What Kind of Movement Is Your Body Getting?

Some people think they're more active than they really are. Along with diet, your body needs to move to maximize the benefits of your eating plan and help you get as healthy as possible.

Let's take a look at three different types of lifestyles so that you can see where you currently are - because you might be on a higher level of activity than you realize and therefore need more calories to sustain your body's energy throughout the day.

Extreme Sedentary Lifestyles

It takes a lot to be sedentary. Most people aren't sedentary at all - they're somewhat active, going to their jobs, grocery shopping, attending their kids' sporting events or participating in family activities.

Sedentary people are known to have what's called sitting disease. That's all they do - sit. They might get up to go to the restroom, their bed, or the kitchen - but other than that, they're couch potatoes the rest of the time.

Now being home doesn't necessarily mean you're sedentary - even if you happen to sit quite a bit. If you're active around the house during the day off and on, then you get bumped up to the moderate movement category.

Try to keep a little log of the hours you spend sitting down - even if it's at a desk working in an office or from home - compared to the times when you're up moving around.

You can track a week or so, but make sure it's an average week for you - not one when you happen to have a lot going on that requires more movement than usual.

Write down what it is you like to do during your sedentary moments, too. Is it sitting and staring out the window? Reading a good book? Playing video games? Watching a good TV show or movie?

Your goal later will be to incorporate some of your favorite activities into more physical movement. For example, there are video game consoles like Kinect that require movement so you're not being sedentary at all.

Moderate Movement

The moderate movement level has a different meaning. It's all about light activity - more than sedentary, but not quite hardcore exerciser. The moderate mover doesn't always work to include exercise into their daily routine, but they happen to get physical activity throughout their day.

Or, it's possible that they lead sedentary lifestyles but do work in a small amount of exercise in their day, such as a 30-minute walk around the neighborhood after dinner.

People who fall under this category could be students in college who walk from class to class and across campus, people who work in an office setting who are constantly getting up and down out of their chairs, or workers who have jobs where they're continually moving like doctors or blue-collar laborers.

When you start tracking your movement, look to see if you have 120-180 minutes of movement each week. If so, even if you're not working up a complete sweat during this time, then you fall under the moderate movement category.

Exercise Elite

The exercise elite are those who are extremely active. These people don't just get more movement throughout their day due to basic decisions like walking to deliver a message instead of emailing - they actually do that and work in an abundance of exercise that gets their hearts beating before each day is done.

The elite exercisers are those who are considered athletes. Do you regularly play a sport or participate in athletic events like marathons that you train for continually? If so, you're an active person - not moderately active or sedentary.

Some careers require you to be highly physically active. This would include a soldier, some agriculture laborers, or other industry workers. If you get anywhere from six to 10 hours a week or more is considered extremely active.

Make a record, like you do of your nutritional intake, of how much movement you get. Not necessarily formal exercise - because all movement is good for you - but times when you're up off the couch, putting your legs and arms in motion.

Tally up the hours to see if you qualify for moderate or extreme exercise levels and then you can choose a meal plan that helps you fuel your body. The last thing you want is to cut calories to such a deficit that you weaken your energy stores and become less active and less able to lose weight effectively.