Exercise level for office folks who exercise a lot

mkallie
mkallie Posts: 110 Member
edited October 4 in Health and Weight Loss
Question for everyone (not sure if this is a technical question or a motivation question, so sorry if it's in the wrong place!) --

I work in an office, so work for me involves a lot of sitting (though I try and usually manage to get in 5 miles of walking around the complex per day). I also strength train for an hour a few days a week, and basically try to keep moving as much as possible when I'm not in the office -- I do hikes for school, spend a lot of time outdoors doing photography and wandering, and basically only spend an hour or two a day at home sitting.

I'm classified on MFP as "sedentary", which I thought was OK if I logged my extra activities, so I use my pedometer and I think it captures at least some of the stuff I do. I'm irritated every morning when I wake up and see that I have been assigned only 1200 calories. Granted with exercise, it usually tells me to eat closer to 1800, but I don't usually...

Well this week I feel like I have just hit a wall. I did a 10k last week and it went well. I did better than my goal pace, and I think I could have done it even better. But afterwards, I've just kinda been eating like crazy, and eating carbs and crap that I usually don't really care about. Seriously, I think I ate 3000 calories a few days ago. So far it hasn't shown on the scale, though I have been on a plateau for the past 3 or 4 weeks...

But my question -- is this just me getting lazy, or is it possible that I am misclassifying my activity level, which is low-balling what it says I should eat, which is in turn making me feel tired and crappy and finally making me break down and binge? The creepiest part about 3000-calorie day was that I felt hungry the whole time, and when I woke up the next morning expecting to feel like crap, I felt fine. In fact, after a couple hours of being up, I was hungry again. Not like the "I overate -- please keep eating" kind of weird-feeling "hungry", but the real deal.

So I don't know if I need to tough it out and be more disciplined or if I need to re-assess my intake and maybe bump it up some so I don't act out and eat a whole cow or something the next time the opportunity presents itself. Any advice?

Replies

  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    You could change your activity level to light active and not log the walking.

    Another thing you may want to consider is re-evaluating your weekly weight loss goal. It may be too aggressive for you.

    Ideal weekly weight loss goals are as follows:
    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

    So with the amount you have to lose your goal should not be to lose more than 0.5 lbs/week, otherwise your deficit may be too large and you risk burning a large amount of lean muscle instead of the fat you are trying to burn.
  • almille
    almille Posts: 89
    I'd suggest a small change, like adding ~200 net calories, and seeing what the effects on your energy/mood/scale are in two weeks. Then adjust again. It's a slow process, but the only one which will really find the sweet spot (which will move as you lose weight or get fitter). MFP's calorie goals are a good /starting/ point but not always the perfect answer.
  • sophieshaped
    sophieshaped Posts: 228 Member
    Wow, that doesn't sound like sedentary. I work in an office and the most activity I get is walking to the kitchen to make a coffee – about 10 paces. That is what I would call sedentary! 5 miles is amazing during the working day!
  • ratherbeskiing
    ratherbeskiing Posts: 847 Member
    Ideal weekly weight loss goals are as follows:
    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.


    - ok SO, because of this little chart I had it at 2 lbs a week due to the fact that I had 80lbs to lose but now I am in within the 15lb window so I changed it to .5....I went from 1200 cal to 1630. is that right?!? thats seems like a big jump. wow. I thought I was eating a lot now!
  • kennethmgreen
    kennethmgreen Posts: 1,759 Member
    Why aren't you eating what MFP suggests? The best way to get results - and the best way to monitor/change your program is following directions, accurately logging. You report a lot of guesswork and estimates and are asking what to change. How about following MFP's suggestions accurately for a few weeks, logging accurately during that time time, THEN see if a change is needed?
  • Coltsman4ever
    Coltsman4ever Posts: 602 Member
    I sit in an office all day as well. I have mine set to sedentary, like you, because that's what the description says to use if you have a desk job. I log all my cardio seperately.
    My first suggestion would be to get a heart rate monitor instead of using the pedometer. You'll get a much more accurate idea of how many calories you're burning during your exercise. You could be over/under estimating your burn, currently.
    It also sounds like you're not eating enough. Try eating all your calories (exercise calories included). That could help you get out of the current plateau as well. If you find a good snack, like a vegetable you really love, you can eat so much of that every day and still stay well within your calories. The key is not feeeling hungry. Eat a lot of the healthy, low calorie foods and you won't feel hungry.
    If you do a long run like a 10k, I would suggest a large meal of pasta the night before. Your body burns a LOT of calories during those long runs. That will help with the hunger afterwards.

    Just my opinion. Hope it helps.
  • mkallie
    mkallie Posts: 110 Member
    Cool - thanks for all the input. I guess I'm just paranoid to eat everything MFP suggests, and I feel like some of the exercise estimates are off (from the machines and from my pedometer) ... so I like to err on the side of a couple hundred cal under goal.

    I hadn't considered adjusting my goal but that's probably a good idea. I'm within 5 lb of my goal, and less than 10 from really my ideal goal... I want to build more muscle though and I feel like that's been a struggle (my BF% is dropping a little, but not as much as I'd like).

    I'll also look into HR monitors... I've always been one for cheap solutions and my perception of HR monitors is that they are pricey, but if anyone knows of a good deal let me know!
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    I don't get it. You say you have about 1800 calories but don't eat them all, and yet you think your limit is too low?
  • mkallie
    mkallie Posts: 110 Member
    Well it tells me 1200, then I get paranoid about how much I've exercised and don't trust the calorie numbers so I try not to go over them, but then I end up feeling crappy and then I end up eating a lot one day when I finally snap...

    I adjusted to .5 lb loss per week and it bumped me up to a 1400 calorie base so I think that should help.
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