aren't written in stone, only a starting point. If you gain weight, you're in a surplus, if you lose you're in a deficit. If you do neither, you're at maintenance. Adjust accordingly.0
-
The following pedometer indices have been developed to provide a guideline on steps and activity levels:
Sedentary is less than 5,000 steps per day.
Low active is 5,000 to 7,499 steps per day.
Somewhat active is 7,500 to 9,999 steps per day.
Active is more than 10,000 steps per day.
Highly active is more than 12,500
On MFP this is for ONLY your normal activities, not dedicated workouts.
Need an "Almost comatose" level of activity for people like me lol7 -
corysmithsmail wrote: »I've wear a smartwatch but I don't eat back calories burned during exercise. I have been losing 2lb a week on average.
This site is trying to teach you a valuable life lesson - you do more your can eat more, you do less you need to eat less.
If you aren't going to log and eat back exercise calories the way this site is desgined to be used then set your calorie goal from a TDEE calculator and not from MyFitnessPal.
Right, I just worry a little obsessively that I will miscalculate exactly how many calories are really being burned and how accurate my food calories are. But I'm getting a food scale so that should help eliminate some uncertainty.0 -
corysmithsmail wrote: »corysmithsmail wrote: »I've wear a smartwatch but I don't eat back calories burned during exercise. I have been losing 2lb a week on average.
This site is trying to teach you a valuable life lesson - you do more your can eat more, you do less you need to eat less.
If you aren't going to log and eat back exercise calories the way this site is desgined to be used then set your calorie goal from a TDEE calculator and not from MyFitnessPal.
Right, I just worry a little obsessively that I will miscalculate exactly how many calories are really being burned and how accurate my food calories are. But I'm getting a food scale so that should help eliminate some uncertainty.
We all have to "run the experiment" so to speak.
Keep good records. I have a spreadsheet in addition to logging food here. I know within a hundred calories or so what my needs are. It took me a lot of experimenting to get these numbers dialed in.
A lot.
The numbers you are given on websites are a starting point. Every piece of data you can collect will help you dial it in. My best suggestion is that WHEN you make changes, stick with that change for a month so you can evaluate the efficacy of that change. Pick an activity level and a reasonable calorie level and run it for a month. Use all or part of your exercise calories - but be consistent. If you choose to use all of them (that's what I did) then stick with that long enough to collect accurate trending data.3 -
cmriverside wrote: »corysmithsmail wrote: »corysmithsmail wrote: »I've wear a smartwatch but I don't eat back calories burned during exercise. I have been losing 2lb a week on average.
This site is trying to teach you a valuable life lesson - you do more your can eat more, you do less you need to eat less.
If you aren't going to log and eat back exercise calories the way this site is desgined to be used then set your calorie goal from a TDEE calculator and not from MyFitnessPal.
Right, I just worry a little obsessively that I will miscalculate exactly how many calories are really being burned and how accurate my food calories are. But I'm getting a food scale so that should help eliminate some uncertainty.
We all have to "run the experiment" so to speak.
Keep good records. I have a spreadsheet in addition to logging food here. I know within a hundred calories or so what my needs are. It took me a lot of experimenting to get these numbers dialed in.
A lot.
The numbers you are given on websites are a starting point. Every piece of data you can collect will help you dial it in. My best suggestion is that WHEN you make changes, stick with that change for a month so you can evaluate the efficacy of that change. Pick an activity level and a reasonable calorie level and run it for a month. Use all or part of your exercise calories - but be consistent. If you choose to use all of them (that's what I did) then stick with that long enough to collect accurate trending data.
This is too, too right. The MFP calorie goal is just an estimate, not gospel. It's just your starting point. Your results (average over 4-6 weeks) tell the real story.
Advice: For best health and sustainability, don't lose (in real life) more than 1% of your body weight weekly. Less is fine, and recommended when you get within 25-50 pounds
of goal.
I have to set my activity level blatantly wrong to get a sensible calorie goal that matches almost 4 years of actual successful experience. Not at all common, but it can happen.
To start, just make your best guess at activity level, then run the experiment.
Best wishes!0 -
corysmithsmail wrote: »corysmithsmail wrote: »I've wear a smartwatch but I don't eat back calories burned during exercise. I have been losing 2lb a week on average.
This site is trying to teach you a valuable life lesson - you do more your can eat more, you do less you need to eat less.
If you aren't going to log and eat back exercise calories the way this site is desgined to be used then set your calorie goal from a TDEE calculator and not from MyFitnessPal.
Right, I just worry a little obsessively that I will miscalculate exactly how many calories are really being burned and how accurate my food calories are. But I'm getting a food scale so that should help eliminate some uncertainty.
But by picking zero as your exercise estimate you are guaranteeing that your estimate is a miscalculation.
There's a lot more options available than the database on here to use for estimates. If you let people know your routine you will get some good suggestions on what methods to use.
You don't even need complete accuracy - "reasonable" is perfectly good enough. That's what TDEE calculators use after all - they don't just estimate exercise actually done they even estimate how many times you exercise. Yet people still have success using them.
Even when I started out and used not great methods for estimating a fairly considerable amount of exercise I still achieved my desired rate of loss just by using a bit of common sense.2 -
I put my activity at lightly active but I've played around with sedentary and highly active too,sedentary gives me waaaay too many exercise calories and highly active gives me too many calories to eat so I just keep it on lightly active,for me it's just less confusing that way,BTW I get about 12,000 to 15,000 steps a day0
-
MissouriRose wrote: »The following pedometer indices have been developed to provide a guideline on steps and activity levels:
Sedentary is less than 5,000 steps per day.
Low active is 5,000 to 7,499 steps per day.
Somewhat active is 7,500 to 9,999 steps per day.
Active is more than 10,000 steps per day.
Highly active is more than 12,500
On MFP this is for ONLY your normal activities, not dedicated workouts.
Need an "Almost comatose" level of activity for people like me lol
Yep, that's me. I've set my maintanance manually because it is 200cals below MFP sedentiary. But when I don't walk or work out purposfully (both of which I log and eat back) I sit all day long on my bum. Literally. It was the cigarettes that kept me slim my entire life. But now that I don't smoke anymore.... Ahhh...0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 424 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions