How do you calculate your activity level?

fittnessing64
fittnessing64 Posts: 62 Member
edited December 9 in Health and Weight Loss
Just wondering how everyone decides whether they're lightly active or highly active or sedentary. How do you?

I currently have my activity level set to sedentary, but I think I'm more active than that now. I get between 8000 and 10000 steps, walk for at least an hour, and do around 30 minutes of circuit training daily. Where would that be placed?

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    The circuit training (or any other purposeful exercise) is nothing to do with your activity setting - they are completely separate entities if you are using this site as designed.

    Your job and your activity outside of work are the predominant factors but you very clearly are not sedentary (meaning mostly seated) with that high step count.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,699 Member
    Have you set yourself up in MFP yet?

    Go to My Home > Goals > View Guided Setup ...

    There you'll find the following:

    How would you describe your normal daily activities?
    Sedentary: Spend most of the day sitting (e.g. bank teller, desk job)
    Lightly Active: Spend a good part of the day on your feet (e.g. teacher, salesperson)
    Active: Spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity (e.g. food server, postal carrier)
    Very Active: Spend most of the day doing heavy physical activity (e.g. bike messenger, carpenter)
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    Are you using a FitBit or some other tracking device? That makes things a bit more complicated.


    In general - without a FitBit - I am set one full level above what my true activity level is if I go by that descriptor above that you find in GOALS.

    And even then I eat 200-300 calories more than that. So even though I'm truly Sedentary (retired, tiny low maintenance condo) I am eating at the Active level.

    I found that out by tracking and logging the way this site suggested. Over a period of months I had good data to use so I know my numbers now.

    From Help at the top of every page comes this: How does MyFitnessPal calculate my initial goals?



  • fittnessing64
    fittnessing64 Posts: 62 Member
    Thanks for the insights everyone! I was a bit confused since technically I have a desk job (student and artist) but I think I do a fair bit of activity each day. Based on what you all said, I think I'll set it to lightly active.

    @cmriverside Is your goal gaining weight or does that work for losing too? I'd love the extra calories if so :yum:
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    fittnessing64 wrote: »
    Thanks for the insights everyone! I was a bit confused since technically I have a desk job (student and artist) but I think I do a fair bit of activity each day. Based on what you all said, I think I'll set it to lightly active.

    @cmriverside Is your goal gaining weight or does that work for losing too? I'd love the extra calories if so :yum:

    My experience is similar to @cmriverside 's (set one level higher than my mostly telecommuting, laptop-based life would suggest, counting any outside walking as exercise, plus any traditional purposeful exercise, and still finding that my actual maintenance level is more than 200 calories above MFP's estimate).

    In my experience, my maintenance level only changes with variations in exercise/activity or changes in body weight (the latter being pretty small, as my loss was only about 20% of SW). It doesn't matter whether my current goal is loss or maintenance, or if I'm gaining (not as a "goal," per se, but eating over maintenance on vacation or during stressful periods of life).

    I don't think our experiences are common. I think we're outliers and the experiences of most people as reflected on these boards appears to be that in most cases, when a user provides accurate information, MFP's estimate is pretty close.

    Some, unfortunately, seem to be outliers on the other side of the curve. The only way to find out where you are on the curve is to pick a goal, log as accurately as you can for a significant period of time, and see what your data/results tell you.

    By significant period of time, I mean at leeway a month for men and menopausal women, at least two months for women still experiencing monthly cycles. Preferably the measurement period would exclude the first couple of weeks of a change to your calorie intake or your exercise level (to minimize data noise from water weight changes).
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    fittnessing64 wrote: »
    Thanks for the insights everyone! I was a bit confused since technically I have a desk job (student and artist) but I think I do a fair bit of activity each day. Based on what you all said, I think I'll set it to lightly active.

    @cmriverside Is your goal gaining weight or does that work for losing too? I'd love the extra calories if so :yum:

    My experience is similar to @cmriverside 's (set one level higher than my mostly telecommuting, laptop-based life would suggest, counting any outside walking as exercise, plus any traditional purposeful exercise, and still finding that my actual maintenance level is more than 200 calories above MFP's estimate).

    In my experience, my maintenance level only changes with variations in exercise/activity or changes in body weight (the latter being pretty small, as my loss was only about 20% of SW). It doesn't matter whether my current goal is loss or maintenance, or if I'm gaining (not as a "goal," per se, but eating over maintenance on vacation or during stressful periods of life).

