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Help with Lifestyle Activity Level

Old 02-26-2010, 06:59 PM
  #1  
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Default Help with Lifestyle Activity Level

How do you guys set this? I joined about a month ago and set it to Mostly Seated With Some Movement, because I work at home but I'm not necessarily chained to my workdesk. But the amount of calories it says that lifestyle burns daily seems really high.

Any advice on making sure that I'm setting my base daily calorie burning correctly?

Thanks!
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Old 03-12-2010, 11:24 AM
  #2  
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If the description of that level fits you, go with it. Your body burns a lot of calories just keeping you alive - and it burns more the heavier you are. (It takes more energy to move more mass around).

Just be aware that as you lose weight, your calorie needs will decrease as well (and you may need to recalculate your caloric goals)
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Old 03-14-2010, 12:02 AM
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Here is a link for another calculator posted by yahoo (they have some good ones on their site). I like it as it also takes into account age which most don't and I know from experience weight loss becomes more harder to initiate when you are older - hope this helps

Calculate your calorie requirements - Health Tools - Yahoo! Canada Lifestyle
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Old 03-16-2010, 02:13 AM
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Originally posted by Hoss on fitness.com, posting here for your information:

The first step is establish how many calories you need to maintain your weight while resting. This is called your BMR. The following equations can be used to figure out your BMR:


“English BMR Formula”Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

“Metric BMR Formula”
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kilos ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )

Men: BMR = 66 + ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) - ( 6.8 x age in years )
This is just a general estimation, some may be above or below this, but this is a good place to start.

Multiply this number by your activity level factor:

1.0 - Sedentary (doing nothing all day)
1.2 - Very light activity (Working a desk job or on a computer and not performing any type of physical activity during your day.)
1.4 - Light activity (having a non-physical job (desk, computer, etc.) but performing some sort of physical activity during the day (e.g. above average walking) but no hard training.)
1.6 - Moderate activity (having a non-physical job, performing some sort of physical activity during the day, and including a daily workout session in your routine. This is where most of you are at.)
1.8 - High activity (either training plus a physical job or non-physical job and twice-a-day training sessions)
2.0 - Extreme activity (a very physical job and daily hard training.)

Now you have your daily maintenance calories.

Now that you know how many calories it takes to maintain your weight - how many should you eat to achieve your goals?

Well, the general rule of thumb is +/- 500. Plus 500 to gain, minus 500 to lose. However, it can be a better idea to go by percentages, +/- 20% of your maintenance. Remember, if you’re trying to bulk and eat too much - you will gain fat instead of muscle. If you’re trying to lose fat and eat too little, your body will hold on to the fat you have for dear life. Moderation, dear readers, moderation.
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Old 03-16-2010, 05:24 AM
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Thank you for posting this! I've been experimenting with my calorie intake and this validated that my thoughts were correct.
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Old 03-16-2010, 07:17 AM
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I wouldn't trust the numbers that fitday gives you for calorie expenditures on activities. If I ate up to the level fitday said I burned at I would be gaining weight like crazy.

You can use the formulas or calculators listed above. I used the free ones on this site and I found them to really spot on for me.

Free Diet Plans and Weight Loss Programs

Hope it helps.

Thanks.
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Old 03-16-2010, 11:17 AM
  #7  
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Default It takes a little trial and error

My daily calorie expenditure can vary widely day to day, without taking into account exercise activities. Some days it is barely above my basal metabolic rate of about 1400 because I am stuck in my office chair and drive everywhere I need to go. Other days I am on my feet all day in the lab, in the field, walking to doing errands, or heavy lifting in the garden. I figured it was better to err on the conservative side, so I selected a lower activity level than what was typical for an average day. This way I am pretty sure that I an not overestimating my calorie needs and thus undermining my effort to lose the weight.

One other suggestion (I think from Lizzycritter) is to add in the hours asleep, which will lower it a bit more, again helping you to not over estimate.

Although it would be great to have a daily calorie need of 2700, as a 5'4' female with a basically office job, that isn't really likely.
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