Choosing the correct activity level
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I am also having trouble figuring out what my activity level is. I have a Fitbit synced with MFP. Right now I have MFP set as lightly active and I do have custom calorie goals. I'm 5'2, female, weighing 152 setting my weight loss goals to lose 2lbs/wk and slim down to 130. I've had a hard time getting into a rhythm in the past several months because of family health problems. I eat when I stress and don't do what I know I need to do to lose weight.
I'm getting back on track this week and want to make sure I have my activity level set correctly. I have a somewhat active job (cashier at a small grocery store) where I stock drinks, change prices, get carriages, etc. I'm on my feet for 38 hours a week here for 5 days (8 hours a day during the typical workweek for 4 days and 6 hours on Sundays), sitting down just for my 20-minute lunch break.
For 5 days a week (usually 4 of my work days and 1 of my days off), I also workout, usually either doing the gym (2 days/week with weights) and walking the other days. Those days I'm getting 45-60 minutes in the gym alone, in addition to any stray minutes I get at work. Most days during the week I get at least 12K steps/day between my job and workouts (sometimes even hitting close to 10K steps before my shift is over, making me get closer to 14-16KK steps post workout) but the rest of the time I'm lazy 😂
So is my estimate of my activity level accurate or am I underestimating myself? Thanks in advance for any responses!0 -
vasilica22 wrote: »If I go twice a week to play football (on mondays and fridays) for like 1 hour, shoud I choose lightly active or sedentary?
The rest of the days I am pretty much sedentary and that category suits me for 5 out of 7 days. I also have to mention that in those days when I play football I don't go to the gym, they are like rest days but not really 😂
Activity level is based on daily activity. I’d choose sedentary and log your 2x a week football games as purposeful exercise.2 -
Darrensmith_ wrote: »I know this is on old thread but this is something I've bee trying to figure out for a while as I don't believe setting active and allowing my Apple Watch to interface exercise is accurate. I'd effectively be allowing myself way to many calories to eat due to recording the activity twice.
I've set my activity to 'Not very Active (the lowest setting)' as I sit a desk for a large part of my day, I then allow Under Armour Record for weight training workouts and Strava for runs to sync to MFP. I know I'm not going to far wrong using the goal based on low activity plus the red ring on my apple watch.
For me this makes the most sense as currently I'm set at lose 2lbs a week so goal is 1500 plus whatever I burn which I feel is more accurate.
On average with my goal set at lose 2lbs per week and the lowest activity level combined with syncing I've averaged 1.92lbs per week. Had I used say moderate and still synced my activities i'd have gone over my true macro targets by double counting exercise.
I’ve played with my activity level settings and with the adjustments from my Garmin, they end up being the same. Higher activity level = smaller adjustments from the activity logged in my Garmin. Less activity = larger adjustments from the same level of activity logged through Garmin. I do have negative calorie adjustments enabled regardless.0 -
bruinsgirl3319 wrote: »I am also having trouble figuring out what my activity level is. I have a Fitbit synced with MFP. Right now I have MFP set as lightly active and I do have custom calorie goals. I'm 5'2, female, weighing 152 setting my weight loss goals to lose 2lbs/wk and slim down to 130. I've had a hard time getting into a rhythm in the past several months because of family health problems. I eat when I stress and don't do what I know I need to do to lose weight.
I'm getting back on track this week and want to make sure I have my activity level set correctly. I have a somewhat active job (cashier at a small grocery store) where I stock drinks, change prices, get carriages, etc. I'm on my feet for 38 hours a week here for 5 days (8 hours a day during the typical workweek for 4 days and 6 hours on Sundays), sitting down just for my 20-minute lunch break.
For 5 days a week (usually 4 of my work days and 1 of my days off), I also workout, usually either doing the gym (2 days/week with weights) and walking the other days. Those days I'm getting 45-60 minutes in the gym alone, in addition to any stray minutes I get at work. Most days during the week I get at least 12K steps/day between my job and workouts (sometimes even hitting close to 10K steps before my shift is over, making me get closer to 14-16KK steps post workout) but the rest of the time I'm lazy 😂
So is my estimate of my activity level accurate or am I underestimating myself? Thanks in advance for any responses!
If your Fitbit is synched and you have negative calorie adjustments enabled, it shouldn’t really matter what your activity level is is set to. Your Fitbit will estimate how many calories you’ve burned based on steps and movement throughout the day, compare it to MFP’s goal, and give you an adjustment number that eliminates the discrepancy.
