Goal Activity & Exercise

attycda
attycda Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have basically a desk job but I have also walked religiously outside every day for almost five years. I just finished the fourth calendar year in a row where I averaged a 5k a day for 2020. On my job, I sit on my butt all day. Do I need to start with a sedentary activity and add in the exercise? Do I need to start with lightly active and add in the exercise?

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,404 Member
    edited January 2021
    I would use the Lightly Active and not log the exercise. You can do it either way.

    Try that for a month and see what your weight does in relation to your goal.

    If you have less than 20 pounds to lose, set your weight loss Goal to, "Lose 1/2 pound per week." That's really the limit when you don't have much body fat. If you have more weight to lose you can set it to, "Lose 1 pound per week."
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,127 Member
    If you are averaging that for the last 4 years, I'd set yourself to Lightly Active to account for your steps, then add any intentional workouts as exercise. Log food intake accurately and consistently and then review results after 4-6 weeks. If you're losing more than expected, increase your activity level again, if you're losing less than expected drop it down to sedentary.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    As you are so consistent with your walking I'd wrap it up into an elevated activity setting for convenience.
    Other purposeful exercise would added on top of that.
  • attycda
    attycda Posts: 5 Member
    You all are kind of illustrating my dilemma. What I have wondered is whether or not the activity level sets the BMR & then you add exercise on top of it.

    In a way I could see it as double-counting which would not be good.

  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,127 Member
    You'd only be double counting if you increased your activity level and then logged your walking as exercise.

    Change your activity level to account for the walking (steps) and then log any other workouts on top.

    That would not be double-dipping as exercise workouts are not accounted for.

    Your calorie goal here is NEAT (BMR + average non exercise (i.e.work/life/school) calories from your activity multiplier) not TDEE (BMR + non exercise + average exercise).
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,127 Member
    To illustrate...
    p5qit4u1i2ma.jpg
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    attycda wrote: »
    You all are kind of illustrating my dilemma. What I have wondered is whether or not the activity level sets the BMR & then you add exercise on top of it.

    In a way I could see it as double-counting which would not be good.

    You aren't understanding either what BMR is or that MyFitnessPal's daily goal isn't just your BMR.
    BMR is your basal calories at total rest and in a fasted state. That estimated number is multiplied by your activity setting to come up with your calorie goal. Exercise is separate.

    If you either elevate your activity setting for your regular walk OR log it as exercise there is no double counting.
    It would be double counting if you elevated your activity setting AND logged it as exercise.

    If you do other sporadic purposeful exercise again that isn't accounted for in your goal calories and is not double counting when you add it.
  • salonypriya123
    salonypriya123 Posts: 15 Member
    i started a month back or so ... my diet was a 1000-1200 calorie diet with not more than 120 gms carbs .. ultinately i couldn't carry that on and started binge eating... i started again a day back and started with 1800 calories and about 200 gms carbs , 86 gms protein approximately... but not certain whether doing right way this time...
  • attycda
    attycda Posts: 5 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    attycda wrote: »
    You all are kind of illustrating my dilemma. What I have wondered is whether or not the activity level sets the BMR & then you add exercise on top of it.

    In a way I could see it as double-counting which would not be good.

    You aren't understanding either what BMR is or that MyFitnessPal's daily goal isn't just your BMR.
    BMR is your basal calories at total rest and in a fasted state. That estimated number is multiplied by your activity setting to come up with your calorie goal. Exercise is separate.

    If you either elevate your activity setting for your regular walk OR log it as exercise there is no double counting.
    It would be double counting if you elevated your activity setting AND logged it as exercise.

    If you do other sporadic purposeful exercise again that isn't accounted for in your goal calories and is not double counting when you add it.

    In the time since I posted this, I came pretty much the same conclusion that you have at least as far as taking one tack or the other, but not both.

    I suppose that I could have been more clear in my initial question, but this is a forum, and if I want good input, I probably better not make my post to detailed if I want some response. The answer might have been discussed many places and that many times.

    I see now that I was mixing Daily Caloric Intake with BMR.

    Over the last couple of years I had visited www.sailrabbit.com/BMR and played with the numbers many times. It's orlcam's site. I was missing the last half of the page title. Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) Calculator.

    My question was a version of what this story covers in a different context. "The myth of ripped muscles and calorie burns" https://www.latimes.com/health/la-xpm-2011-may-16-la-he-fitness-muscle-myth-20110516-story.html

    For me I would have asked whether the overall, resting metabolic function increases because of the increase in activity.

    As an analogy, if the metabolism is an electric motor that has 100 cycles per hour, but when you add electricity by throwing a switch so that it spins at 150 cycles per hour, is the activity of walking 3.2 miles per day a simple "on" switch which keeps the motor running all day (so that activity = increase in use all day) or is it like a timed switch which is on for the duration of the exercise & goes back to normal when done?

    The conclusion is that BMR is what it is and the adjustments to BMR are simply estimations of calories burned during a day, both of which add together to give the equilibrium for maintaining constant weight. Obviously adding in less to the system than required for equilibrium lowers the amount of energy in the entire system by the difference.

    I think you get it but for someone else reading this It's like the body is a tower full of calories. Weight x 3,500 as an estimate. If you need 2,000 calories to maintain equilibrium, then being at a deficit of 500 cal per day will lower weight in one week by approximately 500 x 7 days or 3,500 calories or 1 lbs.

    Ultimately, the answer is.... start at the lowest activity and add in exercise per event.


  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    "For me I would have asked whether theoverall, restingmetabolic function increases because of the increase in activity."

    No.

    Your BMR is your BMR - what your body burns for the base functions of life and growth and repair.
    Estimated by formula. Correct on that.

    Daily activity has no bearing on that except to perhaps give the body slightly more repair to do - which walking isn't that type of activity. Resistance training would be.

    I will add that while MFP is attempting to teach a life lesson about weight management:
    You do more you can eat more.
    You do less you sure better eat less.
    A tad less in either case in a diet.

    Many people have a regular enough routine for the week they can take their weekly average down to daily level, take off a deficit, and eat the same amount daily. Those are the TDEE site estimates - which sadly only seem to discuss exercise but not daily activity level, as if a desk jockey and mail carrier are the same.

    That method is what you are basically doing by including the walking into your daily activity burn - if you do no other exercise. Really only works well for extra walking on MPF though, other exercise may or may not match a level intended only for estimating daily activity.
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 913 Member
    I think you just have to do whatever seems easiest or works best for you. I also have a desk job and am pretty sedentary when I'm at home. I hike, walk, and run though....but I choose to set my activity level as 'sedentary' and log that activity bc it's just mentally easier for me. And when I was actively trying to lose weight...I enjoyed being able to eat more on the days I ran...bc I was hungry.

    Now that I'm not actively losing weight....I am slowly adding more cals -- --- just bc I still lost a few lbs without 'trying' too so I figure my maintenance cals have increased. I still log any significant cardio though.

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