How long to adjust + What *$&? activity level?

Phrick

So I really subscribe to the "eat as much as you can while still losing weight" idea. I'm currently set at 1770 a day, figured by TDEE - about 15% per Scooby's, but in the last month or so I have dramatically increased my activity levels and I have found myself overeating by several hundred calories, several times a week out of actual hunger (vs boredom, and not picking the greatest things to stuff in my face - like yesterday's 9 cookies AND froyo) so clearly it's time to rethink and possibly increase my intake. If you look at my diary, PLEASE know that I do weigh my foods. If I look up my brand of cheese for example and it's only listed in the database in a 1/3 cup serving size, I look on my package, weigh the portion, and then record the 1/3 cup. I just don't make new database entries for every single thing I eat that isn't already listed in grams but I do weigh my food.

Two-fold issues here:

1) I know it's realistic to expect that when I increase calories I'll probably stall a bit or maybe even show a temporary bloat/gain, and that's fine -HOWEVER- we're going on a vacation in about 3 weeks and I would prefer to not face a gain right before I'm supposed to go pretend to be comfortable in a bathing suit.

2) I have the stupidest time trying to figure out where I should list my activity level. Scooby's choices seem too narrow - what I do for "exercise" doesn't fit into any of the categories! I don't lift weights. I don't run. My exercise is walking, that's it. If I walk with my husband it's generally 40 minutes at a pace of about 2.9mph, and if I walk with him in the morning then I always try to walk a second time at my own pace which tends to be closer to 3.5mph or greater, again for about 40 minutes, later in the day. I do this 5-6 days a week. So basically an hour and a half of what I would not consider to be more than "light exercise," but I do it for more hours per week than are "allowed" in the "light exercise" modifier category. I know, I am probably making it more complicated than it needs to be but jeez!

So I guess then the questions would be
-What activity level would you pick on Scooby's TDEE calculator for 6-9 hours of light exercise per week, and
-When would you recommend increasing calories - now before we leave or wait a month and increase when we get back? FWIW we're going to Vegas and plan to "do everything" my husband says so I imagine we'll be walking a LOT while there.

Oh yeah some helpful stuff:

36 years old
female
height 5 '7.5"
SW 254
CW 192
GW 140-145-150-ish

4legsRbetterthan2

I find the vague "work out x hours a week" questionable too since that leaves alot of room for variation dependingn on the workout. I have two suggestions:

Since it appears your exercise is mostly walking if you are interested in a fitbit that would be a pretty accurate measurement for you. It will track your exercise throughout the day and adjust your MFP calorie goal accordingly.

You can also do the calculations yourself to try to get them more accurate. Do you know about how much you are burning from each walk (from a HRM?) if so then just add up all your calories burned walking over the week and devide by 7. Add this to your scooby calculation for sedentary and you should have a more accurate TDEE for what you do. Then just multiply by 0.9 for a TDEE -10% loss or whatever your goal is.

Hope something there was helpful.

~Best wishes