Imagine there’s a 300-calorie difference between lightly active and active. If you burn exactly the “active” number of calories one day but have MFP set to “lightly active,” your Fitbit will add 300 calories to your total. If, on the other hand, you’re set to active and have a lightly active day, your Fitbit will deduct 300 from your goal. Whatever your setting is, your Fitbit will true it up throughout the day (again: IF you have negative adjustments enabled).
If you’re getting consistent adjustments daily you might want to change your activity level just for simplicity’s sake—I did that earlier this year when I was ALWAYS getting at least 250 extra calories. Obviously I was more active than I’d told MFP, so I changed it. Now my adjustments vary between -100 all the way up to +700, which is why I’m glad I have the Fitbit and am not relying solely on my MFP activity level!
Fitbits aren't totally accurate, and depending on what kind of activity you do they can be significantly off. But they will allow you to adjust for varied activity levels day to day without having to worry about whether your MFP level is set properly. You’ll get a calorie goal based on your actual movement, regardless of setting.0 -
So I synched my garmin vivofit but can't figure out how to enable adjustments to my calorie allotment.1
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Lol I'm a server...by definition I would be in Active status...buuuut sometimes its not as busy, so I put my activity level as lightly active, and I track whatever exercise outside of work That's actually exercise1
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nicsflyingcircus wrote: »So I synched my garmin vivofit but can't figure out how to enable adjustments to my calorie allotment.
The only MFP option you have to enable adjustments is Negative - under food settings for MFP.
The mere act of syncing MFP to another account that gives daily calorie burn updates, automatically sets up getting positive adjustments.
The idea being MFP is going to correct itself to a more accurate estimate if it's higher.
If you are seeing no positive adjustment in the Exercise Diary (even though it's not just exercise calories burned, could be none), it means your selected MFP Activity level is high enough that Garmin isn't reporting higher than that. And you have negative disabled.
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hobbitses333 wrote: »I dont have sedentary as an option. I think "not very active" is an underestimate for me, I am set to .5 lb per week, doing almost no exercise, going over from time to time, and am losing 2 lbs per week. Not complaining heh heh..just finding it weird, especially since all my life I have been so crappy at losing weight....
Those options mentioned are on MFP, not Garmin's site.
If you see no Sedentary option - you are on the wrong site's setting page.
You should be concerned about losing 2 lbs weekly if set to 1/2 lb - because one could be very reasonable, and the other very unreasonable.
Guess which one the body will adapt negatively too?
Faster is not always better for fat loss - because then it becomes just weight loss, fat and other you'd rather not lose.
If you have over 50 lbs to lose, then 2lbs weekly could be reasonable if no other body health issues.0 -
nicsflyingcircus wrote: »So I synched my garmin vivofit but can't figure out how to enable adjustments to my calorie allotment.
The only MFP option you have to enable adjustments is Negative - under food settings for MFP.
The mere act of syncing MFP to another account that gives daily calorie burn updates, automatically sets up getting positive adjustments.
The idea being MFP is going to correct itself to a more accurate estimate if it's higher.
If you are seeing no positive adjustment in the Exercise Diary (even though it's not just exercise calories burned, could be none), it means your selected MFP Activity level is high enough that Garmin isn't reporting higher than that. And you have negative disabled.
The negative adjustments is what I couldn't figure out. The positive ones automatically showed up.
Thanks0 -
hobbitses333 wrote: »hobbitses333 wrote: »I dont have sedentary as an option. I think "not very active" is an underestimate for me, I am set to .5 lb per week, doing almost no exercise, going over from time to time, and am losing 2 lbs per week. Not complaining heh heh..just finding it weird, especially since all my life I have been so crappy at losing weight....
Those options mentioned are on MFP, not Garmin's site.
If you see no Sedentary option - you are on the wrong site's setting page.
You should be concerned about losing 2 lbs weekly if set to 1/2 lb - because one could be very reasonable, and the other very unreasonable.
Guess which one the body will adapt negatively too?
Faster is not always better for fat loss - because then it becomes just weight loss, fat and other you'd rather not lose.
If you have over 50 lbs to lose, then 2lbs weekly could be reasonable if no other body health issues.
When I go to ''Goals'' on the phone app menu for MFP and enter my stats, including my activity level, there is no ''Sedentary'' as an option. I have selected lose 0.5 lb per week loss rate and am mainly staying under those calorie goals every day.
