Activity Level?

tworthen79
tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm a stay at home mom, I have 4 kids. I spend most days chasing the two youngest and housework. I do cardio as much as I can, but normally it's 20mins a day x5. Would that be 1-3 hrs light exercise, or moderate?

Also it puts be at 1832 -20% for my TDEE set at light exercise. I'm 5'7" 198 and I'm 34.

Replies

  • tworthen79
    tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
    bump
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Light. To give you an idea, to reach the moderate level, I have to walk 8 miles a day, which is about 2 hours at 3-3.5 mph plus a grocery store trip or something and regular activity (I have a fitbit, so that's how I can tell, comparing to the TDEE sites).

    I eat at light level and my goal is 1650 with TDEE-20% (35, 160 lbs, 5'5").
  • leebesstoad
    leebesstoad Posts: 1,186 Member
    Be back in a few with a few thoughts. Looking up a few things.
  • tworthen79
    tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
    Also, MFP sets me at 1700. Wondering if that's enough? That is set to lose 1lb a week. My BMR is 1666 according to http://thefitgirls.com/tdee-calculator.aspx.
  • leebesstoad
    leebesstoad Posts: 1,186 Member
    That would probably be light exercise. But that in a nutshell is the problem I have with the BMR/TDEE online calculators. What is light? What is moderate? Some say how many days a week do you exercise? Well some exercise 20-30 minutes 3 days a week. Others might train hard for 2-3 hours 3 days a week. Is that the same thing? According to some calculators it is.

    I've checked 4 online calculators and the 1832 seems fairly consistent among all of them: (Scooby's, IIFYM, Fat2FitRadio, and FitnessFrog). But the question is, are the assumptions they make for the average person applicable to you. The only way to know that is based on experience. Are you losing weight at that calorie level in a consistent and reasonable manner? If you are, then no need to change things at all. If you find that you have stalled for a while, then it may be time to revisit what you are doing and may be make some changes (either up or down, both can work). But as long as it is working now. Don't change a thing.

    And for me, the best thing is to get off the on-line calculators and use the data I log to calculate what MY TDEE actually is based upon my real-world experience. But you have to be meticulous about logging to do that and as accurate as possible. But if you are, then that is actually the best way.
  • ingeh
    ingeh Posts: 513 Member
    I use the scooby workshop calculator as it uses hours worked out and its accurate for me
  • tworthen79
    tworthen79 Posts: 1,173 Member
    So if 1832 is the average result and MFP has be at 1700, should I go in and manually change it?
  • kirkor
    kirkor Posts: 2,530 Member
    Either change it or don't, but whatever you do keep an eye for like 3 weeks --- is the scale moving in the direction you want? If so, keep doing what you're doing. If not, change it up.

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