MFP Questions

lovelyheather

I finally started tracking calories about a week ago using My Fitness Pal.  I've been struggling to lose the last 10ish pounds and finally caved after listening to you ladies recommend MFP on a daily basis. 

My main question is about setting my activity level/calorie goal.  I work an office job, so I feel like sedentary is the obvious level.  But I also know that people who workout regularly burn more calories through out the day than people who actually lead sedentary lifestyles.  I have been running and lifting regularly for the past year...so should I still use sedentary?  I just don't want to be under eating. 

If anyone wants to add me, I am lovelyheathers over there.

entropicbeauty

You should move it up to lightly active at the very least. It won't be spot on every day (if you skip a day of exercise etc.), but it will be more accurate in the long run. If you're doing seriously intense cardio most days, moderately active might even be appropriate. I'd start with lightly active though.

I still have mine set on sedentary even though I work out almost every day, but I do that because my FitBit sends my activity info to MFP and updates how many calories I should be eating.

lbarr088

When I first started MFP (before I used different equations for calories) I didn't put it at sedentary.  I do sit frequently throughout the day but I don't think anyone is completely sedentary.  I'm sure you move around at some point during the day and the added exercise that you do would make it so you really are not sedentary.  

Also, a lot of people have varying views about calorie intake, etc. on here and on MFP so I think the best bet is to try something and if you find yourself constantly hungry or plateauing to change it up until you find what does work for you.  

lovelyheather

Thanks everyone, this gives me a lot to think about. 

The difference between the two activity levels is only 140 calories, so it really isn't a huge number.  And that probably means I am way over thinking this.  If I set it at sedentary, MFP recommends 1280/day, which seems pretty low to me.  I'll just try to land between 1280-1420 net calories per day and see how that goes for a few weeks. 

Thanks everyone for your advice/support!