I suspect that I have underestimated my general activity levels because by following MFP calories based on my entries, I have been losing about 2 lbs per week average, not 0.5 lbs. I am class III obese so its fine if I am losing two lbs per week right now. 25 lbs to go for class II obese.
I dont even know what Garmin is or use any other weight loss apps so I have no clue where you think I went to the wrong site's setting page.
What options for Activity Level are you seeing then?
As you can see from the comments - Sedentary is almost the default everyone selects - so it's there in general.
So good on 2 lbs not being unreasonable yet, and good method to keep you in a deficit no matter what, allows eating up to certain level if special occassion or day where it all seems to go wrong.0 -
hobbitses333 wrote: »hobbitses333 wrote: »I dont have sedentary as an option. I think "not very active" is an underestimate for me, I am set to .5 lb per week, doing almost no exercise, going over from time to time, and am losing 2 lbs per week. Not complaining heh heh..just finding it weird, especially since all my life I have been so crappy at losing weight....
Those options mentioned are on MFP, not Garmin's site.
If you see no Sedentary option - you are on the wrong site's setting page.
You should be concerned about losing 2 lbs weekly if set to 1/2 lb - because one could be very reasonable, and the other very unreasonable.
Guess which one the body will adapt negatively too?
Faster is not always better for fat loss - because then it becomes just weight loss, fat and other you'd rather not lose.
If you have over 50 lbs to lose, then 2lbs weekly could be reasonable if no other body health issues.
When I go to ''Goals'' on the phone app menu for MFP and enter my stats, including my activity level, there is no ''Sedentary'' as an option. I have selected lose 0.5 lb per week loss rate and am mainly staying under those calorie goals every day.
I suspect that I have underestimated my general activity levels because by following MFP calories based on my entries, I have been losing about 2 lbs per week average, not 0.5 lbs. I am class III obese so its fine if I am losing two lbs per week right now. 25 lbs to go for class II obese.
I dont even know what Garmin is or use any other weight loss apps so I have no clue where you think I went to the wrong site's setting page.
What options for Activity Level are you seeing then?
As you can see from the comments - Sedentary is almost the default everyone selects - so it's there in general.
So good on 2 lbs not being unreasonable yet, and good method to keep you in a deficit no matter what, allows eating up to certain level if special occassion or day where it all seems to go wrong.
MFP’s lowest activity setting is now called “Not Very Active.”1 -
FlyingMolly wrote: »bruinsgirl3319 wrote: »I am also having trouble figuring out what my activity level is. I have a Fitbit synced with MFP. Right now I have MFP set as lightly active and I do have custom calorie goals. I'm 5'2, female, weighing 152 setting my weight loss goals to lose 2lbs/wk and slim down to 130. I've had a hard time getting into a rhythm in the past several months because of family health problems. I eat when I stress and don't do what I know I need to do to lose weight.
I'm getting back on track this week and want to make sure I have my activity level set correctly. I have a somewhat active job (cashier at a small grocery store) where I stock drinks, change prices, get carriages, etc. I'm on my feet for 38 hours a week here for 5 days (8 hours a day during the typical workweek for 4 days and 6 hours on Sundays), sitting down just for my 20-minute lunch break.
For 5 days a week (usually 4 of my work days and 1 of my days off), I also workout, usually either doing the gym (2 days/week with weights) and walking the other days. Those days I'm getting 45-60 minutes in the gym alone, in addition to any stray minutes I get at work. Most days during the week I get at least 12K steps/day between my job and workouts (sometimes even hitting close to 10K steps before my shift is over, making me get closer to 14-16KK steps post workout) but the rest of the time I'm lazy 😂
So is my estimate of my activity level accurate or am I underestimating myself? Thanks in advance for any responses!
If your Fitbit is synched and you have negative calorie adjustments enabled, it shouldn’t really matter what your activity level is is set to. Your Fitbit will estimate how many calories you’ve burned based on steps and movement throughout the day, compare it to MFP’s goal, and give you an adjustment number that eliminates the discrepancy.
Imagine there’s a 300-calorie difference between lightly active and active. If you burn exactly the “active” number of calories one day but have MFP set to “lightly active,” your Fitbit will add 300 calories to your total. If, on the other hand, you’re set to active and have a lightly active day, your Fitbit will deduct 300 from your goal. Whatever your setting is, your Fitbit will true it up throughout the day (again: IF you have negative adjustments enabled).
