Confused regarding activity level
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lovelyclaire86
Posts: 13 Member
Afternoon everyone.
I’ve been calorie counting using mfp since January 5th and to date I’ve lost 17lbs but still have a way to go (looking to lose another 30lbs)
My weight has been stuck on 200lb for nearly 2 weeks now and I’m worried I’ve either not been eating enough calories or have been eating too many. The reason I say this is because when I signed up I chose, ‘not very active’ in the activity level drop down.
I picked this because I don’t go to the gym or do any fitness classes however I walk daily up to 18,000 steps (kids, school run, housework etc) and friends have suggested that this would be classed as ‘lightly active’ so would make a difference because I’d need to eat more calories.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what activity level 18k steps would suit? I’m worried I’m over eating or under eating and don’t want to stall my weight loss.
Any advice is appreciated.
Thank you!
Claire x
I’ve been calorie counting using mfp since January 5th and to date I’ve lost 17lbs but still have a way to go (looking to lose another 30lbs)
My weight has been stuck on 200lb for nearly 2 weeks now and I’m worried I’ve either not been eating enough calories or have been eating too many. The reason I say this is because when I signed up I chose, ‘not very active’ in the activity level drop down.
I picked this because I don’t go to the gym or do any fitness classes however I walk daily up to 18,000 steps (kids, school run, housework etc) and friends have suggested that this would be classed as ‘lightly active’ so would make a difference because I’d need to eat more calories.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what activity level 18k steps would suit? I’m worried I’m over eating or under eating and don’t want to stall my weight loss.
Any advice is appreciated.
Thank you!
Claire x
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Replies
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How many calories are you eating a day?1
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Hi Sammie, at the moment it’s between 1500-1600. I was considering upping it to 1700 after looking online but I’m fearful it’ll undo my work so far x2
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18k steps is above active
Sedentary = less than 5000
Low Active = 5000 - 7499
Somewhat Active = 7500 - 9999
Active = 10000
Highly Active = 12,500 or more
MFP’s Sedentary is about 3-5k steps. Lightly active is about 5-9k steps.
That said it’s only been 2 weeks. Have patience. You want to give it 4-6 weeks as our monthly cycles can cause water retention that will mask fat loss on the scale.6 -
wow that is a lot of steps. for me that would be 9 miles and about 1800 calories of exercise or 1/2 pound. do you think that activity like vacuuming may be inflating the number? maybe you need to put the step counter on the other hand, or maybe you are really going the distance
I cripped the advice below after googling steps sedentary
Walking and Activity Levels
Researchers at Arizona State University have established baseline activity levels based on the number of steps taken each day. People who take fewer than 5,000 steps are considered to be sedentary or inactive. Those who take 5,000 to 7,499 steps daily have a low active lifestyle. Somewhat active people usually take 7,500 to 9,999 steps per day. People considered to be active take 10,000 or more steps per day.
Walking for Weight Loss
About 10,000 steps is the equivalent of exercising strenuously for 30 minutes, or walking five miles per day. By following this routine, you'll expend an additional 2,000 to 3,500 calories per week. One pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. The average American takes 2,300 to 3,000 steps per day. This is a dismal rate compared to the Amish people, who take an average of 19,000 steps per day. The Amish community has the lowest percentage of obese adults compared with the American population at large3 -
18k steps is active/very active.
How are you measuring your intake? are you using a food scale, because not using one is the likeliest culprit and you are eating more than you think.3 -
Undereating won't stall weight loss. 2 weeks isn't really a stall, weight loss isn't linear and there will be weeks when you don't lose any weight.
18000 steps per day put's you in "Very Active" not "Lightly Active" and your rate of loss so far is just under 3.5lbs per week, which implies you're in way too much of a deficit.
Rough Estimates:
Sedentary is around 3000-5000 steps per day
Lightly Active is around 5000-8000 steps per day
Active is around 8000-11000
Very Active would be anything over this.