    I don't think our experiences are common. I think we're outliers and the experiences of most people as reflected on these boards appears to be that in most cases, when a user provides accurate information, MFP's estimate is pretty close.

    Some, unfortunately, seem to be outliers on the other side of the curve. The only way to find out where you are on the curve is to pick a goal, log as accurately as you can for a significant period of time, and see what your data/results tell you.

    By significant period of time, I mean at leeway a month for men and menopausal women, at least two months for women still experiencing monthly cycles. Preferably the measurement period would exclude the first couple of weeks of a change to your calorie intake or your exercise level (to minimize data noise from water weight changes).

    Yep.

    I log food and exercise calories and still eat above the level. Quite a bit above. I would think I *should* be set at Sedentary. But I am eating at the Active level, still eating exercise calories and logging food using my digital food scale. I do eat most of my meals at home or prepared by me, so I know that helps since I am confident with my accuracy on the food.

    Absolutely the way to find your Activity level would be to use the one that best describes you, and use it long enough to get trending data..

    There are three data points in my experience: (1.) Food (accuracy is not only important but also not 100% possible) (2.) Exercise and Activity levels which is a moving target on a day to day basis for most people, and (3.) Body weight/measurement. I would say that the third one is the most important, so keep good records and it will dial in the other two. I weigh myself daily, that way I have great data on daily changes.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,458 Member
    Oh, and to your question...I lost all my weight (70+ pounds) eleven years ago. I'm in Maintenance now. Long-term logging and data is my friend in this, because my TDEE has gone up quite a bit over the years while still holding my weight steady.
  • ShayCarver89
    ShayCarver89 Posts: 239 Member
    Well, the only exercise I get is walking around Walmart and maybe doing dishes and laundry. I've pegged myself as sedentary.
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,226 Member
    Based on my occupation, my activity level is clearly sedentary because I sit for a living.

    Any walking I do beyond that, such as a 30 or 60 minute walk, I consider an exercise activity and record it as such.
  • fittnessing64
    fittnessing64 Posts: 62 Member
    @lynn_glenmont and @cmriverside Thanks for explaining! I've only started weighing myself a week ago so I guess I should stick it out a bit longer to figure out my own maintenance calories and activity level. Really appreciate your insights and tips!

    And thanks everyone else!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,626 Member
    fittnessing64 wrote: »
    @lynn_glenmont and @cmriverside Thanks for explaining! I've only started weighing myself a week ago so I guess I should stick it out a bit longer to figure out my own maintenance calories and activity level. Really appreciate your insights and tips!

    And thanks everyone else!

    I'm another who has to set activity level up higher than the truth; in my case, it's more like 2 levels (sedentary => active). Just for thought-fodder:

    You have limited levers to intentionally affect your own calorie needs and raise your TDEE, if you decide you want to do that. For example, adding muscle is one, but it's verrrrrrry slow, and the effect small.

    Most of the strategies, therefore, have to do with activity.

    Exercise is one people think about, but adding exercise can be a trap: Go too far, too fast in adding exercise, and fatigue (extra rest, sleep, low energy for daily activities) will start to sap calorie burn out of the non-exercise part of your life, and effectively wipe out some of the exercise calories.

    The side that's less commonly thought of, and less commonly worked at, is NEAT: Your daily-life calorie burn. It's not super high yield, and there's no good way to estimate it and eat it back (except by monitoring your intake/exercise/weight over the long haul), but it's another tool in your toolkit:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss

    It can be surprisingly helpful, if multiple instances of anecdotal evidence are an adequate standard of proof.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    fittnessing64 wrote: »
    Just wondering how everyone decides whether they're lightly active or highly active or sedentary. How do you?

    I currently have my activity level set to sedentary, but I think I'm more active than that now. I get between 8000 and 10000 steps, walk for at least an hour, and do around 30 minutes of circuit training daily. Where would that be placed?

    I think it depends on how you want to do things. It is important not to double count things though.
    If you want to set yourself as sedentary based on your job and log exercise you can do that. Don't include the hour walking and circuit training in your activity level if you are going to log them as exercise.
    If you are syncing an activity tracker and letting it make adjustments I don't think it matters as much what you choose for your activity level.

    If you really do the same exercise amount every day you might set yourself as lightly active or active and not log that activity as exercise.

    Choose a level and after a couple of weeks see if your rate of loss matches your expectation.
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