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Negative calorie adjustment if down as sedentary

hoops1888
hoops1888 Posts: 95 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all.

If I have my activity level set to not very active or sedentary, should I have negative calorie adjustments off? I would always want mfp to think I’m doing zero, then add what activity I do on to my allowable calories, rather than having a set activity level in my settings that I may or may not achieve.

Is that possible or does mfp never assume zero activity now, like it perhaps used to?

Replies

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 7,003 Member
    Sedentary is not zero activity, it still includes the equivalent of probably a few thousand steps per day.
    If you're really inactive on some days, keeping negative adjustments turned on could still be useful.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,441 Member
    "Sedentary" on MFP includes some activity above basal metabolic rate (BMR) / resting metabolic rate (RMR). It varies, but probably something in the 3500-5000 steps-equivalent range (which needn't be specifically steps, could be other movement seen by the tracker).

    I don't know whether MFP ever assumed zero activity. Certainly, it didn't assume zero at sedentary back in 2015 when I joined, and chat in the Community gave no hint that that was new. Given the theoretical (research-based) underpinnings of MFP, I'd be surprised if sedentary ever assumed zero activity. Zero activity only happens to people in a coma, unmoving.

    If it were me, I'd always enable negative calorie adjustments. (I don't sync my tracker because it has really silly ideas about my calorie needs . . . it estimates way too low. 🤷‍♀️ That's not common, but it can happen.)
  • hoops1888
    hoops1888 Posts: 95 Member
    Thanks guys. That makes sense, I had assumed that sedentary meant doing virtually zero or something. I’m going to keep negative calories on then👍🏼

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