A healthy rate of loss is around 1-2lbs per week, but that's a trend over time.
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Hi Claire! You've lost 17 pounds in just 6 weeks! That is very, very good indeed. My own experience is not half as good as yours. Keep up the excellent work, and you will get there.
All of the other comments directed your way seem spot on: make sure your steps and activities are being tracked correctly, use a food scale (it's a pain, but I do it), be as meticulous as you can in your food log, and the graph above is quite telling.
I've been at this 2 weeks now, and my results look like that graph. Keep the faith: you can do this. PK2 -
Thank you for everyone’s replies and support.
I had, up to this week, been using my iphone to track my steps. The school run alone (2 schools in opposite directions) would clock up to 12k. But obviously once in the house my phone would sit on the side and any steps would be missed. Also if I placed my phone inside the pram when walking it would miss loads! My sister in law gave me an old Fitbit style tracker she wasn’t using and I’ve been using is for the past 2 days and the end of the day its been averaging 18k.
To weigh my food I’ve got some digital scales so I’m confident I’ve been measuring stuff correctly there. I’m just trying to figure out my exercise/calorie balance which has been trickier than I imagined.
I might try to change the activity level and see what difference that makes to my calories.
It’s strange because since starting using mfp I’ve got used to not over eating like I used to and sometimes I’m struggling to use up all my calories by the end of the end day x
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lovelyclaire86 wrote: »Hi Sammie, at the moment it’s between 1500-1600. I was considering upping it to 1700 after looking online but I’m fearful it’ll undo my work so far x
You need a lot more than an extra 100 calories to sustain what you're burning at the moment.
If MFP is giving you 1500 at Sedentary it will likely give you around 2100 for Active. Don't be scared to eat! The problem is a lot of people don't understand what their maintenance burn is and are so used to reading about the average 2000 calorie burn for a woman - that's based on an average height, healthy weight female. At 200lbs your maintenance is going to be a lot higher than an average woman.
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Are you using a fitbit? If so, you can connect the fitbit app to my fitness pal. I would go to a website that can calculate your BMR, this is the calories your body needs to sustain itself. I would then subtract 500 calories for a 1.0lb weight loss per week and put that into my fitness pal. Next connect your fitbit to myfitness pal and it will add the calories expended through exercise right into your daily total. It might be a more accurate picture. Hope that makes sense.11
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KaylaLee11 wrote: »Are you using a fitbit? If so, you can connect the fitbit app to my fitness pal. I would go to a website that can calculate your BMR, this is the calories your body needs to sustain itself. I would then subtract 500 calories for a 1.0lb weight loss per week and put that into my fitness pal. Next connect your fitbit to myfitness pal and it will add the calories expended through exercise right into your daily total. It might be a more accurate picture. Hope that makes sense.
That is totally incorrect, you do not deduct 500 calories from your BMR, you deduct it from your TDEE.
The TDEE method can be a useful method of calculating calories for those who have a consistent exercise pattern, however, it will pretty much add up to the same amount as MFP (which uses NEAT calculation not TDEE) in the end as you're expected to log exercise separately and as OP is doing more Non-Exercise activity than intentional exercise, TDEE would give her a much lower calorie allowance than needed.
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MFP very active is an activity factor of 1.8 and usually tops out before 16k steps. You're closer to an AF of 1.9
Your deficit has been excessive as can be seen by your speed of weight loss.
You may want to consider a re-feed or short diet break before continuing with a less aggressive deficit.
You would probably benefit by starting to use a weight trend application...
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Exactly! I keep thinking ‘more calories = weight gain’ 🙈 I also think a factor is that I’ve been spoiled with the weight coming off so quickly that now it’s slowing down I’m worrying.
It’s not a Fitbit, it’s a cheap as chips tracker my sister in law got somewhere. Does the basics but I can’t link it to mfp unfortunately.
I’ll look to upping my calories and see how I go over the next few weeks.
