Selecting activity level and logging workouts

Brunner26_2
Brunner26_2 Posts: 1,152
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm sure this has been asked over and over, and I'm also guilty of rolling my eyes when I see the same questions asked three times a day. However, after searching through the forums for an hour, I decided to just ask.

I've seen different calculators for TDEE based on lifestyle, job, and workouts per week, or some combination of those. Currently I have selected "lightly active" for my activity level on MFP (as my job has me up and moving for a third to a half of the day), and I log my workouts. But I would consider myself an active person, as would other TDEE calculators. I run 40 to 50 miles per week and lift weights for about 2.5 hours per week. If I had my activity level at "moderately" or "very active," would I still log my workouts? I'm interested to know what others do.

The reason I'm asking this now is because I already have a low weight and body fat %. I'm want to create a small deficit of 200 to 400 cals/day to slowly burn the fat without losing much muscle. I also just got a HRM (Polar FT4) to help.

Thanks in advance.

Replies

  • Brunner26_2
    Brunner26_2 Posts: 1,152
    bumping so hopefully someone sees it.
  • kateroot
    kateroot Posts: 435
    If it were me and I changed my activity level to very active, I'd only log strenuous workouts, and probably wouldn't eat my exercise calories (I usually don't anyway).. But I think it's mostly a judgment call on your part. If you spend most of your day relatively inactive, I wouldn't change your setting to anything above lightly active. Just my two cents.
  • Mellocare
    Mellocare Posts: 47 Member
    Bumping 'cause I'm interested in what people have to say about it. :)
  • Anomalia
    Anomalia Posts: 506 Member
    Once deciding my daily activity level (how active I am during the day without intentionally exercising) I only log exercise that I have specifically gone out of my way to do, running, lifting weights, etc. I do not log things like cleaning, cooking, washing my car, things like that.
  • froeschli
    froeschli Posts: 1,293 Member
    I'd rather have my activity level on a lower setting and then actually add workouts, rather than having them kind of included as a lump sum... What if I sprain my ankle, or can't work out for another reason? That'd throw the activity level for a loop...
    But, I include things that absolutely won't change in my activity level. For example, no matter how I feel, I would not avoid walking my dog 4 times a day.

    I think it'll be tricky to go with that small a deficit, since with exercise, as well as logging calorie intake, there is always a margin for error. I won't lie, I think 200 calories is easily within that error margin.
    Maybe talk to a dietician, switching certain foods may have more of the desired effect than painstakingly counting each calorie in and out...
  • PBmaria
    PBmaria Posts: 854 Member
    Ok cool. I'll keep on doing what I've been doing.
  • AirCircleI
    AirCircleI Posts: 334 Member
    Personally, I keep mine at sedantary as I work a desk job. I log all my workouts, which are frequent, as I cycle to and from work each day (total of an hour a day), and do bootcamp 3x a week, and sometimes do body pump or yoga 1x a week, and run 1 or 2x a week. it's a lot of exercise and I could probably bump up my activity level and not log the workouts, or not log so many of them, but I'd rather keep logging the workouts.
    Occasionally I can't cycle or I can't attend bootcamp, or just have a rest day - I want those days to be accurate rather than assuming that I've had a higher activity level than I actually had.
  • Kimsied
    Kimsied Posts: 223 Member
    I think the activity level refers to your non-exercise activity level. I read that somewhere on this forum when I first joined and that makes sense, since if you are logging your exercise, those calories are added to your allowance. Perhaps if someone does not log exercise, the activity level would include that. Remember some of the other calculators that factor exercise into the activity multiplier are not having you add in your individual workouts. I think the different activity levels are to accommodate the difference in overall burn between someone who is sedentary (outside exercise i.e. desk job) vs. someone who is walking or on their feet all day vs someone doing hard physical work all day. These people would have different nutrition needs and there is already a way to factor in exercise on mfp. Of course, if you don't eat exercise calories you can probably be fine just going with an activity level that may include your workouts. Different things seem to work for different people.
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