I need a lot of help. Please read. -shifty eyes-

Okay, I am 5'6 and 164 pounds.

I used to consider myself sedentary but CC says that means I only burn 1,860 calories "just being alive" and I logged things that I did all day long and that left me around 2,400 and I know I didn't burn THAT much in a day unless I did some extra working out, so I changed my activity to lightly active and it says I burn 2,160 "just being alive" and I don't log anything at all except extra exercises. Does that sound right?

I also upped my calorie intake from 1,440 to 1,660. Simply because I cannot just eat 1,440 calories, I am always left somewhat hungry.

Does this sound right? In a day I usually wake up, check my online things (CC, Myspace, etc) and then I get off, maybe play Sims (lol) and watch the new eco-friendly channel ;) then I might go on a walk for an hour, workout for an hour, or dance for an hour.

Isn't sedentary just sitting around all day? What does CC consider to be "lightly active" I guess my question here is, should I keep it on sedentary or light?

I've heard that lightly active is hardly sitting down ever and I've also heard the lightly active may be as simple as just working out 1-3 times a week. =/

D: I'm rather confused.

I'd say that as long as you were logging real activities (like dancing, working out, or walking) when you were sedentary and not things like driving (which mostly just consists of calories already included in your sedentary burn), you should be fine raising it up to light. Seems like it'd be easier than having to input your burn every day! :)

Kudos! :D

Awe, thanks. ^-^

Yeah, the only things I log are the extra activites that I do. =]

Original Post by hharris9:

I'd say that as long as you were logging real activities (like dancing, working out, or walking) when you were sedentary and not things like driving (which mostly just consists of calories already included in your sedentary burn), you should be fine raising it up to light. Seems like it'd be easier than having to input your burn every day! :)

Kudos! :D

 

I like keeping mine on sedentary and then entering activities.  Seeing the burn add up really motivates me. 

It says that sedentary is walking less than 2 hours a day and a lot of sitting.  I reassigned myself as sedentary and logged all exercises and walks for the first 2 months.

My exercises are now more intense and my lifestyle a bit more active (walking for transportation) so I reassigned myself as "light activity" and only log my workouts.  I'm no longer logging my mile walks.  (on a rest day I burn 2000 calories)

I do a lot of sitting at the computer but I also walk a mile a day (at least) for transportation and do a light aerobic dancing on my rest days.  2 days a week I lollygag at the swimming pool.  If I do anything vigorous (treading water, laps) I log that.  I log bicyling more than a mile. 

From your description you are sedentary unless you are doing the extra activities that you log seperately.  Keep it at sedentary.

It took me a while to figure out the whole calorie burn meter too!

The burn meter calculates the amount of calories you burn on an average day. It factors in sleep as well. If you enter in all of the activities you do, then it will replace your "average" burn with the calories burnt during that activity.

Suppose your average hourly burn is 2400 (I know that's high, but it makes things easier to explain). You would burn an average of 100 calories per hour. Now, if you walk for 1 hour, and that burns 300 calories per hour, this is what happens.

1. CC will add 300 calories to your burn meter.

2. CC will subtract one average hour (100 calories) from your burn meter. That is because you replaced one average hour with one hour of activity. Now, your burn meter will read 2600.

It's a bit confusing! But, in short, I agree with the others. Keeping your activity level at sedentary and entering all activities is most accurate, if you can keep up with it!

:D Thanks! So, CC basically takes the calories you burn and adds it to your burn meter but subtracts what you burn hourly from what you burnt during that hour. xD

Haha, that's confusing but pretty rad. But it makes it accurate. (:

Thanks everyone. I've decided to keep it at sedentary and just log what I do, it's easier anyway. ;)

I agree with others keep it at sedentary and only log your "purposeful" workouts.  If you are losing weight then your calorie burn and consumption are on target - if you find you are gaining then something needs to be tweaked either up your worouts or decrease your calories and if you hit a plateau play with the calories again upping and lowering cause sometimes we hit those plateaus due to not eating enough and our bodies going into starvation mode.

Basically you got to sort of play around until you find the right mix for you.