The 'lightly active' category in MyFitnessPal often causes confusion for users. While many people believe a few weekly workouts automatically place them in this category, MyFitnessPal's definition is primarily based on your average daily movement outside of specific, logged exercise sessions. Your activity level determines your baseline calorie needs, and getting this setting right is fundamental to achieving your goals, whether that's weight loss, gain, or maintenance. Understanding what constitutes non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), which includes fidgeting, walking, and other unplanned movements, is key to making an accurate selection.
MyFitnessPal's Activity Level Definitions
MyFitnessPal categorizes daily movement into four main levels to calculate your caloric needs. It's important to be honest with yourself and choose the level that most closely represents your non-exercise lifestyle. The activity level is designed to account for the calories you burn from everyday tasks, and any structured exercise is typically logged separately to provide an adjustment to your daily budget.
- Sedentary: You spend most of your day sitting, such as at a desk job. Your routine involves minimal walking or standing.
- Lightly Active: You spend a good part of the day on your feet. This may include occupations like a teacher or salesperson. It can also describe someone with a desk job who adds a regular 30-minute brisk walk, 3-5 times per week.
- Active: You spend a good part of the day doing some physical activity. Examples include waiters, postal workers, or nurses.
- Very Active: You spend most of the day engaged in heavy physical activity. This might describe a bike messenger or a carpenter.
Why Correctly Choosing Your Activity Level Matters
Selecting the wrong activity level is a common mistake that leads to inaccurate calorie goals. Overestimating your activity can set your calorie target too high, stalling weight loss progress, while underestimating can lead to an unsustainably low target and potential burnout. MyFitnessPal suggests that if you work a sedentary job but frequently exercise, you should set your baseline to sedentary and log your workouts separately. This approach provides a more precise representation of your actual daily energy expenditure. For example, if you have a desk job but go to the gym three times a week, your baseline is still sedentary, and the app will add calories back for your workouts.
Comparing Activity Levels in MyFitnessPal
| Feature | Sedentary | Lightly Active | Moderately Active |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work Occupation | Desk job, bank teller | Teacher, salesperson | Waiter, postal worker |
| Daily Standing | Minimal standing throughout the day | A good portion of the day spent on feet | A significant portion of the day spent on feet |
| Typical Daily Steps | Less than 5,000 steps | Approximately 5,000 - 10,000 steps | Above 10,000 steps |
| Exercise Logging | All exercise should be logged separately | Intentional workouts are logged separately | All structured workouts are logged separately |
| Associated Calories | Lowest baseline calorie needs | Higher baseline than sedentary | Significantly higher baseline calorie needs |
How to Determine if You Are Lightly Active
Choosing the correct activity level is not about your desire to be active, but a factual assessment of your non-workout hours. Here is a checklist to help you decide:
- Work Environment: Do you stand or walk for a substantial portion of your work shift? Think of a retail employee, teacher, or restaurant host.
- Daily Movement: Do you incorporate consistent, intentional, low-intensity movement into your day, such as a 30-minute brisk walk most days of the week?
- Home Activities: Does your regular routine involve active household chores, such as gardening, deep cleaning, or yard work? If this is a normal part of your week, it adds to your baseline activity.
- Steps Count: Do you consistently average between 5,000 and 10,000 steps per day, without logging specific exercises? This is a good indicator of a lightly active lifestyle.
If you find yourself on the border between sedentary and lightly active, it's often safer to choose the lower option. As your fitness journey progresses and you become more active, you can always update your profile settings. This ensures you don't over-credit yourself with extra calories you haven't earned, preventing frustration and plateaus.
The Role of Step Tracking and Partner Integrations
For users who integrate a step tracker like a Fitbit or have their phone's step tracking synced, MyFitnessPal offers an automatic calorie adjustment. The app compares your tracked activity with the energy expenditure predicted by your chosen activity level (e.g., lightly active). If you move more than expected, you get a calorie bonus; if you move less, the adjustment is negative (if enabled). This makes choosing a more conservative baseline like 'sedentary' a popular and accurate strategy, as all your intentional activity is then added back in, rather than being counted twice.
Conclusion
Choosing the 'lightly active' setting in MyFitnessPal depends on your average daily movement outside of formal workouts. It represents a lifestyle that involves a significant amount of standing and low-intensity movement, like a teacher or salesperson. For desk workers who exercise, it's often more accurate to select 'sedentary' and log workouts separately to avoid overestimating your caloric burn. The best strategy is to be honest about your baseline movement to get the most accurate calorie goal and maximize your chances of success. It's a key part of leveraging the app's power for your fitness and nutrition goals.
For further guidance on choosing your activity level, refer to the MyFitnessPal support articles. [https://support.myfitnesspal.com/hc/en-us/articles/24763932864397-Macro-Calculator]