Thanks for everyone’s suggestions xx1 -
lovelyclaire86 wrote: »Hi Sammie, at the moment it’s between 1500-1600. I was considering upping it to 1700 after looking online but I’m fearful it’ll undo my work so far x
I am about the same weight as you and am eating 1350 calories a day, which was set by my nutrition coach. I try to walk on my lunch everyday about 45-minutes to an hour and also spin for 20-45 minutes a day. I would caution if your using a cheap tracker that you may not be getting as many steps as you think. When I had a fitbit I would get an extra 500-750 steps just by driving to work.1 -
lovelyclaire86 wrote: »Hi Sammie, at the moment it’s between 1500-1600. I was considering upping it to 1700 after looking online but I’m fearful it’ll undo my work so far x
I am about the same weight as you and am eating 1350 calories a day, which was set by my nutrition coach. I try to walk on my lunch everyday about 45-minutes to an hour and also spin for 20-45 minutes a day. I would caution if your using a cheap tracker that you may not be getting as many steps as you think. When I had a fitbit I would get an extra 500-750 steps just by driving to work.
Her current rate of loss compared with her current intake support what the tracker is saying.
She is eating 1500-1600 calories and has lost 17 lbs in the 6 weeks she has been using MFP. That translates to an average loss of 2.8 lbs per week which if she is right about her intake means she maintains around 2900-3000 calories a day. That tells me she is at the very least active and that she can eat more while still losing weight.5 -
If you don’t have a Fitbit, but most of your activity is from steps, maybe consider getting one? This is my second (alas!) weight loss journey on MFP but my first with a Fitbit. I set my activity on MFP to “sedentary.” So any steps beyond sedentary are added as exercise automatically by the Fitbit.
I got 18K once. That day I ran 4 miles on the treadmill (I think my Fitbit only logged 3.5 but whatevs) and then cleaned the whole house top to bottom and then grocery shopped. Didn’t sit down for more than 5 minutes until dinner at 6. If you’re getting that many steps a day, you should be eating them (or, as I do, eating back half).
That said, I think 2 weeks isn’t enough to show a stall in loss. I have a 2 week stretch without the scale going down just about every month.1 -
Thanks ladies. I have considered getting a Fitbit. I might need to look into getting one in payday. It’s just the price that puts me off so will see if there are any deals going.
The school run is a big help with my steps. Without it I’d struggle to get as many steps in. I worked it out this evening that the distance to and from both schools (twice a day) is 3.9miles then I’m home and cleaning, cooking, dealing with the kids so on my feet most of the day. I just wish someone could say ‘eat this many calories’ so I didn’t have to figure out what’s going to work best for me. Its all trial and error. I think I’ll keep walking as I have been and just try to tweak the calories I’m using to find what works best x1 -
lovelyclaire86 wrote: »Thanks ladies. I have considered getting a Fitbit. I might need to look into getting one in payday. It’s just the price that puts me off so will see if there are any deals going.
The school run is a big help with my steps. Without it I’d struggle to get as many steps in. I worked it out this evening that the distance to and from both schools (twice a day) is 3.9miles then I’m home and cleaning, cooking, dealing with the kids so on my feet most of the day. I just wish someone could say ‘eat this many calories’ so I didn’t have to figure out what’s going to work best for me. Its all trial and error. I think I’ll keep walking as I have been and just try to tweak the calories I’m using to find what works best x
Based on the rate you have been losing at, you could add about 400 calories a day and still see about 2lbs per week loss for awhile (eventually it will slow as your body gets smaller). If you set your activity level to active on MFP it should add about 400 calories for you.2 -
Thanks Shadow2soul. I’ve changed my activity level to active this afternoon so I’m interested to see how I get on. I’m itching to see the 100’s on the scale and have been hovering over 200lb for the past 2 weeks.
Here’s hoping I eat more and get a wee rush on the scales 🤞🏻 x0 -
Correction. It’s 5 miles doing the school run Monday to Friday. X0
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