Am I sedentary or lightly active?

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penrbrown
penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm having a hard time figuring out what I am.

Sedentary or lightly active?

I spend 8 hours a day at a desk job and 4 hours a day as a cashier at a grocery store.

On busy nights I am quite active (mind you, I don't move from one spot but I am constantly moving, scanning groceries, lifting heavy items - we don't have those handy dandy hand scanners so we have to lift EVERYTHING and scan it) and on quiet nights I am STILL busy because we run around cleaning, dusting, mopping, sweeping, etc. I am very rarely not doing something during those 4 hours of cashier work.

I work 6 days a week. One of these days is an 8 hour cashier shift, 5 are 8 hour office shifts and 4 are 4 hour cashier shifts on TOP of 8 hour desk shift... if that makes sense.

I've always marked myself as sedentary BECAUSE of the office job but lately I've been wondering.

I dunno. What do you think?

Replies

  • mp2906
    mp2906 Posts: 1
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    You sound pretty active to me! Change it up. You may enjoy the freedom of more calories :)
  • SteveHunt113
    SteveHunt113 Posts: 648 Member
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    I know someone with better knowledge is going to answer this, but here's my best attempt:

    When MFP tries to calculate your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), it uses your fitness level as a multiplier. I think the range is from 1.2 - 2 where 1.2 would be sedentary and 2 would be Highly active. The problem is in the description of these multipliers.

    I have a desk job, but I workout 6 days a week. Based on that, MFP says I'm sedentary. I used this when I initially setup my profile, and indicated I wanted to lose 1 pound a week. I found myself starving all the time and losing 1.5 pounds per week. Once I change to lightly active, the weight loss slowed to a more healthy level.

    In my opinion, start with lightly active and see how things go. You can always adjust later if you find the settings don't deliver what you are expecting.
  • sarahgilmore
    sarahgilmore Posts: 572 Member
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    try using this calculator instead, and make a weekly average
    http://www.health-calc.com/diet/energy-expenditure-advanced
    Then set your own custom goals.
  • taeliesyn
    taeliesyn Posts: 1,116 Member
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    As the previous poster said, MFP uses your activity level to set your base level and then all 'exercise' over that is meant to be counted (and eaten back/or not as per personal preference)
    I started off with an activity level of sedentary and then slowly decreased my loss per week as I got closer to my goal. However as I hit the last 10lbs or so, I found I was losing weight faster than I wanted, even set to lose 0.5lbs per week. So instead of setting myself to maintenance and have things really odd, I increased my activity level.
    I do 8-9hours a day at a desk, and honestly don't do much after work either. I log all my exercise and eat those cals back. I am now set as either lightly active or possibly even active with a 0.5lb loss per week to keep my losses where I want it.

    Lot's of blathering there to say, take a guess and adjust as needed ;)
  • Perswaysion
    Perswaysion Posts: 69 Member
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    I had this conversation with my husband today. His response was ,that by default, as a Sahm I'm at least lightly active and that was before I started working out 3-4 times a week. He totally got a kiss but it convinced me to change it.
  • penrbrown
    penrbrown Posts: 2,685 Member
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    Thanks guys. :) I have decided to bump myself to lightly active for now. Honestly I don't feel sedentary but by MFP guidelines because my primary job is a desk job it almost seems like I am...

    It's not that I haven't been losing weight (I've only REALLY been trying again for the last month and a few weeks) it's just that I'd like to be eating what I NEED to be eating and don't want to be under feeding my poor self. I need all the energy I can get!!!

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