If you’re getting consistent adjustments daily you might want to change your activity level just for simplicity’s sake—I did that earlier this year when I was ALWAYS getting at least 250 extra calories. Obviously I was more active than I’d told MFP, so I changed it. Now my adjustments vary between -100 all the way up to +700, which is why I’m glad I have the Fitbit and am not relying solely on my MFP activity level!
Fitbits aren't totally accurate, and depending on what kind of activity you do they can be significantly off. But they will allow you to adjust for varied activity levels day to day without having to worry about whether your MFP level is set properly. You’ll get a calorie goal based on your actual movement, regardless of setting.
Okay. I have negative calories enabled. I'll keep it as lightly active then. Thank you!1 -
SusanMFindlay wrote: »IMO, the easiest way to estimate your activity level is to find a cheap pedometer and wear it for a week or two, recording your total number of steps every day.
"Sedentary" is less than 4,000 steps/day
"Lightly active" is about 4,000-10,000 steps/day
"Active" is about 10,000-16,000 steps/day
"Very active" is more than 16,000 steps/day
If you're right at the bottom of a range, you might want to choose the range below to allow for a few inaccuracies in logging.
MFP defines
sedentary = BMR x 1.25
ligtly active = BMR x 1.4
active = BMR x 1.6
very active = BMR x 1.8
Most people get "positive adjustments" i.e. extra calories, when their activity levels exceed:
sedentary ~ 3500 steps
lightly active ~ 7500 steps
active ~ 12,500 steps
very active ~15500 steps
MFP expects you to log any "exercise" that is not part of your base activity.
While in many respects it makes sense to split things into "base activity of daily living" and "deliberate exercise" there is nothing magical about how the calories got burned.
The only thing that matters is that you don't under or over count.
Note that sedentary means... sedentary. It represents an activity level that involves less than 35 minutes of movement in a day. MOST people on MFP who think of themselves as sedentary... AREN'T. (and, of course, some people who DON'T, ARE. but that's another story).
Oh yeah.... I am totally counting wrong. I need to be set to active. I had always gone down a level to be safe but I average like 18-20K steps a day (which does include some walks and running). Rest days I feel like I am starving if I stay within the count. I think moving to active and monitoring will make me want to count more. lol
Thanks for the info!2 -
Hi,
Thanks for this post. It’s very informative. I correlated your thumb rule of equating walking for 1hr 45min to ‘active’ with ‘active minutes’ on my Fitbit app. By that yardstick, I selected my category as ‘active’. I average 1:55 active time a day.
Cheers!!1 -
if you visit the DESKTOP version of MyFitnessPal (MFP), and navigate to this section (under ‘goals’), MFP provides their definitions for these activity levels
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I never found these descriptions right for me. When I'm at a desk job, I still have to put lightly active. I do not exercise and if I do I add it. I'm at home with the kids till July and MFP still underestimates my maintenance by at least 150 to 200 on lightly active. Again... i don't exercise and all I do in the evening is sit on the couch.0
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I'm a 36 year old female looking to recomp and up my calories from my 1350 calls per day to something that will help me gain muscle and lose fat.
When I do calculations outside of MFP I get calorie maintenance of 1644 calories per day when I put sedentary and 1601 inside MFP.
I work a desk job but I exercise 30 to 60 mins a day and try to get in 10,000 steps a day. I've been eating 1350 calories a day and I was maintaining there. i lost 85 lbs eating like this and now I'm stuck here and cant see any of the muscle I built.
Long story short, I wanted to know how to set this up in MFP. If I include my exercise in calculations outside of MFP which INCLUDES exercise it says I'm light active to active and I should be eating 1884 or 2024 calories respectively, but when I put lightly active or active in MFP its 1793 and 2049 calories which DOESN'T include exercise.
Should I put in the 1884 or the 1793? or the 2024 or the 2049???
If MFP only counts lifestyle how should I track what I'm eating? this is kind of confusing tbh lol
my fit bit adds exercise to MFP and I add my workouts as well but I have it set up so they counter each other so I don't double dip0 -
@LadyDaenerys
Your Fitbit adjustment isn't just exercise - if you are wearing it as an all day tracker it's also estimating your non-exercise activity level on a daily basis whereas MFP gives you an average (and you are definitely not sedentary!) and TDEE gives you an average for both exercise and activity.
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