Calories burned from walking 20000 steps

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Lydia_G_S
Lydia_G_S Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone,

I have an office job, but I still walk around during lunch breaks and before and after work so I average around 20000 steps a day. (I also go running two to three times a week and do weight training for 30 minutes twice a week.) I currently have my fitbit synced to myfitnesspal and on a normal day without exercise, I get around 900 extra calories from walking (having set my activity level to sedentary in myfitnesspal). I am wondering whether that is too much? I am 5’3’’ and weigh 136lbs and on average I probably eat between 2000 and 2300 calories on a 250 calorie deficit. This seems like a lot of calories considering that I am only 5’3’’. Any opinions? Thank you!

Replies

  • Fflpnari
    Fflpnari Posts: 975 Member
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    I personally don't sync my Fitbit and mfp. I go off the burned calories from Fitbit. I take the weekly average to make sure I'm set up to lose a pound a week.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    It sounds about right actually. I used to average 21k steps, my TDEE was 2200-2300 for those steps and to lose I would eat at 250 deficit. I'm 5ft 2/49yrs/127lbs.
  • nurees
    nurees Posts: 23 Member
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    According to my Apple watch that 20000 steps equals about 7 calories burned....
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    edited February 2019
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    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    if you walk that much you are not sedentary you are active. I would adjust your activity level accordingly but if you are happy with the weight you are at then I dont see the issue

    I hate having my settings set as very active for syncing purposes. If I do I know that those remaining few hours when I am in bed will see my calorie allowance go down a fair bit because MFP assumes I'll be active 24/7. I hate waking up seeing a significant reduction in overall calories for the same reason. I hate seeing my calorie allowance go down as my day progresses because most of my steps are achieved in the morning. I find it easier for me to 'balance the books' if I set my activity level to sedentary, knowing that it will increase as the day goes on without any major fluctuations.
    As long as you are not counting your exercise or steps twice, or not counting them at all, the way you go about balancing it all out is really a personal preference. MFP is a tool. You need to know how to operate it, then use it to best suit your individual needs.

    I should also add that 900 calories seems about right but the only way to tell is to eat back what you get given for a month or so and compare your actual weight loss with your predicted weight loss.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,872 Member
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    At 20k you are well above MFP's very active level by almost an extra level.

    Your adjustment makes sense.

    Bring able to determine your weight trend with everything going on and such a small deficit will be difficult as your normal weight variations will be larger than your targeted loss rate.

    Can it be done? Absolutely. But be prepared to be patient and accurate with your logging.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
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    There are reasons, as Lillymoo noted, for very active people to call themselves sedentary when they're not for purposes of syncing. Even though I'm active throughout the day and usually get 30K steps, I'm set to sedentary because I go to bed early and since all adjustments are predictive, end up getting 200 or so calories shaved off after I go to sleep.

    I don't like that. So I avoid it. As it is, I still end up getting about 50-60 calories shaved off my adjustment, but I can deal with that.

    Anyway, yes, OP, that adjustment sounds about right. I'm 5'1" and that's close to what I get at around that step level.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    If you're syncing an activity tracker the activity setting on MFP is nothing more than a guideline as long as you have negative calories enabled. The reason this is showing up so high is the difference between your stated activity and your actual activity. Not that this matters - the end result is the same.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    edited February 2019
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    By MFP standards I am sedentary due to a desk job. I sync my Fitbit and am purposeful about getting exercise almost daily, but I didn’t when I first started tracking. Once my exercise became more consistent I considered changing my activity level, but I decided not to. Instead I purposely eat back at least part of my exercise calories on a regular basis. I am 5’1” and my calorie adjustment for 20k steps ends up around 800 calories. So your estimate sounds about right.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,988 Member
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    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    if you walk that much you are not sedentary you are active. I would adjust your activity level accordingly but if you are happy with the weight you are at then I dont see the issue

    I hate having my settings set as very active for syncing purposes. If I do I know that those remaining few hours when I am in bed will see my calorie allowance go down a fair bit because MFP assumes I'll be active 24/7. I hate waking up seeing a significant reduction in overall calories for the same reason. I hate seeing my calorie allowance go down as my day progresses because most of my steps are achieved in the morning. I find it easier for me to 'balance the books' if I set my activity level to sedentary, knowing that it will increase as the day goes on without any major fluctuations.
    As long as you are not counting your exercise or steps twice, or not counting them at all, the way you go about balancing it all out is really a personal preference. MFP is a tool. You need to know how to operate it, then use it to best suit your individual needs.

    I should also add that 900 calories seems about right but the only way to tell is to eat back what you get given for a month or so and compare your actual weight loss with your predicted weight loss.

    Yup, I'd stay at Sedentary for the reasons stated above.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    Lillymoo01 wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    if you walk that much you are not sedentary you are active. I would adjust your activity level accordingly but if you are happy with the weight you are at then I dont see the issue

    I hate having my settings set as very active for syncing purposes. If I do I know that those remaining few hours when I am in bed will see my calorie allowance go down a fair bit because MFP assumes I'll be active 24/7. I hate waking up seeing a significant reduction in overall calories for the same reason. I hate seeing my calorie allowance go down as my day progresses because most of my steps are achieved in the morning. I find it easier for me to 'balance the books' if I set my activity level to sedentary, knowing that it will increase as the day goes on without any major fluctuations.
    As long as you are not counting your exercise or steps twice, or not counting them at all, the way you go about balancing it all out is really a personal preference. MFP is a tool. You need to know how to operate it, then use it to best suit your individual needs.

    I should also add that 900 calories seems about right but the only way to tell is to eat back what you get given for a month or so and compare your actual weight loss with your predicted weight loss.

    yeah I know how it works and that its a tool.

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