Please help me choose an activity level

tgrlnh

Good Morning,
I’m looking for a little advice. I am not sure which activity level I should be. I work at a desk about ¾ of my day. The other ¼ I’m running up and down stairs or walking around. I go home, cook, and do some light cleaning. Our house has three floors so I’m running up and down those as well. 2 Hours later, I finally sit down.

I’ve looked at other posts and have seen that if I choose “lightly active” then I wouldn’t log the small things like cooking and cleaning but I would log when I exercise (ex: walking & working out)

I had gastric bypass 2.5 years ago and I lost 211lbs. I have recently fallen off track and gained 10 – 14 and I really need to get back in gear.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

queenliz99

Lightly active

Always_Smiling_D

"Light activity" - I won't count my everyday moves as exercise (that is my choice of course)... I believe that counting that which you do anyways gives you a false sense of extra calories to consume if you are going to be eating those calories back (as many of us do)...

FatFreeFrolicking

Lightly active. Things like cooking and cleaning don't count as exercise because they are basic every day activities.

ViolaLeeBlueberry

I think it's better to underplay than overestimate when you do your baseline. I called myself "sedentary" because if I don't do anything, that's what I am. Obviously I don't lie in bed all day. Heck, I walk for my shopping, I walk the dog, I walk up and down stairs, I move when I cook dinner, etc. But I figure if any of that is of unusual length, I can count it as "exercise" on my daily log. Otherwise, putting away dishes or walking around the corner for tomatoes doesn't make me "active," it's just life, and yeah it burns calories, but so does picking up a fork. Which way do I want to err?

If your work dependably has you on your feet for a quarter of the day every single day -- not just because you have to walk to the conference room or deliver a file to a co-worker but because you really have to be on your feet and moving constantly -- then it'd make sense to factor that in. So yeah, that'd make you "lightly active." But I agree that counting ordinary house chores can give a false sense of security in most cases.