Changing Activity Level - Help

Spyer116

Hey, i've only been here for under a month so far, but I was unemployed. And no school or college either. So I kept my activity level as sedentary, and would log all walking I did (usually 1-3 hours / day), along with gardening, gym time, etc etc.
And then eat some of those calories back (when they went past a few hundred, not if it was just 100-200).

But today I just started my first job ever. And now i'm on 9 hour shifts (well..8 hours on friday), for 5 days / week.
I'm on my feet for about 7+ of those hours. And walking/moving for 4-6 of them minimum depending on how busy the wards/theatres are on that particular day. Not doing any heavy work, some cleaning, moving patients from trolley to beds and vice versa, replacing some stores, etc.

But i've changed my activity level up to Moderate. Which has given me an extra 500 calories / day.

Would that be ok? Or should I reduce it to lightly active?
Should I eat those 2k calories on the weekends (used to be 1500 at sedentary, now 2k), when i'm not working?
Should I log my walking and gardening and other activities that I do outside of work?
Regarding that third question, should I only log them on the weekends / days off? Or even on the days, when I am working?
On my days off (mainly weekends), should I not log any activity or exercise I do at all, since even if I was active for 4 hours, it still wouldn't be half as much as what i'd be doing at work, and those calories would already be accounted for with the 'moderate activity' setting?

Any answers to the few questions I did ask, I would greatly appreciate, and any tips/answers/advice even for things I haven't asked, I would love as well

Liftng4Lis

I would start with lightly active, try it out for a month and see which way you need to adjust it.

Spyer116

thanks, will try that.
And how about the other questions? Or regarding logging any exercise/acitivty outside of work?

Liftng4Lis

Spyer116 wrote: »

thanks, will try that.
And how about the other questions? Or regarding logging any exercise/activity outside of work?

YES, MFP is designed so that you earn extra calories through exercise, so you should log it. Remember, most only eat a portion of those calories, to accommodate miscalculations both in overestimation of burns and logging inaccuracies.
Bottom line: Change your activity level to lightly active and eat that everyday, except when you earn more through exercise.
Good luck!