Extreme variance in exercise in my job - what is my activity level?!

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lucyholdcroft7
lucyholdcroft7 Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone!

I work as a teacher and sometimes spend my day sitting down/standing occasionally when I have planning time or relaxed lessons. Other days, I will spend most of my day on my feet, doing a lot of walking and some sports when we have PE activities set. On days like today, I don’t sit down all day, I’m running up and down stairs and walking all over the school for hours showing people around and getting work done.

I have absolutely no idea where to set my activity level. I tried to stop eating at my max calories (when set to lightly active) today but I was so hungry I couldn’t concentrate on anything so I ended up going over. How can I log changes in exercise? I don’t carry my phone so I don’t have information about steps I’ve taken or anything - I only know that I’ve done a lot more exercise than normal.

I’ve been losing steadily (probably more quickly than I anticipated) for quite a few weeks now so I’m not worried that it’s set too high, but I don’t want to set it too high because then I may overeat on my sedentary days...

What can I do? Is it worth investing in FitBits?

Replies

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    edited May 2019
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    A Fitbit would be one way to go.

    You could also just allow yourself extra calories on days you know you were more active all day. Go into your settings and change your activity level to the next step up just to see how many extra calories it gives you. Then leave yourself at lightly active but mentally know you have that extra range of calories to dip into.

    There is no penalty, either on MFP or in your body :wink:, for going over calories on each day. In fact, many people look at their calories for the week, eating over on some days and under on others.

    You don't want to lose too fast, so if you are losing faster than expected, eat a bit extra on those hungry days. Fueling your body is important!
  • lx1x
    lx1x Posts: 38,311 Member
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    Yes get a tracker. If you want to see how much calories you burn during the school days and eat the extra calories if you need to.
  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
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    Another vote for a tracker. I don't consider my fitbit to be 100% accurate, but it's close enough to see a trend on daily calories burned. After a few days/weeks, you can click on calories burned in the app and see what it recorded for each day. You can use that info to determine if you're burning what you think you are, or more, or less.
  • PapillonNoire
    PapillonNoire Posts: 76 Member
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    I think a Fitbit would be helpful in your situation. I've found mine to be fairly accurate. And it syncs with MFP so you can easily see how many extra calories you get from exercise/activity.
  • MamaKL5
    MamaKL5 Posts: 69 Member
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    I would recommend a tracker, too. My job is similar in that some days I'm super active and others just not at all, so my Fitbit keeps me on track.

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